Top 10 List | Top Ten Lists

Have you wondered why US was at a default in August of 2011? This article seeks to examine US expenses and debts. Where has all the money gone? Let’s take a look.

1. The American People:

Amount Owed: $4.7 trillion (2010)

2. China:

Amount Owed: $884 billion (2010);

$1.1 trillion (2011)

3. Japan:

Amount Owed: $865 billion (2010);

$914 billion (2011)

4. United Kingdom:

Amount Owed: $459 billion (2010)

$346 billion (2011)

5. Ireland:

Amount Owed: $197 billion (2010)

$346 billion (2011)

Which businesses are still running since the Declaration of Independence and before that? See if you recognize 1 or 2 businesses. Some of them are still widely heard of even in other parts of the world.

1. Bowne & Co. – 1775:

This was a printing company that was set up by Robert Bowne. It was bought out by JJ Donnelly in 2010. The company is widely traded on NYSE.

2. Green Brier – 1778:

This is a four star luxury resort which is located in West Virginia. The resort was previously owned by Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and is now owned by CSX Corporation. Jim Justice bought the property when CSX put the hotel into liquidation.

3. Bank of New York – 1784:

The financial institution was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. It merged in 2007 with Mellon Financial Corporation, which renamed it to Bank of New York Mellon. It is the oldest bank in New York to date.

4. Bixler’s – 1785:

Bixler’s Jewellery is the oldest jewellery company in USA. The company is located in Pennsylvania and is still run by the Bixler family, 6 generations later.

5. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 1786:

It was the first newspaper to be published west of the Alleghemy Mountains. The first news coverage were relating to the beginning of a nation and the writing of the US Constitution. Throughout the years, it has won 4 Pulitzer Prizes: 1938, 1986, 1987 and 1998.

With debate about health care reform raging in the United States, and especially with facts and fantasies flying through the airwaves as if they were interchangeable, the American public and the worldwide audience crave some solid information about the true state of healthcare in the United States. According to Dr. Bruce Keitel, senior fellow at the Academy of International Research, “The United States leads the world in medical research and development of advanced medicines, and the United States lags far behind the rest of the industrialized nations in providing quality healthcare to the majority of its citizens.” Keitel points out, for example, the United States ranks thirty-seventh in infant mortality, and it does not make the top ten nations in average life expectancy. “If the best of American healthcare were universally available, we would have a ‘world class system’,” Keitel concludes.

According to a variety of healthcare analysts, the top ten American hospitals include:

1. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland

For nineteen straight years, Johns Hopkins Hospital has appeared on the nation’s top ten list—an unprecedented and unrivalled record. Even more amazing, however, is the inescapable, undeniable, incontrovertible fact that Johns Hopkins keeps getting better every year—by every measure. In 2009, Carol Greider, a Johns Hopkins researcher, shared the Nobel Prize in medicine, while the hospital had the good sense and insight to let patients become fans on Facebook, and the staff helped Olympic Figure Skating legend Dorothy Hamill overcome breast cancer. According to Keitel and other tough analysts, “There’s special confidence that accompanies being the best, and Johns Hopkins shows its confidence by standing out as by far the nation’s friendliest hospital. Not intellectual, academic, or high-fallutin’ in any way. Just plain friendly.”

2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

A legend among healthcare institutions worldwide, the Mayo Clinic has treated celebrities and heads of state along with everyday working people from all around the United States and the world. US News and World Report ranks the Mayo Clinic as the nation’s best for orthopedic care. Impressive as the ranking may seem, patients’ own reports reveal a great deal more. “I felt like a real-life episode of ‘House’,” says Margaret Williams of Rockwell Maryland. “The best doctors and researchers in all of the greater D.C. area could not figure out what was wrong with me. I had some kind of digestive disorder that caused me to lose more than a pound a week, and I was growing weak, exhausted, and very afraid.” Williams details how the Mayo Clinic specialists quickly, accurately identified a rare disease which affects only 200 people worldwide every year, and they performed a very little-known, even more rarely practiced surgical technique, which cured the problem. “Nothing short of miraculous,” Williams testifies.

3. Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic has attracted a great deal of attention during the healthcare reform debates, because congressional leaders and administration officials have promoted it as a “model of institutional efficiency and effectiveness.” Effectively capitalizing on internet and wireless technology for managing, monitoring, and tracking every aspect of patient care, Cleveland Clinic simultaneously has cut its administrative overhead and improved the quality of care. Just as importantly, it has eliminated the system’s antiquated fee-for-service model, putting all of its professionals on salary, and maximizing their productivity. The Cleveland Clinic does not place as much emphasis on research as the other facilities in the top ten, but it gives much higher priority to educating medical students and residents, especially stressing patient-centered and family-oriented care.

4. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles

“Dazzling,” people say. “Overwhelming. Breathtaking,” even more people say. “An architectural and scientific masterpiece,” the critics say. Big, brand new, and state-of-the-art in every way, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center rises ten stories above the southwest corner of Westwood Plaza, offering more than a million square feet of patient-friendly, family-friendly, high-tech space for people from around the world. Designed by legendary architect I.M.Pei and built with the assistance of his equally gifted son C.C.Pei, the center seamlessly integrates post-modern technology with interior spaces that maximize holistic healing and personal attention. “Eventually, all hospitals will look, feel, and work like this one,” says Keitel.

5. University of California, San Francisco Medical Center

Like all the other top ten care providers, UCSF contributes to prestigious journals, conducts extensive clinical trials, performs experimental techniques on desperately ill patients, and trains physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to serve California and the world. Its distinction, however, derives from its dedication to diversity and community medicine. Like Massachusetts General, UCSF serves the city’s disadvantaged citizens. Above and beyond that service, however, UCSF keeps an open mind and an open ear to the community’s bio-medical concerns, and much of its best research traces its deepest origins to common concerns “in the neighborhood.” Not surprisingly, UCSF has done ground-breaking research in the treatment of HIV-AIDS. More recently, however, UCSF researchers have led intelligent discussion of how to treat “Gender Identity Disorder” as a psychological problem and as a concern for endocrinologists. UCSF’s cutting-edge research has had profound influence on South African officials’ management of the delicate and often sensationalized case of their “inter-sexed” female track star.

Devastating hurricanes have wreaked havoc and loss of lives and property in the U.S. While the number of casualties from these storms has come down over the years, the cost associated with these storms has soared profoundly. This has been due to reconstruction expenses and more expensive homes and businesses around the area. There have been several devastating hurricanes that have hit the United States in the last hundred years.

1. Hurricane Katrina

This hurricane started on August 23, 2005 and was one of the most devastating hurricanes in American history. It left almost two thousand people dead and damage estimates was to the extent of 200 million dollars. Katrina was listed under the hurricane category 5.

2. Hurricane Andrew

This hurricane was also a category five storm that hit South Florida on August 24, 1992. Wind speed was at one hundred and sixty five miles per hour, and it cost thirty billion dollars in damage at the time. Many buildings were demolished and South Florida was devastated.

3. Hurricane Wilma

This hurricane started on October 15, 2005, and was accompanied with winds of one hundred and twenty five miles an hour. This storm listed under category five killed thirty one people in America and left many homeless. It was the most intense cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin.

4. Hurricane Rita

This hurricane hit the Southern US after starting on September 17, 2005. The hurricane led to at least 150 deaths. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S Gulf Coast in September 2005.Damages from this hurricane were to the extent of six billion dollars.

5. Hurricane Camille

This storm started on August 18, 1969 and hit Mississippi, accompanied by winds to the speed of one hundred and eight miles an hour. Over two hundred and fifty people lost their lives owing to the storm and damages were to the extent of one and a half billion dollars at the time.

The following is the list of top 10 famous and exotic beaches in America. People from all over the flood come to these beaches for having the time of their lives.

1. Bahia Honda, Florida

This park is known for its vast white and sandy beaches. The smallest beach is Calusa which is situated on the northwest side of the island. This area is dotted by many small pavilions in this area. The shallowest beach situated on the south of the island is Loggerhead. In the Sandspur area, there are three large pavilions including a bathhouse with outdoor, fresh water showers.

2. Hapuna Beach, Hawaii

Next on the list is Hapuna Beach in Hawaii. This beach is about 200 feet wide and 1/2 mile long. Many people engage in swimming the facilities for which are excellent. The beach is famous for its crystal clear water, full facilities and beautiful scenery. At the south end of the beach, you can engage in snorkeling and can see attractive fish and coral reef.

3. Fort Desoto Park, Florida

At the entrance of Tampa Bay in the southwest corner of Mullet Key is located this beach. The whole island is now Fort De Soto Park, a Pinellas county park where you can have access to nature trails, fantastic beaches, fishing, boating, camping and much more.

4. Hulopo’e Beach, Lanai, Hawaii

This protected beach is considered to be one of the safest places for swimming. Its coral formations and nice sandy beaches make it an ideal recreational spot on Lanai. You can find varied and colorful fish and unique coral formations as this beach is situated in a protected Marine Life Conservation Area. You can find the Pu’u Pehe Rock, also known as Sweetheart Rock to the left of the beach.

5. St Joseph Peninsula State Park, FL (Cape San Blas)

This beach is noted for its striking dune formations and has miles of white sand beaches, a favorable climate and heavily-forested interior. The peninsular park spanning 2,516-acres is bound on three sides by the Gulf of Mexico and the waters of St. Joe Bay.