The Great Debate

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Why Am I Not Surprised Dept:

Dateline:
Brussels, Belgium

Government ministers today engaged in lengthy and heated discus- sion over a proposal regarding tariff concessions for artichokes scheduled to be imported from Third World countries next year.

Arguments both pro and con were presented for over three hours before a recording secretary to one of the officials discovered that none of the countries being discussed even grew artichokes.

The meeting was postponed for two weeks pending further in-depth research by delegated ministry staff.

- The Lincolnshire Times
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Editor's Comments:
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What a waste of time and energy!

Since everybody was already there, truly skilled bureaucrats would have ignored this irritating bit of informational fluff and unphased, staunchly continued on with their deliberations.

Editor's note:
They're lucky at that. In this country, plans for a government study with accompanying grants would have been on the table in a flash.