"And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake they shouted, reveling. Down all the frosty ages you can hear them echoing behind us. Listen." Susan Cooper: Shortest Day

Clearly the DOJ's Training Module "Coverup 101" omitted the section on the Streisand Effect.

Lewisham Council's solution to most planning issues is let a developer build a tower, but here at least they are persevering with trying to find a partner to take on in a sympathetic way the management of one of Britain's most at risk Victorian buildings, the Ladywell Playtower.

Livescience Talks Sh*t What could be more appropriate to the season of partying and the excessive consumption of food and drink than the publication of new research about...parasitic worms found in Roman latrines.

Undoubtedly good news that a significant brutalist building has been listed GII by Historic England. Although cynics might observe that the Wolverhampton School of Art is in [checks notes], Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and not a developer friendly hotspot like central London or Birmingham.

@c20society.bsky.social name the Sheringham bus shelter protesters activist of the year. In 9 days the protest to protect a 1950's modernist bus shelter from unnecessary demolition reminded us that, in a system which often seems stacked against proper scrutiny, local voices can still cut through.

Translation: #AI will f*ck up, producing an unreliable translation which may be, has to be, "revised" by a skilled human translator, the kind of person whose expertise was probably stolen to "train" the theftbot, but for less money than they would have got for producing an accurate translation.

More uncomfortable reading for anyone holding that archaeology is not political. Zeteo profiles the activities of the Heritage Minister in the Government of Israel, Amichai Eliyahu. Mr Eliyahu is associated with claims archaeology is used as a front for ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank.

How long before Ministry of Truth Barbie announces from the podium it become official that the Trump White House is renamed just that and we visit (or, in the light of satirical posts like this, are prevented from visiting) the Trump United States?

Fresh from insulting the recently murdered, the Independent reports the Trump Whitehouse is now graced by a Presidential walk of fame where Joe Biden is represented by an auto pen and 47 is allowed to indulge his seemingly depthless vanity and capacity for toddler tantrum trolling at public expense.

Thoroughly deserved...

“It doesn’t alter the story of Britain...It just alters her story and we owed it to her to put that right.” The Guardian quotes the Natural History Museum's Dr Selina Brace on the latest findings regarding Beachy Head lady. That is she was likely a local girl living in multicultural Roman Britain.

Archaeology in the draft NPPF "1. Where a development proposal has the reasonable potential, based on evidence, to affect an archaeological heritage asset, discovered or undiscovered, an appropriate investigation of the asset’s significance and the potential effect on this should be undertaken

"Historic Environment Scotland (HES) must put strong controls in place to prevent fraud and ensure value for money after unacceptable weaknesses were found in its governance." Audit Scotland has issued a critical report on troubled Historic Environment Scotland.

The Guardian reports accusations ministers have broken their word as the Labour Government rolls back more environmental protections so that, under new rules, 77% of development sites will be exempted from 10% Biodiversity Net Gain rules.

With local councils across the UK looking down the back of the sofa for cash and looking for the smallest penny packet of cuts, it looks as if Cherwell Council are trying to railroad through a 100% cut in funding for Banbury Museum. Consultation ends Friday 19 Dec & the museum asks you to respond.

Talking about the 20th Century Society, the campaigning group reports that Historic England may be reconsidering its controversial decision not to list the Point Cinema, Milton Keynes, as a Certificate of Immunity from Listing expires in early 2026.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, buildings first become eligable for listing in England after thirty years. The 20th Century Society has published its latest "honours list" of buildings from 1995 which could/should now appear on the National List.

Two babies were born in New York within a year of each other, soon after WWII. One, Rob Reiner, lived a life of humanity and achievement. He brought us delight and joy. His memory will be a blessing. The other, Donald Trump, will be remembered as an embarrassment to our nation.

GOVUK has published an update on proposals to regulate #AI data mining. 88% of respondents supported licensing. 3% supported the Government's preferred option of an opt out for rights holders and just 0.5% supported a copyright data mining exception. GOVUK's proposals are promised in March 2026.

Ten days out, if you are stuck for a gift for the archaeologist/WW2 history fan/aviation geek/conspiracy theorist* in your life, The Buried Spitfires of Burma- A Fake History is still available. *OK, maybe not conspiracy theorist as the plot is resolved using archaeological & documentary evidence.

The BBC reports questions over maintenance as part of the historic 1886 Garmouth viaduct collapses into the river Spey. While no longer carrying trains, the viaduct is part of the National Cycle Network and was popular with cyclists and walkers wanting to cross the famous river.

And even more, this...

This...

#StrictlyBallsUpRoom News The Guardian reports President Trump and other administration officials named in a legal challenge to the $300m White House Ballroom project posted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a public interest body created by Congressional charter.

A seasonal joke for those of us of a certain age (especially those who ever set up the backline).

#HeritageCrime News A reminder to anyone undertaking risk assessments for historic buildings and sites that spikes in commodities markets, such as here for copper, incentivise metal theft from anything from buildings to shipwrecks. A similar spike around 2008 saw major looting of Jutland wrecks

#FollowTheMoney News While the work of thousands of creatives has been stolen to "train" #AI LLM cut and paste bots, big corporates are getting aggy. Variety reports Disney has issued a "cease and desist" letter to Google to protect the intellectual property it just sold the rights for to Open AI.

#HeritageCrime News At the request of prosecutors in Ukraine Polish authorities have arrested and remanded in custody, Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who is an employee of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Mr Butyagin is accused of conducting illegal excavations in occupied Crimea.

#HeritageCrime News Yet more questions after Avon and Somerset Police went public the theft of objects from Bristol Museum's archive store. The BBC is now quoting the City Council as saying the store was raided twice with 95% of the objects stolen in the second raid recorded in the published CCTV.

Lots of questions this afternoon about the theft of hundreds of artefacts belonging to Bristol Museum. Principally, why take so many objects from a relatively obscure and wide ranging collection? Are the objects taken saleable, such as sculptures & why wait over two months to publicise the theft?

#HeritageCrime News Det Con Dan Burgan said of the Bristol theft, "These items, many of which were donations, form part of a collection that provides insight into a multi-layered part of British history, & we are hoping that members of the public can help us to bring those responsible to justice,"

#HeritageCrime News Two and a half months after the event Avon and Somerset Police have released images of the theft of over 600 "high value" artifacts from a warehouse holding Bristol Museum's British Empire and Commonwealth collection.

A key point in the row about Nigel Farage's reported racism and Nazi adjacent behaviour is that many of us in the 1970's were educated by WW2 veterans. In my case, 8th Army, Dunkirk, Russia convoys, Belsen with the British Army and a childhood in Nazi Germany. Nobody "joked" about the Holocaust.

Research Professional with a detailed examination of the newly announced changes to the much criticised Research Excellence Framework for the UK's Universities. The REF is a key component in divvying up billions of Government research funding by funding councils.

"I’m not surprised to read that the field of artificial intelligence research is being overwhelmed by the very slop that it has pioneered. But this is a bit like bears getting indignant about all the shit in the woods." Dr Craig Reeves of the Birkbeck School of Law in a letter to the Guardian

Breaking: the council's will in the Sheringham bus shelter stand off?

#HeritageCrime Good (ish) News The Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham has found duplicates of some of the D-Day related technical drawings destroyed when the van containing them was stolen and later set on fire.

#HeritageCrime News MOLA, no not that one, the Museum of Loot, on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's return of a number of classical artifacts linked to a dodgy gallery owner, who has been indicted for faking provenences.

Anyone taking advantage of free entry to National Parks on 14 June, but not wanting to mark President Trump's birthday, could remember instead, The storming of the Tower of London in the Peasants Revolt, The birth of Che Guevera, The flight & death of monkey Albert II, the first mammal in space.

So team USA broadcasters have snuck commercial breaks into World Cup Football. Next up...make the goals wider, drop goal keepers and allow body armour and handling the ball.

Is this the first sighting of the annual, Star of Bethlehem Mystery Solved, story?

Yes and...what next in archae comms? #Watchingbrief discusses "Trowel and Error", the landmark report from the CBA and partners into how archaeology talks to the public. The report calls for training and resources, but who will pay and does archaeology really need to sing from a single hymn sheet?

#HeritageCrime isn't always high profile museum heists or dodgy detectorists stealing artefacts. West Yorkshire Police have recorded a 50% rise in thefts of architectural stone year on year. Thefts such as the York stone flagstones stolen from a road in Ossett near Wakefield.

Norfolk County Council is trying to replace a perfectly good 1954 bus shelter in Sheringham with a "modern" open plan glass number and local people aren't happy, to the extent they have occupied the doomed structure. The council has put up metal screens to hide the protest. Worked well hasn't it?

Strictly Balls(up) Room? Original architect James McCrery fired (or possibly not) as new architect appointed to take on the ballooning cost and the reputational risk, of the White House ballroom project and the risk POTUS will find an excuse not to pony up the fee.

"Scholars At Risk have warned that the Trump administration’s assault on universities is turning the US into a “model for how to dismantle” academic freedom." And there are hints the Trump model could be applied in the UK. An essential read from @emma-briant.co.uk in @indexoncensorship.org

"The more we rely on algorithms, the more we normalize their values: automation, prediction, standardization, and corporate dependency." Current Affairs with an analysis of the alleged capitulation of HE to the #AI Broligarchy A US perspective, but is this happening in the UK too?

Checks calendar: It is 3 December not April Fools Day. Conclude Galaxy Brain has adopted Death Race 2000 as a business model.

Translation: Hey let's build more towers...