October 1, 2013

Sousaphones meet gravity, pileup ensues

Making the rounds on the internet recently is this six-sousaphone pileup during a performance of the Lake Travis High School marching band.

Marching bands start working out these routines during the summer and perfect them throughout the football season.

In an instant, all that work can come crashing down.

Accidents happen. They don't always happen while you have a sousaphone wrapped around your body.

Here's the part where gravity takes over.

More at http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/all-ablog-austin/2013/sep/30/sousaphones-meet-gravity-pileup-ensues/ .

Cross-posted in Weird News Group.

September 30, 2013

Baylor Health Care System, Scott & White complete their merger

Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare on Monday completed their merger deal, forming the largest not-for-profit health system in Texas with more than $8 billion in assets and $6 billion in annual revenue.

“Over time, patients in the communities we serve will begin seeing the new brand Baylor Scott & White Health emerge,” Joel Allison, chief executive officer, Baylor Scott & White Health, said in a statement. “We are building a new national model for health care delivery engineered to meet the demands of health care reform, the changing needs of patients and payers and the extraordinary advances in clinical care.”

Allison was CEO of Baylor, based in Dallas. Baylor is one of the largest health care providers in North Texas and Scott & White, based in Temple, is a major provider in Central Texas.

The combined organization includes 43 hospitals, more than 500 patient care sites, more than 6,000 affiliated physicians, and 34,000 employees. It will be guided by a combined team from both Baylor and Scott & White, with Drayton McLane, Jr. serving as chair of the unified board.

More at http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/baylor-health-care-system-scott-white-complete-their-merger.html/ .

September 30, 2013

Texas gets waiver from federal school accountability law

Texas schools on Monday got a reprieve from the increasingly onerous provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The long-awaited decision from the U.S. Department of Education matters to the 85 percent of Texas school districts that would have been deemed failing under federal standards that require more than 90 percent of students to pass the state’s standardized tests in reading and math. Next year, 100 percent of students must pass.

Now, only the 15 percent of lowest performing schools will be subject to federal sanctions.

The Education Department had already granted waivers to 41 other states and Washington, D.C.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/texas-gets-waiver-from-federal-school-accountabili/nbBjw/ .

September 30, 2013

Legendary UT quarterback James Street dies

James Street, the fiery, undersized quarterback who led Texas to an unbeaten season and football national championship in 1969, died Monday morning.

Street, who arrived at Texas as a seventh-string quarterback from Longview, finished his college career with a perfect 20-0 record.

He was best known for his 42-yard touchdown run on a scramble against Arkansas and his pass to Randy Peschel on a crucial fourth-and-3 to set up the winning touchdown in the Game of the Century to nail down the regular-season national title.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/ut-quarterback-james-street-dies/nbBS9/

Cross-posted in Football Group.

Photo gallery: http://www.statesman.com/gallery/sports/james-street-093013/gCDt8/#3938227
Guestbook: http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/statesman/guestbook.aspx?n=james-street&pid=167260610&cid=view#sthash.nOFqo4jY.dpbs

September 30, 2013

Legendary UT quarterback James Street dies

James Street, the fiery, undersized quarterback who led Texas to an unbeaten season and football national championship in 1969, died Monday morning.

Street, who arrived at Texas as a seventh-string quarterback from Longview, finished his college career with a perfect 20-0 record.

He was best known for his 42-yard touchdown run on a scramble against Arkansas and his pass to Randy Peschel on a crucial fourth-and-3 to set up the winning touchdown in the Game of the Century to nail down the regular-season national title.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/sports/ut-quarterback-james-street-dies/nbBS9/

Cross-posted in Texas Group.

Photo gallery: http://www.statesman.com/gallery/sports/james-street-093013/gCDt8/#3938227
Guestbook: http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/statesman/guestbook.aspx?n=james-street&pid=167260610&cid=view#sthash.nOFqo4jY.dpbs

September 30, 2013

Cruz paints Dems as absolutists on Obamacare, cites Gramm as role model (Warning: Graphic Image)

Phil Gramm left the Senate in 2002. Sen. Ted Cruz calls him his role model. (AP file photo/Douglas Healey)


WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, having staged a 21-hour Senate speech demanding defunding of Obamacare, portrayed himself as a man willing to compromise – by which he means he would accept a one-year delay of Obamacare in exchange for averting a government shutdown Monday at midnight.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he painted a delay as a well short of his ultimate goal and therefore a big concession given that to him, defunding isn’t as good as repeal, and delay isn’t as good as defunding.

“It is the Democrats who have taken the absolutist position,” Cruz said.

That, he asserted, means the fault would lie with Democrats in case of a shutdown.

“So far, Majority Leader Harry Reid has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people, `Go jump in a lake.’ He said, `I’m not willing to compromise, I’m not willing to even talk.` His position is 100 percent of Obamacare must be funded in all instances, and, other than that, he’s going to shut the government down…

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/ted-cruz-paints-democrats-as-the-absolutists-on-obamacare-cites-phil-gramm-as-role-model.html/

September 29, 2013

Loss of East Texas town’s hospital (due to Medicare billing fraud) hits home after toddler chokes

[font color=green]Note: This story is behind the paywall at The Dallas Morning News. In order to read the complete story you will need to google "Loss of East Texas town’s hospital hits home after toddler chokes, dies".[/font]

CENTER — On this much, everyone agrees: 18-month-old Edith Gonzalez, who charmed folks in this East Texas town by shaking her pink tambourine in the church choir and pretending to mother her baby sister, shouldn’t have died.

A grape was stuck in her throat. Her family rushed her to nearby Shelby Regional Medical Center. But the hospital was locked and empty.

“I feel in the depth of my soul had a simple ER unit been in the Center area, the child would have survived,” said Charles Bush, a bystander who held her head and prayed as the family waited in vain for help.

-snip-

It’s the latest fallout from the collapse of the hospital chain owned by Dr. Tariq Mahmood. The Dallas-area businessman’s six facilities have been subjected to state and federal crackdowns after alleged billing fraud and substandard care that led to patient deaths.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/headlines/20130928-loss-of-east-texas-towns-hospital-hits-home-after-toddler-chokes-dies.ece .

[font color=green]A couple of paragraphs at the end of the article summarizes the jackass attitudes of rural Texas Repukers:[/font]

September 29, 2013

Researchers: State has lot to gain from health care law

AUSTIN — For state Rep. Garnet Coleman, the soon-to-be implemented Affordable Care Act is a win-win for Texas.

“Once people see the benefits of the act, like having their children on their insurance until they turn 26, they will see why this law was needed,” said the Houston Democrat who predicts at least half of the more than 6 million Texans currently uninsured will get coverage.

“I see the importance for the people of the state of Texas who have no insurance or are under insured,” said Coleman, who in 2009 President Barack Obama appointed to the now-dissolved White House Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform.

But Coleman’s Republican colleagues in the Texas House, Charles Perry of Lubbock and Dan Flynn of Van, see the federal health care law that goes into effect Jan. 1 much differently.

More at http://lubbockonline.com/texas/2013-09-28/researchers-state-has-lot-gain-health-care-law#comment-305401 .

September 29, 2013

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, SEC set to face off in insider trading case Monday

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was playing in a charity golf tournament in June 2004 when he received an email from the top executive at Mamma.com.

“Call me ASAP,” CEO Guy Fauré wrote.

Cuban, a self-made Dallas billionaire, was the largest shareholder of the Canadian Web search firm.

The eight-minute telephone conversation that followed is at the heart of one of the highest-profile and most expensive individual insider trading cases the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought to trial.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20130928-mark-cuban-and-the-sec-face-off-in-court-this-week.ece. The story is behind the paywall so you will need to google the headline of this thread to read the entire article.

[font color=green]After reading the story, it certainly seems like it was insider information to me. If the jury rules guilty then it will cost Cuban a few million on top of the legal fees he has paid for defense. Since this is a civil action Cuban is not at jeopardy of being incarcerated.[/font]

September 29, 2013

Sen. Mary Landrieu sticks with health care law

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana voted Friday to support the Affordable Care Act, despite Republican efforts to pressure her into changing her mind.

-snip-

“(Landrieu) is working to make sure the law is implemented correctly,’’ said Matthew Lehner, her spokesman. “She will not vote to defund the law, which was passed by Congress, signed by the president and upheld by the Supreme Court.’’

Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia singled out Landrieu and three other red-state Republicans last week at a rally of critics of the health care law, which is unpopular in Louisiana.

-snip-

Landrieu and the three other Democrats are up for re-election next year, and the health care law is expected to be a top issue in those campaigns. That’s particularly true in Louisiana where Landrieu, a moderate Democrat faces a challenge from Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, a physician.

More at http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130928/NEWS/130927022/Sen-Mary-Landrieu-sticks-health-care-law?nclick_check=1 .

[font color=green]This is going to be difficult for many liberals in the Democratic Party to do, but we need to keep these senators in office to thwart any attempt by Republicans to defund the ACA.[/font]