CornishChris

After some internet searching I have the following numbers for you. The numbers quoted by Quade aren't right accordning to these stats but they are interesting nonetheless. Population of US - 272 million Population of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Australia - 285 Million By Country with first column being total murders and second being gun murders: Country, Murders, Gun Murders GB, 834, 64 France, 648, 254 Germany, 951, 179 Japan, 769, 24 Switzerland, 92, 40 Sweden, 113, 15 Denmark, 62, 11 Australia, 331, 78 Sub-Total, 3800, 666 US, 15543, 10144 So there are your figures Kennedy. Sourced from a pro gun website. Some of these countries have las gun laws (Switzerland for one) and others more strict (GB & Aus) but it makes for reasonably interesting reading. What I find incredible is the murder rate in Japan, a country of more than 120 million people - it is so low! Analyse away. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

It's happening again!! CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

I am surprised there were more posts after Spidermonkeys definitive answer. I cut the metal bit off and when I am using it for other purposes than jumping I just reattach using velcro. My wife didn't even notice i had done it. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

I think you should have gone for that Stilleto 135... CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

I got 5 in on Saturday.

Not to rub it in but it was 39 degrees C on the ground in Picton (Sydney) over the weekend. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

I'm sorry I'm with Mikey on this one. This has just got very fucked up. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Don't forget to flush them down the toilet when they get too big!!! CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

This debate raged in the UK a few years ago and when it started I would probably have been on the side of Gays not adopting. That is not that case now. What happens with this debate is that it is layed out as a Gay rights issue when it should be viewed from the opposite perspective: What is best for the kids? This has nothing to do with Gay rights and everything to do with giving these kids the best chance they can have. If you can ask yourself whether it is better for a child to be bought up by a loving, caring Gay couple or by the state and come up with the answer "state" I would be surprised. I believe that the best place for kids is in a loving family with normal (read man & woman ideally husband and wife) parents. However if this option has been denied to them then they are in state care. The restrictions in the UK are such that very few kids are adopted each year (around 5000 out of around 80,000 in care (although not all care kids are up for adoption)), and the number has been declining steadily since 1991 - source www.statistics.co.uk. Many of these kids in care more from foster home to foster home, school to school and do not come out with many educational qualifications. This is a pretty shitty start in life no matter how hard the system is trying. I know people who have been declined adoptions because they are over 40 - is this really going to be that hard on the kids and give them a worse start in life than the government system - in my view NO. Same with gays - give the kids a chance. Will they be teased? Yes, probably but isn't it better than a home? Will they be more likely to be gay themselves? God knows. Lets stop making this a Gay issue and start making it a kids issue - they are the important ones. Sorry this was long. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Yawn. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Whilst the UN is not as effective as perhaps it should be and does have many failings it is all we have. There is no point in creating international laws if there is not some power to govern them. IMHO a huge blow was dealt to the UN when the US & allies (including us Brits) went off gainst them in Iraq. It totally undermined the organisation and helped create the quandry you are now discussing. Had any other country/group of countries done this then things could have been different as it would not have been tolerated by the rest but without the key alliances the UN is pretty much powerless. We (the world) need to create an UN that has power, uses that power when needed and is respected when decisions are made. There is no point having a nominal group that as soon as a country disagrees with they go out on their own, no matter who that country is. So: Change it with co-operation from all UN countries and abide by those changes. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Dunno, maybe. Always wanted a Beagle and big fan of Futurama so thought Dr Zoidberg would be a cool name. Even the Doris has been persuaded. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

I read it somewhere. It's not true but i thought I would write it anyway. The toads have been particularly powerful this season and they are arriving in plague like numbers. Which is nice. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

When I get a dog I'm going to get a Beagle and call it Dr Zoidberg. I've always thought human names are good for dogs too. Clive or John would be my preference. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

The smaller the monkey the more likely it is to kill you. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

By Mark Haddon I read this book in 6 hours the other day. I read pretty prolifically and generally have two or three books on the go but I have to say that this is one of the best I have ever read - so much so that I am taking the time to recommend it. It is written from the perspective of a 15 year old British Autistic boy. He has trouble adapting to life in general but when he finds that his next door neighbours dog has been murdered ("I knew the dog was dead because it had a fork sticking out of it"), he decides to solve the case. Whilst this may sound strange (it is a bit), it comes across as a touching, funny and brilliant read. One that literally made it unputdownable and kept me thinking about it for days after. If any one else has read it I would love to hear their thoughts. Amazon Clicky CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Actually it is true that the only reason the UK is doing this is because America does. We employ loads of government officials to sit and look through American laws to decide which we should implement ourselves. Thanks America for making our pubs smoke free, we would never have thought of it ourselves. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Just because you has not had to defend yourself from someone does not mean that you live in a bubble - do you know how ridiculous that sounds. It is like something out of a western - "You ain't lived 'til you killed a man". No wait, I suppose a skydiver who has travelled all round the world and every single person he knows could be construed as living in a bubble because they haven't 'taken one for the team'. Actually no I can't. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

It is round here. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

FYI - I was talking specifically about the UK not Aus, the fact I happen to be here is irrelevant to this conversation - I lived in the UK for 26 years. I will answer your questions even though they were directed at Oli: "Do you think being unarmed makes you safer?" No - that would be stupid logic. But on the flip side I don't think being armed makes much difference either as I tend to avoid situations likely to end up in a fight - something I have done succesfully for nearly 29 years. this comes down to the Bad guy with gun or without. There just are't as many bad guys here - you make it sound like an inevitability when it is a remote possibility. If someone pulls a gun on me and wants my wallet they can have it, ditto with a knife - I'm not about to risk my life for a few hundred bucks - remember he's the bad guy and by pulling he has demonstrated he doesn't have much to lose and little care for the law. "Do you think owning a gun makes you a violent criminal?" No. I just don't get the obsession and need to have them. But then I suppose if a dozen of my mates had had to defend themselves from "bad guys" as Aggie Daves have then I may be more likely to get one myself. I have never felt that need in the UK, or here for that matter. I have shot many a shotgun - but I don't campaign to be able to take it everywhere 'just in case' "Do you think that becuase you haven't been a victim you never will be? " No. I hope not to be and I will avoid likely situations that could end in trouble. But as I said earlier I will deal with that situation as and when it arrives. I honestly believe that if someone pulled a gun on me I would just do what they say - it's not worth the fight - I'm no coward but what is the point in fighting. If I could buy a handgun for personal protection I wouldn't, things just haven't got to that state yet. Aus is not a crime free utopia. Nor is England. I never said they were. Does some crime, even violent, mean I need to be carrying a gun. For me, No. Bad things happen every day but since I have been in Aus and all my time in the UK I have never seen or had any of my friends involved in a situation where a knife, a gun or even a baseball bat would be necessary. Thanks for the pictures. Very pretty. Didn't change my mind - still not paranoid. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

It should be noted that Br0k3n comes from manchester which is allegedly one of the roughest places in the UK. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

"Aussie Aussie Aussie" Oi, Oi, Oi. He wandered on stage as a surprise at a recent concert I went to. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

And I know no one. This to me, is the difference between the UK and the US. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

FOR THE FALLEN With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children England mourns for her dead across the sea, Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation And glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow, They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again, They sit no more at familiar tables of home, They have no lot in our labour of the daytime, They sleep beyond England’s foam. But where our desires and hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the night. As the stars shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are stary in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain. I am not sure if it is in the USA (and it is still wednesday) but today is Remembrance day in the UK, Australia and other British territories. This day in 1918 the guns fell silent. For that and all wars we should never forget. CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

Jeffrey & Aggie Dave - How many people do you know that have had to use a gun or a knife to defend themselves? CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people