[NY Post] Something about rats and a sinking ship...
The boss of California’s doomed $231 billion bullet train project has thrown in the towel.
Ian Choudri, chief executive officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, resigned on Wednesday after a stint marred by scandal surrounding the never-ending and massively expensive project, according to CalMatters.
Choudri took a leave of absence in February after he allegedly intervened in a domestic dispute between his wife and his daughter. Police arrested him on suspicion of domestic violence, but the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute.
In another wacky turn, Choudri’s rail authority paid out $592,900 in "unallowable" expenses incurred by consultants, including rideshare trips to Tiki bars and an "escape room" and first-class flight upgrades, according to a bombshell Inspector General audit.
The rail authority’s chief said he is resigning to focus on "important personal and family priorities."
"This has not been an easy decision, as leading the Authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life," Choudri wrote in a resignation email obtained by Cal Matters.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a full pardon in exchange for a corruption investigation. This was reported on October 28 by the Israeli television channel C14.
Herzog has been promoting this initiative for about two years.
He has, indeed. I don’t know why, since Bibi keeps turning down the opportunity to end the continuous harassment by saying that he is guilty of whatever the latest accusation is.
It could become one of the options for forming a new government if the current distribution of seats following the elections is maintained. The official results of the parliamentary elections have not yet been announced, as the counting of the so-called double envelopes—ballots from military personnel and other categories of voters—is ongoing.
The Israeli President's Office denied this information, calling it false.
RUMINT. Herzog will receive the official election results next week, after which he will consult with parliamentary factions and make a decision within his authority.
The channel explains that Netanyahu may insist on being the first to assume the post of prime minister. This would allow him to serve for another two years with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Parliamentary elections were held in Israel on October 27. According to exit polls by the Kan-11 television channel, Likud has taken the lead, securing 25 seats in the Knesset. Second place goes to the Israeli Prime Minister's key opposition rival, the Yashar party, with 21 seats. A total of 36 parties and groups are running for the 120-seat parliament. A minimum of 61 seats is needed to secure a parliamentary majority. No other political force has achieved this number.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NY Post] 
