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Andy Brockman

@andybrockman.bsky.social
2.3K followers 894 following 3K posts

Reporting from where politics and money meet archaeology and heritage at thepipeline.info YouTube: Watching Brief Co-Author: The Buried Spitfires of Burma-A fake history Tips/Gossip/Commissions: PipeLineNews@protonmail Signal: AndyBrockman.25

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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 2h
#Museum News UK Government decides the 15 National museums, including the BM, will remain free to enter for all, including foreign visitors. The DCMS states that the museums contribute £1bn per year to the UK economy and there were fears charging could deter domestic visitors as well as tourists.
bbc.co.uk
National museums to stay free to all visitors, government says
It follows discussions about whether charging tourists could boost museums' finances.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 13h
A symbol of hope after suffering in war, as well as being a regular venue for productions of the famous medieval Coventry Mystery Plays, the ruins of Coventry Cathedral are under threat and are the subject of a new conservation campaign.
bbc.co.uk
Race to save Coventry Cathedral ruins as campaign launches
Donations are needed to repair damage caused by the ruins being exposed to the elements for 86 years
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14h
#TinfoilBeanieHat NW Pub League Div 2 News Guys, £830m+ of sham contracts and disguised funding and being caught lying about it is not quite up there with JFK and Area 51. The History Channel doc should be fun though, especially when Giorgio interviews Erling Haaland about the Premiership's #MIB.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 15h
The excellent @theatrestrust.bsky.social doesn't just campaign to save theatres under threat. It helps the theatres we have to serve their audiences and communities in even better ways.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Speaking from experience (in another, this time heritage related, prosecution), one of the underrated advantages of the Social Media is that really stupid people can save the Police a lot of time.
share.google
Off-roaders damage protected Denbighshire site in TikTok videos
Three men were convicted for their part in driving in a convoy from Liverpool to Berwyn SSSI.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"...PR company Coast Communications had sought a closed meeting. Councillors said the minutes should be made public, and a recording released, but this was refused." Accusations of excessive secrecy & prejudged decisions as Techco Xlinks plans massive #AI data centre in Devon Unesco biosphere.
theguardian.com
‘People are standing up and fighting back’: the north Devon revolt against a vast AI datacentre
Plans for one of Europe’s largest AI campuses in a Unesco-designated reserve have sparked a fierce local backlash
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"Thanks for another splendid episode guys. A lot of great points made and plenty of good laughs too." Episode 9 of Graham Hancock: A Life NOT In Archaeology out now on YouTube. Hancock tries to neutralise critics by saying he's a journalist, not an archaeologist. We ask if that claim stacks up?
youtu.be
Graham Hancock: A Life NOT in Archaeology: 9. Journalism is a Responsibility, NOT a Shield!
YouTube video by Archaeosoup
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"I am happy to explore any memorials on a personal basis of genuine armed forces who were actually recognised by the country, but currently I don't have any plans for statues of Marxist fighters." Questions why Reform Leader of Sunderland Council opposes memorial to volunteers who fought Fascism.
bbc.co.uk
Sunderland council leader accused of 'ridicule' in memorial row
Organisers hit out as council leader says he has "no plans for statues of Marxist fighters".
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
What is left unsaid here is that, if the Bodleian aims to digitise 25% of its collections by 2030, 75% won't be digitised. That's how much source material in just one library which won't be available when your #AI theftbot of choice punts an answer, that a human researcher can find & interpret.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This (from an Australian POV but applicable anywhere).
theguardian.com
There are some local datacentres we should absolutely support | Jess Harwood
Maybe it’s time to look at existing facilities we could invest in
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Talking of Meta, today's Guardian newspaper in the UK with an example of what happens when a company loses control of the narrative around one of its flagship products.
A Guardian headline reading,

"Meta launches cute alternative to its "pervert" smart glasses."
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
#FreeSpeech News Hollywood Reporter reporting that YouTube, TikTok and Meta platforms are refusing to take even paid ads for Alex Gibney's documentary which takes a, let's say, sceptical and questioning view of Elon Musk's career, personality and alleged achievements. "Musk" opens on 9 October.
hollywoodreporter.com
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)
YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Friday Quiz. What reason could stated admirer of Vladimir Putin's political style Nigel Farage, who regularly contributed to Russia Today and whose close associate Nathan Gill is currently doing 10 years for being paid to speak Kremlin lines, have for opposing GOVUK countering Russian interference?
A tweet by Nigel Farage claiming that Andy Burnham's announcement of an attempt to counter principally Russian attempts to subvert UK politics is an authoritarian, Orwellian, attack on free speech.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Allegations that individuals stating they are undertaking "archaeological work" on the cite of the proposed Arch de Trump in Washington DC may be using the term as a smokescreen to hide unannounced work on what is widely regarded as an illegal project.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Members of Prospect and the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the V&A Kensington site are to strike on Friday and Saturday in a dispute over pay and conditions. The unions are also in dispute across the V&A's other sites.
itv.com
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fears for the status of the Tower of London World Heritage Site as Historic England advice is ignored and the City of London plans for developers to build high for extra profit.
telegraph.co.uk
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
#ParthenonMarbles News Writing in the Guardian, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis says Greece “cannot accept any arrangement that would require it to recognise the British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures, or a scheme that would mean we ‘borrow’ parts of our own monument”, but calls for fresh talks.
theguardian.com
Greek PM: deal to return Parthenon marbles could still be reached with ‘political will and courage’
But Kyriakos Mitsotakis says he cannot accept any arrangement that recognises British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Trumpering Inferno POTUS teeing up an Irwin Allen Seventies style disaster movie as the First Night Gala Opening of the White House Ballroom (tickets starting at $100k, payable to the Trump Organisation) descends into fiery, allegorical, chaos. Feel free to post ideas for principal casting.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#ItsAllAboutTheHistory News A medieval ring found by two metal detectorists has failed to reach its reserve in an auction at Noonans. But fear not! The BBC says the citizen archaeologists are confident it will sell at a future auction. Besides, they have a Roman hoard in the treasure process.
bbc.co.uk
Medieval ring found by Suffolk detectorists fails to sell
Two detectorists hoped the 14th Century ring would sell for between £25,000 and £30,000.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"I repeat. We have no Intelligence!" Team America World Police
bbc.co.uk
Super intelligence: Will Trump’s attempt to rebrand AI work?
Some people close to the president have started to use the term but experts say it is unlikely to catch on.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Emma Yoemans of the Times with an important thread about events today in the Channel, which are leaving legal BlueSky incredulous that Daniel Thomas, aka Danny Tommo, could appear to commit quite so many potentially very serious offences in plain sight.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
G1 Listed Crossness Pumping Station on the Thames granted Museum status. The news comes as it is also announced that the site, a critical part of the great Bazalgette London sewerage scheme, needs some £10m in repairs and conservation work. Museum status should open up additional funding streams.
thamesmeadnow.org.uk
Crossness Pumping Station awarded museum status
Thamesmead has a museum for the first time in its history after Crossness Pumping Station secured accreditation.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A presidential rebranding (which most of the world will ignore anyway) doesn't stop #AI technology being a financial scam, an environmental disaster in the making and the "largest theft of labour in human history" though does it?
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Well, that's one way to lobby for the Nobel Prize for Peace.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#HeritageCrime News An Garda Síochána are investigating serious damage to the Chambered Tomb cemetery at Loughcrew, County Meath, involving blunt force and graffiti.
irishtimes.com
Prehistoric burial site at Loughcrew in Co Meath seriously vandalised
Stones decorated with megalithic art were damaged in what authorities described as a significant heritage crime
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Episode 9 of Graham Hancock: A Life NOT In Archaeology is out now, early access, on the @archaeoscoop.bsky.social Patreon. We ask if Graham Hancock is not a archaeologist, but is a journalist, what kind? Woodward and Bernstein investigating and exposing a conspiracy or Writing clickbait Opeds?
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I reminder not to be distracted by Royal Navy anti-slavery patrols and the Slave Trade Abolition Act of 1807. When the Act came into force on 1 January 1808, it left more than 700,000 enslaved Africans in the British West Indies & a pro-slavery lobby was active in Parliament for another 25 years.
historyofparliament.com
The West India Interest and the Parliamentary Defence of Slavery, 1823-33 - The History of Parliament
This blog, which explores the parliamentary context of the abolition of slavery, is based on Michael’s full-length seminar paper, ‘The West India Interest and Colonial Slavery in Parliament, 1823-33’,...
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
OpenAI Bot: If it wasn't for you pesky human mathematicians we'd have got away with our (not a) $1m solution to the Navier-Stokes problem.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The late Peter Arnold is a leading character in our book, The Buried Spitfires of Burma- A Fake History. Our dialogue ran... Archaeologists: We dug in the archive and the airport...it's an urban myth or a hoax. Peter Arnold and believers: You dug in the wrong place. It's a cover up.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Meanwhile representative and membership bodies in Archaeology have...?
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Archaeologists need to negotiate their relationship with #AI, so Kudos that this article is #OpenAccess, nonetheless it is a strange one. Three very limited case studies, with conclusions hedged around with ifs and maybes and, in the background, the environmental and ethical elephants in the room.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"Great series, very informative and I love the calm approach to the topic." Comment on YouTube The latest episode of #GrahamHancock A Life NOT In Archaeology is out now on YouTube, in which our hero jets around the world with a TV crew (again) and Keanu Reeves gets a day filming (and top billing).
youtu.be
Graham Hancock: A Life NOT in Archaeology: 8. (Another) Ancient Apocalypse
YouTube video by Archaeosoup
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The message about #Retrofit hasn't reached all developers or local planning authorities. Demolition begins of perfectly good and characterful Victorian shops and a pub in Woolwich. The guilty parties here are the Royal Borough of Greenwich and developers Clarion Housing Group & The Hill Group
fromthemurkydepths.co.uk
Demolition begins for new towers beside Woolwich Arsenal station - Murky Depths
Works have begun to demolish buildings on a site beside Woolwich Arsenal station in advance of new towers rising on site
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Microsoft director of applied science Brent Hecht has been quoted in court papers as calling #AI the “largest theft of labor in human history.” And all to produce utter crap. Friday fun from @anthrofuentes.bsky.social and WIRED.
youtu.be
Anthropologist Fact Checks Stone Age Slop
YouTube video by WIRED
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"A genuinely circular built environment means moving away from the assumption every project begins with virgin materials and ends with waste" Will Hurst of the Architects Journal on the growing success of #Retrofit, with 66% of office developments in London now refurbishments rather than new build.
architectsjournal.co.uk
How architects are leading the way on building reuse
Architects, alongside engineers, contractors, clients and enlightened developers, have led an extraordinarily rapid change in the industry over the past five years, Will Hurst told this week’s Circula...
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions." The Court just unsealed crucial motions in the case of the New York Times v OpenAI/Microsoft removing redactions and it is damning. And, by the by, the companies knew they were destroying their own supply chain of new data but went ahead anyway.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Meanwhile at the University of Brighton... #BonfireOfWorkersRights
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Three courses in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, are among the 90 programmes to be axed as Edinburgh University seeks to save £140m at the cost of as many as 1800 jobs. Edinburgh UCU has announced a five week programme of strike action in protest. #BonfireOfTheHumanities
scotsman.com
Edinburgh University to mothball 90 courses as five weeks of strikes to start
The university said mothballing 90 courses will not detract from the institutions standing on the world stage
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
#RNLI reports that, while some donors have withdrawn support, the life saving charity has received a "significant increase in donations" following the Far Right protests on the South Coast. During the protests the Old Lifeboat Museum in Poole was forced to close, although it has since reopened.
thirdsector.co.uk
RNLI sees ‘significant increase’ in donations since protests
But the lifeboats charity says some donors have also withdrawn their support
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#Planning News Finding a sustainable future for redundant municipal buildings is one of the dilemmas facing conservationists. In SE London, under plans by arts charity the Bow Arts Trust, Erith old town hall is set to become artists' studios including live/work spaces for "building guardians".
greenwichwire.co.uk
Artists' studios planned for Erith's old town hall - The Greenwich Wire
Erith’s old town hall is set to become artists’ studios under plans filed with Bexley Council. Bow Arts Trust says its plans would create a “sustainable creative and community hub”.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Breaking: Archaeologists point out that many of the people of Piddington will be descended from people who arrived in the British Isles by small boat and, in the case of any descended from Mesolithic hunter gatherers like Chedder Man, people who had dark skin and hair.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Dare to dream that when 47 is a dark memory, subject to a never to be beaten number of impeachments, and in a dock for corruption and crimes against humanity, Congress legislates to replace one of his architectural crimes with a skamstøtte (shaming stone) like that of Danish traitor Corfitz Ulfeldt.
aroundus.com
Corfitz Ulfeldts skamstøtte - Memorial stone in National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen
Corfitz Ulfeldt's shaming stone is a memorial in the National Museum of Denmark bearing text that marks its subject as having committed a grave offense against the crown. The stone documents a method....
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Leaders of Reform-UK in Wales seem to have the longevity of a drummer in Spinal Tap.
share.google
Leader of Reform UK in Wales stands down after arrest on suspicion of assault
Dan Thomas, elected in May, says he does not wish to be a ‘distraction’ on same day Reform MS defects to Plaid Cymru
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
ChatGPT/Claude/Grok, write a deranged and complacent Social Media post about protecting #AI companies from outside regulation in the style of Donald Trump...
media.post
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York on the $10m fine paid by Reform funder Ben Delo over his company BitMEX, "As a result of its willful failure to implement AML and KYC programs, BitMEX was in effect a money laundering platform." Mr Delo was pardoned by President Trump.
justice.gov
 
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Autumn is a time for age old traditions, Harvest, Halloween, Bonfire Night, and keeping the opaquely funded, Tufton Street adjacent, would be entryists of Restore Trust off the National Trust Council. Helpfully Restore Trust have listed the candidates to avoid in the election.
A post by Restore Trust listing its candidates for the National Trust Council, Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing and Omrani
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Meanwhile...
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Nice arts centre, shame if anything happened to it...
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“You can’t excise science from its social, cultural, historical and linguistic environment and just fund that imaginary pure entity...It’s all interconnected and the sooner science ministers see that the better.” Concern as UK Science Minister appears unaware his remit extends to humanities research
researchprofessionalnews.com
Science minister’s comments on arts and humanities spark dismay - Research Professional News
Concern that Chris McDonald appeared unaware his remit extends beyond science
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“If this work is not completed, the (Joshua Tree) park will be unable to fight wildfire. Fires will be larger and fire suppression will be more expensive,” Trump White House accused of blocking $25m in funding for projects in US National Parks, including conservation work at historic sites.
thehill.com
$25 million in national park project funds blocked by Trump administration: Report
The Trump administration has reportedly blocked more than 130 planned projects at national parks across the country, putting more than $25 million worth of funding on hold. The Interior Department,…
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