Douglas MacQueen's blog

Aided by a herd of pigs foraging along the coastline of the Scottish island of Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Ìle, Na h-Eileanan a-staigh, Alba), archaeologists from the University of Reading have found a set of Ice Age Mesolithic and Palaeolithic tools. The stone tools used for hunting, included scrapers used for cleaning skins and sharp points for hunting big game such as reindeer. The items date back 12,000 years, the earliest dated evidence of human activity in Scotland.

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Major naval military exercises have long been thought to cause distress and harm to cetaceans and other marine life. Over the years there have been many assertions that the stranding and death of whales and dolphins was attributable to military activity.

Finally, in 2011 the MOD admitted that the death of 19 pilot whales which stranded of the Kyle of Durness in Scotland was caused by military activity (see link):

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A story about morale in the recently merged Scottish Police Force was sensationally broken by the SCOTSMAN newspaper on its front page with the alarming claim that ‘One on three police officers to quit in three years’. The story (derived from a Scottish Police Authority survey) was echoed in other areas of the Scottish media including the BBC with the emphasis (here quoted from the TIMES) that:

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“We don’t think Putin will be too alarmed at the next few days of sabre-rattling by NATO. It appears some of the French ‘sabres’ are a bit rusty!”

Looks like Vladimir Putin hasn’t got a lot to fear from the French Navy. With much vaunted NATO Exercise Joint Warrior (JW 15-2) just twenty four hours from getting underway it looks as if the French Aeronavale maritime reconnaissance participation has had to go home!

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There is concern that jamming of GPS during the NATO Joint Warrior (JW 15-2) exercise which starts this weekend could pose a danger.

The major land, sea and air exercise will be one of the largest held for several years and ships, submarines and aircraft are already gathering ahead of the official exercise start time on Monday 5th October.

During the first stage of the exercise (JW 15-1) in April a Co Down fishing vessel was snagged by a Royal Navy submarine (although it was several weeks before responsibility was admitted).

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The Celtic League has written to the First Minister of Scotland raising the issue of Armed Forces recruitment in Schools. He cites current developments in the Welsh assembly on the issue (see below):

“Dear First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

Armed Forces School Recruitment

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It appears the UK media and political parties cannot miss an opportunity to attack or demonise Alex Salmond.

Despite the fact Salmond is one of those rare creatures in politicians ‘a man of principle’ (remember he stood down immediately after the narrow referendum defeat) and has moved on since passing the SNP ‘mantle’ to Nicola Sturgeon it appears his detractors cannot.

At the time of the Scottish Referendum the then three main United Kingdom political party leaders, Prime Minister David Cameron, then Labour leader Ed Miliband and then Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, signed up to the idea of a 'Vow' to the Scottish people. The 'Vow' was a pledge that there would be substantial devolved powers to the Scottish Parliament if the people of Scotland would vote against full independence in the Referendum  on 18 September 2014.  

A YouGov opinion poll today for the Times has shown a further 2 percent rise in support for the Scottish National Party (SNP). This latest poll puts them at 51 per cent. Meanwhile support for Labour has fallen another 3 per cent to 22 percent. The SNP remains on course for another landslide in next year’s election for the Scottish Parliament. The Liberal Democrats continue their relentless decline dropping another 3 per cent to just 4 per cent. Meanwhile the Consertives stand at 18 per cent, 

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I was contacted the week by a journalist, Paul Kelbie, seeking an update on our ‘Celtic Treasures’ campaign. The campaign which identified artefacts like the Lewis Chessmen, The Chronicles, The Gold Cape of Mold etc seeks to promote their return to their home countries.

His call was prompted by the return of six of the Lewis Chessmen to the new museum in the Outer Hebrides (link):