Short Takes – 6-29-23

GOP divided on first impeachment target. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “In May and June alone, lawmakers introduced 11 different impeachment resolutions for top Biden officials, five of them sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Aside from Biden, Garland and Mayorkas, Greene also has her sights on FBI Director Christopher Wray and Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.”

Expect a hot, smoky summer in much of America. Here’s why you’d better get used to it. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““We have this this carousel of air cruising around the Midwest, and every once in a while is bringing the smoke directly onto whatever city you live in,” said University of Chicago atmospheric scientist Liz Moyer. “And while the fires are ongoing, you can expect to see these periodic bad air days and the only relief is either when the fires go out or when the weather pattern dies.””

Ransomware Attack Associated With Disruptions at Adjacent Emergency Departments in the US. JAMANetwork.com journal article. Pull quote: “This study found that hospitals adjacent to health care delivery organizations affected by ransomware attacks may see increases in patient census and may experience resource constraints affecting time-sensitive care for conditions such as acute stroke. These findings suggest that targeted hospital cyberattacks may be associated with disruptions of health care delivery at nontargeted hospitals within a community and should be considered a regional disaster.”

Through Pandemics and Wildfires, Can Air Sensors Keep Offices Safe? NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “Moreover, they added, in many buildings, the underlying air-handling infrastructure — the fans and filters, dampers and ductwork — is poorly maintained, and improving indoor air quality will require investing in these basic technologies. Sensors are a “screening tool” for flagging when there might be a problem with indoor air, Dr. Eykelbosh said. “And then you do something else to improve the space.””

Russian General Arrested Following Wagner Mutiny. TheMoscowTimes.com article. Pull quote: “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday dismissed the report as “speculation” and “gossip,” suggesting that Putin had not given in to Prigozhin’s demands for an imminent reshuffle of the Russian military's top brass.” The crumble rumble.

Wagner’s Prigozhin Planned to Capture Russian Military Leaders. WSJ.com article. Pull quote: “Among the likely complications for Western spy agencies—former intelligence officials and Russia analysts said—would be discerning the meaning of intercepted conversations before, during and after the rebellion. While some messages might look like idle venting of frustrations about the Russian military to one set of eyes, they could appear to another as awareness of or even involvement in planning operations, they said.”

Where are Russian generals Gerasimov and Surovikin after Wagner rebellion? Reuters.com article. Pull quote: “Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London, said Surovikin's removal, if true, could be more destabilising to Russia's war effort than Saturday's mutiny, "especially if other associates of Prigozhin/Surovikin start to get purged.”

Chinese Balloon Used American Tech to Spy on Americans. WSJ.com article. When only the best will do, buy American (GRIN) Pull quote: “The Pentagon has said the balloon was part of a global surveillance program by China, with balloons being detected over Europe, Asia and Latin America, as well as the U.S. One official called the program sophisticated for conducting surveillance in airspace above 60,000 feet. Airspace just above that height and below 330,000 feet—the boundary of outer space, where satellites operate—is sometimes described as “near space,” and activities in that band aren’t governed by international law.”

Satellites and Robot Dogs Tackle Fugitive Emissions. ChemicalProcessing.com article. Pull quote: “"Energy Robotics' autonomous inspection solution has convinced us that mobile robots are able to perform inspection tasks consistently and to reliably provide accurate information. We are now testing this technology," says Uwe Piechottka, with process technology and engineering/digital process technologies at Evonik. Piechottka adds that the goal is to use autonomous robots to keep people out of dangerous or health-threatening work environments while increasing the quality and frequency of inspections.”

Open Meetings of the Internet of Things Advisory Board. Federal Register NIST Meeting Notice. Summary: “The Internet of Things (IoT) Advisory Board will meet August 22–23, 2023, and September 26–27, 2023, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., eastern time. All sessions will be open to the public.” IoT Advisory Board site.