[SandRat]

Somehow, just somehow I get the feeling that this "STATE" control was pushed by the French.

Remember the French continue to prove day after day that they are like their flag, blue for their laws, white for their control of their military, and red for their political bent!

[T'wit]

You're right, this reeks of France. It is straight out of the Napoleonic Code, which decreed every teeny detail of commerce.

Not that we can gloat. Bureaucrats everywhere and in all times are like this, and we have millions of them. It never occurs to a bureaucrat that the rest of us are fully capable of buying a banana even if it is bent double.

[LouD]

Remember the French continue to prove day after day that they are like their flag, blue for their laws, white for their control of their military, and red for their political bent!

And how can you tell if it's an authentic French flag?

Easy. The blue and red attach with velcro!