Powell’s Secret Intelligence Contractor Is a Pro-Trump Podcaster ; Survivors of China’s Internment Camps Speak ; and More Picks 12/28
Sidney Powell’s Secret Intelligence Contractor Is a Pro-Trump Podcaster (Russ)
The author writes, “As she asked the U.S. Supreme Court this month to overturn President Trump’s election loss, the attorney Sidney Powell cited testimony from a secret witness presented as a former intelligence contractor with insights on a foreign conspiracy to subvert democracy. … The Washington Post identified the witness by determining that portions of her affidavit match, sometimes verbatim, a blog post that the pro-Trump podcaster Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman published in November 2019. In an interview, Maras-Lindeman confirmed that she wrote the affidavit and said she viewed it as her contribution to a fight against the theft of the election.”
‘Will They Let Us Live?’ Inside Xinjiang, Survivors of China’s Internment Camps Speak (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “On a recent weeklong trip across Xinjiang, a Times reporter and a colleague working for a German outlet visited more than a dozen prisons, detention centers, demolished mosque sites and former reeducation camps turned into high-security factories. The Times met with Uighurs — they are predominately Muslim — who spoke of their imprisonment, fear and life in the region.”
Deaths Prompt Suicide Training at Excluded UK After Eight People Take Their Own Lives (Dana)
The author writes, “Staff at Excluded UK, the campaign group set up to support the millions of people frozen out of the [British] Government’s Covid-19 support package, have been given training in how to deal with suicide after eight of its members took their own lives. Nine volunteers at Excluded, a not-for-profit group set up in May, have taken the two-day intensive training course. The suicides have ratcheted up the pressure on the Government to take action and help the three million people who have fallen through the cracks of financial assistance.”
What the Dippin’ Dots ‘Cold Chain’ Can Teach Us About COVID-19 Vaccines (Dan)
From Popular Science: “Countless people across the country are desperate to get their hands on the coronavirus vaccine. But the same could be said for another icy treat with some surprising similarities: Dippin’ Dots. Invented by a microbiologist in 1988, Dippin’ Dots’ self-proclaimed ‘Ice Cream of the Future’ maintains its characteristic beaded form only if stored at -49 degrees Fahrenheit. Slipping even a few degrees in the wrong direction can jeopardize the quality of a batch. Shipping a coronavirus vaccine is a similarly delicate dance.”
The Butt Pajamas Will Follow You Forever (Dana)
From Gizmodo: “If you’re reading this, you might have read the juicy piece that Elle dropped this weekend chronicling how a former Bloomberg reporter torched her entire career after falling for the longtime subject of her reporting — professional-tool-turned-convicted-securities-fraudster Martin Shkreli. And if you know about that article, you probably know about The Ad. As Elle’s story went viral, it became clear that a ton of the readers were all being targeted en masse across the story with a specific ad for… well, different people had different names for it, assless pajamas and buttflapped onesies among them. In fact, the actual name is ‘Plain Functional Buttoned Flap Adults Pajamas,’ and they’re sold by an e-commerce retailer named IVRose for the low, low price of $26.99.”
