View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Wednesday 16 January

The day started windy and wet, but by midday it had dried up and it was a bit brighter. I compiled nine more profiles of WW1 casualties from Arnol, one of them a lieutenant-colonel - but him no better or worse than the humble privates and sailors who lost their lives elsewhere and at other times.

What shocked me most of all today was the helicopter crash in Vauxhall, south London. I switched on the TV at 8.30 am, half an hour after the crash, and fell straight into the immediate aftermath. It soon became clear that two people had lost their lives and about a dozen were hurt. Bearing in mind location and timing, it was an absolute miracle that the casualty toll was not much higher.

US president Obama has announced the first steps to control guns in the States. Many people are opposed, viscerally so, and by constitution all Americans are allowed to keep and bear arms. However, if 10,000 people a year are killed by guns (compared to 250 pro rata for European countries), something is wrong. Maybe America never got out of the 19th century.

This heron flew off just as I was trying to take its pic.

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2 comments:

  1. The helicopter crash was the stuff of nightmares! Yes...it might have been worse! Thank God it wasn't.

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  2. The crane driver must be thanking his lucky stars - on any normal day he would have been on his way up the tower of the crane, and would almost certainly have sustained serious injuries of not worse. I'd be willing to lay odds on him having bought a lottery ticket last night! It clearly wasn't his day to go. Sad for both the pilot of the helicopter and the chap on the ground's families though. How a few seconds can totally change lives.

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