John Lennon would have been 68 on October 9, 2008. As much as I miss the music he would have created in the past 28 years, I miss his opinion and what he stood for. Happy Birthday John. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6166 The United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths -- murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published April 17, 1998 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The U.S. was first at 14.24 gun deaths per 100,000 people. Two other countries in the Americas came next. Brazil was second with 12.95, followed by Mexico with 12.69. Japan had the lowest rate, at 0.05 gun deaths per 100,000 (1 per 2 million people). The police in Japan actively raid homes of those suspected of having weapons. IRAQ War http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/beyond/the-price-of-loss/ Analysis of the years toll from the Iraq Body Count project First published Jan 1 2008 Summary Another 22,586 - 24,159 civilian deaths have been recorded in 2007 through Iraq Body Counts extensive monitoring of media and official reports. Year Civilians Killed estimate 2003 10,077 - 12,010 2004 9,741 - 10,573 2005 13,071 - 14,324 2006 25,699 - 27,519 2007 22,586 - 24,159 As of January 1st 2008, the Iraq Body Count total for violent civilian deaths to the end of 2007 is between 81,174 - 88,585 The American military has expressed regret that civilians are hurt or killed while coalition forces search to rid Iraq of terrorism, after the 11 October killing of 15 women (one pregnant) and children in an air raid near lake Thar Thar. The civilian death toll by US fire was 96 in October, with 23 children among them, while in September US forces and contractors killed 108 Iraqi civilians, including 7 children. In August US troops killed 103 civilians, 16 of them children, and in July they killed 196. In fact, during the last five months US forces in Iraq have killed over 600 Iraqi civilians.