Pictures 8 November

Today's weather was alternating between sunshine and showers. This gives rise to some nice imagery, showing the contrast between bright, low sunshine and the dark showerclouds. Sunset is before 4.30pm, so the last picture was only taken at 4.43pm.


10.40 looking east


10.40 looking west


11.15 the shower has passed to the east


11.35 the sun comes out - camera cannot deal with the sharp contrast


15.00 Approaching heavy shower; the rainfall almost looks like the funnel of a tornado


15.45 Another shower, moving east, catching the rays of the setting sun


16.43 After sunset

AOHell

Elections

Commenting on the US Congressional elections, which appear to be dealing a heavy blow to the presidency of George W. Bush. The House of Representatives (at this stage, 6.53AM EST) appears to have been taken over by the opposition Democratic party. Whether the Senate will go the same way still to be decided.

I note that a number of referendums are also being held, most notably in South Dakota where a blanket ban of abortions, passed by the State's legislature, has been overturned by voters.

Having read journals on a regular basis for about 6 months now, I have to say that the US appears to me as a country where the have-nots are mostly left to fend for themselves. I have noticed that, particularly in the healthcare sector, people are being charged through the nose for diagnostic tests, treatment, and that the insurance company decides when a patient should be discharged, not the doctor.

For those who are unfamiliar with the European healthcare model, in the UK we have the National Health Service, set up in 1948. You can see a doctor for free, but have to pay for dental treatment. Prescription medicines carry a charge, currently £6.65 per medicine (this is roughly $12). However, as annual costs of a medicine can exceed £35,000 p/a, this is not a huge amount. Many people are exempt, e.g. those under 18 or over 60, and those claiming certain benefits. Elsewhere in Europe, health care is funded by a mixture of state contribution and private health insurance.

Going back to my perception of the USA, it was born of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. There were 3 days of inertia, followed by frenetic activity to save lives and rehouse the homeless. I keep seeing documentaries on TV which show the current state of affairs around New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. Little has been done, really.

I continue to have a natural affinity with the US, as a large section of its society is of European descent. Some people hate Americans with a vengeance - on account of their government's policy. That's wrong. You should take people as individuals.

The Archers

For those reading this in the USA: The Archers is a soap opera on BBC Radio, which has been running since 1951. It is a veritable institution. At least one of the actors who was there 55 years ago is still participating today. I started listening in 1982 or '83, as it preceded the mid afternoon Shipping Forecast. I'm still a weather nut. If you want to learn more about the Archers, click on the banner above.

In summary, it is set in the fictional village of Ambridge, located in the imaginary county of Borsetshire. The Archers are the central family, with a number of local characters thrown in. The current storyline focuses on David and Ruth Archer, whose 18 years of marital bliss has hit a rocky patch. David's eye was briefly caught by an old flame, and Ruth has taken the Rogers & Hammerstein's songtitle "The Farmer and the Cowman can be Friends" a little too literally. In last night's episode, she narrowly avoided an extra-marital tryst with farmhand Sam, who thought he had a chance after Ruth had a spat with David over the old flame.

This storyline has come in for criticism, as some think it has turned The Archers into too much of a soap opera. I don't think so. The episode of the pub landlord having a steamy session in the shower with his barmaid won't be forgotten easily. Nonetheless, although I am highlighting the current salacious storyline, the Archers is still fulfilling its old remit of reflecting life as it is today. Drug abuse, adultery, family breakups, paternity tests - and the village play. Who will play Snowwhite, and how many adults can be roped into playing the Seven Dwarfs. When will the cows be taken in, and who will milk them.

Oh well, it's a nice 13 minutes of entertainment every evening at 7 o'clock. And repeated the next afternoon at 2pm.

Again, you can also hear the preceding 7 episodes on-line. Enjoy!

Tuesday 07/11/06

Mrs B has a guest in today. He arrived on the plane from Glasgow, only to find out that his work had to be postponed for a day. The weather today is grey and totally uninspiring. I assist mrs B in compiling the recycling bin. Here in the islands, papers, plastics and glass are separated from normal garbage. It is uplifted every 2 weeks. Head out to the shop at 4pm to get food in for the youngsters. Erroneously purchase a tikka madras instead of a tikka massala. The former is rather spicier than the latter. By 9pm, the kids have gone back home and the moon is out.

Monday 06/11/06

Awoke to the news that Inverness and environs are without water, as is the West Side of Lewis. The latter stretches from Callanish in the south to Galson in the north, a distance of some 25 to 30 miles. Isles FM cheers you up at the start of the week by  giving us a rundown of drunken vandalism and loutishness. One person was arrested for attempted murder. The weather is quite variable, but acceptable. Temperatures rise to 12C / 54F. When I go into town I notice a different Coastguard Tug in : the Anglian Sovereign. This vessel was involved in an incident last year, when it was steered onto rocks at Shetland because its master was drunk. An oil spill had to be contained, and the captain was taken to court. Mrs B's grandkids return from school at 4pm and have their suppers at 6.15. I have mine at 7pm, whilst listening to the juicy drama in BBC Radio 4's The Archers. Yes, I'm an Archers addict of 24 years' standing.

Sunday 05/11/06

The weather today is breezy with some rain, with winds up to force 7. Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging. This weekend sees bonfire night, and there appear to be one or two events in the town. In Glasgow, 1,000 fires are being reported. On Friday, two men were reported missing off Ness, but I only heard that through an unofficial channel. Mrs B's son drops off his 4 kids for their granny to look after. These are aged between 11 and 16. Their home is being refurbished, and their mum is going away for a day or two tomorrow. At 8pm, I watch Lord of the Rings for 3 hours on Channel 4.

Saturday 04/11/06

We have another late start, and I do not show my face out of doors. I only needed a newspaper and lottery ticket, and that was brought in for me by mrs B. Cannot say it was a particularly great day today, either by virtue of the weather or otherwise. Dinner spag bol (just to tease one reader). The two images are supplementary to those shown in an entry on the day. It is moon by night.

Friday 03/11/06

Today dawned cloudy, but the sun came out between 11 and 12. However, by 1pm we had the dreichness back and it started to belt down with rain. Took advantage of the clearance by taking autumnal pictures of fallen leaves and bare trees. Darkness falls at 4.30pm, and we spend a convivial evening by the fire.

The pictures were shown in a separate entry on the day.

Pictures Public Gallery

My Pictures Public Gallery.
Just wanted to flag up this selection of pictures which I'm putting on the Web for general viewing. Mostly sunsets at this stage.

Images 6 November

And one I took just now

Polls

I gather our American friends are going to the polls today.
I can only wish you wisdom to choose the best person - or the least bad one - to represent you in Congress.

Appeal for help - relay

Copied this from Jackie's VIVI Award Journal. If you are not a VIVI nominee, but would like to help out at the award ceremony on Saturday, she'll want to hear from you. Read on:

You all know that we are planning an Awards Ceremony on November 11th, where the winners for each category will be announced.  Chris and I are hoping for a big turnout, which is wherein my dilemma lies.  We are going to need help.  The Chat rooms hold about 32 people, according to AOL, but I've heard other people state that they have gotten up to 50 in a room.  If we have over 100 people attend on Saturday, we are going to need a few more people to help us Host the rooms.  What hosting will consist of is being in synch with Chris and myself as we simultaneously announce the winners in each room.  If you are hosting a room, then you would be the announcer in said room, of each winner.  Now, of course, this can't be anyone who has been nominated, because we don't want the nominees to know who has won.  So, this needs to be someone who just wants to be a part of it all, and would like to participate by helping us out as a Host in one of the chat rooms.  I think we may need up to 5 people.  We just don't know how many people are planning to attend, and I want to make sure that we have a host for each room.

So.. if you are interested, please send me an email:  Siennastarr@aol.com, and let me know ASAP.  I would really appreciate it.

Graphics

How do you get graphics and animations into your journal and sidebar?

Upload the graphics file.
There are at least 4 options.
1 AOL Pictures (click on Add Pictures)
2 AOL Hometown (for animated graphics)
3 FlickR
4 Photobucket

I notice that Photobucket seems to be quite popular, but it can distort the image if you're not careful. It also has a bandwidth limit; if too many people view your journal, the next viewer may not be able to see the image as the bandwidth as been exceeded.

In any case, once you have uploaded your image, you need to find the URL that links back to it. I'll give instructions for each of the options listed.

1 AOL Pictures
Click Add Pictures above the journal entry window. Upload the images you want to include. After that is complete, click on Remove Pictures. Confirm that you want to do that BUT leave the tick in the tickbox that says to keep a copy.
You can also go directly to AOL Pictures and upload from there.
Now open AOL Pictures (http://pictures.aol.com) in a separate window and go to the album. This is usually entitled with the caption (subject) of your entry. Double click on the picture you want and click on Permalink (USA) or Link to this picture (UK). Press Ctrl-C (hold down the Ctrl-key and press C). Go back to your journal entry and click on the camera button (above the entry window, furthest to the right). Paste (Ctrl-V) the URL into the box as prompted. The URL is long and complicated. Click OK and your image should appear in your entry.

2 AOL Hometown
The File Manager in Hometown goes back to the Stone Age and is very user unfriendly. Nonetheless, this is the only option I'm aware of that can be used for putting working animations in the journal. Go to http://hometown.aol.com/_fm or http://hometown.aol.co.uk/_fm. Click on Add Files and upload; up to 4 files at a time. Make a note of the filenames. Once the uploading is complete, view the filelist and search for the imagefile you've just uploaded. Right-click the URL and select Copy Link Location. Go back to the journal entry and click on the camera button (above the entry window, furthest to the right). Paste (Ctrl-V) the URL into the box as prompted. The URL is long and complicated. Click OK and your image should appear in your entry.

3 FlickR
Select the image you want to include, and double click on it.
Now click on All Sizes. The bottom of the screen shows the URL. FlickR also would appreciate it if you include a reference to them with any image you link to from their site. Copy the URL. Go back to the journal entry and click on the camera button (above the entry window, furthest to the right). Paste (Ctrl-V) the URL into the box as prompted. The URL is long and complicated. Click OK and your image should appear in your entry.

4 Photobucket
The URL is shown below the image. Please be aware that this link will be broken if you start organising your pictures later on. Select the URL. Go back to the journal entry and click on the camera button (above the entry window, furthest to the right). Paste (Ctrl-V) the URL into the box as prompted. The URL is long and complicated. Click OK and your image should appear in your entry.

TECHNICAL AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Width
Please remember that your entry cannot accommodate images greater than 600 pixels in width; your sidebar is only 137 pixels wide. If you insert an image that is wider than that, your entry will cause the journal to scroll off the screen to the right. Worse, a large image in the sidebar will spill into the main entry, and could render it difficult to read. You therefore may need to adjust the HTML, the code that formats your page.

First of all, switch to HTML view. There is a small dropdown to the left of your entry window, which states View as [Text]. Change this to [HTML]. Locate the link to your image. This should look something like
<img src="http://static.flickr.com/82/277475799_3252d34669_o.jpg">. As you may notice, the link opens with a "<" and closes with a ">". In order to adjust the width of your image, you need to insert width=800 if your image is too wide in the entry or width=137 to fit it in your sidebar. You must insert it immediately BEFORE the closing ">".

Switch back to Text view to see the final result.

Animations
These are commonly files with a GIF extension. In order for the animation to work, you should ONLY upload it to AOL Hometown. You can apply the width adjustment to these without mishap - see the cat in my sidebar.

Alterations
If you get a tag, a snag or an amination from somebody else and feel it needs tweaking, please speak to the person you got it from. I understand it is quite disconcerting to find a distorted, mangled version of your image on someone's journal, that a blogger has tweaked with the best of intentions but with the worst of results.

Acknowledgements
Again, if you use someone else's work (whether it be a graphic or photograph) it is common courtesy to leave an acknowledgement to the author or photographer. Please remember that professional photographers have copyrighted their work (it is their livelihood), and you could end in deep (legal) waters for using their work without consent.

Thought of it this way?

Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a jo b)! is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the Greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold Dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Fonts

Several of my readers join me in despairing about the font discrepancy. Someone complained about the fact that the 12-point fontsize does not work. When I type in Times Roman (as I do initially), the entry comes out in a small-sized Tahoma. So, I change it to Comic Sans MS, which is quite readable.

Discovered today, that if you submit an entry through your buddylist the 12point fontsize DOES work. All you need to do is to put a bot on your buddylist, which will submit the entry for you. I think this is referred to in the journals homepage.

A Year Ago

A year ago, November 6th, 2005, was a Sunday. It was the day after the night before of the VIVIs. Patrick had hosted the award ceremonies. Not 10 days later, AOL USA decided to spin some money off the journals by adding ads. It led to a mass exodus of bloggers.

Here in Stornoway, we were looking at the start of a week of gales, culminating in a force 12 hurricane on Friday. One guest came on Tuesday, to look for houses. He was due to stay 1 night, but decided to extend this to two. On Thursday, the ferry had broken down in Ullapool. On Friday, there was this hurricane. It nearly sank the ferry. On Saturday, the ferry still had mechanical problems and it took 12 hours to make the crossing to Ullapool - normally, this takes less than 3 hours.

Feet

Haven't participated in the Photo Scavenger Hunt for a few weeks, but this week's subject left me with quite a few openings. So here goes for number 95.


My feet in the Langadale River, North Harris (19 April 2005)


My foot resting on a boulder in the Grimersta River, near Loch Langabhat. 13 May 2005


Fording the Laxdale River just outside Stornoway on 22 February 2006.

Mission Statement

In the sidebar of this blog, you'll find a mission statement, which I drew up in May 2006. As ever in life, things change. I have not recently ventured much beyond the confines of Stornoway, and kept myself occupied reading alerts. A bit too many, and I'll start a reduction exercise shortly. I'll keep a number of alerts going, and catch up with others on a weekly basis.

I write about local and regional news, which means anything from the Western Isles and northern Scotland. I also blog about major world news events, such as yesterday's verdict on Saddam Hussein. I indulge my weather interest by relaying warnings by the various hurricane centres around the world.

I am in a unique area of the UK, and one that has links around the globe. During the 19th century, thousands were expelled or otherwise encouraged to leave the Highlands and Islands. This is known as the Highland Clearances. The Seallam! Genealogy Centre at Northton, Harris, displays a map. On it, pins have been placed to indicate locations from where genealogy queries had been submitted. Papua New Guinea was one of the most esoteric and unexpected locations.

New journal

Sunny (blazensun) has started a new journal. Just over a year ago, she lost her son Kyle. As the pain is still very raw, she commenced "Dear Kyle" to help her to cope. Have a read, she didn't mind me highlighting the journal.

Alerts

Had about a hundred alerts to wade through. Have used the usual technique (jot down screenies) to whittle down the load, which I'll do until 4pm this afternoon or so. It's a breezy day, but it's clearing up nicely now. Anybody stuck with fog: drive carefully.

Flu jab (UK)

Those aged 65 or over are being urged to attend their GP for an influenza vaccination. Other groups, who are deemed to be particularly vulnerable such as chronically ill or those working in the frontline of health care, will also be invited to be immunised.

Thousands of working hours are lost each year due to the 'flu; worse than that, thousands die unnecessarily of influenza and its attending complications.

Don't confuse a cold with flu. Influenza will lay you up for a fortnight and will be accompanied by high fevers (up to 105F / 40C). Anything that goes away within a few days is not flu.

Electric failure

Large stretches of western Europe were left without power on Saturday, after the German powercompany E.ON switched off an electricity transmission line across the river Ems. A cruiseship had been launched from a yard and was heading out to sea.

Unfortunately, this meant that the rest of the grid could not cope and started to overload and shut down. Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Spain and Morocco were all affected, with millions of people left without electricity.

Although the outages did not last for much longer than an hour, the blamegame followed quickly and led to the conclusion that the power companies should invest more in infra structure.

Water, water everywhere - and not a drop to drink

Two sets of people are without mains water this morning in northern Scotland. 37,000 homes around Inverness have no water due to a pumps failure late on Sunday. The communities involved are 

Inverness

Culloden

Smithton

Balloch

Nairn

Aldearn

North Kessock

34 schools in the districts mentioned were urged not to open, and bowsers would be deployed in the area to supply the most essential. As more than 200 of those would be required for Inverness alone (a city of more than 100,000 people), additional vehicles were being drafted in from the central belt. The top priority was to keep Raigmore Hospital, the largest hospital in the Highlands, supplied with water.

On top of that, the West Side of Lewis was also reported to be without water this morning. Engineers were reported to be heading to the area early this morning. The West Side, stretching from Carloway in the west to Borve in the northeast, has a few thousand inhabitants.

Sunday evening

I won't be able to catch up with alerts until tomorrow morning, as I'm watching The Lord of the Rings on Channel 4 until 11pm. The computerroom is occupied after that, so until tomorrow: good night. Stay safe in any fog or (as in my case) gales.

The Mouse

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered – he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning:
There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" 

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"   The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." 

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember –when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a Friend.

In Case of Emergency - ICE

A article from the Toronto Star, "the ICE idea", is catching on and it is a very simple, yet important method of contact for you or a loved one in case of an emergency.

 

As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is program the number of a contact person or persons and store the name as "ICE".

 

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when they went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which numbers to call.

 

He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name to file "next of kin" under.

 

Following a disaster in London ...The East Anglican Ambulance Service has launched a national "In case of Emergency (ICE)" campaign.

 

The idea is that you store the word "ICE " in your mobile phone .

 

In an emergency situation, Emergency Services personnel and hospital staff would then be able to quickly contact your next of kin, by simply dialing the number programmed under "ICE".

 

For more than one contact name simply enter :  ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc.

 

Please forward this to everybody in your address book.

 

It won't take too many "forwards" before everybody will know about this.  It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest.

 

Autumn images

Some pictures that I took November 3rd and 4th. The weather is not inviting outside forays, today is grey, windy and cold. The wind is a westerly, force 5 gusting to force 7. It's 3.30pm, and I'm tempted to switch on the lights. Sunset not for another hour. By the way, anybody living near the sea: watch out for a big tide tonight. Ours comes in at 5.3m, 18 ft. That's big.


Saturday

Friday morning

Friday lunchtime

Saturday



Friday morning

Friday morning

Autumn leaves

Homeopathy: my opinion

I had to stress in the header of this post that the following is purely my personal opinion, as based on a scientific foundation. I do not ask anybody to agree or disagree, or change their perception on account of what I write. If you use homeopathy and find it's beneficial: do not change anything. By the way, I am going to get very scientific. Be warned.

The last line of the first paragraph gave a broad hint what I think of homeopathy. The idea behind it is that by repeatedly diluting a stock solution of an entity, you strengthen its potency. This entity will be selected to reflect, in its UNdiluted form, the affliction from which you suffer.

So, a solution is made in 70% alcohol. This is diluted 1 part in 10 parts of said 70% alcohol. This dilution will be carried out a requisite number of times. This number of dilutions, referred to as (e.g.) D30, D100 etc, reflects the potency. D100 is reckoned to be more potent than D30.

Right. Let's now look at the laws of chemistry and physics.
Take salt. Good old tablesalt, the variety you put on your egg or in the pan where your potatoes are boiling. A scientist from years gone by, Avogadro, calculated that the number of molecules in 58 grams of salt is 6.02 times 10 to the power of 23. I.e., 602.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. Or thereabouts. Those who know about chemistry will be familiar with molecular weights, and that NaCl (salt) has a molecular weight of 58. Each compound in nature has its molecular weight, and the number of molecules in each molecular weight in grams is the same. That big long number. 18 grams of water has the same number of molecules in it as 58 grams of salt, or 32 grams of oxygen, or 200 grams of gold.

Now, if you take 58 grams of salt, dissolve it in water and start to dilute it 1:10, your solution will contain, after diluting it 23 times, the grand total of 6 molecules of salt. Homeopathy goes beyond that. Diluting 30 times, 60 times even 100 times. If you dilute something 1:10 and do that 100 times, you are looking at a phenomenal piece of mathematics. In order to find 1 molecule of salt, you need to be scanning 10 to the power of 77 bottles. How many? 100.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. That's a big long number.

Now, I can tell you that in order to work, most medicines need a fair few of their active molecules to be knocking about. Some 10 to the power of 15 at the very least. Homeopathy blithely states that 10 to the power of minus 77 will be more potent than 10 to the power of 15? [unprintable remark].

I realise that I have probably lost most of my readers here, but I found it an important point to make, as I feel quite strongly about this.

Verdict: death

Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, has been sentenced to death by hanging. Although an appeal is likely to be lodged, this is equally likely to be doomed to failure. The death sentence was handed down on account of a massacre of 148 people in a Shia dominated town, following an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982.

The former dictator looked shocked on hearing his verdict, but shouted defiance to the court. Other officials were also sentenced to death; a number received lengthy prison sentences.

The trial has been beset by controversy, allegations of government and US interference and frequent changes of judges. The verdict is not likely to make an improvement in the current situation in Iraq.

Next weekend

Next weekend will see an action packed weekend in J-land.

* On Saturday 11th November, the VIVI Award Ceremony will take place. Time and location to be announced.

* On Sunday 12th November, the J-land Convention Chat will be held in the Special Interests - Journals Cafe at 8pm GMT / 3pm EST / 12noon PST. A second chat will be held 4 hours later, i.e. midnight GMT, 7pm EST / 4pm PST. You can still vote which hotel you would like the Convention to be held. The poll closes on November 10th.

J-land Convention
Dates: March 23rd - 26th, 2007
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina USA

Further info: J-land Convention Journal
and Gina (motoxmom72@aol.com).

Iraq

Tomorrow, Sunday 5th, the first verdict in the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will be announced. Although it is not legal to pre-judge the outcome of a trial, it is deemed likely that Saddam will be found guilty, and will be sentenced to death.

Although his regime was toppled 3½ years ago, his overthrow has brought little stability to Iraq; if anything, the removal of this potentate has uncorked the bottle containing the evil genii. Put in less flowery words, the presence in the country of US, British and other Western forces has been seized upon to marshall a massive insurgency, which seems to be succeeding in steering the country towards civil war.

It is my considered opinion, that this is a case of severely botched US foreign policy (sorry guys), spanning three decades. In the years between 1980 and 1988, Iraq and Iran were at war. Iraq was sponsored by the then US government to stop the Islamic extremists which had just come to power in Tehran. The genocidal tendencies of Saddam Hussein were covered over as he was useful. To quote (perhaps out of context) one senior military man in Washington: "He's a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch".

After the Iran / Iraq war ended inconclusive in 1988, Saddam Hussein thought he would get away with anything, so he set his sights on Kuwait, claimed as Iraq's 19th province.
The country was invaded in 1990. This upset the Americans, for reasons of control of oil reserves. And the fact that the Emir of Kuwait was a better friend than Saddam Hussein. After a very brief conflict, the Iraqis were bombed out of Kuwait in March 1991, and their army was in such disarray that the road to Baghdad lay open. The then president George Bush Snr was pursuaded by Arab leaders not to take out Saddam Hussein.
He should have.

Over a period of more than a decade, a cat-and-mouse game was played over allegations of NBC weapons in Iraq. NBC is Nuclear, Biological and Chemical. It was very likely that Iraq at one time did have some nasty things, but: its nuclear facility was bombed by the Israelis in 1981. And by 2003, there was no firm evidence to other non-conventional armaments. On top of that, Saddam Hussein was in a military stranglehold.

In spite of that, president George W. Bush made the decision to invade Iraq and effect a regime change. He also brought up the war on terror as a reason, although there was no evidence that there was a link between Al-Qa'eda and Saddam Hussein.

Iraq was invaded in March 2003, and following several weeks of fighting, the regime of Saddam Hussein was finally toppled in April. The power vacuum that ensued was not filled sufficiently quickly, and a powerful insurgency erupted, sponsored by Al-Qa'eda, which is costing the lives of thousands of Iraqi civilians, nearly 3,000 US troops and more than 100 British forces. Politically, it will be the downfall of the Labour Party in the UK. Tony Blair is on the negative side of the debate whether or not he knew there were no NBC weapons in Iraq prior to the invasion.

 It will also play a role in the presidential elections in the US in exactly 2 years' time.
The current mid-term elections there seem to be dominated by sex scandals. If the Iraqi situation does not improve markedly in the next 24 months, and if rates of casualties do not decrease, the Republican Party could be in for a hammering in 2008.

Nuclear power

A debate has sparked in the UK earlier this year to build new nuclear powerstations. I think that is a supremely bad idea. Although nuclear power does not contribute to greenhouse gases, it is just as harmful to the environment.

After they have outlived their useful life, nuclear elements have to be disposed of. By the laws of physics, some of the radio-active isotopes contained in the elements have a halflife of thousands of years. This means that it takes that length of time for HALF the radio-activity to dissipate. This means that the nuclear waste has to be stored somewhere where it will be safe for thousands of years.

In the UK, a government agency called Nirex has been scanning around for suitable dumping sites. Two of them in the Western Isles (where I am) - the islands of Fuday and Sandray (near Barra). A storm blows up every time a site is shortlisted, and the jury is still out on the issue.

The point that I am making is: if the issue of nuclear waste has not been resolved, we should not go forward and produce even more.

A second issue has arisen on the international scene. Iran has recently slipped the UN leash and is proceeding with a uranium enrichment programme, which could ultimately lead to the building of a nuclear weapon. The Iranian government has vehemently denied that this is their objective, and stresses that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful and for civilian benefit.

The Iranian president, Mahmood Ahmedinajad, is on record as wanting to destroy the state of Israel. This is in contravention of international law. If this is government policy in Iran, I think we have a problem. Because the nuclear programme could be used to make a nuclear bomb for dropping on Israel.

Six other Arab states, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, have also shown an interest in nuclear power. Although none of these states have expressed an overt interest in wiping Israel off the map, I would say that the political situation in the Middle East and North Africa is not exactly one of rock-solid stability. Certainly Algeria has had some horrendous episodes of civic unrest, and things rumble on under the surfaces of Egypt and Saudi.

Fireworks displays

Tomorrow is November 5th, Guy Fawkes night. Briefly, this is the anniversary of the 17th century gunpowder plot, in which Guy Fawkes and a band of conspirators had intended to blow up Parliament in London. Kate has done an excellent series of entries on that event, so I'll just link to that.

Tonight will be the main occasion for putting on fireworks displays; it is frowned upon to have that sort of thing on a Sunday. Many people in the UK will set off their own fireworks, and I hope it will be safe. I wrote an entry on firework safety on October 19.
Anyone building a bonfire should check for animals, or make sure that none can gain access to the pile before lighting it.

The pictures below were taking during a New Year's Eve fireworks display on December 30th (no typo) last year. I have found no announcement of a Guy Fawkes fireworks display or bonfire in the islands.

Dispensing error

In Aberdeen, a man aged 78 has died in hospital, after he accidentally took a tablet, which was not intended for oral use. Alan Moir was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with leg sores and was later transferred to Woodend Hospital.

A few days ago, he had fallen asleep and on wakening found this tablet lying on his bedside cabinet. This was in fact a desinfectant, intended to be dissolved into water, for bathing his feet. Thinking it looked like one of his painkillers, he swallowed it. The man realised something was wrong and started to scream in terror. He vomited repeatedly, and developed a sore throat. Although he was reported as being fine after the incident, Mr Moir died last weekend. The family is distraught, and are now preparing to bury him next Tuesday.

The incident is subject to a police investigation, as well as one by NHS Grampian as to what went wrong. For this reason, I cannot speculate on the possible cause, although police have stressed that there are no suspicious circumstances.

When you are in hospital, all medication is prescribed by the hospital doctor and given to you for taking by the nursing staff. They sign for administering the drugs, and also note when you have not taken the medicines.

Errors do happen in hospitals. They rarely have such tragic consequences, though. An investigation into an error is not intended as an exercise in finding somebody to blame, but to find out what has gone wrong and why, and which lessons can be learned. An error with fatal outcome involves the Procurator Fiscal (in Scotland) as a matter of procedure.

Friday afternoon

Today started nice and sunny, but after lunch clouds rolled in and the rain has started. It's a bit breezy, but the temperature has risen a notch or two on past few days.

1350 UTC
Wind	from the SW (220 degrees) at 15 MPH (13 KT)
Visibility	greater than 7 mile(s)
Sky conditions	mostly cloudy
Weather	Light rain showers
Temperature	50 F (10 C)
Dew Point	44 F (7 C)
Relative Humidity	81%
Pressure (altimeter)	30.33 in. Hg (1027 hPa)

As soon as those showers move off, I'll venture out to the shop to get the essentials in. I still have a pile of books to read, one of them is called Calum's Road. This is an account of Calum Macleod, who single-handedly built a road in the island of Raasay, east of Skye. It took him 12 years to build 2 miles of road. The other book is called Crofter's Trail, about the Clearances in the highlands and islands. I have already read a few chapters of this harrowing account of an iniquitous episode in Scotland's history.
Meanwhile, I am also into Sudoku, Kakuro and other numerical puzzles now that the weather is less amenable. I had this idea of going for a walk this afternoon, but getting soaked has ceased to be an attractive proposition a long time ago.

Don't forget to vote for the VIVIs, if you haven't already done so. You have until November 6th.

If you feel that you would like to see a blog's name or the blogger's screenie on your alerts, please leave a comment on the Journalseditor's blog Magic Smoke.
Don't know if it's going to become reality, but would like to thank Connie (maxsox5) for raising this idea, I think it's great.

Unusual request

A few days ago, I flagged up a new journal, called Circle of Love. It is about a lady, Faith, whose friend Riss is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for multiple myeloma. The chemotherapy, as can be expected, is having the usual very harsh effects, which is very distressing for both Riss and Faith - and again, it's Faith doing the blogging about it.

I am aware that several readers have undergone chemo themselves, or have friends or relatives who have experience that way.

Can I ask those to nip over to the journal and offer whatever support or encouragement you can?

Many thanks.

9/11

A few days ago, human remains were found at Ground Zero in New York. This was more than five years after the horrendous attacks on the World Trade Center, in which close on 3,000 people were killed.

The victims were American Airlines Flight 11 stewardess Karen Ann Martin, passenger Douglas Joel Stone. The relatives of a third have asked for the name to be withheld.

I have forwarded this information to the bloggers who commemorated those individuals as part of the 2996 project, back in September.

Further info from the BBC News website.

Call for support

I have previously asked for support for Sam, who is currently going through a very messy break-up with her other half. Ignore some strong language on the entry (please), I think she's excused.

Autumn colours

Walked around the town this afternoon, looking for autumn colours. Had a job seeing any that would jump out at me. The Castle Grounds is Stornoway's park, but this autumn, the leaves seem to drop off the trees green, rather than turn a pretty colour first. Nonetheless, hope you all enjoy this little selection. I include a pic or two from yesterday's sunset. Today's was just drab and grey.

Visibility today was fantastic; the Applecross Mountains, 45 miles southeast of here, stood out as if they were just down the coast. On a clear day, if I go to Holm Point, 3 miles south of here, I can make out mountains in the far south of the Isle of Skye, which are a staggering 75 miles / 120 km from here. You'll see in the picture that the mountains appear to float above the horizon. This is due to refraction in the atmosphere.

Technical footnote: maximise your screen when viewing this journal.


Sunset 1 November


Sunset 1 November

Leaves falling from the trees

Cloudscape

Distant hills of Applecross

Rosehips

Lews Castle from the Inner Harbour

Cuddy Point


I think this is a redshank

Missing from archives

Can I ask readers to check their "Previous entries" on the main screen of their journals? If you posted on 31 October 2006, but do not see them listed under the archive for October 2006, can you please visit Jeff the Journalseditor on http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke and let him know? I have the usual barrage of entries, which do NOT show in the archive listings.

All Hallows

Aye, that's today. November 2nd, All Hallows. The Roman Catholics amongst us take time to remember those that went before us, those that died over the past 12 months. I am not a Roman Catholic, but respect that branch of Christianity as one of the great religions of this world, alongside Judaism and Islam.

When I was 20, I was invited to attend a lecture by a representative of Opus Dei. This is a very strict Jesuite order, close to the Pope. The fundamentals of Roman Catholicism were explained to me, and I decided that I could not follow that creed. However, some of my best friends over the years were RC, so no problems there.

Two things I have to mention related to J-land.

Voting has started for the actual VIVI Awards. Jackie has opened the polls. Full instructions in her latest entry. You have until November 6th to cast your vote. You can only vote once; duplicate ballots will be discarded. The results will be announced in a chat on November 11th.

Kellen is thinking about the 4th Journals Tournament. He wants to have about 15 competitors on that occasion, and is looking for feedback, ideas, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part, and would recommend it to anyone. Why not pop round at the Journals Tournament.

Attacked tourist dies months later

I have been sitting on this dreadful story since the summer, as I couldn't really bear to put it out. But the final outcome pulled me over the line.

Back in July, an American tourist from White River Junction, Vermont (USA) was attacked whilst walking the Great Glen Way south of Inverness.

Marty Layman-Mendonca, 57, was on her way back into the city when she was attacked. She was on her third visit to Scotland and considered it "the most welcoming place on earth". Ms Layman-Mendonca, a committed Christian, was dropped off by a friend at Blackfold at about 1130 BST on the day of the attack. She said she could walk the last six miles of the Great Glen Way.

34 year old Colin Ross from Inverness was walking in the same area that morning. He told police that after their paths crossed he "became enraged" and decided to attack her. The court heard how Ross, who attacked a female German tourist in 2004, followed his victim for 10 yards, engaged her in conversation and then "went into a frenzy".

He repeatedly hit her on the head with a metal pipe and a boulder before stealing the rucksack from her back and rifling through the pockets of her walking shorts for cash. Ross then tied Ms Layman-Mendonca's wrists with shoelaces, leaving her unconscious and bleeding heavily. The woman was found in a ditch beside the track by a police officer with a dog.

She was taken to Raigmore Hospital, where she remained in a coma for weeks. In September, church goers from Inverness and White River Junction combined funds to enable Mrs Layman-Medonca to be transferred to a hospital in Vermont, to be nearer her family.

She never regained consciousness, and passed away earlier today.

I am deeply saddened that Marty came to Scotland, a place she loved for its natural beauty and great hospitality of its people. Only to lose her life at the hands of a man, known to be a danger to women.

Marty was a tough woman from a tough background, who had worked hard for herself and her daughter. She was an avid hiker who had climbed many peaks in the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

I dedicate this entry to her memory.

J-land Convention chat

Gina posted the following in the Convention journal, and I copy (with slight modification). There is a CHANGE in times, as compared to a blog entry I did on Monday. The hotel poll will close as of Friday, November 10th at 10 p.m. EST to give everyone a chance to vote.

Go here to vote: Take Hotel Poll

The J-Land Convention Chat has been scheduled for Sunday, November 12th at the following times:

Session One:

3 p.m. EST
12 Noon PST
8 p.m. UK time

Session 2:

7 p.m. EST
4 p.m. PST
12 midnight UK time

I decided on 2 different sessions since not everyone can do the one later at night due to time differences.

Please spread the word in your journals!  I hope to see a big turnout! 

Ballgames

After a two year long study, the National Science Foundation announced the following results on corporate America's recreation preferences:

1. The sport of choice for unemployed or incarcerated people is: Basketball.

2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is: Bowling.

3. The sport of choice for front line workers is: Football.

4. The sport of choice for supervisors is: Baseball.

5. The sport of choice for middle management is: Tennis.

6. The sport of choice for corporate officers is: Golf.

Conclusion: The higher you are in the corporate structure, the smaller your balls become

Faux pas

French words, meaning a wrong step or more appropriately, a wrong move. Well, Cathy described one, when a senior college student turned up dressed as Adolf Hitler. The young man in question didn't have the guts to go home on public transport dressed like that, not before donning a large coat to cover his costume. Other students didn't go to that bother.

Prince Charles, heir to the British and Commonwealth Throne, gave a wee bit too much information yesterday. Attending a school for girls in Pakistan, he announced that at the time of that country's independence (1947), he was being conceived.

His son, Prince Harry (I think it was), committed a faux pas a few years back when he attended a fancy dress party decked out in full Nazi uniform. It's one thing that an American high school student does that. A potential heir to the throne should at least have been advised not to do that.

Anybody else got any toe-curlers?

Tuesday 31/10/06

It is very cold but bright today, with the odd shower. One even falls as hail. A force 9 gale is blowing near the mainland, although the windspeeds here do not exceed force 6. The ferry has been cancelled, as have the ferries to the Small Isles, around Mull and to Gigha, near Kintyre. A cancelled ferry means empty shelves in the shops. Today, the funeral takes place of the 15-year old who shot himself last week. Island relatives will not be able to attend, if they did not travel yesterday, as he is being buried at Ullapool. The medical director of NHS Western Isles (one of three) has been deprived of his position, as the 3 posts have been amalgamated into one. My quitlist for the NHS WI saga has now been reduced to nearly zero. The Finance Director is still in my sights, for failing to address a 2.4 million pound shortfall. After nightfall, one trick-or-treat'er comes to the door. Today's maximum temperatures reach 8C, but drop to 3C after nightfall. Beautiful moonlit night.

Over at Arnish, another cargoship delivers a replacement turbine for the one lost overboard in the North Sea last week. I cannot make out its name. The Sava Hill, having discharged its cargo of coal, departs.

NOTE: I have displayed two of the pictures in the above gallery in an entry yesterday.

Monday 30/10/06

The worst effects of the time change have worn off, and it's reasonably nice. It is the last day with mild temperatures. The mercury reaches 14C / 57F. Tomorrow will be more like winter, with gales and temperatures of about 8C / 46F. Rain slowly moves up from the south, and I manage to make it to and from Somerfields without getting soaked. The cargoship Sava Hill is in to deliver bulk coal. Loose. Lorries scuttle back and forth to deliver the stuff to the depot. Not much else doing. It's dark at 5pm and the wind picks up after nightfall.

Sunday 29/10/06

Why do you always feel washed out and hung over after the clocks change? Breakfast and lunch merge into each other. Typhoon Cimaron / Paeng slams into the Philippines with winds of 260 kph, gusting to 300 kph. The typhoon has suddenly doubled in strength. Yesterday's forecast was for no more than 120 kph. Here, the weather is mild, but that will change later in the week. Go out for a walk around the Battery at 3pm. It's quiet out and about, and not much moves. Make supper at 7pm, Savoy Cabbage Special. Check out my Recipe Book. The meat is made up using beefburgers. Listen to the Archers, after which mrs B's grand children come to use the shower; their bathroom at home is being refurbished.






The turbine parts at the Arnish Fabrication Yard, 1 mile away

Carbon monoxide

I have blogged about this subject 8 months ago, following a death in Stornoway as a result of this gas. Last week, two children died on holiday in Corfu, Greece, because carbon monoxide seeped into their accommodation from an adjacent boilerhouse.

Winter is here, and now is the time to check your central heating or other fuel burning appliances.

Carbon monoxide is a silent killer, which can strike without warning. Please take heed - even with everything technically in order it can still claim victims.

Carbon monoxide cannot be detected using your normal senses.
It has no smell. Low concentrations of the gas cause headache and nausea. High concentrations cause loss of consciousness after only a few moments. It can KILL.

Carbon monoxide is formed when fuel is burned with inadequate oxygen supply.

This can happen under the following circumstances:
- poorly maintained appliances 
- with any type of carbon-based fuel (coal, gas, oil, wood). 
- in appliances installed without adequate ventilation
- chimneys or flues blocked or poorly maintained

* Please ensure your boilers and other appliances burning fossil fuels are properly maintained by a qualified and certified engineer.

* Ensure your appliance is freely ventilated, and any ventilation holes are not unnecessarily blocked off

* Ensure your chimney is swept annually, and the exit inaccessible to birds who may want to nest in there

November

Good afternoon all,

So, here we are. Halloween has spooked by, the clocks have been put back. The sun is setting at 4.35pm out here, not to reappear for 15 hours until 7.35am. We are going to lose another hour on the sunset side, and nearly two on the sunrise time. Oh happy days.

It is November.

I have updated and cleaned up my sidebar a little. I have now got a small image of a poppy, which is the symbol of the Armistice Day commemorations on November 11th here in the UK. This day is also marked in many other countries in Europe, as well as the USA,  I think. The actual act of Remembrance here in Britain will take place on Sunday morning, November 12th, at the 11th hour.

Nearly two weeks later, we reach the Thanksgiving festival on November 23rd. The only place in the UK which declares a holiday for this event is the town of Stornoway. Caught me out when I arrived here two years ago, and I came in to do shopping. Nothing open. Thursdays tend to be the days for communions, and that can also catch out the unwary. Schools are closed and shops close early. There is still a very strong and conservative church tradition in Lewis and Harris, one of the reasons for the absence of a Sunday ferry service. The only occasion when they do run a boat across is when the Saturday sailing has had to be cancelled due to bad weather.

As Kate has eminently pointed out in several of her entries, November 1st is the festival of Samhainn in the old Celtic calendar. The start of winter. So, without further ado, I'll let you get on with All Saints (today), All Hallows (tomorrow, remembering the departed) and wish you all a good, warm and safe winter.