Short Takes – 12-19-23

After years of decline, the Biden administration says environmental enforcement is on the upswing. ABCNews.go.com article. Pull quote: “The agency has set climate change and environmental justice as top priorities for enforcement, along with dangerous chemicals known as PFAS that are linked to a broad range of health issues, coal ash contamination, safe drinking water, prevention of toxic air pollution and chemical accident prevention, Uhlmann said.”

DOD Kicks Off CDAO Continuous Bounty; Jennifer Hay Quoted. ExecutiveGov.gov article. Pull quote: ““We hope to set an example in DoD that running continuous bounties strengthens our assets and sets a precedent that continuous checks on vulnerabilities is achievable and scalable to support obtaining quality data,” said Jennifer Hay, director of Defense Digital Service within CDAO.”

A Major Ransomware Takedown Suffers a Strange Setback. Wired.com article. Pull quote: “In a twist Tuesday afternoon, the gang's dark-web site roared back to life with an image of a cartoon black cat in silhouette and a banner proclaiming, “THIS WEBSITE HAS BEEN UNSEIZED.” The message remained for roughly two hours before law enforcement seemed to get control of the situation and the takedown message returned.”

Trump Is Disqualified From 2024 Ballot, Colorado Court Says in Explosive Ruling. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “In the Colorado court’s lengthy ruling on Tuesday ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr. Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot, the justices there reversed a Denver district judge’s finding last month that Section 3 did not apply to the presidency. They affirmed the district judge’s other key conclusions: that Mr. Trump’s actions before and on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted engaging in insurrection, and that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.” Supreme Court next, but serious time to start thinking about what will happen if this stands.