US Most Expensive Place to Give Birth in the World

Maybe one way to help reduce the number of abortions in America would be to address the high cost of having a baby. 

(Newser) – The average hospital baby delivery in the US costs $9,775—$15,041 if it's a Caesarean—more than any first-world country in the world, the New York Times reports. It's $3,541 in France, and $2,641 in Britain. And the price hike is not because US mothers-to-be are getting better or more high-tech care; the US actually has one of the highest rates of infant and maternal death in the developed world. It's because of the unique way health care in America is billed: item by item. "It’s not primarily that we get a different bundle of services when we have a baby," says an economist at John Hopkins. "It’s that we pay individually for each service and pay more for the services we receive."

Delivery costs in the US have tripled since 1996 (Read more details from this link)

US Most Expensive Place to Give Birth in the World

China encircles U.S. by sailing warships in American waters, arming neighbors - Washington Times

China has been quietly taking steps to encircle the United States by arming western hemisphere states, seeking closer military, economic, and diplomatic ties to U.S. neighbors, and sailing warships into U.S. maritime zones.
The strategy is a Chinese version of what Beijing has charged is a U.S. strategy designed to encircle and “contain” China. It is also directed at countering the Obama administration’s new strategy called the pivot to Asia. The pivot calls for closer economic, diplomatic, and military ties to Asian states that are increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment throughout that region.

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U.S. officials said there are growing fears that some type of military confrontation could break out between China and Japan over the disputed islands that are said to contain large underwater gas and oil reserves.
North of the U.S. border, Canada this week concluded a military cooperation agreement with China during the visit to Beijing by Canadian Defense Minister Peter G. Mackay. The agreement calls for closer cooperation between the two militaries, including bilateral military exchanges.

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“It has cultivated far better military relations with the openly anti-American regimes in the region and could become a sort of political-economic godfather to ensure the survival of the Castro dictatorship system in Cuba,” said Fisher, with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
Intelligence cooperation with Cuba is “substantial,” Fisher says, and will expand sharply in the region through the activities of its state-run telecommunications firms such as Huawei Technologies and ZTE in the region.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/7/china-encircles-us-arming-western-hemisphere-state/?page=2#ixzz2Vio2rMKV
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China encircles U.S. by sailing warships in American waters, arming neighbors - Washington Times