Author Archives: davidsberry

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About davidsberry

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

Rather Grim Rutherglen

Posted on October 4, 2023 by davidsberry

The person who calls an election before the day is either gallus or foolhardy—or both. In its efforts to catalyse conversation, this blog has sailed close to the controversial winds. But in over a thousand posts, it has never stuck … Continue reading →

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Mass Oysteria?

Posted on October 2, 2023 by davidsberry

Time was when the denizens of the Edinburgh Enlightenment dined on woodcock and pigeon, while the poor had to make do with the humble Scottish oyster. So plentiful were they along the foreshore of the Forth. Since medieval times, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Community, Environment | Leave a comment

Our Nomenklatura *

Posted on September 17, 2023 by davidsberry

“You must believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.” The return of MPs to the hallowed halls of Westminster after their summer break has not gone well for the Government. P.M. Sunak came back empty-handed from the G20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, USA | Leave a comment

The Tangle O’ The Isles

Posted on August 28, 2023 by davidsberry

Open Letter to Transport Minister Hyslop Dear Fiona: When we last met in the re-purposed Infirmary Street baths, you were Culture Minister, which shows the time since we last spoke.  This week’s news of further delay to delivery of the MV … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Politics, Transport | Leave a comment

Boardroom Banditry

Posted on August 24, 2023 by davidsberry

The last few years have not been kind to Joe Punter. After two decades of growing prosperity in the aftermath of the Thatcherite 1988 stock market “Big Bang”, Harry Enfield’s “Loadsamoney” satire came uncomfortably close to reality. Then “Prudence” Brown, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Community, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Trump is Toast

Posted on August 20, 2023 by davidsberry

Despite what US Civics and uber-patriots might have you believe, the USA is not the “perfect union” that the Founding Fathers conceived a quarter of a millennium ago, embodying their noble principles in the US Constitution. More than two dozen … Continue reading →

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Trump des Willens?

Posted on July 22, 2023 by davidsberry

German director Leni Reifenstahl’s seminal Triumph des Willens propaganda film from 1933, charting the rise of Hitler may need to be dusted off, if reports seeping out from the Trump-loyalist MAGA wing of the Republican party prove to be true. It seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, USA | 1 Comment

Russia Got It Wrong Before

Posted on July 18, 2023 by davidsberry

As usual, the fickle herd that is UK news has drifted from Ukraine and focussed on more popular po-faced coverage of scandals and record-breaking heat waves. It has been left up to more obscure channels, such as BBC Alba, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Military, Politics | Leave a comment

A Dearth O’ Bield*

Posted on July 14, 2023 by davidsberry

The Scottish media latched on to another “bad news” story this week when they discovered that there were over a quarter million people on housing waiting lists, with barely a tenth of them being allocated affordable houses each year. Though … Continue reading →

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Can Water Stay Liquid?

Posted on July 9, 2023 by davidsberry

“Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,  Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.  But at my back in a cold blast, I hear the rattle of the bones.” —T.S.Eliot, “The Fire Sermon,” Part III … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Environment, Politics | 1 Comment