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Waste Of The Day: Texas Southern Univ. Spending, Inventory In Shambles Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations, Topline: Texas Southern University has no idea where most of its inventory is located, ignored safeguards meant to prevent overspending, and reported inaccurate information to the Texas Comptroller, according to a state audit released Dec. 31. Key facts: University policy requires inventory to be physically counted every year, but a count has not happened since 2019, according to the audit. Auditors randomly selected 60 pieces of property owned by TSU, and university employees were unable to locate 50 of them. Every piece of property must have a “custodian” responsible for its care. Half of the university’s property either had no custodian or had a custodian who no longer worked for TSU. The university’s purchasing system was equally disastrous. Employees need signed approval before making purchases to ensure the school does not spend more than its budget allows. But auditors reviewed 60 random purchases and found that not a single one had approval. Purchases over $25,000 must include a written contract, but 77% of a random sample of purchases had no contract. When contracts did exist, they could often only be located after “extensive research,” and 97% of them had incorrect information. The school’s reported expenses were “significantly inflated” because school employees recorded many purchases twice in the university’s accounting software. The university’s financial statements from 2023 and 2024 were completed months after the state deadline and contained “significant errors,” including misstating how much the school spent paying back bond debt. In a written response, TSU President J.W. Crawford III agreed with all of the audit’s findings. Background: TSU is one of the nation’s largest public, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs. It received $111 million in state funding and $130 million in federal grants and contracts in fiscal year 2025. TSU had not been audited since 2006, according to Crawford. Both the auditors and Crawford blamed some of the issues on staffing vacancies in warehouses and the Information Technology department. Financial records support that claim. Payroll data obtained by Open the Books and university financial statements both show the school’s payroll expense decreased between 2019 and 2024 — a rarity for any college or public entity. The nearby University of Texas at Austin, for example, increased its payroll by more than $500 million in the same timeframe. Open the Books has not yet obtained Crawford’s salary. His predecessor, Lesia Crumpton-Young, made up to $434,000 in a single year. Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. Critical quote: “The results of the State Auditor’s report released today on Texas Southern University are beyond disturbing,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement. “The Governor, Speaker, and I have already taken action by putting a stop to any spending on any contracts other than ongoing university expenses to keep the school open. “It is my hope, for the sake of the students at the university, that TSU can continue. However, to do so, dramatic and permanent changes must occur immediately to comply with state standards.” Patrick also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate any potential criminal wrongdoing at TSU. Summary: Any entity receiving hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funding should be able to track how the money is being spent. The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com Tyler Durden Wed, 01/21/2026 - 19:15

Oklo Upgraded At BofA On Meta Deal Bank of America upgraded Oklo from Neutral to Buy following Meta’s recent, massive nuclear deal. According to the BofA report (available to pro subs), Meta's agreement with the hyperscaler provides investors with “tangible evidence advanced nuclear is moving from concept to execution.” Meta prepaid $25 million for Phase 1 of Oklo‘s nuclear campus construction in Ohio for approximately 150 MW of energy. The funding is expected to be used for fuel procurement, site preparation, and early development ahead of final PPAs. With 16 reactors expected to come online between 2030 and 2036, this drives BofA’s 2036 targets to $5.9 billion in revenue (vs. $5.5 billion prior), 117 units (vs. 111 prior), and 6.7 GW deployed (vs. 6.3 GW prior), leading to a price target of $127, up from $111 prior. BofA analyst Dimple Gosai, who covers US cleantech at the bank, highlights the sequencing of a ramp to 1.2 GW thanks to the Meta deal, which moves “Oklo‘s opportunity set from ‘conceptual’ to ‘actively financed’ development.” The bank also expects longer-dated cashflow thanks to continued progress on fuel supply and licensing. Specifically for the Ohio nuclear campus, Phase 1 is projected at 150 MW from two reactors online in 2030/31, Phase 2 adding two more reactors in 2032/33, Phase 3 adding four reactors in 2033/34, and finally Phase 4 adding eight reactors in 2035/36. BofA has yet to take into account any of the fuel recycling potential with regards to the mega-project announced for Tennessee. The campus in Tennessee is expected to include recycling and reprocessing facilities to convert used nuclear fuel from traditional reactors into fuel for Oklo‘s fast-spectrum Aurora reactors, as well as process plutonium for use in their Pluto reactor design. Pluto reactors are expected to be deployed at the recycling site in Tennessee as well. Oklo also has multiple other projects, including the Air Force has in Alaska and likely many other hyperscaler deals on the horizon. Not long ago, OpenAI boss Sam Altman left Oklo's board to preclude any conflicts of interest, hinting at a possible deal on the horizon with OpenAI. The positive news still need to be counterbalanced with potential construction and operation headaches of these novel reactor designs. While it is not the first time the US has constructed sodium reactors, the time it takes to achieve operational proficiency and maintain availability greater than 90%, similar to the current commercial fleet, could take years or even decades. More in the full note available to pro subs. Tyler Durden Wed, 01/21/2026 - 18:00

Fraud Is 'Fundamental' Part Of Child Transgender Medical Field Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times, One of the architects of the Health and Human Services (HHS) review of medical interventions for pediatric gender dysphoria said in a recent interview that fraud is an integral part of the transgender medical field. ​Nearly a year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect “children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” Leor Sapir, who assembled a team of experts to produce the HHS review, emphasized that doctors relying on unproven gender-affirming guidelines are misleading patients. ​Sapir, an HHS report author and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told The Epoch Times there is no solid evidence that puberty blockers, hormones, or surgery benefit children who reject their sexual identity, but that evidence exists that these procedures can cause harm. ​The 409-page HHS report states that psychotherapy, rather than unproven medical interventions, has greater benefits for children with gender dysphoria, reinforcing the need for evidence-based approaches. ​“Fraud is not just a feature, or, I should say, it’s not just something that happens in this field. It’s almost fundamental to the field itself,” Sapir said during an interview with American Thought Leader host Jan Jekielek that aired Jan. 15. ​Sapir said that doctors and organizations often rely on guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which he describes as an activist group that presents itself as a medical organization. The group is key in influencing current practice. ​WPATH doesn’t advocate for mental health assessments and helps make sure that the procedures are covered by insurance, he said. ​An Alabama lawsuit involving WPATH disclosed internal documents indicating that WPATH withheld negative findings about treatments for transitioning children, he added. ​Groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, WPATH, and The Endocrine Society cite one another’s guidelines as evidence that the treatments are safe, he said. ​In part, support for medically transitioning children came about because it was framed as a civil rights matter, according to the report. Additionally, this led many in the medical community to neglect the evidence against it and to curtail debate. ​Medical organizations often formed specialized committees to recommend protocols for treating gender dysphoric children. For example, some committees focused on LGBT issues and, according to the report, members’ careers depend on supporting pediatric transitioning. ​The HHS report, titled “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” was originally released in May 2025. While it received many positive peer reviews in November 2025, it also received backlash from those supporting medical intervention for gender dysphoria. ​Sapir noted that the HHS review is unique because it is the first to address the ethics of medically transitioning children and to critique the language that inaccurately describes the procedures. ​“It seems so intuitively obvious that this is ultimately an ethical debate,” he said. ​Ethical considerations include an examination of the risks and benefits of treatment and the idea of patient autonomy, which allows the patient to choose whether to have a procedure. ​The report situates medical ethics within a historical context, referencing the Hippocratic Oath and the principle of “do no harm.” ​One potential harm is that children with gender dysphoria often later identify as gay, so they are disproportionately impacted by transitioning. “We know, based on research, that a significant portion of these kids, if not socially and medically transitioned, will actually come out to be gay later on in life,” Sapir said. Medical ethics has shifted toward informed consent, strengthening protections for patients against unwanted medical interventions. But the doctor…

Mt. Ararat High School senior captain Kayleigh Wagg gets praise from her coach Julie Petrie while coming off the court during Friday’s game against Bangor High School. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) " data-image-caption="Mt. Ararat’s Kayleigh Wagg gets praise from coach Julie Petrie while coming off the court the Eagles’ 47-26 win over Bangor on Friday in Topsham. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) " data-medium-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/01/43364294_20260116_Bang-MtA-GBB_5.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/01/43364294_20260116_Bang-MtA-GBB_5.jpg?w=780" />With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the top seed in multiple regions remains up for grabs.