20 January

After a clear night and nice start to the day, Tuesday is now a rainlashed and windswept old day. So, it'll be a good excuse for watching television, the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th president of the USA. I wish him well at this difficult time.

Now that Israel has ended its military operations in Gaza, the resulting damage is becoming clear. As per usual, Israel's iron fisted approach will only serve to further antagonise the Palestinians against them, driving people into the hands of extremists. Allegations that same extremists set up positions deliberately near schools and hospitals cannot be independently verified. On the other hand, firing rockets at Israeli civilians targets out of Gaza was bound to elicit a response from Israel. This festering sore will continue to fester, with no hope of a resolution.

The weekend storms here in the Hebrides have left a trail of damage; more than a dozen cars had to be written off at Arnol, 15 miles north of Stornoway, after a wall collapsed on top of them. Conservatories and greenhouses were blown away and electricity supplies were interrupted. South Beach Street, part of the main thoroughfare in the town of Stornoway, has been closed to traffic because scaffolding on the Town Hall was destabilised by the 100 mph gusts of wind. They were left by a company, since gone bankrupt, which was repairing crumbling masonry late in 2008.