What's going on in the world according to FlipMo & Friends.
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Ireland to shut Vatican embassy in cost overhaul
(Reuters) - Ireland will close its embassy to the Vatican, one of the Catholic country's oldest missions, to help meet its fiscal goals under an EU-IMF bailout, the government said on Thursday, prompting criticism from the Church's top man in Ireland.
Relations between the Irish government and the Vatican, once traditional allies, are at an all-time low over the Church's handling of sex abuse cases. But Eamon Gilmore, the minister for foreign affairs, denied the embassy closure was linked.
"That was not a consideration," Gilmore told state broadcaster RTE. "Our diplomatic relations with the Vatican will continue and they are valued."
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland criticised the move and said he was profoundly disappointed.
"This decision seems to show little regard for the important role played by the Holy See in international relations and of the historic ties between the Irish people and the Holy See over many centuries," Cardinal Sean Brady said in a statement.
"I hope that today's decision will be revisited as soon as possible and that it can be addressed at the next meeting of the Church-State structured dialogue."
The Vatican recalled its ambassador to Ireland in July after Prime Minister Enda Kenny accused the Holy See of obstructing investigations into sexual abuse by priests.
Gilmore said he did not expect the Vatican now to close its mission in Dublin.
"The fact that we have chosen to close our mission in the Vatican and to have it serviced from Dublin doesn't necessarily mean that we won't have a Papal Nuncio here," he said.
Ireland is closing three embassies as part of the overhaul, including missions in Iran and Timor Leste, which will save the country 1.25 million euros (1.075 million pounds) a year.
In a statement, Gilmore said the embassy to the Holy See yielded no economic return. It was established in 1929 at a time when Ireland's only other diplomatic missions were to Washington, London and the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.
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Well done, Ireland.
DUBLIN | Fri Nov 4, 2011 12:20am GMT
(Reuters) - Ireland will close its embassy to the Vatican, one of the Catholic country's oldest missions, to help meet its fiscal goals under an EU-IMF bailout, the government said on Thursday, prompting criticism from the Church's top man in Ireland.
Relations between the Irish government and the Vatican, once traditional allies, are at an all-time low over the Church's handling of sex abuse cases. But Eamon Gilmore, the minister for foreign affairs, denied the embassy closure was linked.
"That was not a consideration," Gilmore told state broadcaster RTE. "Our diplomatic relations with the Vatican will continue and they are valued."
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland criticised the move and said he was profoundly disappointed.
"This decision seems to show little regard for the important role played by the Holy See in international relations and of the historic ties between the Irish people and the Holy See over many centuries," Cardinal Sean Brady said in a statement.
"I hope that today's decision will be revisited as soon as possible and that it can be addressed at the next meeting of the Church-State structured dialogue."
The Vatican recalled its ambassador to Ireland in July after Prime Minister Enda Kenny accused the Holy See of obstructing investigations into sexual abuse by priests.
Gilmore said he did not expect the Vatican now to close its mission in Dublin.
"The fact that we have chosen to close our mission in the Vatican and to have it serviced from Dublin doesn't necessarily mean that we won't have a Papal Nuncio here," he said.
Ireland is closing three embassies as part of the overhaul, including missions in Iran and Timor Leste, which will save the country 1.25 million euros (1.075 million pounds) a year.
In a statement, Gilmore said the embassy to the Holy See yielded no economic return. It was established in 1929 at a time when Ireland's only other diplomatic missions were to Washington, London and the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.
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Well done, Ireland.
What's killing America? U.S. ranks 28th in life expectancy (lower than Chile and Greece) while it pays the MOST for health care
Last updated at 4:31 PM on 24th November 2011
Coming up short: In the U.S. an 'underdeveloped' primary care system is plagued by shortages of doctors and high rates of avoidable hospital admissions
A new survey on health care is revealing that you may not be getting what you pay for if you check into a U.S. hospital.
The U.S. healthcare system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care than other developed nations, according to the study, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
It found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments.
The study said Americans pay more than $7,900 per person for healthcare each year - far more than any other OECD country - but still die earlier than their peers in the industrialized world.
The cost of healthcare in the United States is 62 percent higher than that in Switzerland, which has a similar per capita income and also relies substantially on private health insurance.
Meanwhile, Americans receive comparatively little actual care, despite sky-high prices driven by expensive tests and procedures.
They also spend more tax money on healthcare than most other countries, the study showed.
More...
An 'underdeveloped' U.S. primary care system is plagued by shortages of family doctors and high rates of avoidable hospital admissions for people with asthma, lung disease, diabetes, hypertension and other common illnesses.
The growth in U.S. life expectancy over the past half century is also below average, gaining only 8.3 years since 1960 compared with an 11.2-year OECD average.
LIFE EXPECTANCY AGES
1. Japan: 86.4
2. Spain: 84.9
3. Switzerland: 84.6
4. France: 84.4
5. Australia: 83.9
6. Korea: 83.8
7. Israel: 83.5
8. Finland: 83.5
9. Sweden: 83.4
10. Iceland: 83.3
...
24. Chile: 79.5
25. UNITED STATES: 80.6
26. Czech Republic: 80.5
27. Estonia: 80.1
28. Poland: 80
The OECD said U.S. life expectancy of 78.2 years ranked 28th - just behind Chile's and well below the average of 79.5 years among member nations.
The United States was ranked fourth from the bottom for premature mortality, which focuses on deaths among younger people.
The measure, which reflects dangers posed by violence, accidents and environmental hazards, puts America behind all others except Hungary, Mexico and Russia.
Mark Pearson, head of the OECD health division, said researchers believe national mortality rates increasingly reflect the quality of healthcare, though more than half of the equation is still believed to lie with other indicators including lifestyle and diet.
The country with the highest life expectancy is Japan (83).
Emergency: One possible reason why prices are higher in the U.S. is that the healthcare system lacks an effective government mechanism that acts to keep prices down
In Britain, life expectancy has increased at a slower rate than most of its European neighbours – thanks to its poor record on cancer survival and high levels of obesity.
The quality and cost of the $2.6trillion U.S. healthcare system are at the forefront of a rancorous national political debate over how to regulate and pay for treatment, particularly for the poor and elderly.
U.S RANKS HIGHEST IN CANCER SURVIVAL RATES
Despite a lower-than-average life expectancy, the U.S. ranks the highest in survival of some cancers.
U.S. survival rates are the world's highest among breast cancer patients and the second highest, after Japan, for people with colorectal cancer.
The figures are due mostly in part to effective early screening, the OECD study showed.
Mark Pearson, head of the OECD health division, said: 'You get a very high quality of care for your money in some areas. Very poor quality, compared to other countries, in other areas.'
But across the pond in Britain, it's a different story.
Survival rates for breast, bowel and cervical cancer are among the worst in the OECD findings.
The 2010 U.S. healthcare reform law, which seeks to control costs over time by altering incentives for doctors and other providers, faces a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court, and Republican presidential candidates on the campaign trail have called for its repeal.
Americans have fewer doctors and hospital beds, make fewer doctor visits, go to the hospital less often and stay for shorter lengths of time than about three-quarters of the other OECD countries.
But the United States is at the front of the pack when it comes to costly medical procedures including knee replacements, MRI and CT scans and tonsillectomies.
And it is consistently at the top of the cost chart for a number of procedures including caesarean sections, which are almost twice as expensive in the United States as in Germany.
Pharmaceuticals also cost about 60 per cent more than in a range of European countries.
Mr Pearson said one reason prices are higher in the United States is that the healthcare system lacks what other countries have: an effective government mechanism that acts to keep prices down.
"That's simply not there in the U.S. system. So it's a structural defect," he said.
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yeah, the most multi-cultural city my ass
Um..... that's kinda what she's complaining about.
Multicultural doesn't mean all the cultures like each other and get along.
it means you go on strike 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/30/strikes-unions-pensions-cuts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/30/strikes-unions-pensions-cuts
http://www.freep.com/article/20111130/NEWS07/111130052/Horses-could-soon-slaughtered-meat-U-S-
Sooo, would anyone get a horse burger?
Im sure some of the Canadians on here had horse for breakfast this morning, so Im referring to the yanks on the board
Sooo, would anyone get a horse burger?
Im sure some of the Canadians on here had horse for breakfast this morning, so Im referring to the yanks on the board
I
I've never had horse but dog, now thats a good meat.
http://www.freep.com/article/20111130/NEWS07/111130052/Horses-could-soon-slaughtered-meat-U-S-
Sooo, would anyone get a horse burger?
Im sure some of the Canadians on here had horse for breakfast this morning, so Im referring to the yanks on the board
I've never had horse but dog, now thats a good meat.
http://news.yahoo.com/kentucky-church-votes-ban-interracial-couples-003419318.html
TOMAHAWK, Ky (Reuters) - A vote to bar interracial couples from a small church in eastern Kentucky has triggered hand-wringing and embarrassment.
Nine members of Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church backed their former pastor, with six opposed, in Sunday's vote to bar interracial couples from church membership and worship activities. Funerals were excluded.
The vote was taken after most of the 40 people who attended Sunday services had left the church in Pike County, near the border with West Virginia. Many members left to avoid the vote.
Most members of the church "didn't want anything to do with this," said longtime church official Dean Harville, whose daughter and her black fiance had drawn pastor Melvin Thompson's ire.
At services earlier this year, Stella Harville, 24, who is working on her master's degree in optical engineering, sang "I Surrender All" with her fiance, Ticha Chikuni, 29, a Zimbabwe native, according to her father. Chikuni, an employee at Georgetown College in Kentucky, played the piano.
"There didn't appear to be any problem," Dean Harville said on Wednesday. "None whatsoever."
But Harville said Thompson told him the couple would not be allowed to sing at the church again. Thompson resigned in August but would not drop the issue.
Thompson told a local radio outlet, "I do not believe in interracial marriages, and I do not believe this (ban) will give our church a black eye at all."
He could not be reached for comment.
The move has drawn scrutiny from the hierarchy of the Freewill Baptist Church, Harville said.
"This kind of thing brands all of us so easily," said Randy Johnson, president of the Pike County Ministerial Association. "That's not who we are. From all the churches I've talked to so far, it's really not anger so much as it is shock."
TOMAHAWK, Ky (Reuters) - A vote to bar interracial couples from a small church in eastern Kentucky has triggered hand-wringing and embarrassment.
Nine members of Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church backed their former pastor, with six opposed, in Sunday's vote to bar interracial couples from church membership and worship activities. Funerals were excluded.
The vote was taken after most of the 40 people who attended Sunday services had left the church in Pike County, near the border with West Virginia. Many members left to avoid the vote.
Most members of the church "didn't want anything to do with this," said longtime church official Dean Harville, whose daughter and her black fiance had drawn pastor Melvin Thompson's ire.
At services earlier this year, Stella Harville, 24, who is working on her master's degree in optical engineering, sang "I Surrender All" with her fiance, Ticha Chikuni, 29, a Zimbabwe native, according to her father. Chikuni, an employee at Georgetown College in Kentucky, played the piano.
"There didn't appear to be any problem," Dean Harville said on Wednesday. "None whatsoever."
But Harville said Thompson told him the couple would not be allowed to sing at the church again. Thompson resigned in August but would not drop the issue.
Thompson told a local radio outlet, "I do not believe in interracial marriages, and I do not believe this (ban) will give our church a black eye at all."
He could not be reached for comment.
The move has drawn scrutiny from the hierarchy of the Freewill Baptist Church, Harville said.
"This kind of thing brands all of us so easily," said Randy Johnson, president of the Pike County Ministerial Association. "That's not who we are. From all the churches I've talked to so far, it's really not anger so much as it is shock."
http://www.freep.com/article/20111130/NEWS07/111130052/Horses-could-soon-slaughtered-meat-U-S-
Sooo, would anyone get a horse burger?
Im sure some of the Canadians on here had horse for breakfast this morning, so Im referring to the yanks on the board
There's a restaurant here in Montreal, specializes in horsemeat. It's ridiculously expensive, lots of movie stars pass through there. That being said, never ate horse.
it means you go on strike
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/30/strikes-unions-pensions-cuts
Striking is good, as is peaceful protest. Isn't allowed in Nazi USA.
I would eat horse, but not dog.
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