I can't believe you haven't yet jumped all over Gonzalez resigning.

Our high infant mortality stems from our highly advanced neonatal resuscitation care. Whereas other "modern" nations do not go through the expense of treating 25 week premies (not alltogether irrational given the extreme cost), here in the US we consider the age of viability to be much younger. Thus the data is skewed against us due to the narrower definition of what constitutes a still-born.

Just food for thought.

It's stories like this one, that the United States is the greatest thing since sliced bread crowd, get their panties in a bunch over. They think pointing out problems proves we hate our country. They are so worried about how we might appear to the rest of the world, that they attack those of us who point to the flaws. We are the ones that love our country and want it to be better. The never criticize never complain crowd is so busy hiding the flaws that they no longer have time to make this a better place to live. How sad.

Nationalism pisses me off more then anything else. It's not about being proud of your country, it's just one-upmanship telling everyone else that you are better in some way then they are. Being a Canadian I am annoyed whenever I see coffee mugs or t-shirts saying "Best Country in the World" with a maple leaf on it. I live there and I know for a fact that it isn't, and just like you said ignoring the problems only keep us stuck where we are and not actualy becoming that better country.

Our high infant mortality stems from our highly advanced neonatal resuscitation care. Whereas other "modern" nations do not go through the expense of treating 25 week premies (not alltogether irrational given the extreme cost), here in the US we consider the age of viability to be much younger. Thus the data is skewed against us due to the narrower definition of what constitutes a still-born. Just food for thought.

I read the report and I can not find support for your opinion therefore without something substantial to back up your claim I find it hard to swallow your "food for thought".

"It's stories like this one, that the United States is the greatest thing since sliced bread crowd, get their panties in a bunch over"

Actually it's stories like these that the 'America sucks' crowd this site caters to get all worked up over. You love trumpeting any flaw you can dig up, and you work endlessly to dig up those flaws.

"Nationalism pisses me off more then anything else."

Of course it does, because you live in a second-rate country.

Okay, that's a joke. But frankly I hear more Canadians rattling on about how great their country supposedly is than I do Americans.

Nationalism shouldn't piss you off. Pride is a good thing. You should be proud of who you are and where you come from. Pride in yourself and your country leads you to work to better your situation. Constant negativity only de-motivates, but I guess it's better than actually doing something, right?

"I read the report and I can not find support for your opinion"

You read a report that doesn't mention the fact he does, and it surprises you that you can find no mention of that fact. Brilliant!

Pretty much every study that skews against the US does so with faulty data. The obesity rate is skewed by the fact that we use the flawed BMI index. The infant mortality rate is skewed by our medical practices (and, in the case of comparisons to Cuba, just outright lies).

You don't question negatives because they feed into your US-hatred. You only question positives, and even then you don't really question them. You just say it's wrong. Liberalism, folks.

Re: the 'blasphemous balls': They should just change the name of the BBC to the Anti-American News Corporation.

The fact that this was an accident is delayed until the very last portion of the article, and it is framed as "The US says this was not intentional" - leaving it open to interpretation.

And, even more shockingly, they fail to mention the fact that the US did not manufacture the balls nor did we provide direction for their manufacture:

Villagers were "upset and angry" when they saw the ball, said Khost governor Arsalah Jamal. "They wanted to demonstrate, but we explained to them it was a mistake," he said Monday. Jamal said the U.S. military had told him they bought the balls in a market in Kabul and that they were made in China.

Yellow journalism from the BBC? There was a time when this would have been shocking.

Pretty much every study that skews against the US does so with faulty data.

This should be the OGM quote of the day, Norm. It's brilliant!