More evidence for 'compared' as a preposition

A number of people have questioned my analysis of compared as a preposition. Some have complained about basing the analysis on one flimsy sentence. here are some others:

1. Compared with the previous week, there was a trebling in the rate of flu and a doubling of the rate of flu-like illness. (Guardian newspaper)
2. Compared with the 18–44 year age group, there was no significantly higher mortality in the 45–64 year (RR=0.84, 95% CI 0.34 to 2.09), the 65–74 year (RR=1.28, 95% CI 0.50 to 3.32), and the 75–92 year (RR=1.99, 95% CI 0.72 to 5.46) (overall p=0.4) age group during the 2 years after discharge. (The Lancet)
3. As for the physical appearance of the people who left behind their stone tools and food refuse, Singer and Wymer can say little because, compared with animal bones, there are few human remains in the deposits and they are mostly fragments of skulls and jawbones and teeth. (New Scientist)
4. Montreal Central eventually served the CPR express lines as well as the CNR, but, compared with Toronto or Cincinnati Union, there was something half-hearted about it, despite the trumpetings with which it was received during the war. (non-fiction book)
5. Compared with Mitroff's earlier paper, there is much more emphasis here on linking stakeholder analysis with research into cognitive schemas, and a greater recognition that there may be problems both in identifying the schemas, often held unconsciously, and in bringing them together to inform the corporate debate about strategy. (textbook)
6. Compared with the other types of hair there are very few of them, but they play a vital role when the cat is exploring in poor light, or is hunting. (non-fiction book)

The following examples are from Time magazine:

1. Compared to the Wall Street Exchange, there is a noticeable absence of fury, frenzy; the building has indeed a somewhat musty atmosphere.
2. Compared with 1935, when there were 199, there was one in 1966 and two in 1967.
3. Still, compared with the solid growth of the 1960s, there are plenty of signs that the nation is suffering an inflationary recession.
4. Compared with the Manhattan Project, there was no German bomb program.
5. Compared with earlier days, there is less camaraderie and pack journalism, there are fewer collective safaris.
6. Compared with five years ago, there are a significantly greater number of lawyers today who are not practicing law for a living, " says Ward Bower.

Others have said that the "grammatical dangling" is insufficient evidence. Another piece of evidence comes from coordination. Typically parallelism dictates that we coordinate only like with like. It would not typically allow us to coordinate a PP with a VP. In the following sentences, however, we have a PP coordinated with a phrase headed by 'compared'.

1. Americans live very well, both by historical standards AND compared to other people in the world today.
2. A major finding, however, was that emissions at the four sites differed greatly both between sites AND compared to national trends in emissions between 1970 and 1990.