View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Thursday 3 March 2011

Wednesday 2 March

A very wet day, although the rain did decrease from torrential to a fine drizzle as the hours went by. I took delivery of a new book Making the rounds with Oscar. There has been some publicity recently about a cat in a Rhode Island (USA) nursing home, which had the uncanny ability to predect when one of its residents was about to die. The doctor who made the discovery has written a book about this, extending the story beyond the abilities of the cat. Perhaps an uncomfortable eye-opener to anyone who has had a relative with any form of dementia.

Colonel Gaddafi of Libya has been described as delusional by some people. He is not, I can tell you. Our Muammar is a very clever manipulator, and admitting that anything is amiss constitutes admitting to a weakness. Making terrible threats is all part of the deal. For the moment, there appears to be an uneasy stalemate, with a failed attempt by loyal Libyan forces to retake a town in the east of the country.

In Scotland, the football competition is dominated by two teams, Rangers and Celtic. These are both from Glasgow, but one is representative of the protestant section of society (Rangers, or the Gers) and the other of the catholics (Celtics, or the Hoops). Their matches are tense affairs, and in the past led to crowd trouble. Last night's Old Firm match (as Rangers vs Celtic games are referred to) saw trouble on the pitch. Rangers lost 1-0, and had three players sent off. I don't have a lot of time for football, as I think the players are paid ridiculous sums of money, and are traded with 7 or 8-figure sums of money. However, where I come from, they say that football is war, and in that case I prefer 22 guys having it out on a grassy pitch as opposed to people slinging lead against each other.