A Baby Seal In The Streets of New Haven
Who knew?
Good Evening:
The weather can be peace and beautiful the day your country betrays and ally and lies about who started a war and who is a dictator.
Today on #DogShirtTV, the estimable Alicia Wanless and I welcomed the estimable Murray Brewster, famed Canadian defense reporter, to discuss Canada’s prospects of resisting the coming Anschluss. Can Canada hold the border? Will Canadians surrender? Will the moose form partisan units? Is the Pete Hegseth Department of Defense prepared to face the moose partisans?
Also, I’ve been scolded about my audio by various estimable persons. It’s a revolution, folks, and revolutions are messy. So is my audio. I’m working on it:
The Situation: What America Stands For Now
In today’s “The Situation” column, I confront President Donald Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine and embrace of Russia and Vladimir Putin. I warn of the dramatic and dire consequences this policy reversal will have for the United States’s international reputation and trustworthiness:
I want, instead, to emphasize the likely consequences of a betrayal of this magnitude by the United States, which will reverberate far past Ukraine and has to be seen in the context of the administration’s concurrent retreat from transatlantic security cooperation and imposition of tariffs on our biggest and most reliable trading partners.
The administration is sending a message loud and clear to anyone who will listen: the United States is not a reliable partner.
Today On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Caroline Cornett
Did DOGE Take Credit for Spending Cuts Related to President Carter’s Death?
Nick Bednar highlights issues with the transparency and accuracy of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) data purporting to show cost savings, including the termination of payments to maintain late President Jimmy Carter’s office space, which is attributable to his death, not DOGE action.
These potentially misleading line items raise concerns that the data provided by DOGE may not accurately describe what the agency does or how much it has saved. If a more comprehensive audit reveals similar inaccuracies, keeping this data up could create a false impression for the public that DOGE has accomplished meaningful spending cuts. DOGE did not terminate at least some of the contracts and leases listed on its website. Even if DOGE played an active role in terminating some of these contracts, it may be overstating the value of its cuts.
The MAGA Case for Software Liability
Jim Dempsey argues that although the Trump administration and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement typically favor deregulation, government action and regulation of software security would help achieve their goals of protecting against Chinese cyber attacks, incentivizing innovation, and reducing waste and fraud:
Given the dangerous failure of markets to deliver critical infrastructure cybersecurity necessary for America’s economic prosperity and national security—and given the steady stream of disclosures of Chinese infiltration—there is good cause for the Trump administration to work to fill other gaps in America’s cybersecurity framework. This is true with respect to not only hardware and networking practices but also the software upon which critical infrastructure and government operations depend.
Unpacking the Final Report of the Bipartisan House Task Force on AI
Bertina Kudrin, Kristina Lorch, and Omid Ghaffari-Tabrizi break down the Bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence’s recent report, which is set to inform the development of artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the current Congress. Kudrin, Lorch, and Ghaffari-Tabrizi detail the report’s findings on national security, government use of AI, data privacy implications, and effects on businesses:
The report goes beyond the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group Policy Roadmap, which was released on May 15, 2024. While the Senate roadmap “aimed to help lay the foundation” for action, the report aims to be “an essential tool for crafting AI policy.” As we noted previously in Lawfare, critics of the Senate roadmap cited the “lack of specific calls to action and legislative proposals.” The report, meanwhile, is intended to serve as “a foundation both to ensure that America leads in AI innovation and to ensure that we have appropriate guardrails to protect Americans.” Recognizing the speed with which developments in AI are taking place, the report’s authors indicated it “is only the first step.”
Podcasts
Eric Ciaramella joined me to discuss the United States’s statements on Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference, the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine’s domestic politics:
Documents
Olivia Manes shares an executive order that expands presidential oversight of agencies and their rulemaking functions and asserts “authoritative interpretation” of executive branch law by the president.
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay, nominated by my estimable uncle Daniel Turk, is a baby seal found on the street in New Haven:
A baby seal recently rescued in New Haven is on the road to recovery, according to officials at Mystic Aquarium.
According to a news release from the aquarium, the gray seal, which is estimated to be only a few weeks old, wandered from a beach onto Chapel Street on Sunday…
The news release added that after an exam by the veterinary staff, the seal was found to be lethargic, dehydrated, and thin — weighing only around 28 pounds. According to the aquarium, newborn seal pups typically weigh around 35 pounds. Aquarium spokesperson Cat McElhaney added that the baby seal is "bright and alert" and showing interest in fish; however, he is not eating on his own. To help the seal receive nutrition, he is on an "individualized treatment plan" that includes a diet of diluted fish formula.
We here at Dog Shirt Daily congratulate New Haven’s newest aquatic citizen. In his honor of him, you too should be “bright and alert” today. Maybe try a diet of diluted fish formula.
Tell Me Something Interesting
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is not a small child named Onfim from 13th Century Novgorod, but Onfim certainly was a Beast. He even said so himself:
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