At the opening plenary session of the WSSD in Johannesburg recently, delegations were asked:
"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"

The subsequent debate ended in a deadlock, because...

- The Africans did not know what "food" meant.

- The Western Europeans did not know what "shortage" meant.

- The Eastern Europeans did not know what "opinion" meant.

- Delegates from the Middle East did not know what "solution" meant.

- The South Americans did not know what "please" meant.

- The Asians did not know what "honest" meant.

and...

- The United States did not know what "the rest of the world" meant.