Gold rush: City's economy larger than Alaska's
Gold rush: City's economy larger than Alaska's
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The Oklahoman Editorial
Published: August 18, 2007
IF Oklahoma City were a state, its economy would be bigger than that of Alaska and four other states, taken individually. By one measure, the city's gross metropolitan product (GMP) in 2005 was $43.1 billion, compared with $39.3 billion for Alaska's gross state product.
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Not all that shocking
Is this a great country or what! You say something offensive that's heard by millions, lose your radio show — then walk away with a boatload of cash. Shock jock Don Imus apparently has done just that in a settlement with CBS Radio, his former employer. CBS fired Imus in April after he used a racial slur to refer to the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The settlement, reportedly worth $20 million, essentially clears the way for Imus to work again, more controversial — and marketable — than ever. Great work if you can get it.
High toll
The Army recorded its highest suicide rate in 26 years in 2006, with more than one out of four soldiers who killed themselves doing so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a new report showing that 99 soldiers committed suicide last year, including 28 deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The report found "limited evidence” that repeat combat deployments increase the risk of suicide. Failed relationships, stress, and legal and financial problems were cited as major contributors. At a minimum, the statistics underscore the need for better pay, top-flight medical and psychological care and other support services for troops and their families.
Back again
In Shawnee, Tucker Brown is practicing for a fifth season of football. Brown injured a leg early last season, which caused him to miss class time that he has to make up this semester in order to receive his diploma. So he sought another semester of eligibility, and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association granted it earlier this year. Brown isn't the first athlete and won't be the last to get such a do-over. Although the OSSAA grants them rarely, we wonder why this is even an option at all. Sports are supposed to be a complement to high school, nothing more. Four years of ball is enough. The OSSAA ought to consider ditching this rule.
Sweet and sour park
If Las Vegas can have its own New York City "skyline” and Disneyland its Magic Kingdom, why not a Chinatown built from scratch? That's what's planned in Germany. The Futurist magazine reports that a $700 million project will create a potential tourist-drawing Chinatown in a city north of Berlin. Investors, including some from China, are sweet on the deal. Despite being home to 72,000 people of Chinese descent, Germany hasn't had a Chinatown since the early 1930s in Hamburg, the magazine says, from which most of the city's 2,000 Chinese residents fled or were rounded up by the Nazis. It's thus fitting — or perhaps sourly ironic — that the new Chinatown will be built near the site of a former concentration camp.
Strangely silent
Some statistics are best taken while sitting down. Newsweek business columnist Robert J. Samuelson writes that none of the 2008 presidential candidates is talking much about the biggest elephant in the room: growing federal entitlements. From 2005 to 2030, the 65-and-older population will nearly double to 71 million Americans, Samuelson writes. As a result Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, if unchanged, will swallow 75 percent of the present federal budget. Balancing the budget with existing programs at their current levels will require hair-raising tax increases of 30 percent to 50 percent. It's a scenario a YouTuber or two should raise at the next debate.

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