Leading Off (10/8/09)
1. The opening paragraph to this article about Texas health care being ranked 46th in the nation is a bit depressing.
Health care in Texas ranks among the worst in the nation, dragged down by large numbers of uninsured and by the nation’s most porous safety net, according to a scorecard and analysis released Thursday by the health care-oriented Commonwealth Fund.
On the bright side, a 46th ranking is better than its 48th ranking two years ago.
2. Speaking of rankings, Dallas is a top sports city (No. 9 to be precise), according to Sporting News Magazine. This really isn’t a big surprise to any of us. But it’s still nice to know. And here’s part of the reason it got that ranking.
“The North Texas area has it all: highly competitive teams in all four major sports leagues, and these teams play in arguably the top facilities in their leagues,” Dallas Stars president Jeff Cogen told Sporting News. “Add to those Texas Motor Speedway, FC Dallas, the Roughriders, Air Hogs, Fort Worth Cats, SMU, TCU and UNT, and you have quality sporting options across all areas of the Metroplex, across all sports and something for each pocketbook.”
And in the spirit of some OU-TX rivalry, I would ask you to kindly scroll down the list and notice where Norman and Austin rank. I know, I know. It doesn’t really matter. But it may be the only time I can gloat over UT this year.
3. It’s never too early to start thinking about what gifts you’ll be getting for those you love this holiday season (I like all things shiny). Toy manufacturers are definitely plotting their approach at this week’s Fall Toy Fair being held at the Dallas Market Center. It looks like all your kid’s favorite toys will likely be reduced. And, if you didn’t know, this year’s hot product is the Zhu Zhu Pets hamster toys. The hamsters are like the real thing—except they don’t require cleanup, and they drive cars. All that said, I know where I’m doing my shopping this year.
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How does LA get ranked so high without an NFL team?
I could make an argument for DFW being a top 5 sports market… Add in the level and support of High School athletics and HS facilities and we would easily be top 3…
P.S. – Pittsburgh who ranks #1 lacks both an NBA team and an MLS team (not that anyone really cares about soccer)…
It’s interesting that Texas ranks so low in health care when you consider that it has 3 fantastic hospital centers in the Texas Medical Center, UT Southwestern/Parkland, and Scott and White (Temple). That’s a lot of prestige in the medical research world (Nobel Laureates, National Academy of Science members, Howard Hughes Investigators, etc), but apparently more needs to be done in the public health arenas.
You selectively neglect to mention that’s Oklahoma City + Norman that’s ranked one spot over Austin and OKC has a NBA team. Does that make Austin the highest ranked city without a major league pro team? Not too shabby.
“It’s interesting that Texas ranks so low in health care when you consider that it has 3 fantastic hospital centers in the Texas Medical Center, UT Southwestern/Parkland, and Scott and White (Temple).”
The Commonwealth Fund isn’t really concerned with quality of care as much as they are equality of care. It is a far-left group pushing for single payer healthcare (i.e. socialized medicine). The DMN should be ashamed for not disclosing their source’s agenda.
The two states mentioned in the health care article, Vermont and Maine, better have better health care than Texas. Vermont has a population of less than 1 million people, the largest “city” is less than 40,000 and over 98% of the residents are white. Maine has a population of just over 1 million, its largest city is less than 65,000 and over 98% of the residence are white.
To compare Texas to Vermont or Maine or any other state in Health care is like comparing them to Texas in oil production. I think that their health care quality would take a pretty severe hit if they were over run with illegal immigrants and welfare recipients.