All that Mad Cow disease was because of illegals . . . illegal cows crossing over from Canada, I’ll bet.

We may need a little “house cleaning” here too.

Choson Ilbo, Seoul (May 31, 2007)–-Rib bones measuring up to 15 cm have been found in a recent shipment of beef imported from the U.S. in violation of an import agreement that only permits boneless meat. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry suspended beef shipments from one meat processing plant in the U.S. The ministry on Wednesday said quarantine inspections of 492 boxes of beef or 15.2 tons imported via Busan Port last Friday found bone-in beef parts in two boxes or 53 kg. The ministry therefore decided temporarily to suspend shipments from one of the 36 U.S. plants authorized to process Korea-bound meat. http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200705/200705310026.html

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Bill. Also the small business penalty. A big business like the one I arrested the son of the CEO could afford the 80 lawyers they had because they were international in size. But, my friend’s Brother-in-law with one accountant had to hire 3 more just to keep up with Sarbanes-Oxley and it hurt him tremendously.

The bulk of the regulations can be dealt with by big business but destroy the profits of the mom and pop stores.

One reason some businesses fail when a Walmart comes to town is not just the buying in bulk but the lower costs of overhead including meeting all the regulations and accounting requirements.

The more cost, the more you need a “big” business spread out where the compliance and regulation costs can be also spread among all the consumers that use those stores in all the cities of a state or nation.

So, why do we have all that regulation? Because voters say “protect me.” We don’t want to have to go through the hassle of suing some business for bad practices or unsafe products or for poor treatment of employees, etc. We want somebody else to do it automatically but, that takes tax dollars, regulations, enforcement, etc. and that, in turn, takes the incentive away for many who would enter business.

I don’t see a way out of this mess and it is another reason empires rise and fall. The people start depending too much on government to take care of them against unscrupulous businesses and that not only drives costs up but many businesses out of business.

Funny how we survived for over 150 years without all the “nanny government.” But, now, we can’t live without it. Was it unfair? You bet. That was why families and friends were important. That is why being involved in local government was important. When there was a problem, you had people to turn to, not just some government agency.

I think that was KFC.

And both of you are right!

Did any of you see the video on the news of the McDonalds (I believe) in New York where they filmed through the window, the rats running around on the floor?

I would say you are right Bill. We do have some problems right here at home with our food quality.