One can only hope when former president Jimmy Carter dies, that saintly man will garner as much attention as Michael Jackson's passing. I suspect that he will NOT. It costs $69 a year to feed a starving child in Africa. In order to save five million children under the age of five from death by starvation, it would cost $345 million a year. That is .0006 percent of the US Defense budget. Michael Jackson made about $375 million over the last 15 years, assuming $25 million a year, I would think that he made more considering that at one time he owned all the music of the Beatles. Moral of the story? Two actually. No one gets out of here alive and we spend entirely too much money on blowing things and people up. MC

"Five million African children under age 5 died last year — 40 percent of deaths worldwide — and malnutrition was a major contributor to half of those deaths. Sub-Saharan children under 5 died not only at 22 times the rate of children in wealthy nations, but also at twice the rate for the entire developing world."

Source:
NY Times
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: December 28, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/world/africa/28malnutrition.html?hp&ex=1167368400&en=23714465133e44e2&ei=5094&partner=homepage