#GRWM: Mexican Avocado Face Mask
"You really look like someone blew their nose on your face."
Good Evening:
The Cause Of The Day
Today’s cause is a fundraiser for Voice of America and US Agency for Global Media journalists who have been put on leave or fired by the Trump administration. The fundraiser is being administered by the USAGM Employee Association:
With the abrupt withdrawal of funding to VOA and USAGM journalists, staff at these organizations are being left without wages, health insurance, and—perhaps most crucially—at risk of losing work visas. Many of these journalists are under threat from authoritarian governments in their home countries. If they are unable to maintain residency in the US or another safe country, they are at risk of retaliation for the work they have done. The money raised through this fundraiser will go to legal expenses for staff at risk of reprisals, to urgent medical expenses for those who have lost coverage, and to other major financial hardships.
Today on #DogShirtTV, the estimable Holly Berkley Fletcher joined me to discuss our latest #getreadywithme video (#skincare #tariffsaresocringe). Then Holly told me about her new podcast:
And we talked about why big law firms are kowtowing to Trump.
Friday On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Caroline Cornett
China's MSS Doxxes and Threatens Taiwanese APT Operators
In the latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren discusses the doxing of four Taiwanese military hackers by China’s Ministry of State Security, a new report on Russia's “shadow war against the west,” a White House directive exempting cybersecurity jobs from layoffs, and the Federal Communications Commission’s formation of a National Security Council:
The day before Carr's press release last week, the FCC announced a "massive deregulation initiative" and published a "Delete, Delete, Delete" public notice that requested input on "every rule, regulation, or guidance document that the FCC should eliminate for the purposes of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens."
We imagine improving security will require regulation, so it'll be interesting to see how these conflicting imperatives play out. It will certainly be a win if the FCC can replace unnecessary regulations with ones that meaningfully improve security.
Fixing the Feeds: A Policy Road Map to Mitigate Algorithmic Harms
Alissa Cooper and Zander Arnao argue that policymakers seeking to mitigate algorithmic harm should pursue designs that encourage long term user value, informed by guidelines such as user controls and design transparency. Cooper and Arnao explain that two solutions commonly favored by policymakers—chronological feeds and limited personalization—have unintended consequences that render them less effective:
The alternative approach described in “Better Feeds” promotes recommender system designs that support long-term user value. This idea encapsulates the objective of aligning recommender system design with outcomes that reflect the deliberate, forward-looking preferences and aspirations of users. For example, recommender systems can support long-term user value by asking users to explicitly state their preferences or relying on surveys or indicators of item quality selected by the users. When recommender systems fail to further long-term user value in these ways, meaningful numbers of users may regret their experiences on a platform or report a loss of self-control. This outcome reflects the fact that optimizing for engagement does not typically promote long-term user value. Design approaches that focus on long-term user value can address harms related to recommender systems while preserving the benefits that thoughtful use of engagement data and personalization can offer.
Podcasts
On Lawfare Daily, Gregory Johnsen join Daniel Byman to discuss the rationale of the Trump administration's decision to bomb Yemen and explain Johnsen’s contention that the Houthis are spoiling for a fight with the United States and Israel:
Videos
On March 21 at 4:30 p.m. ET, I sat down with Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Roger Parloff to discuss the status of the civil litigation against President Donald Trump’s executive actions, including the Department of Government Efficiency’s incursions on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, and the firing of probationary employees:
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is the ptarmigan, which we honor today because of its noises. Seriously. Check out these noises:
In honor of today’s Beast, dye your eyebrows red and make some cool noises.
A Note From EJ Wittes
Holly and Ben are fighting over whose stupid novelty cactus toy is superior. I think their outlook is far too limited. This world is full of vaguely cactus shaped plastic thingamabobs. Including only two such objects in one’s analysis is highly reductive.
I call upon you, followers. Find me the stupidest, ugliest, most irritating cactus toy. Bonus points will be awarded for annoying noises, weird slogans, human physical features inexplicably attached to the cactus, and anything else notably egregious.
If my father insists on adopting a hideous icon of consumerism in the guise of a cactus as the mascot for his show, I’m going to make damn sure it’s the worst possible cactus imaginable. Help me.
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