I don't suppose any of you "supporters" of the "style icon" are disabled yourselves, are you (mentally disabled notwithstanding of course)?

Get ready for some news...the sun HAS SET on the "Empire" and if you want it to come up again in modern times you'll move along with them.

What's next? the "return" of that style icon of the rails..the tank engine with its belching smoke? or perhaps one of those style icons of the air..the propeller-driven DC-3..the possibilities are absolutely endless.

Anbd M_Kingdom I can just imagine you DO love watching others rushing to catch the bus as you stay behind, below stairs, doing the washing.

TopMan

Actually, the sun still hasn't - and doesn't - set on the Empire. Thanks to Pitcairn, the British Indian Ocean Territory and a number of other rocks we still rule, even now there's always some bit of British territory where it's daylight.

Not many people know that.

But even fewer can work it what it's got to do with getting those horrible monstrosities into the museums where, in these godless days, icons belong and replacing them with buses everyone can use safely.

Buses, as you say, are for everyone. That's why they're called buses (from 'omnibus'). If they were just for the MK2s of this world they'd have to be called regnis secundis.

Imagine saying you'd just missed a 14 regnissecundis.

Ridiculous.

Umm... to wander even further off topic and away from Europe, there is a court case at the moment in which it is being argued that British law and legal systems have no jurisdiction over Pitcairn, precisely because of the mutiny. Whether this argument will work I have no idea, but I thought I'd stir the pot...

Patrick- a Kiwi solicitor/barrister (yes-to hold both titles is increasingly the trend in the British legal world!) told me about this case-most interesting! A number of male defendants prosecuted on Pitcairn Island on child sex charges, the defense (excuse me "defence") QC (a retired Aussie judge no less!) has argued that since Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers committed piracy and treason, they were no longer British subjects at the time they landed on Pitcairn back in the 1790's-Britain never owned the land and consequently has no legal authority to impose its laws or prosecute the islanders. By setting the Bounty on fire, the mutineers committed an act of treason punishable by death-Pitcairn was therefore settled by those outside London's reach. The PDs in the case have asked the Pitcairn High Court to declare the case constitutionally invalid, and have stated they will appeal their case all the way to the Privy Council-Spygirl will be interested to hear how the constitutional argument in this case turns out-luv that type of outside-the-box thinking!

Pitcairn has a High Court - I thought there were only about a hundred people on the island in the first place?!

Quite right-Patrick-but I believe the Pitcairn courts actually sit in Auckland-but may sit in Pitcairn in certain instances, I'm not sure-that's usually how courts of appeal work-they sit in one place and travel to various courts within their jurisdiction to hear cases. It's interesting though, that multiple male defendants are being prosecuted for sex crimes on the island-with only about 45 people on the entire island that would make a signficant percentage of the population engaged in alleged illicit acts of a particularly heinous nature-wonder if there is a genetic connection between these defendants and the original mutineers?

Dont you just love case law! I think you have revealed your profession Spygirl and here I was thinking that this was a thread about preserving or heritage listing the Magic Kingdom II.

Spygirl, are you also airlawgirl? Your writing style seems so similar, complete with the (smile) additions to comments.

Ah, so New Zealand law should apply.

So anyway, now we're so wildly OT, here's one for the Australians among us. I worked recently with an Australian woman who said her father had to meet a New Zealander at the airport. The Kiwi suggested meeting at the check-in counter. So the Australian waited for half an hour by the KFC stand...

That's cute Patrick (hope our friend Tangata thinks so too!) SydneySteve- no, no no-LOTS of people like to talk about interesting cases-not just lawyers- Patrick isn't a lawyer, and he's the one that brought it up!

I rest my case and soon hopefully I will get to rest !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4075085.stm

Thought this might be interesting post script to this tread