Random News and Notes 23 July

Quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger faces sentencing today. The skell pled guilty to the 2022 murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in their off-campus apartment at the University of Idaho.

He accepted the minimum 4 life sentences to avoid the death penalty. Hopefully some prisoner in the Idaho prison system will take care of that for us.

A line to gain entrance to the courthouse for the sentencing started shortly after the hearing was announced. While I understand the interest, I did not see an allocution requirement in my quick scan of the plea agreement. It’s doubtful there will be anything to learn today, though there is a presser scheduled for 45 minutes after the hearing ends.

A(nother) Chinese national has been charged with and pled guilty to espionage. According to a Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs press release, on Monday, Chenguang Gong, a dual citizen of the United States and China, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets.

It isn’t clear whether or not Gong transferred the tech to China. That said, if a Chinese national is in the US it isn’t just tourism. Anyone the CCP allows to travel/emigrate to the US is here for a purpose, and that is to do whatever the CCP tells them to do.

The Palisades and Eaton fires this spring devastated large swathes of LA county. Anywhere else in the country rebuilding would have begun already. Not in the CIty of Angels though. A contractor went onto the office that is supposed to be handling the permitting for rebuilds and here’s what he found.

. . . even answer how long it would take to get any kind of approval. They actually say they have no idea – They literally don’t even know how long it could take to get a permit – Not only are the permit fees not waived but this contractor says he’s even had to pay the fees on destroyed properties. The officer is unaware if any refunds can or will be issued. – When asked if any permits are being issued he says “very very few,” so no. This is all on camera, directly at the center Both Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass LIED

There is more bad news for the victims of those fires. It seems the funds raised – nearly $100 million – by the FireAid concert are not going to those affected by the blazes but to non-profits. While a couple of the non-profits are directly aiding victims, most are not. Worse, many do not have any history of disaster relief or any – no matter how tenuous – connection to direct aid programming. CA rep Kevin Kiley, a repub, is calling on an investigation into the funds and the distribution.

Closing with some good news, NPR Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin resigned yesterday. She was butt-hurt over the $1.5 billion in funding that went poof in the rescission bill.

NPR will save $307,444 from her salary and bennies package. Good riddance to bad rubbish.