Thursday 01/02/07

Cloudy day, with occasional chinks of sunshine, temperatures like yesterday up to 10C. Ferry is its usual 30 minutes late. Rain commences very gradually as I go out for the papers. A new monthly paper is out with a lot of features on regional news. A ferocious debate is raging about the statement by the RSPB that the number of jobs that the proposed windfarm would bring is lower than suggested by the developer - 70 rather than 233. The Free Press is strangely all in favour of the windfarms, even though 90% of the people in the island are against. However, its founder, Brian Wilson, has a stake in the energy industry. The motto of the Free Press is "The Land, The Culture, The People". Well, I've written a letter to them before now, saying that they're betraying their own principles. They even published it! The row continues about air traffic controllers at the airport. Just before 8pm, we observe a virtual black-out for 5 minutes to draw attention to climate change. It rains through the evening, but there is not much wind.