The 2010 list, released by the government Wednesday, reflects at least two major trends: Murders are down, and deaths from certain diseases are on the rise as the population ages, health authorities said.

Homicide was overtaken at No. 15 by pneumonitis, seen mainly in people 75 and older. It happens when food or vomit goes down the windpipe and causes deadly damage to the lungs.

This is the first time since 1965 that homicide failed to make the list, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s latest annual report on deaths contained several nuggets of good news:

—The infant mortality rate dropped to an all-time low of 6.14 deaths per 1,000 births in 2010. It was 6.39 the year before.

—U.S. life expectancy for a child

Read more from: http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/news-01-2012/us-med--life-expectancy-homicide.html

Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s libertarian message of less government, personal liberty and ending U.S. military involvement overseas clicks with young people, who are supplying zest for his stronger-than-expected presidential campaign. Nearly half of all voters under 30 went for Paul in the first two states to vote, helping to propel him to a second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary and third place in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.

Why would young people gravitate to the oldest guy in the field?

“Freedom is a young idea,” says Eddie Clearwater, a 22-year-old Des Moines photographer who attended a Ron Paul party in Ankeny, Iowa, earlier this month. “All of his policies are such a good, radical change. It’s what we need.”

Paul’s campaign events are charged with an energy that any

Read more from: http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/news-01-2012/young-voters-ron-paul.html

Romney is marching steadily through South Carolina, a state still uncertain about him, and picking up a prominent conservative’s endorsement while sending a message to his party: It’s time to stop the bickering.

Not just yet, some conservative leaders say.

“Honestly, it looks like Governor Romney’s nomination is inevitable,” said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas. “Evangelicals, come November, might have to hold their noses and vote for the lesser of two evils. But it’s not November yet.”

Just over a week before South Carolina’s first-in-the-South vote, there are signs that conservatives are struggling with their goal of finding what some would call “the anti-Romney.” They appear no more organized in their search for a credible challenger than they were before former

Read more from: http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/news-01-2012/us--gop-conservative-angst.html