Just One Thing: The FBI's unforgiveable (and expensive) sin
The doctor for USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar, sexually assaulting many young women for many years. He’s now in prison but he would have been there sooner if not for the absolute incompetence of the FBI. An internal FBI investigation found that during 2015 and 2016, agents in Los Angeles and Indianapolis did nothing after being alerted to this monster’s behavior. During the 14 months when the FBI was aware of these allegations but did nothing, at least 40 women and girls were sexually molested or assaulted by Nasser. The head of the Indianapolis office was trying to get a job with the US Olympic Committee at the time. I’m not kidding. Yesterday, the Justice Department announced a settlement of $139 million with Nasser’s victims based on the FBI’s own failures. It’s not just an expensive error; it’s an unforgiveable one.
Watchdog: FBI mishandled Nassar-USA Gymnastics abuse case | AP News
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Today's Guests
Former USA Gymnastics national champion Jennifer Sey (who's also known for other things, of course, but we're focusing on the DOJ/FBI settlement story mentioned above) joins us to discuss this story.
In 2008, Jennifer wrote a book about her experiences in gymnastics including the abusive nature of many coaches (although fortunately for her she was not one of the many victims of sexual abuse). If only people had listened to her instead of smearing her to reflexively defend the coaches and the umbrella organization, many young women would have been spared a lot of pain.
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Dr Michelle Mullen is Senior VP at The Jed Foundation.
We'll discuss a new report about how mental health support can make a huge difference for college students. That said, I have serious questions about why college students are so much more depressed than they used to be and why things like climate change are weighing so heavily on them. (Well, I know the answer, and it infuriates me.)
JED Campuses | The Jed Foundation
A Decade of Improving College Mental Health Systems: JED Campus Impact Report, finds that students attending colleges and universities that participated in the JED Campus program are 25% less likely to report a suicide attempt, 13% less likely to report suicidal planning, 10% less likely to report suicidal ideation, have lower average anxiety and depression scores, and are more likely to graduate.
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On one hand, I have thought for years that Tesla stock was wildly overvalued. On the other hand, you don't get in front of a runaway train so I didn't trade it. Tesla stock was down about 60% from its high in July of last year though today it's up significantly following Elon Musk's announcement that the company is going to focus on creating a more affordable electric vehicle. I don't think the news is as important as the market seems to given that EV prices have already come down so far that it's hard to imagine that the vehicle price is really the thing keeping people from buying, at least in the US. Maybe the investment these is that a much cheaper car will let Tesla gain market share in China, but I'm speculating, if you'll pardon the pun.
Electricity and power industry expert Robert Bryce has a fascinating new article about the troubles at Tesla specifically and EV's generally and wonders whether Tesla could potentially go bankrupt. I think the odds of that are less than 50% but more than 10%. I haven't the slightest guess as to the time frame, though.
I encourage you to subscribe to Robert's Substack...for now, it's still free!
Tesla In Turmoil: The EV Meltdown In 10 Charts (substack.com)
Tesla’s Earnings: Elon Musk’s Future and Other Takeaways (wsj.com)
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Other Stuff
Now just waiting for Biden to sign it (today): Senate passes $95 billion package sending aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of delay | CNN Politics
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Bonus! Donald Trump nabs additional $1.2 billion 'earnout' bonus from DJT stock (yahoo.com)
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When even the Washington Post is reporting on the overwhelming number of illegal immigrant kids flooding into our public schools... Denver-area schools struggle to absorb surge of migrant, refugee children - The Washington Post
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This is a big deal in a lot of ways. It might get overturned by a federal court, but until it does it's likely to be a significant problem for Biden with young voters even though the law itself has bipartisan support; everyone who loves TikTok will know that Biden signed it into law: Congress passes TikTok sell-or-ban bill, but legal battles loom (usatoday.com)
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Related to the conversation with Robert Bryce: Xcel plan for building EV chargers, offering rebates trimmed 40% (coloradosun.com)
Remember that the way Xcel makes money is by spending as much money as possible because they're essentially guaranteed a rate of return by the regulators of their monopoly.
And just for fun, as long as we're bashing "renewable energy": Gone With the New York Wind - WSJ
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Can't say I'm surprised: Ranchers demand Colorado kills 4 wolves that preyed on cows (coloradosun.com)
Looks like there's a start on this already (although it's being reported as likely "natural causes": Reintroduced Colorado gray wolf found dead in Larimer County (denverpost.com)
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Stuff about women (mostly):
Attractive women inspire men to tell the truth and women to lie: study (nypost.com)
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Potentially interesting case at Supreme Court today: 5 things to know about today’s abortion case before SCOTUS - POLITICO
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This is a potentially very big deal though my hunch is that federal courts rule that the FTC doesn't have this authority: FTC Bans Noncompete Agreements That Restrict Job Switching - WSJ
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Interesting case. I hope Starbucks wins, and I don't say that very often: Starbucks versus the union: Supreme Court poised to back company over 'Memphis 7' union workers (msn.com)
More on what the case is about: Court to mull injunction in Starbucks case against Memphis union organizers - SCOTUSblog
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I’ve never ever heard a story like this: Medical miracle: Denver child's heart beats 14 hours later (kdvr.com)
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Today's Videos
This is gonna be the most curious kid ever.
Good parenting