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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (347963)	8/22/2007 12:29:42 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573820

I didn't cherry pick the data, and even if I did it wouldn't make it a straw man. I'm not making an argument and presenting it as someone else's so that I can demolish it. Even if I'm wrong (and you do nothing to show this is the case) it still wouldn't be a straw man argument. The very low birth rate babies are not counted toward the infant mortality rates in a number of other countries, that throws off the measurement. You measuring different things. In addition to that when comparing to Cuba (the argument one of my links addressed) and probably to a lesser extent when comparing with many developed countries, the US makes a greater effort to save very low birth rate babies. There are ways to normalize the data. Do it and then make the argument. These differences are enough to make any argument based on higher infant mortality in the US questionable. I'm not making the argument that the US is better in this area, I'm showing the weakness in the argument that the US is worse. If you, or anyone using the argument, want to restore the argument than they can adjust the data. It doesn't become my responsibility just because I point out the weakness in the data. In the other part of the argument (life expectancy) I did point out a study done that adjusting for differences in accidents and violence rates in the US, the US life expectancy was above average for developed countries. I don't have the data, or even the conclusions from studies about infant mortality available to me. If I did I'd post it. But the lack of better data, doesn't mean the weaknesses in arguments comparing the official infant mortality rates go away. In the US a 400 gram baby that doesn't survive will count against the infant mortality rate. In most countries, and according to the World Health Organization's standards it does not, so you compare the US to most other countries and the US will look worse than it really is.