More importantly— Who ever heard of a ham-and-cheese sandwich using one slice of bread?

A commercial, pre-packaged ham-and-cheese sandwich using one slice of bread is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which conducts daily inspections under its jurisdiction, but a ham-and-cheese sandwich on two slices of bread falls to the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects plants about once every five years. That anomaly surfaced in the current presidential campaign and was verified by a Congressional Quarterly-St. Petersburg Times "Politifact" researcher in December.

A USDA official admitted to the Times that there "is no rationale or logic" behind the distinction: "(I)t's an issue that makes it look like we don't know what we're doing." [St. Petersburg Times, 12-11-07]

Stop The Aid!

It's been a cry for many Americans over the past 20 to 30 years. Why are we sending billions of dollars to other nations when we have starving and homeless children in our own backyards.

Are we to think that these nations are putting all of this money to good use? Are we so naive as to think that the leaders of the countries aren't lining their own pockets with hard earned America tax dollars?

And then I found this story (Excerpt below) and I think it speaks volumes. I think you'll agree. And if one more person steps in front of me at the grocery store and begs for money I think I'll puke on their shoes.

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN ECONOMICS EXPERT
"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa...

Shikwati: ... for God's sake, please just stop.

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

Click here for the entire story.