In the last three years there have been at least 15 documented cases of severe starvation in countries around the world with the number of people affected ranging from several hundred thousand to several million. Add the figures up and you arrive at not less than 20 million people threatened by starvation, and at least half again as many actually starved to death, in the last three years. And that is most likely not at all a complete account.

These stories are not headline grabbers say in the way Gwyneth Paltrow's break-ups, Madonna's identity switches or Robert Downey Jr.'s drug binges are. They are not sexy. They are not even alive, either the people or the coverage of their hideous ends. The stories are filed in an obligatory manner, most of the coverage is minimal, and disinterested. These millions of the nearly dead are killed off in our minds while we have our heads filled up the antics of Hollywod celebs. Intent devotion is paid to the pathologies of several thousand stars living on the West Coast of the United States while at the opposite end of the spectrum of the human experience, millions of us have simply been erased, or should that be deleted.

AIDS is the cause celebre of many Hollywood do-gooders as it is corporate America's overriding concern in Africa. Parties, campaigns, T-shirts, and even an offical mascot - all are thrown into the heated battle agaisnt the killer AIDS. But what of the 2.4 billion people in 100 counties at risk of infection from malaria. What about our concern about tuberculosis that is responsible for more deaths every year than any other infectious agent? Do we not cry for the more than one billion people on the planet who are without safe water? Where was the campaign to feed the 3.5 million who have starved in North Korea since the early 90's? Why do Americans not demand that their government stop starving the Iraqis to death as they have been doing for the past decade?

When looking at the countries where people starve you see that they have some things in commmon.

Countries that have been at war with the US, US-NATO, or Russia:

Chechnya - Russia
Iraq - US, Britain
North Korea - US
Vietnam - US
Yugoslavia - US, NATO

Countries that have or have had sanctions placed against them:

Afghanistan
Angola
Congo
Iraq
North Korea
Sudan
Vietnam
Yugoslavia

Countries that have significant oil deposits:

Angola
Iraq
East Timor
Kazakhstan
Nigeria
Sudan

Countries that have diamond mines:

Angola
Congo
Sierra Leone

Countries that have other mineral mines:

Papua New Guinea
Yugoslavia