UK: The state of care in NHS acute hospitals, Care Quality Commission Report

Overview of CQC report

Findings (pdf) - 102 pages


Why is this children's heart unit facing closure? A day on the NHS frontline, The Guardian

Viking DNA in Britain; Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

British Museum Graphic Map

New study reignites debate over Viking settlements in England, Science Nordic

“It’s difficult to separate Danish Vikings and Anglo-Saxons genetically because these populations lived so close together. And at the same time, the Vikings arrived in England relatively soon after the Anglo-Saxons. This leads to extra uncertainty and it means that you can’t separate the two,” says Røyrvik.

Antiquity, Volume 90, Issue 354
December 2016, pp. 1670-1680

The ‘People of the British Isles’ project and Viking settlement in England
Jane Kershaw (a1) and Ellen C. Røyrvik (a2)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.193
Published online: 21 November 2016

Abstract

"The recently concluded ‘People of the British Isles’ project (hereafter PoBI) combined large-scale, local DNA sampling with innovative data analysis to generate a survey of the genetic structure of Britain in unprecedented detail; the results were presented by Leslie and colleagues in 2015. Comparing clusters of genetic variation within Britain with DNA samples from Continental Europe, the study elucidated past immigration events via the identification and dating of historic admixture episodes (the interbreeding of two or more different population groups). Among its results, the study found “no clear genetic evidence of the Danish Viking occupation and control of a large part of England, either in separate UK clusters in that region, or in estimated ancestry profiles”, therefore positing “a relatively limited input of DNA from the Danish Vikings”, with ‘Danish Vikings’ defined in the study, and thus in this article, as peoples migrating from Denmark to eastern England in the late ninth and early tenth centuries (Leslie et al.2015: 313). Here, we consider the details of certain assumptions that were made in the study, and offer an alternative interpretation to the above conclusion. We also comment on the substantial archaeological and linguistic evidence for a large-scale Danish Viking presence in England".

EU: The Future of the EU, Five Scenarios

From EU Observer - Leaders to decide on EU future by end of year

Juncker refuses to announce preferred EU vision

White Paper on the future of Europe: Avenues for unity for the EU at 27 - European Commission

"The White Paper looks at how Europe will change in the next decade, from the impact of new technologies on society and jobs, to doubts about globalisation, security concerns and the rise of populism. It spells out the choice we face: being swept along by those trends, or embracing them and seizing the new opportunities they bring. Europe's population and economic weight is falling as other parts of the world grow. By 2060, none of our Member States will account for even 1% of the world's population – a compelling reason for sticking together to achieve more. A positive global force, Europe's prosperity will continue to depend on its openness and strong links with its partners.

The White Paper sets out five scenarios, each offering a glimpse into the potential state of the Union by 2025 depending on the choices Europe will make (see Annex). The scenarios cover a range of possibilities and are illustrative in nature. They are neither mutually exclusive, nor exhaustive.

Scenario 1: Carrying On - The EU27 focuses on delivering its positive reform agenda in the spirit of the Commission's New Start for Europe from 2014 and of the Bratislava Declarationagreed by all 27 Member States in 2016. By 2025 this could mean:
Europeans can drive automated and connected cars but can encounter problems when crossing borders as some legal and technical obstacles persist.
Europeans mostly travel across borders without having to stop for checks. Reinforced security controls mean having to arrive at airports and train stations well in advance of departure.

Scenario 2: Nothing but the Single Market – The EU27 is gradually re-centred on the single market as the 27 Member States are not able to find common ground on an increasing number of policy areas. By 2025 this could mean:
Crossing borders for business or tourism becomes difficult due to regular checks. Finding a job abroad is harder and the transfer of pension rights to another country not guaranteed. Those falling ill abroad face expensive medical bills.
Europeans are reluctant to use connected cars due to the absence of EU-wide rules and technical standards.

Scenario 3: Those Who Want More Do More – The EU27 proceeds as today but allows willing Member States to do more together in specific areas such as defence, internal security or social matters. One or several "coalitions of the willing" emerge. By 2025 this could mean that:
15 Member States set up a police and magistrates corps to tackle cross-border criminal activities. Security information is immediately exchanged as national databases are fully interconnected.
Connected cars are used widely in 12 Member States which have agreed to harmonise their liability rules and technical standards.

Scenario 4: Doing Less More Efficiently - The EU27 focuses on delivering more and faster in selected policy areas, while doing less where it is perceived not to have an added value. Attention and limited resources are focused on selected policy areas. By 2025 this could mean
A European Telecoms Authority will have the power to free up frequencies for cross-border communication services, such as the ones used by connected cars. It will also protect the rights of mobile and Internet users wherever they are in the EU.
A new European Counter-terrorism Agency helps to deter and prevent serious attacks through a systematic tracking and flagging of suspects.

Scenario 5: Doing Much More Together – Member States decide to share more power, resources and decision-making across the board. Decisions are agreed faster at European level and rapidly enforced. By 2025 this could mean:
Europeans who want to complain about a proposed EU-funded wind turbine project in their local area cannot reach the responsible authority as they are told to contact the competent European authorities.
Connected cars drive seamlessly across Europe as clear EU-wide rules exist. Drivers can rely on an EU agency to enforce the rules.


*****

Eastern Europe warns against EU 'disintegration'. EU Observer


The vote that could wreck the European Union. Why the French presidential election will have consequences far beyond its borders, The Economist


EU could demand £1.7bn from UK after customs fraud probe, BBC

Prospect of £1.7bn fine looms large over PM's talks with EU leaders, The Guardian


Ian McEwan: referendums such as Brexit vote remind me of Third Reich, The Guardian

Wessex and Mycenae: Bronze Age Links and Connections; Amber Spacer Plates/Bead Sets/Necklaces; Dr. Kate Verkooijen

Archaeology Unearthed, Dorset County Museum,  March 3, 2017, 7.30pm (doors open 7pm)


Tears of the Sun: Bronze Age Amber Spacer Beads - Tracking the connections between Wessex, Mycenae and Central Europe by Dr. Kate Verkooijen.

"In the early and mid 20th century, techniques such as radiocarbon dating did not exist or were still in their infancy. It was difficult, then, to date the various cultural groups in different regions of Europe to see whether they existed at the same time or flourished many centuries apart. In light of this, the similarities between the amber spacer beads in Britain and Europe have been used for decades as evidence of direct links between the different

European cultural groups during the Bronze Age. One of the main conclusions has been that there was a direct link between Early Bronze Age Wessex and Mycenaean Greece, due to the idea of nearly identical amber spacers found in both places.

Despite the prominent role they play in Bronze Age research, the evidence of the spacers both individually and within their original excavation contexts has always been poorly understood. For several decades the corpus was ill-defined and neither described nor presented consistently nor comprehensively. Dr. Verkooijen’s research addresses this problem and, in the light of more recently excavated material and dating evidence, she re-assesses the previous conclusions about direct connections between regions. As well as presenting these results, she will also be bringing along two replicas of British Bronze Age amber spacer sets/’necklaces’."

More information:

Tears of the Sun: Amber Spacer Plates in Bronze Age Britain and Europe

"The amber spacers (Bernsteinschiebers, plaquettes d’espacement) are some of the most iconic artefacts of the European Bronze Age; not for their undoubted original beauty, but because of what they may be able to tell us about the cultural and chronological relationships between North-west and Central Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean during the 2nd millennium BC. In 1940 Merhart first drew attention to the similarities between the spacers found at Kakovatos in Mycenaean Greece with those from the Bavarian site of Asenkofen. He illustrated these beads, along with several others from the South German Tumulus Culture, demonstrating their variety of perforation patterns. Comparison of these patterns between the three regions has been at the heart of the interpretation of the relationships of these cultural areas and of the spacers themselves. However, the present condition of the amber means that it is difficult to determine these patterns with certainty. In 1993 Harding expressed the view that this situation could only be remedied by x-raying the beads. Obtaining these x-rays has been one focus of the speaker’s recent PhD and she presents here the results of that research".


Dr Kate Verkooijen - "Kate Verkooijen is an experimental archaeologist. She has a growing collection of replica artefacts relating to ancient material culture. She is studying at Exeter University".


"Following a degree from Swindon University of The Old Age in Archaeological Illustration and Horse Flaying, she has earned an MA in Archaeological Experimentation at Exeter University and is currently setting up a PhD there", Beaker Folk

NHS: 22,000 documents missing from Dorset and Devon CCGs

From Dorset Echo - "DORSET is one of the areas most affected as a result of the NHS mislaying more than half a million pieces of confidential medical correspondence. The documents sent between GPs and hospitals over five years, including treatment plans and cancer test results, did not reach their recipients because they were mistakenly stored in a warehouse by private company NHS Shared Business Services (SBS)".

Britain’s theatres in the 21st century; Renovating historic theatres; Banning Eating in Theatres

From The Economist 

One reason I don't miss London, or going to see a play very often -

"Going to the theatre can feel like an exercise in discomfort. From half-broken seats and bad sightlines to cramped foyers, many of Britain’s historic venues are in urgent need of an upgrade".

The next play I am going to see is Hedda Gabler, (in the comfortable local Odeon cinema, by live satellite transmission, with good sound and close-ups; a pity about the noisy sweet-wrappers and pop-corn).

Update: not only a deeply disappointing production - had to leave both "The Tempest" and "Hedda Gabler" at the first intermissions, because of people eating crisps, drinking wine and talking during the opening acts. Impossible to enjoy either play.

Imelda Staunton: Ban eating at the theatre, Telegraph
Should it be curtains for eating at the theatre? BBC