Dan Beck 白东明

Today is a good day — any day is a good day — to read and share this February resignation letter from SDNY prosecutor Hagan Scotten to Emil Bove. It’s the type of thing you show your kids as an example of how to be.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia…

Once upon a time the U.S. government needed rocket scientists for its supply of Nazis

Dems should strongly consider impeaching RFK Jr if they take back the House — and maybe should campaign on a pledge to do so

US-UK interoperability is good, but the US, UK, Australia, ROK and Japan naval cooperation is better. We must continue to celebrate these accomplishments and preserve the military’s ability to be beyond politics.

This is meaningful a good example of how military cooperation can be the glue that helps alliances and partnerships continue to develop despite political currents.

New video with Secretary Hegseth and Stuart Scheller, although briefs well, seems like more from a DoD leadership focused on sustaining the culture wars rather than getting serious about advancing the foundations of our defense

The Epstein situation might be the first thing to undermine Trump seriously if more things get unearthed, and it looks like the White House is doing everything to cover it up and move along. It feels qualitatively different than anything else that's come his way. Who knows.

The increasing popularity of the “Japan First” Sanseito Party, and many others, may not bode well for pursuing regional reconciliation central to coalescing against China and may increase the volatility of Japanese domestic politics…I don’t see this as a good thing for our security objectives.

Trump is “undermining U.S. long-term strategic interests by potentially reshaping Europe’s relationship with China….A better approach would help empower Europe as it negotiates with China in ways that benefit broader long-term U.S. interests.” Couldn’t agree more…that is what real leaders do.

Senior staffer Fulcher latest to depart Pentagon. Although anecdotal, a lot of indications and rumor about a poor climate and ineffective leadership from the top of the DOD. thehill.com/policy/defen...

Hmmm, purely coincidence that this story dropped right now…

Yes, more of this…while countering the DPRK is an easy mechanism for coordinating amongst the three initially, we need to push the ROK to more actively assert a role in “other regional security threats” alongside the US and Japan.

China likely to allow import of Japanese seafood after 2 years of it being halted…is Beijing slowly extending the olive branch while Washington-Tokyo relations grow increasingly strained?

Maurene Comey's goodbye note to SDNY colleagues:

Trump approval rating down to 41%, according to an Economist/YouGive poll.

“Six months into the second Trump administration, the United States and Europe finally seem on the same page with respect to helping Ukraine resist Russian aggression.”…it is great that we have gotten here, but why did it have to take this long and at such cost to US credibility in the long term?

Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated). It has granted relief to Trump ... in all 15 rulings. It has written majority opinions in only 3. Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*

Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:

Finally, some good news…

DPRK is making the most out of the Ukraine War, getting prestige, technology, and real combat experience.

Good that we are getting back to supporting Ukraine…but, kind of makes the antics of the President’s first couple months regarding Zelenskyy and Ukraine even more unnecessary.

I actuallly think this is a good idea, but not as a settlement Done well, having a center on campus that trains future conservative leaders in ethical & rigorous evidence-based policy, and creates more options for Republican voters would be good Not saying it would be easy. But would be good

Dark day for US diplomacy: Rubio to cut State Dept by 15%, changes hiring rules to make it nearly impossible for those cut to reapply for new jobs. Most of these cuts target dozens of offices that deal with specific issues, such as human rights, democracy, refugees and war crimes.

”No later than Sept. 1, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force must establish ‘deliberately screened, active-duty experimental formations purpose-built to enable rapid scaling of small UAS across the Joint Force by 2026, prioritizing initial fielding to U.S. lndo-Pacific Command units’.”

“Asia has long been seen as a key battleground between Washington and Beijing, and analysts say, because of tariffs, Trump may be ceding ground.”

🚨 GOOD NEWS: Judge Laplante in New Hampshire has BLOCKED the birthright citizenship order on a nationwide basis, recognizing a viable class action against Trump's executive order.

A good review of the background relevant to Judge LaPlante’s order.

I don’t see sustaining current troop levels in South Korea and “prioritizing China” as opposites

But seriously, why are we imposing steep tariffs on countries that we have a trade surplus with? I want to better understand the logic. Can someone help?

Charting the course of tomorrow’s air and space capabilities for a potential peer conflict…this is the type of long-term, critical conversation DoD leaders must be laser focused on.

With the recent measles outbreaks, the U.S. is experiencing the devastating impact of "alternative facts," which will only worsen under RFK Jr's MAHA campaign. But there are ways to successfully debunk medical misinformation.

"Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin attacked Ukraine, 2024 fundraiser tapes show" Trump also threatened to bomb Beijing if China invades Taiwan. www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/p...

The Ukraine war is a useful issue to help see through the White House’s spin…the President remains unable to make meaningful “deals” and is unable to feign that he is “in control”; foreign leaders do not “fear Trump’s strength” outright; and the Administration’s policies lack coherence.

In the J.O.P. case—one of the cases in which a judge ordered the government to facilitate the return of a man who was removed from the U.S. to CECOT—Judge Gallagher takes judicial notice of El Salvador’s communications with the UN.…and says the Trump administration has some explaining to do.

Not understanding history? The call is coming from inside the house.

Our military continues to adapt as the defense community is still working to figure out what a conflict against the PRC is likely to look like…it is a truly monumental effort that deserves prioritization.

Important week for the US-ROK alliance, a key relationship in the future of the Indo-Pacific. I hope cooperation with Tokyo is also high on the list of bilateral topics.

⚡️Kremlin's war economy shows cracks as military spending boom fades. The slowdown indicates that Western sanctions, though not a knockout blow, are increasingly damaging the Russian economy.

Trump on Iran: "I would say it's set back permanently. If there were to do it again, they might as well start in a different location bc that location is totally demolished. They could start ... but if they did start it would be a problem. We wouldn't allow that to happen"

Falling childhood vaccine coverage and a large outbreak that was kindled in an undervaccinated pocket of West Texas have driven the US to a troubling milestone: There have been more measles cases in the US this year than any other since the the disease was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago

Contrary to U.S. President Donald Trump's assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire. | via @nytimes.com

While it may be legal, the use of Marines domestically is an unhelpful distraction from the real work that needs to be done to prepare for potential conflict with peer adversaries. Not to mention, the Administration is pushing the limits of an apolitical military.

⚡️Pipelines supplying Russian military explode in far east near Vladivostok, intelligence source says. Explosions near Russia's Vladivostok damaged a gas pipeline and destroyed a water pipeline that supply military facilities, an unnamed intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent on July 5.