Lord Dunderheid

Before going on, I need to make it clear that I am not an expert, or even a student, of middle eastern politics and that the comments and observations which follow are based only on what I have seen and heard on the TV and in newspapers. While it is impossible to condone Hamas’ attack on Israel (Saturday October 7th 2023), I also can’t help thinking it would not have happened if Israel did not have what I see as a right wing, almost fascist, government.The indiscriminate murder of civilians, including children, is nothing short of atrocious, despicable and inhumane - but if you feel backed into a corner, with no escape, and continually abused, then I suppose an explosion of such violence should be expected. I certainly was not surprised. I would make it clear, at this point, that my comments about the Israeli government are not aimed at Jewish people in general but, as said, at the government. I know there are many Jews who also object to how their government deals with the Palestinian...

The island of Coll is, in many ways (but not all), Tiree’s twin. It lies just a short distance to the north and east of Tiree and along the same compass bearing. In other words, if you draw a line, south west to northeast, from the middle of Tiree’s west coast to the north eastern tip of Coll, then that line will pretty much dissect both islands lengthwise. Coll is also roughly the same shape and size as Tiree with a similar acreage. Having said that, Coll is more of a torpedo shape, pointed at both ends (if, that is, you consider the small, uninhabited island of Gunna a part of Coll). Coll also boasts numerous sandy beaches. I read that it has even more sandy beaches than Tiree but if that is the case then it does not have as many huge sweeps of sand but more in the way of shorter beaches separated by rocky headlands. Due to the road which runs up the south east facing coast being some height above sea level I was not able to see if that coast hosted beaches or if it was purely rocky....