Three more facts for the file - all loosely connected by the fact that they overturned some kind of misconception in my mind. The first, revealed whilst staring at a sign during what felt like an eternity at a kiosk queue, was that it is now illegal to sell tobacco to under-18s. I don't remember that age being bumped up; the situation now is that you can get married, have a kid, join the army, get shipped out to a war zone, come back with half your original legs intact and still have to wait a year before you can have a cigarette.
At least being in the army pays well - even if you're one of the specially selected few who are deemed just too valuable to send into the proper army, and who spend their weekends running through derelict council estates on 'drills' - that's right, you even get paid to be in the Territorial Army. No wonder we're running out of money...
Speaking of which, the banking crisis continues apace, with the U.S. markets falling by 12 gazillion points, before rallying by 3.8, only to plunge a further 900 trillion in the next 5 minutes. It's something like that. It also now appears that keeping your money in a shiny multinational bank might soon be as safe as withdrawing it all, stitching it together to make a money suit and strolling around a town centre in it all night. The UK banking system used to be the safest in the world, but it's now about the 45th safest, about level with the U.S. and Germany. The banking crisis is affecting pretty much every Western country - except Canada. It still has the safest banking system in the world, probably because it only has about 13 citizens, but still, good effort...
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