U.S. Healthcare - Not the best...by a long shot...

This seems timely; the link between how much a country spends per capita on health care and longevity - it's not what you'd think...from a reliable source. If you live in the U.S. be very, very depressed.... Oh, and here's the killer quote, 

"One of the reasons for the underachievement of the US is the large inequality in health spending. ....The US healthcare system is characterized by little access to care for some and very high expenditure on health by others."

Here's the link

"I cannot deny it; it is true."

3 March 1917 To the amazement of the world (and the immense relief of the British in Room 40), at a press conference in Berlin, when asked about the authenticity and validity of the telegram, German Foreign Secretary Zimmermann stated, "I cannot deny it; it is true."

Zimmermann Telegram is published in the U.S. "The nation gasped"

28 February 1917 Secretary of State Robert Lansing leaks the existence and contents of the Zimmermann telegram to reporter E. M. Hood of the Associated Press. The AP puts the entire story out on it's wire and it is picked up by major newspapers across the United States.

1 March 1917 The Zimmermann telegram, including its contents, the story told by the British to Ambassador Page (not the whole truth of how they acquired it), the original telegram sent over the American diplomatic cable, and the original from the telegraph office in Mexico City are published across the United States. According to David Kahn in The Codebreakers, "The nation gasped." (Kahn, p. 293)  The House of Representatives immediately votes to arm U.S. merchant vessels. President Wilson's peace initiatives are rapidly deteriorating and talk of war increases markedly.

The Americans finally see the Zimmermann Telegram

20 February 1917 The American Star Line freighter Algonquin, loaded with about $1.25M in food stuffs leaves New York Harbor bound for London. She would become the next American ship sunk by the Germans.

24 February 1917 U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain Walter Page having been given the copy of the decrypted telegram by Admiral Hall, sends the decrypted Zimmermann telegram to the U.S. State Department in Washington.

27 February 1917 U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing shows President Wilson the original telegram sent by the Germans over the American diplomatic cable to Bernstorff in Washington on 16 January. Lansing also shows the President the decrypted telegram received from Walter Page in London; the decryption is of the telegram sent by Bernstorff from Washington to Mexico City in the German Diplomatic 13040 code. Wilson is not happy. He authorizes Lansing to release the telegram to the American press. Lansing calls in the Washington correspondent of the Associated Press and gives him the details of the telegram on 28 February 1917.

The Americans See the Zimmermann Telegram for the first time

22 February 1917 Admiral Hall shows the decrypted Zimmermann telegram to Edward Bell, the intelligence liaison in the U.S. Embassy in London. The next day, 23 February 1917, Foreign Secretary Balfour formally delivers the telegram to U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain Walter Page. Page and Bell prepare a message to the State Department and the President.

The British finish their work on the Zimmermann Telegram.

19 February 1917 Room 40 completes its decryption of the Zimmermann Telegram. The final message that von Bernstorff forwarded to von Eckhardt on January 19th  reads:

"We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare.  We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral.  In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis:  make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.  The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves.  Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace."  Signed, ZIMMERMANN.

The next step for Admiral Hall is to show the telegram to the Americans at the U.S. Embassy and convince them of the authenticity of the telegram.

The sinking of the Lyman M. Law

12 February 1917 A four-masted U.S. schooner the Lyman M. Law, carrying a cargo of wood from Stockton, Maine to Palermo, Italy was stopped and sunk by the German submarine U-35 early on a bright, sunny Monday morning. The Lyman M. Law was about 25 miles off the coast of Sardinia and near the port of Cagliari when she was attacked. The Germans allowed the crew to abandon ship before sinking the Law. (see http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/3777.html ). This was the second U.S. merchant vessel sunk by the Germans since the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare on 1 February.