Sunday 22 July

The third anniversary of the Sunday ferry in Lewis saw the boat not cancelled in spite of winds reaching 35 mph this morning. The weather, until about 4pm, was pretty awful with lashing rain and those high winds. However, it has since dried up. Low, jaggedy clouds are racing northeast with the mercury at a pleasant 15C, well, it would be pleasant if the sun were out. But it's not, and not likely to be for the next day or so.

With regards the shootings in Aurora CO, I can only implore the Americans to realise that they really have to move into the 21st century with regards their 19th century attitudes towards gun ownership. This is not the shoot-out in the OK corral, where everybody has the right to bear and use arms because nobody else will stand up for them. That went out a very, very long time ago. There is no cause for anyone to bear arms in the street in this day and age, other than those involved with law enforcement, the defence of the state or properly licensed. The availability of firearms and ammunition is ridiculous. How can anyone just go out and buy 6,000 rounds of ammo for three different types of arms on the Net? However, there is a lot of politicking going on, and bearing in mind my tendency towards (over)simplification, you'll forgive my ignorance with regards the connections between politicians, the gun lobby and what not. I don't WANT to know.

The Peace Camp at Valtos is cancelled, after the forecast for high winds prompted the tents to be taken down at Cliff Beach (just over the hill from Valtos). I did not have the opportunity to view the camp myself; Valtos is barely served by public transport, and it is certainly not served after 6pm. The camp was only open between 9.30pm and 4.30am, so you see my tiny difficulty. I hold a driver's license, but do not own a car. A local resident, who was involved with the camp, kindly posted some pics on Flickr, so I refer to those.