Author Archives: davidsberry

About davidsberry

Local councillor, tour guide and database designer. Keen on wildlife, history, boats and music. Stood for the Scottish Parliament 2011; lost by 151 votes.

Drought? It’s a Fecking Desert

Posted on December 11, 2018

Say what you like about America but, once Britain had wearied of empire-building, the USA pretty much invented the modern world single-handed. China is a great country now coming into its own. But, like its prosperous Asian neighbours their recent … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Environment | Tagged | Leave a comment

“The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday”

Posted on December 7, 2018

For a nation at peace, the United States packs a hefty military punch.  Apart from a ten-division Army, 286-ship Navy and a 5,000-plane Air Force, they also can deploy 190,000 in the US Marine Corps—a force larger than all Britain’s … Continue reading →

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Ultimo Tango in Roma

Posted on November 29, 2018

“After a fight with cancer, film director Bernardo Bertolucci died on Monday 26th in Rome, surrounded by family.” Most famous for his Oscar-laden sweeping historic “The Last Emperor“, acclaim had come earlier in his career with the 1970 “The Conformist” … Continue reading →

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Get Yer Wellies Out

Posted on November 27, 2018

Like a spoiled kid in a toy store, President Donald Trump has played with just about every lever of American government available to him. Unlike his moderate predecessors, he has rampaged about, playing fast and loose with immigration laws, trade … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Are We All FICO’d?

Posted on November 25, 2018

It is a constant amazement how much we still need to learn, no matter how old we get. Six years ago, as I was disengaging from a highly active political life, I set up a small tour business to keep … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the Land of the Car

Posted on October 29, 2018

Europeans can can get sniffy about public transport in America. Outside of New York, they have a point. But, despite the money we Scots throw at public transport, we should not be so smug. Santa Cruz county is a satellite … Continue reading →

Posted in Transport | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Testing Time for Democracy

Posted on October 14, 2018

With Brexit and Trump testing the resilience of democracy on both sides of the Atlantic, will it cope with a possible fiscal fallout should either fail to address imbalance in wealth? Much to the annoyance of Young Turks with no … Continue reading →

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Our Future Begins Here

Posted on September 12, 2018

Those of you who were off broiling yourselves on some distant beach this summer will no doubt have taken along a couple of juicy potboilers to while away the hours on the lounger. If so, you would have missed three … Continue reading →

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Reasoning with the Reivers

Posted on September 9, 2018

On Wednesday, I was down in the Borders and lucky enough to hear Mike Russell MSP speak on the vexed topic of Brexit to a crown of over 200 at Selkirk’s Victoria Hall. It will come as no surprise to … Continue reading →

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Aggression As Entertainment

Posted on September 4, 2018

For some retirees, the amount of time now on their hands is a curse. But, for me, it is a blessing. Now I can indulge my weakness for film. Between the re-runs on sundry TV channesl and my DVD collection, … Continue reading →

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