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.

2013 Festival of Politics II—Europe

Posted on August 26, 2013 by davidsberry

For me, it had an inauspicious start. Booking places on-line went easily but the ‘ticketless’ tickets were anything but. Staff at the parly were their old surly selves and entirely not clued-in on where events were happening or when—to the … Continue reading →

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2013 Festival of Politics I

Posted on August 24, 2013 by davidsberry

After a full day trying to scoot around Holyrood from one session to the next, a myriad of ideas, questions, opinions and opportunities compete for blog coverage. But before that, the overwhelming impression with which I was left after today … Continue reading →

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Two Genders, Separated by a Common Humanity

Posted on August 23, 2013 by davidsberry

I paraphrase Mark Twain’s pithy observation about the Americans and the British because Bill Walker’s conviction this week for unsavoury behaviour towards a number of women in his life has brought the whole spousal abuse issue back into front-page debate. The … Continue reading →

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Kailyaird Kulchur

Posted on August 22, 2013 by davidsberry

Margaret Curran MP has come in for some stick in these columns for being venally closed-minded when it comes to her nationalist political opponents. Nonetheless her piece in today’s Hootsmon has much to commend it in its broad and staunch … Continue reading →

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Whae’s Like Us (An’ They’re A’ Deid)?

Posted on August 19, 2013 by davidsberry

Lesley Riddoch—never one to mince words—has a powerful piece in today’s Hootsmon in which she pithily observes ‘Public money is trapped in professional silos‘ and that ‘Good public health is a product of good social and democratic health‘. All very … Continue reading →

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First is Anything But

Posted on August 14, 2013 by davidsberry

For the avoidance of doubt—and to avoid them too much cost in their libel lawyers as they scratch around for actionable evidence, First is a crap company. It doesn’t matter which fragment of the empire you’re talking about—from FirstBus Edinburgh, … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Britain: Now Go Home

Posted on August 12, 2013 by davidsberry

It is perhaps to be expected that such social Luddites as join UKIP exhibit a knee-jerk to the ‘furriners’ who reputedly begin at Calais and the backwoodsman phalanx that dominates the Tory party regularly paint themselves into xenophobic corners over … Continue reading →

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Replanting the Floo’ers

Posted on August 10, 2013 by davidsberry

This week, on the 500th anniversary of Flodden—perhaps the most decisive and certainly the bloodiest defeat inflicted on us Scots by our southern cousins—the Coldstream Common Riding took a crowd of people and horses to the very field just over … Continue reading →

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Fog in Education; Continent Cut Off

Posted on August 7, 2013 by davidsberry

Tuesday was a big day for 151,000 expectant Scottish pupils who received their exam results—and very well they did too. Praise is due to their efforts, plus those of their teachers (and hopefully, most of their parents) to bring in … Continue reading →

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Let Me Tell You How It Will Be

Posted on August 5, 2013 by davidsberry

Those who’ve been around long enough might recognise the title as the first line of “Taxman” in which Lennon/McCartney dipped their pens in vitriol and had a right go at HM Revenue & Customs the thick end of fifty years … Continue reading →

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