Kevin-

Sugar is bad, bad, bad. Watch this video. Seems we can actually blame the government for some of our sugary woes here in the states. Fructose and Sucrose are horrible, and not just because of the calorie content. Seriously, watch this video. It's a real eye opener.

We're going to be moving our diets far away from most sugar sources once Bel is here. I know a lot of my health issues are from the fructose in everything. Not that I'm terribly unhealthy or anything, but most of the problems can go straight back to the sugar in everything.

Yes James. You are a Jerk. I said: What ??? Butthead ! LOL ... ...... That post.. Stop that! Scared the ______ out of me.....

James, you are a JERK!! I read that subject and nearly freaked out.
Glad to hear all is well with you guys. I for one cannot WAIT to taste my asawa's cooking again. You are so lucky to have her with you.
Keep up the good work!

Well, it's been 1.5 months since I've posted here and since my fiancee and her daughter arrived in the US. Yes. She lied to me. She said she was not a good cook, but that completely untrue. I love her cooking.
I have to say, things could not be better. Way better than I ever imagined. Her and her daughter are great. We are more in love now than ever before. Everyone has adjusted so well.
We have done so many fun things like fishing, camping, hiking, crabbing, 4 wheeling, gardening, traveling, and shopping. Life is great.
-James

your post is now closed. the thread, however, will remain open.

I'm not sure the Filipino culture of reciprocal support within the extended family is properly represented in this question often enough.
The moment it becomes one-sided it is no longer the Filipino cultural model.
The model is reciprocity. It is a mutual support network. Forget about Americanos for a moment. If a Filipino family is always giving labor and money to an Uncle's family and all the family gets in return is arrogance and ingratitude then that's a problem. That isn't the Filipino way.
Because there is an ocean between us, my wife can't have her sisters or cousins take care of our kids while we run off and play together. They'd be happy to do that for us but they can't. They are my work crew/bodyguards when I am over there, but they can't do that right now either.
So the Filipino model works better with us there because they can reciprocate in so many ways they can't with us in the USA.
If you do wish to help the family financially and if you live only in the USA I guess you are automatically in violation of the Filipino cultural model and there is danger of things going awry.
It is understandable why an americano would see this as "you support her family" instead of "families support each other". It's too bad. Because it isn't the Filipino way.

Everyone has a sadistic streak in them, some of course way more than others, but the easiest way to get that sadistic streak out is to have government sanction or tolerate brutality.
Lots of people felt exactly as you do for the tens of thousands of blacks lynched to death by burning, hanging, and beating in full view of law enforcement and the newspaper writers in the USA. The blacks, the indians, the witches, the jews, the homosexuals, the gypsies, the Arabs - there's no end to the list of people we can dehumanize.
One drug, alcohol, kills far more than heroin does - order of magnitude more - plus there's tobacco killing more as well. All you have to do is make alcohol and tobacco death-penalty crimes and just like you people will be found applauding it, relishing the execution of another human being. Pass the beer and nuts, please. What fun!
So too it is for sodomy or insulting the king or whatever. Other people will come out cheering death penalty for that. They filled the Roman Ampitheater with tens of thousands cheering on in wild ecstasy as animals tore other humans apart. It was a carnival sport because the government said it was OK. All over the world at this moment people are being butchered, and the reasoning is always so casual.
I was a death penalty advocate when younger, but the Innocence Project that used DNA to prove shocking numbers of death-penalty convicts were completely innocent that turned the tide for me. I have watched all of these ludicrous FBI cases in the press where they used agents provocateur to both pay and incite these poor dolts into some fantasy "terrorist" plot. People of lower IQ or emotionally unstable nature manipulated into signing false confessions. Witnesses dead-sure of identification that were proven wrong.
When it is a communist system with very little protection of rights, the potential for wrongful prosecution is just too high to cheer on the death penalty, especially when the communist government is making good money selling body parts.
I notice that in a lot of these wrongful prosecution cases the cops play the odds. In most murders for example the perpetrator is known to the victim so that's the first people the cops focus on: family and associates. So we can only hope your cheering on of the death penalty is attended by a loved one of yours being sexually assaulted and murdered, and you are charged with the crime. You'll be innocent, but it will be like others you can watch documentaries on that were wrongfully prosecuted.
I can't pretend to be holier than thou. But anyone applauding execution I urge to think more carefully about it. Ask yourself if you can do the execution personally. Are you really that committed. If we put these particular defendants, the accused drug mules, before you are you saying you'd be happy to kill them yourself? Because to me, that's what you are saying. Now you actually do have to think about consequences. Living with that in your conscience.

Hey Guys
I'm not Filipino but I was looking up more free books for me to download and came across this one: http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Filipino-Food-ebook/dp/B002JVXWNA/ref=kinw_tu_recs_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2 It's currently free. Didn't know if any of you had Kindles or the Amazon kindle app so this book might be good for you.
Hopefully some of you like it

I'm really, really sorry to read this. I'll pray for you. You don't sound like a person who will get angry, which is good. Show her what a truly loving human being is like by continuing to behave lovingly all the way up to when she gets on the plane. Maybe it will help her realize she should fix up her life.
Hmmm. I'm going to take what could be the most unpopular stance on this, but I think it's the right thing to do. If she asks to be forgiven, to give up her "boyfriend" and stay with you and be your wife, and a be better person, do it. In the biggest possible picture, the amount you have to lose by doing this is relatively small compared to what could be gained.
But if that somehow happens, protect yourself by moving most of your money into a separate account. Start keeping a daily journal by emailing yourself in a gmail account (yes, gmail specifically, for many reasons). A journal with an undeniable date stamp from each day can be a slight help against any false accusations she may try to make later. You'd of course have to set some a few new rules, especially about internet chatting. But part of real forgiveness, if you choose to give it, is taking on a genuine belief that the person won't do it again.

It may be useful for you to learn a few things about what the Bible says, so you can help her to learn more about what she claims to believe. One of two things will likely happen: She will realize that she needs to change and change. Or, she will realize (perhaps subconsciously) that she does not actually want to accept it, and will become worse.
The Bible teaches a family hierarchy. The man has the authority and the responsibility as head of the household. The situation you face is evidence as to why this is a good guideline. Men are commanded to Love their wives, while women are commanded to Respect their husbands. The concept of respect comes naturally to men, but not to women; and the ability to love obviously is how women are built, but not so much men. Women have to "work" at being respectful, and men have to "work" at being loving. If both the man and the woman concentrate on this, the marriage will flourish. Men have to learn to ask themselves "will saying or doing this make my wife feel loved?", while women must ask themselves "will my husband feel that respect him?". Very often wives will say "he has to earn my respect first!", but then this leads to men having a very hard time being loving to a woman who disrespects him.
Also, regarding her "license to be bad". If she is using forgiveness as an excuse to do whatever she wants, then I feel the need to ask what denomination she follows? Knowing this will help me compare what she believes with what the Bible actually teaches, if you would like to help her understand it better. Only a few denominations teach that one can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and just use forgiveness to absolve all responsibility. This is very clearly not how forgiveness and repentance work according to the Bible. We are not forgiven if we intend to do whatever it was again. Forgiveness is freely given, but we have to actually repent in order to receive it. Repentance means not merely acknowledging wrongdoing, but also desiring to never do it again.
On the bright side, it means she at least knows that what she is doing is bad, if she knows there is a need to be forgiven for it.
Also, you can suggest to her that she pray for God's guidance in her decisions (which specifically opposes a common attitude of making selfish decisions and then praying for help in executing them)
If it would help, I can provide Bible references for all of these.
There's nothing wrong with him coming here seeking advice from others. Some people go to bars and "whine" to the bartender, or their buddies, or whoever else. Some people use internet forums. I personally don't call it whining. For one, I don't think I was involved in his previous threads, so in the off chance that I (or anyone else who has encountered it for the first time in this particular thread) happen to offer one useful bit of advice, his posting another thread here was surely worthwhile.
There's also nothing wrong with him putting up with her for an eternity. It's that thing called love. See my signature regarding the definition of love.
You may be right about trying to out-manipulate the manipulator, but maybe we can collectively with that.

I agree and disagree with that. I quoted him in agreement earlier, because the principle is sound. If you live in the Philippines, you're likely to live through some typhoons. If you're a human on this earth, you're likely to encounter medical expenses at unexpected times. Some medical expenses can be beyond what a person is ever capable of saving up for. But if they're asking for "help" by seeking the whole bill from their one relative in America every single time something happens, then they're obviously just relying on that person. Responsible people plan for the "known unknowns" as much as they can.
If, on the other hand, the family only asks for help when it's really needed, that's a different thing. There is also the fact that some families are just really, really poor and can't do much beyond day to day living. In those situations I say the help should include "teach a man to fish".
A little off topic: If you really want to help somebody over there get ahead, help them take a high quality English course (if needed), get them a reliable computer with reliable internet, and help them learn web development. They can use sites like odesk.com to make a good living providing a useful service. Web development is just an example that I'm personally aware of, anything that can be done on a remote contract basis would work.

Gilles, I'm praying for you and your wife.
I hope she is not a purely evil manipulator as Bob suspects. I hope she will realize that she is in error, and that the good part of her will feel guilty for the way she is acting.
I don't know if I've read your other threads, but in this one you present evidence that can be seen two ways. She may be fighting conflicting emotions, including guilt, because she feels overwhelmingly obligated to help her family, but also knows she should be responsible with you, "her new family". It could also be what Bob says. I hope what he said about her behavior around other men is purely speculation extending from the financial infidelities, and isn't actually happening.
Does she believe in God? If she does, then a simple pair of questions can and should be applied to her actions. Ask her: Do you believe in God? (rhetorical to remind her) Does God approve of this? Explain the consequences of her actions as they pertain to you and her. You could include the comparison Bob made about her acting like the enemy, going behind your back and lying about it.
I imagine the further away people are from enforcement of that new law, the more likely the hospitals will not release you if you don't pay. I know Bel's sister was held for several days when their baby was hospitalized. We helped, but we couldn't afford to pay the whole thing, and Bel does not want everyone relying on us for every need, just as Bob mentioned:
And Adiiann mentioned: I have a personal "weakness" in that if we can afford it, I'm tempted to help her family there with every thing they need. But this is not good for them. People need to support themselves, especially the siblings who are more than capable of supporting themselves. We've decided to help her mother, because most likely the siblings will stop supporting mom because there's a 'kano in the family now. But we are going to be careful about that, so that it's only for mom, and strongly encourage the younger siblings to get out on their own and live in their own means. Most people who are given a free ride through life become irresponsible and selfish people. Working for a living tends to teach a respectful attitude, and a healthy level of humility.
If you seek counseling BE CAREFUL!!! Not all counselors are equal, and not all counselors actually want to help marriages, even if they are using the Marriage Counselor title. Some female marriage counselors are actually stout anti-male feminists who want to carefully dismantle the marriages of the women who come to them for help. I imagine this is not common, but it definitely does happen. I personally know people who have had this happen to them. Imagine a marriage counselor telling the woman to do this: One night the husband is cooking dinner. When he's almost done she gathers the kids and goes to pick up some fast food. They bring it right back home and eat it at the kitchen table, all without her saying anything to him. She's been informed that if he gets angry about this, then he's an evil, terrible man and she should consider leaving him.
Finally, your patience is a virtue. Don't let anyone tell you to stop being patient.

My answer to the title of this thread is DON'T.
If there's been no infidelity, don't divorce her and don't ship her back to her country. I'm basing what I write next on this one post, assuming a few things. Forgive me if my assumptions are in error.
"For better or for worse." To be quite honest, I think you're being lazy about fixing your marriage. You should not get married unless you love the person enough to go to the ends of the earth for them. You haven't reached the ends of the earth yet. If she actually thinks you've cheated on her and still is with you, she may be enduring immense emotional pain just because she loves you enough to stay with you even through the "cheating" she imagines. She might not actually think you're cheating on her, but could just be very angry about the past infidelities and is taking that out on you. Yes, that is unjust, but you can handle it and help her get over what they did.
So why, you might ask, do I say you're being lazy? There is more you can do to assure her that you are not cheating. It may not be as easy as a long drawn out quarrel (which isn't easy). But, it's not impossible. Show her that you're willing to do anything to earn her trust. Stop watching TV, and she can no longer accuse you of lusting over the ladies on the screen. Really, if you're not willing/able to give up TV for her, how much do you actually love her? When she's not angry, you need to tell her you love her very much and ask what you can do to assure her that you're not like those other guys, that you're not cheating on her. If what she says is possible at all, do it. You could get another job, or build a work-from-home career (I can help with that if you're interested). Maybe your line of work is such that she could visit you at work. Or maybe you could send her a picture of yourself from your cell phone every 30 minutes. Yes, this could be called ridiculous. This is the "for worse" part that you signed up for.
Are you ever going anywhere without her? (aside from work) Don't. If you're going "out with the guys", then put that on hold until your marriage is in tip-top shape. Get joined at the hip and go everywhere together. It might end up that you have to remain this way to keep your marriage in good shape, but the results will be low stress and high happiness.
If you're both seeing the counselor together, maybe it's time for a different counselor. If it's only her, it's possible you got a really bad one who is only making things worse (I know people who have actually had malicious marriage counselors who work to destroy their marriage). Try another one, and don't just grab one out of the phone book.
Try not to yell. I don't know if you are, but most people seem to yell in heated arguments. So, try not to yell anymore. Be calm in tone and word choice, even if she's screaming at you. Be solemn (don't just act it, be it), yet caring. Don't say hurtful things to her, even if they're true, and even if she's saying hurtful things to you. Also remember that it takes two people to argue. Don't let yourself be the one to start any argument. And, if the apparent topic of the argument is not a giant issue, don't argue about it. "Yes, dear", "Okay honey", and "I'm sorry", are phrases you should become intimate with, but not with any sarcasm.
Get this book. Read it, and ask her to read it as well.
Finally, my signature contains tidbits that are good for life in general, including marriage.

My answer to the title of this thread is DON'T.
If there's been no infidelity, don't divorce her and don't ship her back to her country. I'm basing what I write next on this one post, assuming a few things. Forgive me if my assumptions are in error.
"For better or for worse." To be quite honest, I think you're being lazy about fixing your marriage. You should not get married unless you love the person enough to go to the ends of the earth for them. You haven't reached the ends of the earth yet. If she actually thinks you've cheated on her and still is with you, she may be enduring immense emotional pain just because she loves you enough to stay with you even through the "cheating" she imagines. She might not actually think you're cheating on her, but could just be very angry about the past infidelities and is taking that out on you. Yes, that is unjust, but you can handle it and help her get over what they did.
So why, you might ask, do I say you're being lazy? There is more you can do to assure her that you are not cheating. It may not be as easy as a long drawn out quarrel (which isn't easy). But, it's not impossible. Show her that you're willing to do anything to earn her trust. Stop watching TV, and she can no longer accuse you of lusting over the ladies on the screen. Really, if you're not willing/able to give up TV for her, how much do you actually love her? When she's not angry, you need to tell her you love her very much and ask what you can do to assure her that you're not like those other guys, that you're not cheating on her. If what she says is possible at all, do it. You could get another job, or build a work-from-home career (I can help with that if you're interested). Maybe your line of work is such that she could visit you at work. Or maybe you could send her a picture of yourself from your cell phone every 30 minutes. Yes, this could be called ridiculous. This is the "for worse" part that you signed up for.
Are you ever going anywhere without her? (aside from work) Don't. If you're going "out with the guys", then put that on hold until your marriage is in tip-top shape. Get joined at the hip and go everywhere together. It might end up that you have to remain this way to keep your marriage in good shape, but the results will be low stress and high happiness.
If you're both seeing the counselor together, maybe it's time for a different counselor. If it's only her, it's possible you got a really bad one who is only making things worse (I know people who have actually had malicious marriage counselors who work to destroy their marriage). Try another one, and don't just grab one out of the phone book.
Try not to yell. I don't know if you are, but most people seem to yell in heated arguments. So, try not to yell anymore. Be calm in tone and word choice, even if she's screaming at you. Be solemn (don't just act it, be it), yet caring. Don't say hurtful things to her, even if they're true, and even if she's saying hurtful things to you. Also remember that it takes two people to argue. Don't let yourself be the one to start any argument. And, if the apparent topic of the argument is not a giant issue, don't argue about it. "Yes, dear", "Okay honey", and "I'm sorry", are phrases you should become intimate with, but not with any sarcasm.
Get this book. Read it, and ask her to read it as well.
Finally, my signature contains tidbits that are good for life in general, including marriage.

My answer to the title of this thread is DON'T.
If there's been no infidelity, don't divorce her and don't ship her back to her country. I'm basing what I write next on this one post, assuming a few things. Forgive me if my assumptions are in error.
"For better or for worse." To be quite honest, I think you're being lazy about fixing your marriage. You should not get married unless you love the person enough to go to the ends of the earth for them. You haven't reached the ends of the earth yet. If she actually thinks you've cheated on her and still is with you, she may be enduring immense emotional pain just because she loves you enough to stay with you even through the "cheating" she imagines. She might not actually think you're cheating on her, but could just be very angry about the past infidelities and is taking that out on you. Yes, that is unjust, but you can handle it and help her get over what they did.
So why, you might ask, do I say you're being lazy? There is more you can do to assure her that you are not cheating. It may not be as easy as a long drawn out quarrel (which isn't easy). But, it's not impossible. Show her that you're willing to do anything to earn her trust. Stop watching TV, and she can no longer accuse you of lusting over the ladies on the screen. Really, if you're not willing/able to give up TV for her, how much do you actually love her? When she's not angry, you need to tell her you love her very much and ask what you can do to assure her that you're not like those other guys, that you're not cheating on her. If what she says is possible at all, do it. You could get another job, or build a work-from-home career (I can help with that if you're interested). Maybe your line of work is such that she could visit you at work. Or maybe you could send her a picture of yourself from your cell phone every 30 minutes. Yes, this could be called ridiculous. This is the "for worse" part that you signed up for.
Are you ever going anywhere without her? (aside from work) Don't. If you're going "out with the guys", then put that on hold until your marriage is in tip-top shape. Get joined at the hip and go everywhere together. It might end up that you have to remain this way to keep your marriage in good shape, but the results will be low stress and high happiness.
If you're both seeing the counselor together, maybe it's time for a different counselor. If it's only her, it's possible you got a really bad one who is only making things worse (I know people who have actually had malicious marriage counselors who work to destroy their marriage). Try another one, and don't just grab one out of the phone book.
Try not to yell. I don't know if you are, but most people seem to yell in heated arguments. So, try not to yell anymore. Be calm in tone and word choice, even if she's screaming at you. Be solemn (don't just act it, be it), yet caring. Don't say hurtful things to her, even if they're true, and even if she's saying hurtful things to you. Also remember that it takes two people to argue. Don't let yourself be the one to start any argument. And, if the apparent topic of the argument is not a giant issue, don't argue about it. "Yes, dear", "Okay honey", and "I'm sorry", are phrases you should become intimate with, but not with any sarcasm.
Get this book. Read it, and ask her to read it as well.
Finally, my signature contains tidbits that are good for life in general, including marriage.

The reason health care is expensive in the US is three-fold. 1. It's the best in the world. The best of anything usually costs the most, or at least nearly the most. 2. Lack of government regulation in SOME areas, which goes right along with 3. Over-regulation by government in many areas. If government could regulate a bit more the few areas that need it, and back out of the myriad areas which they are armpit-deep in and shouldn't be, cost of health care would become much lower for everyone in the US.
However, it's generally not so expensive that people can't afford it. It's not very hard to get an insurance policy that will cover basic needs and maintenance. Many good employers offer very good health care plans. If a person doesn't work for one of them, then they can (and should) make sacrifices on their other expenses to get good health care. For example: drive a more affordable car, live in a less fancy house or apartment, drink less starbucks, cook food at home more often, etc.
Health care is not a basic human right. It is a logical fallacy to say that any person has a right to another person's product or service. Health care is a product and a service provided by people who also have rights. Creating a "right" to a product or service means that other people's rights must be infringed upon in order to provide this "right" to people who can't afford it themselves. This is pure logic.
Health care is not free. It can never be free. If you're not "paying for it", then somebody else is paying for it against their will through taxes, or you're paying for it yourself through taxes. And when you pay for it through taxes, you pay more than it's worth, because the government has to take some of that money out to cover the cost of operating a very thick layer of bureaucracy between you and the care provider. Additionally, the government is then involved in monetary decisions about whether to cover certain types of procedures.
Since when is any government good at being efficient and making decisions that are good for individuals?
There is a ton of infuriating political propaganda (including the W.H.O.'s 10-year-old data) trying to make the US health care system look horrible. Statistics are often quoted which sound really bad. But upon a deep investigation of those stats you can find that other countries count their stats differently than we do. One example has to do with newborn death rate. In the US we count almost every baby that dies at or near the birth process due to medical problems of any kind as one of these incidents. In the countries we are often compared to, they don't count "all" of them. Premature doesn't count, etc. We have a higher rate because we count every single bad situation. We don't doctor our stats to look better, because we have the highest standards in the world. It's similar to how the UK claims to have lower rates of certain types of crime than we do, by changing the standards by which they are recorded.
"You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
The only place where a free health care systme can ever exist is the one place that it will never be needed: Heaven.
How do you know when something is the best? When everybody who doesn't have it tries to point out how bad it is. Like how Porsche tries to let everyone know how bad the Nissan GT-R is. Heh.
Also, this is coming from a person who is a U.S. Citizen, living in the U.S., without a health care plan (for now), and who does NOT want any health care assistance from the government.

http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/06/popular-ranking-unfairly-misrepresents-the-us-health-care-system/
Here's a couple interesting facts:
Americans have a higher survival rate than any other country on earth for 13 of 16 of the most common cancers.
Belinda Stronach, former liberal member of the Canadian Parliament and Cabinet member (one of the health care systems touted as “superior” to the US) abandoned the Canadian Health Care system to undergo her cancer treatment in California.
EVERYONE WHO THINKS THE US HEALTHCARE "SYSTEM" IS NOT GOOD, BASED ON THE W.H.O. RANKINGS, NEEDS TO READ THIS.
Even though the data is ten years old, let's have a look at the WHO's ranking system, shall we?
WHO’s health care rankings are constructed from five factors each weighted according to a formula derived by WHO. These are:
1. Health Level: 25 percent
2. Health Distribution: 25 percent
3. Responsiveness: 12.5 percent
4. Responsiveness Distribution: 12.5 percent
5. Financial Fairness: 25 percent
Let's now define these factors.
Health Level. A measure of a countries "disability adjusted life expectancy". This factor makes sense, since it is a direct measure of the health of a country’s residents. However, even “life expectancy” can be affected by many factors not related to health care per se, such as poverty, homicide rate, dietary habits, accident rate, tobacco use, etc. In fact, if you remove the homicide rate and accidental death rate from MVA’s from this statistic, citizens of the US have a longer life expectancy than any other country on earth.
Responsiveness. Measures a variety of factors such as speed of service, choice of doctors, and amenities (e.g. quality of linens). Some of these make sense to include (speed of service) but some have no direct relationship to health care (quality of linens). These two factors at least make some sense in a ranking of health care, but each is problematic as well. ((this paragraph was quoted. Having personally been hospitalized in third world country hospitals, the quality of linens matters. But, I highly doubt that quality of linens was any different across the first-world countries in the list))
Financial Fairness: This is the big one. Measures the percentage of household income spent on health care. It can be expected that the “percentage” of income spent on health care decreases with increasing income, just as is true for food purchases and housing. Thus, this factor does not measure the quality or delivery of health care, but the value judgment that everyone should pay the same “percentage” of their income on health care even regardless of their income or use of the system. This factor is biased to make countries that rely on free market incentives look inferior. It rewards countries that spend the same percentage of household income on health care, and punishes those that spend either a higher or lower percentage, regardless of the impact on health. In the extreme then, a country in which all health care is paid for by the government (with money derived from a progressive tax system), but delivers horrible health care, will score perfectly in this ranking, whereas a country where the amount paid for health care is based on use of the system, but delivers excellent health care will rank poorly. To use this factor to justify more government involvement in health care, therefore, is using circular reasoning since this factor is designed to favor government intervention.
Health Distribution and Responsiveness Distribution. These measure inequality in the other factors. In other words, neither factor actually measures the quality of health care delivery, because “inequality of delivery” is independent of “quality of care”. It is possible, for example, to have great inequality in a health care system where the majority of the population gets “excellent” health care, but a minority only gets “good” health care. This system would rank more poorly on these measures than another country that had “equal”, but poor, health care throughout the system.
It is very clear to see, based on this criteria, that a country with the best actual health care measurements in the world could have a lower score on the WHO's rank than a country where all health care is paid for by the government, but has horrible actual health care measurements. The actual quality of care is only 25% of the ranking. And, we don't get to know which criteria they looked at for those bits either. Since we can already see that they're trying very hard to make government-run health care look highly favorable, it's easy to be very skeptical of that measurement as well.
Additionally, the Financial Fairness portion means that a nation with more wealthy people who choose to pay for their own health care (with or without a privately funded coverage plan) will score lower than a country where everyone pays the same percentage of their income on health care. Regardless of the quality of care.
Finally, a very interesting bit of analysis on another part of WHO's data.
http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2007/07/whos-healthcare-rankings-part-3.html

The reason health care is expensive in the US is three-fold. 1. It's the best in the world. The best of anything usually costs the most, or at least nearly the most. 2. Lack of government regulation in SOME areas, which goes right along with 3. Over-regulation by government in many areas. If government could regulate a bit more the few areas that need it, and back out of the myriad areas which they are armpit-deep in and shouldn't be, cost of health care would become much lower for everyone in the US.
However, it's generally not so expensive that people can't afford it. It's not very hard to get an insurance policy that will cover basic needs and maintenance. Many good employers offer very good health care plans. If a person doesn't work for one of them, then they can (and should) make sacrifices on their other expenses to get good health care. For example: drive a more affordable car, live in a less fancy house or apartment, drink less starbucks, cook food at home more often, etc.
Health care is not a basic human right. It is a logical fallacy to say that any person has a right to another person's product or service. Health care is a product and a service provided by people who also have rights. Creating a "right" to a product or service means that other people's rights must be infringed upon in order to provide this "right" to people who can't afford it themselves. This is pure logic.
Health care is not free. It can never be free. If you're not "paying for it", then somebody else is paying for it against their will through taxes, or you're paying for it yourself through taxes. And when you pay for it through taxes, you pay more than it's worth, because the government has to take some of that money out to cover the cost of operating a very thick layer of bureaucracy between you and the care provider. Additionally, the government is then involved in monetary decisions about whether to cover certain types of procedures.
Since when is any government good at being efficient and making decisions that are good for individuals?
There is a ton of infuriating political propaganda (including the W.H.O.'s 10-year-old data) trying to make the US health care system look horrible. Statistics are often quoted which sound really bad. But upon a deep investigation of those stats you can find that other countries count their stats differently than we do. One example has to do with newborn death rate. In the US we count almost every baby that dies at or near the birth process due to medical problems of any kind as one of these incidents. In the countries we are often compared to, they don't count "all" of them. Premature doesn't count, etc. We have a higher rate because we count every single bad situation. We don't doctor our stats to look better, because we have the highest standards in the world. It's similar to how the UK claims to have lower rates of certain types of crime than we do, by changing the standards by which they are recorded.
"You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
The only place where a free health care systme can ever exist is the one place that it will never be needed: Heaven.
How do you know when something is the best? When everybody who doesn't have it tries to point out how bad it is. Like how Porsche tries to let everyone know how bad the Nissan GT-R is. Heh.
Also, this is coming from a person who is a U.S. Citizen, living in the U.S., without a health care plan (for now), and who does NOT want any health care assistance from the government.

The reason health care is expensive in the US is three-fold. 1. It's the best in the world. The best of anything usually costs the most, or at least nearly the most. 2. Lack of government regulation in SOME areas, which goes right along with 3. Over-regulation by government in many areas. If government could regulate a bit more the few areas that need it, and back out of the myriad areas which they are armpit-deep in and shouldn't be, cost of health care would become much lower for everyone in the US.
However, it's generally not so expensive that people can't afford it. It's not very hard to get an insurance policy that will cover basic needs and maintenance. Many good employers offer very good health care plans. If a person doesn't work for one of them, then they can (and should) make sacrifices on their other expenses to get good health care. For example: drive a more affordable car, live in a less fancy house or apartment, drink less starbucks, cook food at home more often, etc.
Health care is not a basic human right. It is a logical fallacy to say that any person has a right to another person's product or service. Health care is a product and a service provided by people who also have rights. Creating a "right" to a product or service means that other people's rights must be infringed upon in order to provide this "right" to people who can't afford it themselves. This is pure logic.
Health care is not free. It can never be free. If you're not "paying for it", then somebody else is paying for it against their will through taxes, or you're paying for it yourself through taxes. And when you pay for it through taxes, you pay more than it's worth, because the government has to take some of that money out to cover the cost of operating a very thick layer of bureaucracy between you and the care provider. Additionally, the government is then involved in monetary decisions about whether to cover certain types of procedures.
Since when is any government good at being efficient and making decisions that are good for individuals?
There is a ton of infuriating political propaganda (including the W.H.O.'s 10-year-old data) trying to make the US health care system look horrible. Statistics are often quoted which sound really bad. But upon a deep investigation of those stats you can find that other countries count their stats differently than we do. One example has to do with newborn death rate. In the US we count almost every baby that dies at or near the birth process due to medical problems of any kind as one of these incidents. In the countries we are often compared to, they don't count "all" of them. Premature doesn't count, etc. We have a higher rate because we count every single bad situation. We don't doctor our stats to look better, because we have the highest standards in the world. It's similar to how the UK claims to have lower rates of certain types of crime than we do, by changing the standards by which they are recorded.
"You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
The only place where a free health care systme can ever exist is the one place that it will never be needed: Heaven.
How do you know when something is the best? When everybody who doesn't have it tries to point out how bad it is. Like how Porsche tries to let everyone know how bad the Nissan GT-R is. Heh.
Also, this is coming from a person who is a U.S. Citizen, living in the U.S., without a health care plan (for now), and who does NOT want any health care assistance from the government.

The reason health care is expensive in the US is three-fold. 1. It's the best in the world. The best of anything usually costs the most, or at least nearly the most. 2. Lack of government regulation in SOME areas, which goes right along with 3. Over-regulation by government in many areas. If government could regulate a bit more the few areas that need it, and back out of the myriad areas which they are armpit-deep in and shouldn't be, cost of health care would become much lower for everyone in the US.
However, it's generally not so expensive that people can't afford it. It's not very hard to get an insurance policy that will cover basic needs and maintenance. Many good employers offer very good health care plans. If a person doesn't work for one of them, then they can (and should) make sacrifices on their other expenses to get good health care. For example: drive a more affordable car, live in a less fancy house or apartment, drink less starbucks, cook food at home more often, etc.
Health care is not a basic human right. It is a logical fallacy to say that any person has a right to another person's product or service. Health care is a product and a service provided by people who also have rights. Creating a "right" to a product or service means that other people's rights must be infringed upon in order to provide this "right" to people who can't afford it themselves. This is pure logic.
Health care is not free. It can never be free. If you're not "paying for it", then somebody else is paying for it against their will through taxes, or you're paying for it yourself through taxes. And when you pay for it through taxes, you pay more than it's worth, because the government has to take some of that money out to cover the cost of operating a very thick layer of bureaucracy between you and the care provider. Additionally, the government is then involved in monetary decisions about whether to cover certain types of procedures.
Since when is any government good at being efficient and making decisions that are good for individuals?
There is a ton of infuriating political propaganda (including the W.H.O.'s 10-year-old data) trying to make the US health care system look horrible. Statistics are often quoted which sound really bad. But upon a deep investigation of those stats you can find that other countries count their stats differently than we do. One example has to do with newborn death rate. In the US we count almost every baby that dies at or near the birth process due to medical problems of any kind as one of these incidents. In the countries we are often compared to, they don't count "all" of them. Premature doesn't count, etc. We have a higher rate because we count every single bad situation. We don't doctor our stats to look better, because we have the highest standards in the world. It's similar to how the UK claims to have lower rates of certain types of crime than we do, by changing the standards by which they are recorded.
"You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
The only place where a free health care systme can ever exist is the one place that it will never be needed: Heaven.
How do you know when something is the best? When everybody who doesn't have it tries to point out how bad it is. Like how Porsche tries to let everyone know how bad the Nissan GT-R is. Heh.
Also, this is coming from a person who is a U.S. Citizen, living in the U.S., without a health care plan (for now), and who does NOT want any health care assistance from the government.