Late on a Friday

Twenty to eleven, and it hasn't been dry all day. Ferry is doing three crossings today, and it left port at 8.15pm, some 75 minutes late. It is by all accounts booked up to the gunnels. Spent the last wee while totting up the number of portraits I can add to the Roll of Honour files - 700. Need to process 220 pictures to get up to that total though, so that'll keep me busy over the weekend.

I am frankly stunned at the way the NHS is vilified in the United States, as a way of opposing the changes that President Obama is seeking to implement. Although far from perfect, the NHS has served the United Kingdom very well for more than 60 years, and there have been some gross inaccurancies being bandied about by those in the USA who don't like Obama's reforms. If it is true that 50 million Americans do not have access to health care insurance, and therefore no proper healthcare, then that is a disgrace. The NHS is a model that could be emulated by many other nations. I agree that it has a propensity towards costliness, but on the whole, it is geared towards those without the means of paying for their own private healthcare.

Friday 14 August

Sopping wet in Stornoway today, a layer of nimbostratus overhead doing what it is good at: rain down on us below. The cruiseliner Mona Lisa is hiding behind Arnish point, across the bay, only showing its superstructure over the low hills there. Why she is sheltering there puzzles me: the wind is a light easterly - and the Mona Lisa is in the lee of land there. The harbour is bristling with vessels at the moment: the ferry is in for its second of three calls today, the French fishing vessel Jean Claude Coulon has just left after effecting a crew change and the Ronja Skye is on the Goat Island slipway getting a clean out.

The Libyan man, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, convicted of bombing flight PanAm 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, is to be released from Greenock prison in the next few days or weeks. He is terminally ill with cancer, and the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, has decided to free him on compassionate grounds. The families of the victims are opposed to his release, and the US government has similarly voiced its opposition. Although I would agree with those views, I have had this nagging feeling that al-Megrahi was put forward as a scapegoat. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out the sequence of events in the late 80s: Gadaffi orders bombing of Berlin nightclub frequented by US servicemen, president Reagan orders bombing of Tripoli (killing one of Gadaffi's relatives), and Gadaffi engineers Lockerbie bombing.

Thursday 13 August

Bright day, with a fair bit of cloud about. Typical summer's day, temperature at a temperate 15C / 60F this morning. It was pouring with rain last night, so us in the Western Isles missed out on the Perseid meteor shower. This was reported to be a spectacular event, pity.

During the last week in August, the Faclan book festival will be held in the Western Isles, centered on the An Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway. Apart from lectures, there will also be excursions across the islands. More info here.

A few hundred miles south of here, the Tall Ships are in Belfast and opening their doors (read: decks) to the thousands.

Lay-out

Have reverted back to previous layout, as I found the new one too cluttered. Will continue to think about a new layout.

Community notes

Sybil, as I already posted on Jland Central and Jeannette on Call for Support, is back blogging - so keep it up! It's not all that much different from AOL, just a few bits and pieces, and everybody can help.

I was sorry to read of Jane's setback in her fight against renal cell carcinoma, in the shape of boney metastases. These were the cause of the pains that have beset her in recent weeks. Fortunately, Jane is not one for giving up that easily, so she duly turned up at her son's passing out parade with the RAF.

Dearmissmermaid, our blogger-in-hospital-in-the-Caribbean, is still there, 3 weeks down the line, and getting heartily fed up with it all. Why not pay her a visit, she feels like a fish out of water and misses her kitties.

Zoe has put in an appearance, after an absence of more than 2 months, but she thinks nobody is there to read her. So, off ye go, prove her wrong.

Wednesday 12 August

Well, as you see, I have now completely revamped the front page of Atlantic Lines. There are now two sidebars, one with info about moi, the other with general bits and pieces. Hope you like it. I have removed the front picture, as I found it a bit too large and standing in the way of loading the blog quickly. There is now a random selection of two pictures (always different when you load the blog) at the top.

Breezy, bright and fairly sunny this afternoon, with some showers about.

Locally, a former Traditional Gold Medal winner at the Royal National Mod, Joyce Murray, has died suddenly at the age of 61. Joyce was a presenter at our local radio station Isles FM, and featured as a singer on the fund-raising CD "Langass" for the station in 2005. I cannot find a public recording on the Internet of the song she performed (Oran Do Iain Bhreac) for the CD.
Her husband was killed in an accident after the 2004 Lewis Carnival, when he fell off a float returning from the procession. Joyce was found dead in her house on the West Side of Lewis on Monday evening.

Closing notes

No, today's weather was non-descript and grey. Seems to sum up our summer months, with a handful of exceptions. We do get the sun, and may expect it to put in an appearance tomorrow or Thursday.

Tomorrow, I intend to do the rounds on the blogs. And stop playing Bubble Spinner on Facebook, it's not on to continually try to break one's own record. I'll also read another chapter in one of my Terry Brooks novels (the Wishsong of Shannara). Have read worse literature - and better. But it is one of the better Tolkien spin-offs, even if nowhere near J.R.R.'s masterpieces.

I'm going to revamp the sidebar of Atlantic Lines, so expect a few changes there.

Tuesday 11 August

An overcast day but mainly dry as yet.

The hurricane scene currently includes five systems: Etau near Japan (a minor tropical storm), tropical depression Felicia (near Hawaii), tropical storm Maka in the central Pacific, more than 1200 miles from Hawaii; another tropical depression further east in the Pacific (more than 1200 miles west of Mexico) and the Atlantic making a token effort with a tropical depression west of the Cape Verde islands. That is actually the second system of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, which has been underway for nearly 2½ months now. A massive contrast to the 2005 season, which was up to its 9th named system - 4 tropical storms and 5 hurricanes had already formed at this point.

Monday 10 August

Bright day with varying amounts of cloud and feeling warm. Temperature is 17C, so it's not that warm. Pleasant surprise this afternoon, in the shape of a stack of information from one of the island historical societies for my World War I tribute site for the island of Lewis. Just finished adding that to the site; I can now also make a tribute for the man who left the house I am typing this from for the War.

Hawaii is going to get a dousing from tropical storm Felicia, which will come rumbling by in the early hours of tomorrow morning (European time), with winds of force 7 to 8 on the Beaufort scale. The Far East is getting it in the neck, with tropical depression Etau bringing copious amounts of rain to southern Japan. Casualties and damage are already being reported, in spite of the fact that this weak system is still 400 miles away.

Sunday 9 August

Sun is trying to break through the mid-level cloud - successfully so. It will be a welcome sight across the globe in China and Taiwan, where two typhoons have wrought havoc. The wind wasn't so much the problem, it was the sheer amount of rainfall. Taiwan had to stomach 2 metres (80 inches) of rain, which caused a hotel to collapse. Across the Taiwan Strait, China is getting prepared for Typhoon Morakot (read: tropical storm Morakot). A million people have been evacuated. The second typhoon (actually, little more than a tropical depression) Goni caused problems on Hainan Island, west of Hong Kong, where 14 villages had to be evacuated.

Source: BBC

Hurricane update - 9 August

Hurricane Felicia continues to head west towards Hawaii, but adverse atmospheric conditions are taking their toll on the storm. Although at present a category I hurricane, Felicia will weaken steadily on its approach to Hawaii. Nonetheless, a tropical storm watch is in force in the Big Island and Maui County, including the islands of Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai and Molokai. This means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the next 48 hours. Felicia is expected to be near or over Hawaii on Monday local time.

If you're in Hawaii, or know people there, please follow the advisories of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center closely; they are issued every 3 hours.

Saturday 8 August

Today is the day of the Lewis Carnival and the weather has decided not to spoil it with buckets of rain. It is breezy and cool, but we can cope with that.

The Lewis carnival had 6 floats in it this year; I am reliably informed that previous years (before I came to the island in 2005) there would be as many as 30. However, some years ago, someone fell off a float after the procession and was killed when the lorry ran over him. So (as you can see in the pictures), they ordered the installation of barriers on the floats, which took a lot of the fun out of the construction of the things. Anyway, too much talk already: here are some pictures and videos.




More here.

Friday 7 August

Sunny and fairly warm, with a breeze that is not as noticeable as yesterday. Pity about the midges though - the moment you sit down they're there. And later on, they'll be there in their zillions. It's August, what do you expect.

Talking of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut - yesterday's downtime on Twitter and problems on Facebook were caused because someone did not agree with the writings of a blogger in Georgia. All the social networking sites used by Cyxymu were targeted, according to the BBC. Twitter is still not working properly for me - can only access it through the 3rd party client Tweetdeck.

A few pics from the first days of August:

Closing notes

An unusual number of posts on Atlantic Lines today. First of all, many thanks to all who sent me happy birthday wishes through Facebook, Twitter (when it was working), email and on here. I realise I'm duplicating, but better too many than none at all. No, I didn't do anything special: it was a very windy day out here, although quite sunny as well. Did a lot of work on my Roll of Honour site.

Twitter is virtually back to normal, after what appears to have been a bout of cyber warfare between Georgia and Russia, according to some reports. Facebook, Youtube and LiveJournal (a favourite blogging platform in Russia) were also affected. Wish they'd just smash each other's heads in rather than involve everybody else.

64 years ago today

The first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima to force the Japanese Imperial forces to surrender. They did not do so until after a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The death toll from both devices, by the end of 1945, stood at 220,000. More people succumbed to the after-effects of the bombs in following years.

Never again. But the same was said at the end of World War I and II.
However, should nuclear war ever occur, it will be the end of all wars.

As there won't be anyone left to go to war for or against.

Twitter down, Facebook not working properly

Twitter has been down for more than an hour now, although Twitter Search shows that it is still possible to tweet using mobile devices. Twitter Status says they don't know what is causing the problem. So, on to Facebook.

But I can't put anything into Facebook either. So, on to Blogger.

Well, that's where the buck stops. I am able to put in an old-fashioned entry and take things on from here. Social networking by Internet? Well, it's up the spout this afternoon :-)

Exodus from the Outer Hebrides to Canada

Lucille H. Campey spoke at Stornoway Town Hall last night on the above subject. She took a novel angle on what is a central theme in the history of the Highlands and Islands, namely with a focus on Canada rather than Scotland. It is not easy to summarise a 60 minute discourse within the confines of a blog, but will go so far as to describe Ms Campey’s stance as controversial.

The exodus to Canada from the Outer Hebrides as well as other parts of Scotland is well documented. Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island in the far east of Canada are littered with pointers to the settlement of people from western Scotland, in placenames, culture and traditions. The mechanism of this migration is the underlying issue, and focuses on the landlords and his tenants.

I’ll focus on the town of Helmsdale in Sutherland to make my point. Two years ago, a statue was erected there to celebrate the achievements of the Highlanders in Canada. I’ll be the last to deny that the Scottish diaspora has achieved great things in their new homelands, whether they be Canada, the USA, Australia or New Zealand - or wherever. Why weren’t the people of the Highlands and Islands not put into a position where great things could be done at home?

Reference was made to the 1886 crofting reforms, prompted by overcrowding and poor soil (according to last night’s speaker). Having read some of Lord Napier’s reports, there was good soil to be had in the Highlands and Islands, access to which was denied to the tenants of the local lairds. Ms Campey denied that coercion played a major part in the drive to emigration, something that I do not believe will go down well with those that are intimately familiar with the history of this region - I do not claim to be. There are some who will say that government, rather than assist in the emigration, should have assisted people to remain. That was not the spirit of the time. If people were unable to afford their rent, set arbitrarily by lairds or his agents, they could be evicted. Conditions at the time, particularly after the potato famine of 1846, were undeniably dire for both tenants and landlords. But a landlord, committed to his tenants, would have worked with them - as was asserted as early as the 1880s, see the Napier report.

The focus in last night’s discourse was on the opportunities afforded in Canada to those who emigrated there. A more egalitarian society, as opposed to the class society to be had in Great Britain. Start a new life in a wilderness, away from materialism and an unjust society. Many people did very well indeed, achieving a wealth that would not have been possible in Scotland. Others did not do very well at all. Some could not afford the crossing, and ended up owing the fare to the ship’s captain. And when he came to claim his debt, the emigrants would once again be left with nothing.

I’ll be the first to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of Scots overseas. But I’ll also be the first to assert that a lot of emigration, even bearing in mind society in the 19th century, would not have been necessary.

Hurricane update - 6 August

Nearly two months ago since my last update, although there were a few tropical systems that made landfall since - like two tropical storms affecting Hong Kong.

Typhoon Morakot is currently east of Taiwan, and will hit the island state with winds of a mere 115 mph by 1800 GMT tomorrow, that is 2 am local time. Initially, the storm was forecast to pass north of Taiwan, but since last night, the projected trajectory has been shifted south.

Hurricane Felicia is in the open Pacific, along 131 degrees longitude West, far from any land. The storm carries winds of 140 to 190 mph. The hurricane will gradually lose strength as it moves west, and by the time Hawaii sees it (in 5 days' time), Felicia will be little more than a tropical depression with force 5-7 winds.

For reference, a typhoon is the same phenomenon as a hurricane - just a different name.

Thursday 6 August

Breezy but bright today, with some good sunshine on offer. Temperature at 16C / 60F. Yesterday, the weather took a sharp turn for the worse at 6pm, when a sudden squall passed with heavy rain. It moved away east, and swiped Loch Carron, just north of Kyle of Lochalsh at 7.30. A sailing regatta was underway, but the storm overturned 14 boats, landing 30 people in the water. The accompanying safety boats pulled many competitors out of the water, and the lifeboat and coastguard helicopter assisted in the rescue of the rest. Stornoway Coastguard commented that summer weather is not guaranteed to be benign, and these squalls do pass through. It was a similar, more severe, squall that brought us a tornado 9 days ago.

Many thanks to those who wished me a happy birthday through Facebook and email. Another year's experience of being 21 ;-)

Wednesday 5 August

Bright day, but with a lot of high and mid-level cloud about. Quite breezy, with a steady force 5 on the go. Temperatures should reach 21C / 70F today, but currently at 16C / 60F. That is our average in the summer months, by the way. The odd shower is possible, the rainfall radar shows a few specks and spots just to our north and west.

Barclays and HSBC banks announced profits of £3bn earlier this week. Lloyds TSB published a loss of £4bn today, mainly due to very bad banking by HBOS, which they took over during the winter to prevent the group collapsing. Is the banking crisis over, some are asking. Maybe. But as long as the culture of greed continues, we'll be heading from boom to bust, and that's an old phrase, going back to the 1970s. I'm unlikely to forgot the report of the young banker who jumped in front of a train, after he saw his income slashed. This would have resulted in him losing his lavish, money-is-no-object lifestyle, with several villas across Europe and continual champagne parties. Now that he was no longer able to afford all that, the potential loss of face became unbearable. Shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but that epitomised the banking crisis to me.