Search: David J Black

In part two of his series on dysfunction in our health system, David J Black reminds us that the cost of bad medicine is people's lives. Read part one here. It is one of those facts which cries out to be universally acknowledged: when it came to understanding the nature of such illnesses as ME/CFS,

According to The Times of November 1st the total cost of state support for the sick will exceed an unprecedented £100 billion a year by the end of this parliamentary term. This frankly unsustainable health burden is largely the outcome of successive governments placing fiscal imperatives above

Ahead of the US election tomorrow, in which one candidate hopes to win bigly, David J Black looks at interference on both sides of the Atlantic. Aspirant President Donald J Trump, who now joins the disparate ranks of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin in condemning the very idea that Scotland should opt f

Taste there is none, notes David J Black in part two of his look at films in Scotland. See part one here. Soppy romantic books and films of the Jackie variety are not for your scrivener, the reader may have gathered, yet one isn’t unsentimental. A dear aunt about 10 years older than onese

David J Black tells the tale of his encounter with Hollywood, whose prestige is, happily, diminishing rapidly. See part two in tomorrow's SLN. News comes that the $238 billion Netflix Corporation of Los Gatos, California, has developed an interest in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket to the extent that

The rule of law is inevitably one of the first victims of war, and that is particularly the case when the aggressor nation chooses to pursue its objectives regardless of the impact on a civilian population, targeting hospitals, schools, public buildings and residential homes in a bid to undermine th

David J Black traces the highs and lows of the Edinburgh Festivals in the second part of his prolonged lament on their decline. Read the first here. The chemistry between the official Festival and the Fringe was, at times, diplomatically awkward, yet the relationship had benefits for both. With bril

Putting aside the well worn fact that remembrance of things past can be delusional and misleading – madeleine cake dipped in tea, long hot summers on the beach when one was ten, definitely more butterflies and, for sure, much more succulent strawberries, first kiss etc. etc. - we should interr

On the 1st of May Sir Sajid Javid initiated a parliamentary debate on the UK’s abysmal record on the care and treatment of ME/CFS patients, whose ranks are now much augmented by Long Covid sufferers. There was an almost identical debate held in February 2018 in which the member for Glasgow Nor

Narcissists of minor repute, for whom notoriety is more achievable than fame, have bitten the hand that feeds them in their latest attack – on the UK's book festivals. David J Black adduces evidence of their hypocrisy, among other things. They never seem to bother with the detail or consider t

Scotland's earnest desire to be noticed by the world has been fulfilled. But, as the adage goes, 'be careful what you wish for'. David J Black reflects on the chaos of the past few weeks, as we put into practice the 'progressive' ideas that others have merely preached. Says Police Scotland: "The Hat

If he might crave the reader’s indulgence, this idle scrivener would very much like to share his fun idea for an exciting new parlour game or, equally, a pub quiz for the judicially aware at any learned hangout where good claret can be had. A subtle combination of Where’s Wally and Clued

David J Black reads the fine print of the Book Festival furore. Many of us may share the underlying views of those who believe we should be cutting back on the use of fossil fuels to save the planet, but scratch beneath the indignant morality of the latest attack by a number of Greta Thunberg inspir

It could have been a rerun of Clochemerle, that droll 1970s Simpson and Galton series about the hotly disputed provision of a public pissoir in an ultra respectable French village. In 2021 Miranda Dickson inherited her three story townhouse in Edinburgh’s Drummond Place from her parents, Ian a

But a city is more than a place in space. It is a drama in time. Edinburgh is - the most condensed example, the visible microcosm of the social evolution which is manifest everywhere in the city. – Patrick Geddes. Keynote lecture, London University, July 1904 Few innovative thinkers have been