You poor sods in the EU

[Chris James]

The police are on the rampage again. Is it George Orwell and 1984 all over again?

No, this time it is the "Food Police"...bet you poor folks across the pond didn't even know your European Union had them, did you? Well here's proof:

http://news.msn.com/offbeat/danish-cinnamon-rolls-too-spicy-for-eu-rules

[Cole Parker]

Sorry, I tried to read the article but couldn't get past the images this evoked: The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

What in the world? Is this done in the cause of cost cutting? Efficiency? Or didn't they have enough office space? And let's see: when they combined the Veterinary Administration and the Food Administration, whom did they move to the top spot? Someone from The Vet side, or the Food side? Does this combination guarantee the cows are fed better, or that the cows now produce safer meat?

I understand they're now considering forming the Danish Horticultural and Mining Administration. Maybe they can grow flowers to cover up open-pit mining operations. Gee, maybe this makes sense!

C

[Camy]

The E.U. directorate is full of loons, all on large salaries and expenses.

[Nick Deverill]

Straight bananas is a myth. While the EC has many loony bits, it's not helped by some of the press who don't let a inconsequential matter of the truth get in the way of a good story.

[Cole Parker]

Wow! I can see a need for delicacy here. What I've learned now is, When you're dealing with a Brit, don't mess with his banana.

[Bruin Fisher]

Wow! I can see a need for delicacy here. What I've learned now is, When you're dealing with a Brit, don't mess with his banana.

Well, some Brits, anyway. You can mess with my banana any time you like, Cole.

[Jeff Ellis]

The version of the banana myth that I subscribe to goes thus. There was need to harmonise rules in general but sometimes only one country had a rule on a particular subject. When that happened it was agreed that all countries would follow the one country's rule until a problem arose. Hence because one country believed in straight (or at least not small, highly curved) ones the rule got adopted and UK newspapers and weirdo politicians of extreme view thought it a bad thing... Me? I thought it was a good thing... the one country was the UK and the rule had been introduced many years ago to protect the market for high quality bananas that came from the West Indies, and it did so by excluding the small curved wizened ones that came from Honduras.

My memory may be at fault but I think the rule was originally part payment for the loss to the West Indies when the Royal Navy did away with the rum ration, a tremendous blow to the economy of Jamaica.

On the latter subject, Churchill stood in Parliament and said that the loss of the rum ration in the Navy was a sad day because it left only one of the the three great Naval traditions... Rum, Sodomy and the Lash!

[Camy]

I suppose having a tot of rum at midday is not even vaguely politically correct, these days - even though the House of Commons bar seems to be doing rather well.

There's still 'splice the mainbrace' if you're lucky.