Author Archives: davidsberry

About davidsberry

Local ex-councillor, tour guide and database designer. Keen on wildlife, history, boats and music. Retired in 2017.

Shadow of the Sombrero—3

Posted on May 22, 2020

The Four Horse(manure)men of the Apocalypse It’s a wonder the UK government’s daily press briefing retains any audience at all, beside the journalists paid to be there. It breaks all known rules of audience engagement,  being pompous and repetitive. Flanked … Continue reading →

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Shadow of the Sombrero—2

Posted on May 17, 2020

The Care Home Tragedy It is always easier to criticise with hindsight but we are nowhere near the end of the present Covid-19 pandemic to analyse properly with full facts and objectivity. But, even allowing that all governments were faced … Continue reading →

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Shadow of the Sombrero—1

Posted on May 12, 2020

Boris Johnson, back in the saddle for two weeks after three of learning first-hand what Covid-19 is all about, has just had the roughest 24 hours of his premiership. His first attempt to ease the lockdown has been widely lambssted … Continue reading →

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Uncle Sam’s Covid

Posted on May 7, 2020

whole and unabridged from the Irish Times, April 25, 2020, By Fintan O’Toole THE WORLD HAS LOVED, HATED AND ENVIED THE U.S. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE PITY IT Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very … Continue reading →

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Arranging Deckchairs on the Pandemic

Posted on April 23, 2020

The story of 2020 so far has been dominated by Corovirus-19. Despite global efforts to the contrary, the balance of the year will be the same. This story has been full of heroic efforts by those on the medical and … Continue reading →

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Compassion As Self-Harm

Posted on March 30, 2020

President Donald J. Trump and I have never seen eye-to-eye—a fact that distresses neither of us. This should not surprise readers of this blog. But that certainty shattered when he declared the Covid19 pandemic. “…should last weeks, not months; the … Continue reading →

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An Excess of Ego

Posted on March 17, 2020

There was a time when neighbourly consideration for your fellow man, let alone woman, was a downright impediment to the advance of the species. Primitive man was like the big vats—a lone hunter that followed where the prey went. Then … Continue reading →

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A Promise the SNP Should Have Kept

Posted on March 8, 2020

Some 14 years ago, in the run-up to the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, the SNP campaign made a number of promises which won them the election for the first time ever. One with appeal right across the country was this: … Continue reading →

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No Country for Old Men

Posted on March 6, 2020

America prides itself in being “The Land of the Free”, celebrating the ability of anyone to prosper in a land of opportunity. Compared to other countries, this is largely true. But, with this attitude comes a dislike of rules and … Continue reading →

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SPQR Begat SPAD

Posted on March 1, 2020

SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romani = the Senate & People of Rome) may be ancient history. But it was the first political system Britain ever knew. How those politics evolved to today is relatively simple. Post Romans came chaos of internecine … Continue reading →

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