Make Love not War
By Louise
In a telephone survey of 3,003 U.S. adults conducted by Thomson Reuters - they found effective healthcare reform crossed party lines. 78 percent of Democrats were willing to pay higher taxes, as well as 64 percent of independents and 48 percent of Republicans. That's also true of most all Industrialized countries. While there's a bunch of news out about how many of the European countries are moving right - Europe’s center-right parties have embraced many ideas of the left, generous welfare benefits, nationalized health care, and sharp restrictions on carbon emissions. If we had a floor that none of "us" fell through - then perhaps capitalism would look better. Well....I would add robust financial consumer protections to the mix too.
In strange news...A poll of 15,000 women rated the world's best and worst lovers. German men topped the worst list because they were deemed "too smelly," #2 England (too lazy), #3. Sweden (too quick) #4. Holland (too rough) Americans made it to #5 - too dominating! The Best? Spain, Brazil and Italy. Home of Berlusconi! whose tag line really is "make love not war."
-Thom
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada outperforms the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in overall health of its population, a Canadian report released on Monday showed.
The annual report card by the Conference Board of Canada ranked Canada 10th out of 16 developed countries, with a "B" grade. The United States was the worst performer, placing 16th and earning a "D" grade.
"Canada has been at the center of much of the debate on U.S. health care reform. Since Canada ranks ahead of the United States on all but one indicator of health status ... it is clear that we are getting better results," Gabriela Prada, director of health policy at the Conference Board, said in a statement.
"But when we look beyond the narrow Canada-U.S. comparison to the rest of the world, Canadians rank in the middle of the pack in terms of their health status," Prada said.
Most of the data on which the report card was based is from 2006, the group said.
President Barack Obama has pledged to reform the country's healthcare system, which is expensive and leaves millions of Americans without coverage. Canada, with its single-payer government-run system, is often held out as an example to be praised or derided by U.S. critics.
The Conference Board, which has been issuing the report card since 1996, ranked the 16 countries according to 11 criteria, including life expectancy, mortality due to cancer, circulatory diseases, respiratory diseases, mental disorders, as well as infant mortality and self-reported health status.
Japan was once again the top-ranking country. Switzerland, Italy, and Norway also earned "A" grades.
"B" grades were given to Sweden, France, Finland, Germany, Australia and Canada, while Netherlands, Austria and Ireland earned a "C" grade, the report showed.
Along with the United States, Denmark and the United Kingdom got "D" grades.
Canada and the United States both earned "A" grades on self-reported health status, ranking first and second, respectively, among the 16 countries.
Canada ranked higher than the United States on all of the mortality measures except for mortality due to cancer, a criteria for which both countries earned a "B" grade.
The Conference Board said top-performing countries achieved better health outcomes on broad actions such as environmental stewardship and health promotion programs that focus on changes in lifestyle, along with education, early childhood development, and income to improve health outcomes.
Rank Country Grade
1 Japan A
2 Switzerland A
3 Italy A
4 Norway A
5 Sweden B
6 France B
7 Finland B
8 Germany B
9 Australia B
10 Canada B
11 Netherlands C
12 Austria C
13 Ireland C
14 United Kingdom D
15 Denmark D
16 United States D
Source: The Conference Board of Canada
(Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; editing by Peter Galloway)