Lords of War By Mickey Z.

It's not every day Amnesty International asks me to go see a Nic Cage movie. So, when I got their e-mail about "Lord of War," I promptly caught a bargain matinee at my local multiplex. This is not a movie review but, by Hollywood standards, "Lord of War" rates R for radical...and I was pleased to witness a film about the governments and freelancers supplying the weapons that kill men, women, and children every minute of every day.

According to the Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org):

*Half of the world's governments spend more on defense than health care.

*The U.S. share of total world military expenditures per year has been roughly 36 percent, while comprising under 5 percent of the world's population.

*The U.S. Arms Industry is the second most heavily subsidized industry after agriculture.

*2001 world military expenditures topped $839 billion, while at the same time an estimated 1.3 billion people survive on less than the equivalent of $1 (U.S.) a day.