I don’t understand why some commentators seem to think Badenoch is doing well as leader, when everything I see her do fits exactly this description. Sorry, she just comes across as very stupid

Dorian Lynskey@dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 12h ago

Badenoch represents double-down conservatism. Never apologise or moderate. Insult your opponents. Patronise journalists when challenged. Contradict yourself, lie, whatever it takes, but never back down. And that's how you end up creating an extremely avoidable Tory antisemitism scandal overnight

Here are the stupidest things Kemi Badenoch has said so far today inews.co.uk/opinion/kemi...

TLDR? The Tories built 14,000 new prison places but closed 14,500. They only created 482 new prison places overall - exactly as Labour said.

Full Fact@fullfact.org · 7h ago

Andy Burnham has claimed only 500 prison places were added between 2010 and 2024, but Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives created 14,000 new places. Can these two claims add up? We’ve had a look at the figures 👇 fullfact.org/crime/how-ma...

Seems extraordinary to me that Kemi Badenoch would attempt to defend selecting this guy, a neo-Nazi jailed for anti-semitism, as a Councillor. He was also convicted of assaulting a poice officer, & burglary of a police station... Seems crazy even for her www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor

Tory leader praises Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s ‘contrition’ but says she has higher thresholds for MP candidates

theguardian.com

Warning: This video may upset a lot of vegetarians & vegans. But it will probably make windfall fruitarians feel smug (at least until reminded they are competing with other life forms who may starve due to their impact).

@rprobbins.bsky.social · 10h ago

Very interesting a new science 💯🎯

Electric Buses Point of no return - have gone from 12% to 56% of new city bus sales in Europe in just 6yrs Europe's 2035 target of 100% zero emission bus sales could be reached as early as 2028 Bravo Europe 🇪🇺!

One soldier's concerns about soldiers’ survival in the drone-dominated combat of the future initially led him to start tinkering with electronics he bought online. Now, he's putting the finishing touches on a drone detector that soldiers can wear like protective gear. Learn more:

US soldier in Germany invents wearable drone detector to protect front-line troops

Army Sgt. Ryan Minton is putting the finishing touches on a drone detector that soldiers can wear like protective gear.

stripes.com

Seems to cover it nicely...

James Aithie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿@jamesaithie.bsky.social · 2d ago

Rod Liddle has died aged 66. If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. I'm saying this, cos if Rod Liddle had lived by that principle, then he wouldn't have uttered or typed a single fucking word in his entire adult life, & the world would have been much better for it.

Just letting you all know that you can thank me for the temporary break in the drought - the "old ways" never fail! #Droughtbuster

Wizard Casts Instant Brazilian Wax Spell

ALT: Wizard Casts Instant Brazilian Wax Spell

static.klipy.com

I washed my car yesterday evening (MOT coming up & the front wheels were black with brake dust, & Sahara dust all over the roof bonnet & windows - I don't use it much). I used a bucket & sponge (of course). The totally unforecast 100% cloud cover arrived 2 hours later, & its been spitting today...

Massachusetts farm installs 832 solar panels above berry fields, and the berries grown underneath turned out sweeter and juicier and could change the future of American farming - The Economic Times share.google/GDGqQBgisqhG...

Massachusetts farm installs 832 solar panels above berry fields, and the berries grown underneath turned out sweeter and juicier and could change the future of American farming

A Massachusetts farm is integrating solar panels above berry fields. This agrivoltaics project generates electricity while shading the crops. The elevated panels create a cooler microclimate, retain...

share.google

If you are a supporter of Ukraine in the Labour Party, do not under any circumstances vote for the Restoration slate including Stella Tsantekidou for the NEC. They have made it very clear that they will not be reliable pro-Ukraine allies if elected.

Reminder: January & February were the wettest on record. But British Water Companies allowed all that water to run off to the sea as fast as possible, without allowing a single litre (except what fell on them as rain) into reservoirs. They do this because "Winter water is too dirty". #TimeForChange

paulusthewoodgnome@paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 3d ago

England received only 7% of the long-term average rainfall for July. Southern England, just 1%. Factoid: There has been a weather station in Kew Gardens for 155 years. This July was the first month ever to record 0mm of rain. Tomorrow, London will again hit 30C+ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The Arctic Circle just reached a temperature that once seemed almost impossible for such a frozen region: above 100°F, or 38°C … a shocking first … fragile regions are rapidly changing. Sometimes one number can tell a much bigger story … climate change is no longer distant. It’s here. It’s now.

RefUK, RW media, & Eurofash are plainly trying to whip up a panic about this. Any serious report must begin by explaining that Ceuta is in Africa - not mainland Spain - and 48k+ of the 50k crossers were already returned. It is frightening how many still don't know this. Please share on all socials.

The COVID brain fog explained. The COVID-19 virus binds to the ACE2 receptor to enter cells. Dopamine producing neurons are rich in the ACE2 receptor. The virus causes disruption in the dopamine network in the brain. 🧪 tech-paper.com/scientists-f...

Scientists finally have a biological explanation for why long COVID patients lose motivation and can't think clearly. They scanned their brains and found the dopamine system was physically damaged - T...

Millions of people with long COVID report the same cluster of symptoms: a crushing lack of motivation, an inability to think clearly, memory that slips, movements that feel slower than they should. Fo...

tech-paper.com

Well... The Tories have Reform & Restore to use as excuses for their diminished vote. Reform have Restore to use as an excuse for their diminished vote. When will Zack Polanski be resigning?🤔

Owen Winter@owenwntr.bsky.social · 5d ago

Manchester mayoral results, first round Bev Craig - Labour 47% (+24 vs local elections) Reform 21% (-10) Green 12% (-7) Restore 9% (new) Conservative 8% (-3) Lib Dem 3% (-7)

This is probably not a good thing... Bourbon virus has common symptoms (fever, fatigue, rash, vomiting, diarrhoea etc) so easy to miss (being a new virus, there is no effective treatment), & half the sufferers die. And being spread by ticks, which are getting more widespread with #climatechange 🤦‍♂️

JJ in DC@jjindc.bsky.social · 4d ago

Oh great. An untreatable, possibly fatal virus passed by ticks is spreading in the USA. Good thing we have the CDC looking out for us, am I right?

🚨 After 40 years of research, Brazilian scientist Dr. Mariangela Hungria wins the World Food Prize for pioneering a $2 nitrogen-fixing bacteria treatment that replaces costly fertilizers, saves farmers $25 billion annually, and cuts 230 million tons of CO₂ emissions.

Basically a story of rewilding & releasing a captive animal, when you think about it... This is pretty much how they deal with returning any rehabilitated animal once its learned in a fenced enclosure ow to survive outside without care.

Rightardia@rightardia.bsky.social · 5d ago

One of the Sumerian texts indicates Adam and Eve lived in a walled garden with other beings. One was something that lived in the trees, and another was a female gatekeeper. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, the gatekeeper opened the gate and said: "Now you know."

This is why I am in favour of compulsory voting. Turnout this low is bad for democracy.

Ash@queerash.bsky.social · 5d ago

it's an interesting contradiction of devolving power to local people when it's a pretty consistent finding that they don't really care about exercising that power

The real reason the Roman Empire ended was Italians wearing socks with sandals? And Brits are just pursuing a 2000 year old tradition started by fashion icons? I may need to revisit a lot of my most cherished beliefs...

@jessstilllife.bsky.social · 6d ago

Socks and sandals; proof the Romans were at it long before Gen Z, especially in chilly North East Britannia. This little razor handle with herringbone pattern sock and ‘solea’ sandal was found in the River Tees near Darlington and now lives in Durham Archaeology Museum. #FindsFriday

Google’s response to the outcry about this very dangerous new AI function is to claim “We take misinformation seriously”:

Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 6d ago

Google Earth, a tool often used as a source of satellite imagery to verify photos and videos, has added a feature that allows you to alter satellite imagery with AI, for reasons. blog.google/products-and...

Memo to Chris Weston, CEO of Thames Water: The timetable for fixing leaks in your water distribution network *is* achievable - in fact, you could deliver it *much faster*. All you need is to employ more contractors, & to stop paying "per job" as that incentivises them repairing poorly & returning.

Prem Sikka@premnsikka.bsky.social · 6d ago

Thames Water boss says leakage targets 'not realistic'. TW loses 200bn litres of water a year to leaks. Dumps sewage in rivers Chose to pay dividends Exec pay hiked Investment neglected for 37 years Fines announced but waived or deferred Captive customers fleeced

Charming footage of Burnham visiting a care home attracting positive comments. I remember charming footage of Starmer and his wife serving lunch to carers, Starmer engaging with school children and Starmer visiting a local coffee shop, barely acknowledged or met with snarky comments.

UEFA (55 Euopean football associations) coming out against Infantino's plan quickly is impressive enough - but CONCACAF (the 41 North, Central & South American football associations including all 3 World Cup hosts plus Brazil & Argentina) joined them yesterday!

Rorza8472@rorza8472.bsky.social · 6d ago

FIFA's proposals are so bad and nakedly corrupt that it made all of UEFA (55 countries, from rich to poor) come out against them completely, not partially, completely. imagine being THAT corrupt that UEFA are now the defenders of football from corporate interests. wild times, but yeah, FUCK FIFA.

While fires rage in large parts of Europe incl UK, farmers face crop failure and livestock loss, every RefUK or Tory politician on the news must be challenged on their "let's do away with costly net zero nonsense" stance, side-by-side with live images of the cost of inaction. Expose the charlatans.

Lets see, shall we? Its one thing to reform the pay & conditions for care workers in the public sector, but very much harder to alter how the private sector abuses both care provision & workforce without leaving a massive gap in care provision overnight... Huge reform in council funding overdue.

Victoria Derbyshire@vicderbyshire.bsky.social · last wk.

Andy Burnham has promised given a speech on adult social care in England, promising to "lift up" workers through pay and training On funding reforms, he said there would be "difficult decisions" but more could be done with existing resources

UEFA is considering a boycott of FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup and the Club World Cup Because the non-profit FIFA wants to hand over influence to private investors There are 55 members in UEFA

UEFA Considering Boycott of FIFA Tournaments in Brewing Feud

UEFA is considering a boycott of FIFA events, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a seismic rift between the most powerful governing bodies of football.

bloomberg.com