Bad day for civil libertarians in the UK

National ID cards were voted in during the morning, and the UK-wide ban of smoking in pubs and restaurants is expected to be passed shortly. When you go outside to smoke, bring your ID. (IDs won't be required on your person - as long as you can show it in three days. But it made for a funny line, I thought.)

In other news of things working out for Tony Blair, the prime minister had a brush with disaster when the 36-year-old plane he was in lost power right before a Johannesburg takeoff. He's fine, but if the power had failed a few seconds later, it could have been quite bad.