From: Julian Bradfield (jcb+unicode@inf.ed.ac.uk)
Date: Wed Jun 30 2010 - 03:23:12 CDT
On 2010-06-29, António MARTINS-Tuválkin <antonio@tuvalkin.web.pt> wrote:
> On 2010.06.28, 20:48, Mark Crispin <mrc+unicode@panda.com> wrote:
...
>> If the EU can tell Britain that it can't sell eggs by the dozen any
>> more,
> Yesterday I bought a dozen eggs (2 racks of 6, set 2×3) here in Portugal.
> This must be an incredibly new regulation.
Just for the record, the regulations in question are not yet agreed, and
they don't say you can't sell by the dozen. What they do say is that
the weight of the contents must be shown. This is arguably silly, and
arguably sensible - it's not obviously either.
> I guess it is like the UK — you can get arrested for flying the Union
> Jack on afloat (even in a row boat on the Serpentine), least you be
> mistook for a RN Admiral or the Queen, but you can rob and steal and
> lie and still get (and keep) knighthood.
Neither of these is strictly true, either - well, except the lie bit. These
days, knights convicted of serious offences are usually un-knighted.
Unfortunately, neither lying (out of court) nor catastrophic financial
mismanagement are actually offences.
As for flags, the laws for shipping specify those flags that can be
flown to indicate that you are a British ship, and forbid the flying
of other national colours. The Union Flag, like the White Ensign, is a flag
specified for government vessels. So flying your Union Flag on a
row-boat on the Serpentine is technically illegal, and also tactless,
since you're in a Royal Park, but I'd be surprised if anybody cares.
Most, if not all countries, will have similar laws for shipping, as
the flag of nationality is an important concept in international
maritime law.
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