White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
It is quite possible Labour win Makerfield, the Conservatives win Aberdeen South and the SNP win Arbroath. In which case the main parties will have done reasonably well.
While if Restore take lots of Reform votes it will be Farage as Napoleon facing his Waterloo, at least for now
See see...main Parties...the SNP....I told you all we were significant!!!!!
This (phased array ultrasound full body scanner) is very cool, and seems to be entirely valid technically. Sell your shares in MRI manufacturers.
amazing new medical tech from Midjourney
"This is a new kind of infrastructure. It’s Full Body Ultrasonic Computational Tomography. No such device has ever been built until now, and yeah, we’re calling it the Midjourney Scanner."
"Less than a dozen of these machines operating together at full speed can do more full body scans than every MRI machine together on Earth. Our goal is to build a fleet of 50,000 of these scanners, capable together of doing a billion scans a month—enough to bring full body imaging to everyone on Earth." https://x.com/Dr_Singularity/status/2067459556809064863
I will wait and see an actual machine because to me this is Midjourney trying to find a purpose and accidentally creating Theranos mark 2
Theranos didn’t even have any working tech. This does appear to have working tech. Whether it’s as good as they claim, I dunno.
Remains to be seen.
It seems to be based on this CalTech proof of principle.
Resolution here doesn't compare with MRI, and the scanned subject was submerged in water. But there are all kinds of tricks for improving resolution and contrast, both computational and physical (eg phase plates).
It all looks feasible.
You could use it for active treatment, too. (cf the fairly primitive use of ultrasound for shattering kidney stones)
Just on Versailles: WWI started as it did partly due to Germany thinking they could rapidly knock out France after absolutely crushing them in the Franco-Prussian war about four decades earlier.
However, time (and tech) had moved on dramatically. Thank goodness we can draw on such lessons and not waste billions on tanks instead of drones.
I think in their desperation to avoid a war on two fronts they kidded themselves that the Schlieffen plan could work, when in reality it was bobbins. The expectation for the right wing of the attack to fight and march over hundreds of miles to encircle Paris? Implausible. Just as Barbarossa was always going to run out of steam (how do you supply 3 million men when you have advanced 600 miles over dirt roads?) so the Schlieffen plan ignored logistical reality.
Other way round. Trump put his trust in Israel. They fucked it.
They are now reaping
Fuck them
As Owen Jones puts it
😂😂😂😂
The full quote is quite funny.
“When they were born, they came out with a machine gun in their hands. That’s not the easiest thing. But they’ve actually behaved pretty well considering that this was not the lifestyle they were taught to have.”
White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
Is it reassuring, troubling, or just odd that Farage should start sounding like a wet liberal with a passion for the rule of law and a desire for peaceful integration?
As to the unfolding of the monsters of the sleep of reason, will the Vikings wanting to expel the Saxons get their first, or will the Anglians wanting to expel the Picts beat them to it?
I really like the phrase "monsters of the sleep of reason". If I knew what it meant I might steal it!
This (phased array ultrasound full body scanner) is very cool, and seems to be entirely valid technically. Sell your shares in MRI manufacturers.
amazing new medical tech from Midjourney
"This is a new kind of infrastructure. It’s Full Body Ultrasonic Computational Tomography. No such device has ever been built until now, and yeah, we’re calling it the Midjourney Scanner."
"Less than a dozen of these machines operating together at full speed can do more full body scans than every MRI machine together on Earth. Our goal is to build a fleet of 50,000 of these scanners, capable together of doing a billion scans a month—enough to bring full body imaging to everyone on Earth." https://x.com/Dr_Singularity/status/2067459556809064863
I will wait and see an actual machine because to me this is Midjourney trying to find a purpose and accidentally creating Theranos mark 2
Yes. As someone who works in a related field, I'm sceptical. While slickly presented, Midjourney are making a lot of bold claims, and supplying very little evidence. The images they have released are Al-buffed images of phantoms - they haven't shown an image of a human. So far they have scanned "about a dozen" people.
The CEO statements are dripping in qualifiers and weasel words e.g. "aims for image quality comparable to MRI in many ways", which could mean pretty much anything. They are calling the machine "Ultrasonic CT" which is misleading, as it is an ultrasound machine (CT is generally used as a shorthand for X-ray computed tomography).
From this alpha level prototype, they think they can produce 50,000 machines in 5 years. That's in the region of the entire existing global install base of MRI scanners.
Trump favourably compares the president of Syria with Netanyahu (whom he also called "very much the junior partner"0.
“The president of #Syria. He’s done a tremendous job… He’d love to go in [to #Lebanon]… he wouldn’t knock down buildings every time he hears there’s someone there, he’d just go in with precision.”.. https://x.com/Charles_Lister/status/2067311287126647194
Of course this is (even for someone like me who thinks Julani/Ahmed al-Sharaa is, on balance, probably now a force for stability in Syria) objectively insane. But it shows which way Trump is leaning.
Bib has joined the Pantheon of those who Trump feels have personally betrayed him. Quite difficult to come back from that. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
I wonder what Trump has in store for Netanyahu. Perhaps Trump will intervene in the Israeli election in September, - maybe making US aid to Israel conditional on the rejection of Netanyahu in the election.
Trump favourably compares the president of Syria with Netanyahu (whom he also called "very much the junior partner"0.
“The president of #Syria. He’s done a tremendous job… He’d love to go in [to #Lebanon]… he wouldn’t knock down buildings every time he hears there’s someone there, he’d just go in with precision.”.. https://x.com/Charles_Lister/status/2067311287126647194
Of course this is (even for someone like me who thinks Julani/Ahmed al-Sharaa is, on balance, probably now a force for stability in Syria) objectively insane. But it shows which way Trump is leaning.
Bib has joined the Pantheon of those who Trump feels have personally betrayed him. Quite difficult to come back from that. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Haven't found the Tweet but some MAGA influencers want Trump to bomb Israel if Bibi betrays Trump over the Iran deal.
And their doppelgängers in Israel are raging about Trump's 'betrayal'. Time for Israel to go it alone and perhaps bust out one of their nuclear weapons (which they may or may not possess) in a relatively uninhabited area is some of what I've read.
If there is ever any point in Israel having nuclear weapons, it is to use them destroying their nemesis before thei nemesis can get them and use them against Israel.
Expect Israel to threaten Iran with nuclear destruction if they consider they are close to making a bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran has new-found economic clout (plus it took on and beat Israel and the US combined). Why do they need a bomb?
White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
Is it reassuring, troubling, or just odd that Farage should start sounding like a wet liberal with a passion for the rule of law and a desire for peaceful integration?
As to the unfolding of the monsters of the sleep of reason, will the Vikings wanting to expel the Saxons get their first, or will the Anglians wanting to expel the Picts beat them to it?
I really like the phrase "monsters of the sleep of reason". If I knew what it meant I might steal it!
'The Sleep of Reason' is also the title of a now forgotten C.P. Snow novel about an irrational murder, part of the neglected 'Strangers and Brothers' sequence. of which the great one is 'The Masters'. Snow was the Melvyn Bragg of his day in a number of respects.
This (phased array ultrasound full body scanner) is very cool, and seems to be entirely valid technically. Sell your shares in MRI manufacturers.
amazing new medical tech from Midjourney
"This is a new kind of infrastructure. It’s Full Body Ultrasonic Computational Tomography. No such device has ever been built until now, and yeah, we’re calling it the Midjourney Scanner."
"Less than a dozen of these machines operating together at full speed can do more full body scans than every MRI machine together on Earth. Our goal is to build a fleet of 50,000 of these scanners, capable together of doing a billion scans a month—enough to bring full body imaging to everyone on Earth." https://x.com/Dr_Singularity/status/2067459556809064863
I will wait and see an actual machine because to me this is Midjourney trying to find a purpose and accidentally creating Theranos mark 2
Yes. As someone who works in a related field, I'm sceptical. While slickly presented, Midjourney are making a lot of bold claims, and supplying very little evidence. The images they have released are Al-buffed images of phantoms - they haven't shown an image of a human. So far they have scanned "about a dozen" people.
The CEO statements are dripping in qualifiers and weasel words e.g. "aims for image quality comparable to MRI in many ways", which could mean pretty much anything. They are calling the machine "Ultrasonic CT" which is misleading, as it is an ultrasound machine (CT is generally used as a shorthand for X-ray computed tomography).
From this alpha level prototype, they think they can produce 50,000 machines in 5 years. That's in the region of the entire existing global install base of MRI scanners.
With all these things there is a need to wait and see.
The tendancy to "Fake It Till You make It!" particular in the US has become a real problem.
Whether it be Oxycontin, Theranos or even SpaceX and the Startship or Tesla's Robo Taxi, hyping a product to attract investors has almost become the norm, everybody ploughing in to the next big thing in the hope of Crypto type gains.
My favourite is Asteroid Mining...
They talk about the trillions in platinum in Asteroids but that assumes that when you bring that much to earth the price won't collapse ! Of course when supply outstrips demand the most expensive producers go bust...which of course would be the Asteroid Miners.
Great way to raise money from those who dream of getting rich quick, but not if they have the brains to spot the obvious flaw!
White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
Just on Versailles: WWI started as it did partly due to Germany thinking they could rapidly knock out France after absolutely crushing them in the Franco-Prussian war about four decades earlier.
However, time (and tech) had moved on dramatically. Thank goodness we can draw on such lessons and not waste billions on tanks instead of drones.
At the start of ww1 there were no tanks, another British invention since taken over by foreigners, and of course, in the second attempt, Germany did knock out France in a matter of weeks.
There were just 21 years between The War to End All Wars and the Second World War. A shorter time than between 9/11 and now, and everyone remembers where they were when they heard about that (for some values of everyone).
This (phased array ultrasound full body scanner) is very cool, and seems to be entirely valid technically. Sell your shares in MRI manufacturers.
amazing new medical tech from Midjourney
"This is a new kind of infrastructure. It’s Full Body Ultrasonic Computational Tomography. No such device has ever been built until now, and yeah, we’re calling it the Midjourney Scanner."
"Less than a dozen of these machines operating together at full speed can do more full body scans than every MRI machine together on Earth. Our goal is to build a fleet of 50,000 of these scanners, capable together of doing a billion scans a month—enough to bring full body imaging to everyone on Earth." https://x.com/Dr_Singularity/status/2067459556809064863
I will wait and see an actual machine because to me this is Midjourney trying to find a purpose and accidentally creating Theranos mark 2
Yes. As someone who works in a related field, I'm sceptical. While slickly presented, Midjourney are making a lot of bold claims, and supplying very little evidence. The images they have released are Al-buffed images of phantoms - they haven't shown an image of a human. So far they have scanned "about a dozen" people.
The CEO statements are dripping in qualifiers and weasel words e.g. "aims for image quality comparable to MRI in many ways", which could mean pretty much anything. They are calling the machine "Ultrasonic CT" which is misleading, as it is an ultrasound machine (CT is generally used as a shorthand for X-ray computed tomography).
From this alpha level prototype, they think they can produce 50,000 machines in 5 years. That's in the region of the entire existing global install base of MRI scanners.
With all these things there is a need to wait and see.
The tendancy to "Fake It Till You make It!" particular in the US has become a real problem.
Whether it be Oxycontin, Theranos or even SpaceX and the Startship or Tesla's Robo Taxi, hyping a product to attract investors has almost become the norm, everybody ploughing in to the next big thing in the hope of Crypto type gains.
My favourite is Asteroid Mining...
They talk about the trillions in platinum in Asteroids but that assumes that when you bring that much to earth the price won't collapse ! Of course when supply outstrips demand the most expensive producers go bust...which of course would be the Asteroid Miners.
Great way to raise money from those who dream of getting rich quick, but not if they have the brains to spot the obvious flaw!
Peter.
This is something quite likely to happen in the next couple of years. Asteroid mining is quite another matter.
Just on Versailles: WWI started as it did partly due to Germany thinking they could rapidly knock out France after absolutely crushing them in the Franco-Prussian war about four decades earlier.
However, time (and tech) had moved on dramatically. Thank goodness we can draw on such lessons and not waste billions on tanks instead of drones.
At the start of ww1 there were no tanks, another British invention since taken over by foreigners, and of course, in the second attempt, Germany did knock out France in a matter of weeks.
There were just 21 years between The War to End All Wars and the Second World War. A shorter time than between 9/11 and now, and everyone remembers where they were when they heard about that (for some values of everyone).
Tanks weren't the only change, in new and expanded use of technology, though. Rail and machine guns spring to mind. The French had some early types of machine gun in very limited numbers in the Franco-Prussian War, for example.
Trump favourably compares the president of Syria with Netanyahu (whom he also called "very much the junior partner"0.
“The president of #Syria. He’s done a tremendous job… He’d love to go in [to #Lebanon]… he wouldn’t knock down buildings every time he hears there’s someone there, he’d just go in with precision.”.. https://x.com/Charles_Lister/status/2067311287126647194
Of course this is (even for someone like me who thinks Julani/Ahmed al-Sharaa is, on balance, probably now a force for stability in Syria) objectively insane. But it shows which way Trump is leaning.
Bib has joined the Pantheon of those who Trump feels have personally betrayed him. Quite difficult to come back from that. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Haven't found the Tweet but some MAGA influencers want Trump to bomb Israel if Bibi betrays Trump over the Iran deal.
And their doppelgängers in Israel are raging about Trump's 'betrayal'. Time for Israel to go it alone and perhaps bust out one of their nuclear weapons (which they may or may not possess) in a relatively uninhabited area is some of what I've read.
If there is ever any point in Israel having nuclear weapons, it is to use them destroying their nemesis before thei nemesis can get them and use them against Israel.
Expect Israel to threaten Iran with nuclear destruction if they consider they are close to making a bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran has new-found economic clout (plus it took on and beat Israel and the US combined). Why do they need a bomb?
Iran's 'economic clout' is the ability to restrict oil flows through Hormuz while simultaneously having its own oil flows restricted.
A mutually assured destruction of oil flows.
Iran needed a fake agreement and the oil flowing again as much as Trump did.
Meanwhile the Arabs are building new pipelines to bypass Hormuz at which point Iran's half of the oil flows MAD becomes much feebler.
Trump favourably compares the president of Syria with Netanyahu (whom he also called "very much the junior partner"0.
“The president of #Syria. He’s done a tremendous job… He’d love to go in [to #Lebanon]… he wouldn’t knock down buildings every time he hears there’s someone there, he’d just go in with precision.”.. https://x.com/Charles_Lister/status/2067311287126647194
Of course this is (even for someone like me who thinks Julani/Ahmed al-Sharaa is, on balance, probably now a force for stability in Syria) objectively insane. But it shows which way Trump is leaning.
Bib has joined the Pantheon of those who Trump feels have personally betrayed him. Quite difficult to come back from that. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Off topic. I read PB most days. It’s been ages since I have commented on PB. However: @Luckyguy1983 recently commented that: “Burnham's 'clean air zone' in Manchester is a black spot on his reputation.” Can I ask @Luckyguy1983 what is wrong with trying to improve air quality? Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions is a disaster for asthmatics and people with respiratory illness. Does anyone remember Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah? Google summary. “The case of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah stands as a pivotal example of how vehicle pollution can lead to asthma-related deaths. Ella, a nine-year-old girl, tragically passed away due to asthma exacerbations caused by air pollution from road traffic. Her inquest revealed that air pollution, particularly from traffic emissions, was a significant contributory factor to her asthma and death.” I am hugely in favour of low emission zones and attempts to improve air quality. (Wife and I have an EV.) I have taken asthma medication for almost all of my life, but I don’t have the most serious type. I have only been hospitalised once and that was about 45 years ago. According to google there are about four asthma deaths in the UK each day.
"Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site"
"Archaeologists believe they have discovered an earlier, much simpler version of Stonehenge about 3 miles (5km) away from the prehistoric monument.
All that remains of the older structure is two holes in the ground, but the team says they held wooden posts that lined up with the Sun on the summer and winter solstices - the longest and shortest days of the year - in the same way as Stonehenge."
Lovely MAGA take. These are the people Farage and Badenoch want us to align to.
There is a MUCH stronger case to be made for invading the UK, toppling its tyrannical government, and liberating its people than for pretty much any regime change war (to include Iran) over the past 30 years.
🟢NEW: Zack Polanski has suggested he did not pay council tax while living on a narrowboat because of living arrangements resulting from “financial hardship”
In a witness statement to the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Green Party leader also admitted that he should have taken “greater care” over his tax arrangements while living on the vessel in an east London marina
City Hall has decided not to launch an investigation into Polanski's council tax arrangements
The monitoring officer said that the matter related to "private circumstances" rather the Polanski's role as a London Assembly member
They said the decision "does not make any finding on the merits of the underlying concerns”
Morning all! Let us hope that this time tomorrow Restore and Reform are tearing at each other and Burnham is on (yet another) train to London!
Just for interest, but do London Assembly members get paid?
The Mayor’s salary is £170,282. The salary of an Assembly Member is currently £66,390 per year, except for the Statutory Deputy Mayor which is £118,124 and the Chair of the Assembly which is £79,617.
Trump favourably compares the president of Syria with Netanyahu (whom he also called "very much the junior partner"0.
“The president of #Syria. He’s done a tremendous job… He’d love to go in [to #Lebanon]… he wouldn’t knock down buildings every time he hears there’s someone there, he’d just go in with precision.”.. https://x.com/Charles_Lister/status/2067311287126647194
Of course this is (even for someone like me who thinks Julani/Ahmed al-Sharaa is, on balance, probably now a force for stability in Syria) objectively insane. But it shows which way Trump is leaning.
Bib has joined the Pantheon of those who Trump feels have personally betrayed him. Quite difficult to come back from that. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Haven't found the Tweet but some MAGA influencers want Trump to bomb Israel if Bibi betrays Trump over the Iran deal.
And their doppelgängers in Israel are raging about Trump's 'betrayal'. Time for Israel to go it alone and perhaps bust out one of their nuclear weapons (which they may or may not possess) in a relatively uninhabited area is some of what I've read.
If there is ever any point in Israel having nuclear weapons, it is to use them destroying their nemesis before thei nemesis can get them and use them against Israel.
Expect Israel to threaten Iran with nuclear destruction if they consider they are close to making a bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran has new-found economic clout (plus it took on and beat Israel and the US combined). Why do they need a bomb?
Iran's 'economic clout' is the ability to restrict oil flows through Hormuz while simultaneously having its own oil flows restricted.
A mutually assured destruction of oil flows.
Iran needed a fake agreement and the oil flowing again as much as Trump did.
Meanwhile the Arabs are building new pipelines to bypass Hormuz at which point Iran's half of the oil flows MAD becomes much feebler.
People keep saying that pipelines will stiff Iran but Ukraine has shown pipelines can be destroyed and Ukraine, Iran and indeed the United States have shown that oil infrastructure is vulnerable.
Lovely MAGA take. These are the people Farage and Badenoch want us to align to.
There is a MUCH stronger case to be made for invading the UK, toppling its tyrannical government, and liberating its people than for pretty much any regime change war (to include Iran) over the past 30 years.
Off topic. I read PB most days. It’s been ages since I have commented on PB. However: @Luckyguy1983 recently commented that: “Burnham's 'clean air zone' in Manchester is a black spot on his reputation.” Can I ask @Luckyguy1983 what is wrong with trying to improve air quality? Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions is a disaster for asthmatics and people with respiratory illness. Does anyone remember Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah? Google summary. “The case of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah stands as a pivotal example of how vehicle pollution can lead to asthma-related deaths. Ella, a nine-year-old girl, tragically passed away due to asthma exacerbations caused by air pollution from road traffic. Her inquest revealed that air pollution, particularly from traffic emissions, was a significant contributory factor to her asthma and death.” I am hugely in favour of low emission zones and attempts to improve air quality. (Wife and I have an EV.) I have taken asthma medication for almost all of my life, but I don’t have the most serious type. I have only been hospitalised once and that was about 45 years ago. According to google there are about four asthma deaths in the UK each day.
You have missed the point. Burnham caved on Manchester's clean air zone.
In pre-internet days, magazines like "Time Out" and "What's On" listed all the films and theatre plays in London in a given week. But those magazines no longer exist. There is a website that acts as a substitute for theatre plays, but there doesn't seem to be one for films. Can anyone suggest such a website?
In pre-internet days, magazines like "Time Out" and "What's On" listed all the films and theatre plays in London in a given week. But those magazines no longer exist. There is a website that acts as a substitute for theatre plays, but there doesn't seem to be one for films. Can anyone suggest such a website?
Google "[film name] showtimes". Gets you a google-formatted page for all cinemas and dates.
Doesn't seem to trigger on just the film name, and "showtimes" sounds American, so it's not so well-known...
Lovely MAGA take. These are the people Farage and Badenoch want us to align to.
There is a MUCH stronger case to be made for invading the UK, toppling its tyrannical government, and liberating its people than for pretty much any regime change war (to include Iran) over the past 30 years.
In pre-internet days, magazines like "Time Out" and "What's On" listed all the films and theatre plays in London in a given week. But those magazines no longer exist. There is a website that acts as a substitute for theatre plays, but there doesn't seem to be one for films. Can anyone suggest such a website?
Haven't checked to see whether it is comprehensive.
Have they thought of introducing an Ultra-Low Emissions Zone?
Apparently one of the expedients they have introduced is to allow fuel with a higher sulphur content to be sold, which will cause greater wear on modern engines, catalytic converters and the like, but I guess it means there's less repair work required to bring refineries back into use.
Lovely MAGA take. These are the people Farage and Badenoch want us to align to.
There is a MUCH stronger case to be made for invading the UK, toppling its tyrannical government, and liberating its people than for pretty much any regime change war (to include Iran) over the past 30 years.
In pre-internet days, magazines like "Time Out" and "What's On" listed all the films and theatre plays in London in a given week. But those magazines no longer exist. There is a website that acts as a substitute for theatre plays, but there doesn't seem to be one for films. Can anyone suggest such a website?
Haven't checked to see whether it is comprehensive.
Russian state TV claimed a massive fire in Moscow’s Kapotnya district was caused by falling drone debris, saying a coal storage site caught fire. The broadcast showed huge smoke plumes rising over the area following Ukraine’s large-scale strike wave.
Off topic. I read PB most days. It’s been ages since I have commented on PB. However: @Luckyguy1983 recently commented that: “Burnham's 'clean air zone' in Manchester is a black spot on his reputation.” Can I ask @Luckyguy1983 what is wrong with trying to improve air quality? Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions is a disaster for asthmatics and people with respiratory illness. Does anyone remember Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah? Google summary. “The case of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah stands as a pivotal example of how vehicle pollution can lead to asthma-related deaths. Ella, a nine-year-old girl, tragically passed away due to asthma exacerbations caused by air pollution from road traffic. Her inquest revealed that air pollution, particularly from traffic emissions, was a significant contributory factor to her asthma and death.” I am hugely in favour of low emission zones and attempts to improve air quality. (Wife and I have an EV.) I have taken asthma medication for almost all of my life, but I don’t have the most serious type. I have only been hospitalised once and that was about 45 years ago. According to google there are about four asthma deaths in the UK each day.
You have missed the point. Burnham caved on Manchester's clean air zone.
Although he says he took other measures to reduce pollution.
Have they thought of introducing an Ultra-Low Emissions Zone?
Apparently one of the expedients they have introduced is to allow fuel with a higher sulphur content to be sold, which will cause greater wear on modern engines, catalytic converters and the like, but I guess it means there's less repair work required to bring refineries back into use.
Yes I saw that, they’re now starting to refine “Euro-3” petrol which hasn’t been sold for years.
Great for the old Ladas, but if you have a Euro-6 emissions car you really don’t want to put that stuff anywhere near the engine.
Whatever fuel they have, they’re now queues for it all over Moscow, and they’re rationing to 20 litres at most petrol stations.
Apparently that Moscow refinery supplied more than half the city’s petrol, supplies Jet-A1 to two airports, and also supplies some exotic fuels to the Air Force.
Lovely MAGA take. These are the people Farage and Badenoch want us to align to.
There is a MUCH stronger case to be made for invading the UK, toppling its tyrannical government, and liberating its people than for pretty much any regime change war (to include Iran) over the past 30 years.
White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain.
Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win.
Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the far-Right activist detained last week under counter-terrorism laws, has questioned whether the party is too extreme.
Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the alias Tommy Robinson, challenged Mr Lowe to ask whether black people would be allowed to stand as parliamentary candidates for the party, or whether their skin colour would rule them out. Robinson suggested they should be able to stand.
Among Restore’s recent supporters is Steve Laws, who campaigns for “total remigration” of all non-white people. He posted on social media that he had donated to the party.
Jared Taylor, an American banned from the UK because of his extreme racist views, has become a paid-up member.
Other neo-fascists who have paid to join Restore include Sam Melia, who was jailed in 2024 for stirring up racial hatred, Sam Wilkes, a Nazi apologist, and Simon Birkett, who is buying up land for the benefit of “the British people”.
Mr Laws, who has said he has “signed up and donated” to Restore Britain, describes himself as the founder of Remigration Now, which calls for the expulsion of every non-white and Jewish person from Britain.
Is it reassuring, troubling, or just odd that Farage should start sounding like a wet liberal with a passion for the rule of law and a desire for peaceful integration?
As to the unfolding of the monsters of the sleep of reason, will the Vikings wanting to expel the Saxons get their first, or will the Anglians wanting to expel the Picts beat them to it?
I really like the phrase "monsters of the sleep of reason". If I knew what it meant I might steal it!
Off topic. I read PB most days. It’s been ages since I have commented on PB. However: @Luckyguy1983 recently commented that: “Burnham's 'clean air zone' in Manchester is a black spot on his reputation.” Can I ask @Luckyguy1983 what is wrong with trying to improve air quality? Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions is a disaster for asthmatics and people with respiratory illness. Does anyone remember Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah? Google summary. “The case of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah stands as a pivotal example of how vehicle pollution can lead to asthma-related deaths. Ella, a nine-year-old girl, tragically passed away due to asthma exacerbations caused by air pollution from road traffic. Her inquest revealed that air pollution, particularly from traffic emissions, was a significant contributory factor to her asthma and death.” I am hugely in favour of low emission zones and attempts to improve air quality. (Wife and I have an EV.) I have taken asthma medication for almost all of my life, but I don’t have the most serious type. I have only been hospitalised once and that was about 45 years ago. According to google there are about four asthma deaths in the UK each day.
You have missed the point. Burnham caved on Manchester's clean air zone.
Although he says he took other measures to reduce pollution.
From your link: [Burnham] also said the clean air zones signs, of which more than 1,300 were put up, could be repurposed for use by local councils and to advertise park and ride services.
London has the better (also Labour) Mayor, clean air zones, electric and low-emission buses.
🟢NEW: Zack Polanski has suggested he did not pay council tax while living on a narrowboat because of living arrangements resulting from “financial hardship”
In a witness statement to the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Green Party leader also admitted that he should have taken “greater care” over his tax arrangements while living on the vessel in an east London marina
City Hall has decided not to launch an investigation into Polanski's council tax arrangements
The monitoring officer said that the matter related to "private circumstances" rather the Polanski's role as a London Assembly member
They said the decision "does not make any finding on the merits of the underlying concerns”
Morning all! Let us hope that this time tomorrow Restore and Reform are tearing at each other and Burnham is on (yet another) train to London!
Just for interest, but do London Assembly members get paid?
The Mayor’s salary is £170,282. The salary of an Assembly Member is currently £66,390 per year, except for the Statutory Deputy Mayor which is £118,124 and the Chair of the Assembly which is £79,617.
England shitting the bed here, dropped catches, Rew having a shocker with 22 byes.
Old, old story. We can't get the tail out. Game slipping from us now. Difficult for us to win if NZ get 350 +
If I've done my Statsguru query right England have been the fourth worst team at getting the tail out since the start of the 2022 season.
But the difference doesn't look like it is as bad as you might have expected. (The difference was much larger and worse for England in the 90s, for example)
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
As my gran would say, "It's a bit black over Bill's mother's..."
Apparently the forecast wind and rain are about to take that cloud over the city centre, and dump oil rain on Red Square! Now that would be hellishly amusing!
Makerfield - Burnham wins by 10%+. Starmer, as always, lacking in self-awareness, digs in. Leadership battle awaits. Aberdeen - Cons win by 5%. Labour vote collapses. Abroath - Low turnout. SNP beat Reform by 3,000 votes.
🟢NEW: Zack Polanski has suggested he did not pay council tax while living on a narrowboat because of living arrangements resulting from “financial hardship”
In a witness statement to the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Green Party leader also admitted that he should have taken “greater care” over his tax arrangements while living on the vessel in an east London marina
City Hall has decided not to launch an investigation into Polanski's council tax arrangements
The monitoring officer said that the matter related to "private circumstances" rather the Polanski's role as a London Assembly member
They said the decision "does not make any finding on the merits of the underlying concerns”
Morning all! Let us hope that this time tomorrow Restore and Reform are tearing at each other and Burnham is on (yet another) train to London!
Just for interest, but do London Assembly members get paid?
The Mayor’s salary is £170,282. The salary of an Assembly Member is currently £66,390 per year, except for the Statutory Deputy Mayor which is £118,124 and the Chair of the Assembly which is £79,617.
As my gran would say, "It's a bit black over Bill's mother's..."
Apparently the forecast wind and rain are about to take that cloud over the city centre, and dump oil rain on Red Square! Now that would be hellishly amusing!
The Ukrainians dropping shit all over Lenin!
And St Basil's is going to need a serious clean. All those pretty colours going soot-black. Shame.
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
Whether Burnham succeeds or fails as a potential PM comes down to coming up with policies that are
1) workable 2) don’t set Labour party supporters on fire 3) sticking to them, so as not burning (ha!) his supporters who are sent out to defend them.
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
Ruling events out because they would make politicians looks daft, seems, erm, well, quite brave actually.
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
I think Burnham will get a decent honeymoon. There are several things in his favour:
- I sense the media is fed up of crap leaders so will want to go along with this one, for a while - he's northern and chippy (what's more, a Scouser, the chippiest of all northern terroirs) and will play on that, turning criticisms of him into criticisms of the North by the London media mafia - he has the ability to bullshit relatively charismatically, unlike his last 2 PM predecessors - he will replace Reeves with a new chancellor, and even if that's Ed M (whom the right wing press hate but the country in general is meh) it'll represent a new start
I give him an 18 month to 2 year honeymoon before a somewhat gentler decline towards the next election (which will generate a hung parliament and Lib-Lab coalition).
EDIT: oh and he'll make a mild effort at back-chatting Trump, unlikely Starmer, which will earn him brownie points with the 75% of the country that's not MAGA
🟢NEW: Zack Polanski has suggested he did not pay council tax while living on a narrowboat because of living arrangements resulting from “financial hardship”
In a witness statement to the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Green Party leader also admitted that he should have taken “greater care” over his tax arrangements while living on the vessel in an east London marina
City Hall has decided not to launch an investigation into Polanski's council tax arrangements
The monitoring officer said that the matter related to "private circumstances" rather the Polanski's role as a London Assembly member
They said the decision "does not make any finding on the merits of the underlying concerns”
Morning all! Let us hope that this time tomorrow Restore and Reform are tearing at each other and Burnham is on (yet another) train to London!
Just for interest, but do London Assembly members get paid?
The Mayor’s salary is £170,282. The salary of an Assembly Member is currently £66,390 per year, except for the Statutory Deputy Mayor which is £118,124 and the Chair of the Assembly which is £79,617.
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
I think Burnham will get a decent honeymoon. There are several things in his favour:
- I sense the media is fed up of crap leaders so will want to go along with this one, for a while - he's northern and chippy (what's more, a Scouser, the chippiest of all northern terroirs) and will play on that, turning criticisms of him into criticisms of the North by the London media mafia - he has the ability to bullshit relatively charismatically, unlike his last 2 PM predecessors - he will replace Reeves with a new chancellor, and even if that's Ed M (whom the right wing press hate but the country in general is meh) it'll represent a new start
I give him an 18 month to 2 year honeymoon before a somewhat gentler decline towards the next election (which will generate a hung parliament and Lib-Lab coalition).
I think this is where I am. Labour has to be value for most seats.
I would add one other thing: Burnham seems to have genuine fans. The way some people talk about him isn’t anything I’ve really seen since Johnson. I wonder if that will keep the Red Wall with him for longer. As a contrast with Farage he’s a good choice.
I think Burnham will win and then go on to get the crown tbh.
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
Yes, yes, no.
Question is- then what?
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
I don't think there will be an opportunity to change leader again, it would look daft. And I think Burnham is a better politician than Starmer and so won't sink as low in the public's estimation.
Labour will have broken through the barrier though and deposed a sitting PM. Once that's happened, they could do it again and again and ....
Comments
Peter.
(cf the fairly primitive use of ultrasound for shattering kidney stones)
Will his popularity survive contact with the throne though ?
They are now reaping
Fuck them
😂😂😂😂
“When they were born, they came out with a machine gun in their hands. That’s not the easiest thing. But they’ve actually behaved pretty well considering that this was not the lifestyle they were taught to have.”
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/mmauv.html
In theory things like this couldn't just recharge, but piggy back onto any ship and ride it into any port!
Peter.
The CEO statements are dripping in qualifiers and weasel words e.g. "aims for image quality comparable to MRI in many ways", which could mean pretty much anything. They are calling the machine "Ultrasonic CT" which is misleading, as it is an ultrasound machine (CT is generally used as a shorthand for X-ray computed tomography).
From this alpha level prototype, they think they can produce 50,000 machines in 5 years. That's in the region of the entire existing global install base of MRI scanners.
Perhaps Trump will intervene in the Israeli election in September, - maybe making US aid to Israel conditional on the rejection of Netanyahu in the election.
Expect Israel to threaten Iran with nuclear destruction if they consider they are close to making a bomb.
Meanwhile, Iran has new-found economic clout (plus it took on and beat Israel and the US combined). Why do they need a bomb?
Have £100 treble at boosted odds of almost 6/4 on KoN/SNP/SNP from a few weeks ago so hopeful for that too
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleep_of_Reason_Produces_Monsters
'The Sleep of Reason' is also the title of a now forgotten C.P. Snow novel about an irrational murder, part of the neglected 'Strangers and Brothers' sequence. of which the great one is 'The Masters'. Snow was the Melvyn Bragg of his day in a number of respects.
On the back of a World Cup campaign where the multicultural team conquer all!!!
Nobody told Ed Miliband...
The tendancy to "Fake It Till You make It!" particular in the US has become a real problem.
Whether it be Oxycontin, Theranos or even SpaceX and the Startship or Tesla's Robo Taxi, hyping a product to attract investors has almost become the norm, everybody ploughing in to the next big thing in the hope of Crypto type gains.
My favourite is Asteroid Mining...
They talk about the trillions in platinum in Asteroids but that assumes that when you bring that much to earth the price won't collapse ! Of course when supply outstrips demand the most expensive producers go bust...which of course would be the Asteroid Miners.
Great way to raise money from those who dream of getting rich quick, but not if they have the brains to spot the obvious flaw!
Peter.
There were just 21 years between The War to End All Wars and the Second World War. A shorter time than between 9/11 and now, and everyone remembers where they were when they heard about that (for some values of everyone).
Asteroid mining is quite another matter.
We could keep pinballing from Great New Hope to Great New Hope for a very long time.
A mutually assured destruction of oil flows.
Iran needed a fake agreement and the oil flowing again as much as Trump did.
Meanwhile the Arabs are building new pipelines to bypass Hormuz at which point Iran's half of the oil flows MAD becomes much feebler.
https://bsky.app/profile/chadbourn.bsky.social/post/3mokjpihafk25
I read PB most days. It’s been ages since I have commented on PB. However:
@Luckyguy1983 recently commented that:
“Burnham's 'clean air zone' in Manchester is a black spot on his reputation.”
Can I ask @Luckyguy1983 what is wrong with trying to improve air quality?
Air pollution caused by vehicle emissions is a disaster for asthmatics and people with respiratory illness.
Does anyone remember Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah?
Google summary. “The case of Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah stands as a pivotal example of how vehicle pollution can lead to asthma-related deaths. Ella, a nine-year-old girl, tragically passed away due to asthma exacerbations caused by air pollution from road traffic. Her inquest revealed that air pollution, particularly from traffic emissions, was a significant contributory factor to her asthma and death.”
I am hugely in favour of low emission zones and attempts to improve air quality. (Wife and I have an EV.)
I have taken asthma medication for almost all of my life, but I don’t have the most serious type. I have only been hospitalised once and that was about 45 years ago.
According to google there are about four asthma deaths in the UK each day.
https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyxw8550y8o
"Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site"
"Archaeologists believe they have discovered an earlier, much simpler version of Stonehenge about 3 miles (5km) away from the prehistoric monument.
All that remains of the older structure is two holes in the ground, but the team says they held wooden posts that lined up with the Sun on the summer and winter solstices - the longest and shortest days of the year - in the same way as Stonehenge."
Extrapolate much?
The betting graph for Makerfield looks remarkably similar to that of the Brexit Referendum almost ten years ago, and we all know what happened there.
Doesn't seem to trigger on just the film name, and "showtimes" sounds American, so it's not so well-known...
Peter.
https://x.com/maria_drutska/status/2067499823192752174
https://cinemaguide.co.uk/london
Apparently one of the expedients they have introduced is to allow fuel with a higher sulphur content to be sold, which will cause greater wear on modern engines, catalytic converters and the like, but I guess it means there's less repair work required to bring refineries back into use.
https://t.me/noel_reports/47977
Russian State TV not using the video of the oil storage tank lid heading skyward.
This BBC story covers most of it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czrl2m16v13o
Great for the old Ladas, but if you have a Euro-6 emissions car you really don’t want to put that stuff anywhere near the engine.
Whatever fuel they have, they’re now queues for it all over Moscow, and they’re rationing to 20 litres at most petrol stations.
Apparently that Moscow refinery supplied more than half the city’s petrol, supplies Jet-A1 to two airports, and also supplies some exotic fuels to the Air Force.
Being rabidly anti European, not just EU if course just adds to their herecy.
And someone describing them as a wet liberal.
The pit is bottomless.
London has the better (also Labour) Mayor, clean air zones, electric and low-emission buses.
Easy SNP win in Arbroath
Comfortable SNP win in Aberdeen but reduced majority.
In hindsight relatively comfortable Labour win on Manc land majority 3 to 4000
This didn’t work in Australia why are they trying it again?
They won their last match comfortably.
But the difference doesn't look like it is as bad as you might have expected.
(The difference was much larger and worse for England in the 90s, for example)
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/18/makerfield-byelection-polls-open-labour-leadership-andy-burnham-keir-starmer-latest-news-updates
Makerfield - Burnham wins by 10%+. Starmer, as always, lacking in self-awareness, digs in. Leadership battle awaits.
Aberdeen - Cons win by 5%. Labour vote collapses.
Abroath - Low turnout. SNP beat Reform by 3,000 votes.
Whatever happened to the Hippy Environmentalist people who used to be in the Green Party?
And St Basil's is going to need a serious clean. All those pretty colours going soot-black. Shame.
No it isn't.
1) workable
2) don’t set Labour party supporters on fire
3) sticking to them, so as not burning (ha!) his supporters who are sent out to defend them.
Dear Moscow,
Don’t call it a fire.
Call it a special heating operation 😏🔥
https://x.com/angelshalagina/status/2067524468830867905
- I sense the media is fed up of crap leaders so will want to go along with this one, for a while
- he's northern and chippy (what's more, a Scouser, the chippiest of all northern terroirs) and will play on that, turning criticisms of him into criticisms of the North by the London media mafia
- he has the ability to bullshit relatively charismatically, unlike his last 2 PM predecessors
- he will replace Reeves with a new chancellor, and even if that's Ed M (whom the right wing press hate but the country in general is meh) it'll represent a new start
I give him an 18 month to 2 year honeymoon before a somewhat gentler decline towards the next election (which will generate a hung parliament and Lib-Lab coalition).
EDIT: oh and he'll make a mild effort at back-chatting Trump, unlikely Starmer, which will earn him brownie points with the 75% of the country that's not MAGA
They do so to feel good about themselves. Just as people in the middle ages used to wear hairshirts.
It's emotional, not rational or even vaguely realistic.
I would add one other thing: Burnham seems to have genuine fans. The way some people talk about him isn’t anything I’ve really seen since Johnson. I wonder if that will keep the Red Wall with him for longer. As a contrast with Farage he’s a good choice.