Short Takes – 11-7-23

Senate eyes huge ‘maxi-bus’ to address year-end spending crunch. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““At least if there is a decision made by the leaders to put all nine of the remaining bills together, at least they’re bills that have gone through committee, [have] been vetted, will be subject to amendment, are not drafted by just a few people behind closed doors,” she said.”

Open Meeting of the Internet of Things Advisory Board. Federal Register NIST Meeting Notice. Pull quote: “The agenda for the December meeting is expected to focus on finalizing the organization of the recommendations to be included in the IoT Advisory Board's report for the IoT Federal Working Group as well as continued refinement of that report and filling gaps in those recommendations.” May include CI security discussions.

Hazardous Materials: Public Meeting Notice for the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Research, Development & Technology Virtual Forum. Federal Register PHMSA Meeting Notice. Summary: “The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) will hold a public Research, Development & Technology Virtual Forum on Zoom Webinar on November 28, 2023. During this one-day event, OHMS will present the results of recently completed projects; brief attendees on new project plans; and obtain stakeholder input on the direction of current and future research topics, including mitigation of climate change, risk management and mitigation, packaging integrity, emerging technology, and technical analysis to aid risk assessment. The forum will enable OHMS to solicit comments related to new research topics that may be considered for inclusion in its future work. OHMS is particularly interested in the research gaps associated with energetic materials (explosives) characterization and transportation; safe transportation of energy products (e.g., crude oil); safe containment and transportation of compressed gases; and safe packaging and transportation of charge storage devices (e.g., lithium- ion batteries) and how these might aid in mitigation of climate change.”

Artificial Intelligence. WHMurray.blogspot.com article. Pull quote: “The computer, with or without AI, is a tool.  Tools vary in quality, utility, usability, and use.  The user is responsible for the selection of the tool, the purpose to which it is put, and for all the properties of the result.  We call this security and we forget any part of it at our peril. We must not impute authority or autonomy to the tool; we must not anthropomorphize the tool.  "The craftsman does not blame his tools."  We must hold people accountable for how we use this powerful new tool.”

A Secret War, Strange New Wounds, and Silence From the Pentagon. DNYUZ.com article. Pull quote: “More than half the Marines in the battery had eventually received diagnoses of traumatic brain injuries, according to a briefing prepared for Marine Corps headquarters. The report warned that the experience in Syria showed that firing a high number of rounds, day after day, could incapacitate crews “faster than combat replacements can be trained to replace them.”” One report is not conclusive, but it does indicate that more research is needed.

Speaker Johnson on GOP plan to avert government shutdown: ‘Trust us’. WashingtonPost.com article. Pull quote: “The impasse reflects the immense political challenge Johnson faces in trying to ensure the government stays open while remaining in office amid the GOP’s fierce internal divisions. Former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted last month after relying on Democratic votes to fund the government until mid-November, and it’s not clear that Johnson will have much more room to work across the aisle than his predecessor did.”