James Savage

No smoking gun, but the preponderance of evidence points to smartphones, not economics, as the culprit for the global drop in fertility: • In the US and UK, births fell first and fastest in areas that got 4G earliest • Birth rates were stable in the US, UK and Australia until 2007; in France and Poland until 2009; in Mexico and Indonesia until 2012; in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal until 2013-15 Each of these inflection points matches local smartphone adoption (see picture). • The younger the age group, the sharper the drop. • in-person socialising among young adults is dropping. In SK, by 50% in 20 years • Sexual dysfunction is higher among heavy social media user • Effect is largest in culturally traditional societies — Middle East, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa • Decline holds across countries hit hard by GFC 2008 and those not hit, fast-growing and not growing. Excellent again @jburnmurdoch. ft.com/content/fba35e…

This is the best piece on Starmer you will read today, perhaps this year

As Black Rod knocked on the door, someone in the Commons shouted 'not now, Andy'

@JHuitfeldt Jag uppfattar detta som att du fortfarande kommer att vara ansvarig utgivare?

Det var dags nu! kvartal.se/jorgenhuitfeld…

Notable that the Trump admin systematically goes after those closest to it. Denmark thought it was a model ally, then faced Greenland. UK has done more than any other European country to allow access for Iran mil ops & down drones over Gulf, then attacked over Falkland islands.

Quite the spot from @SamCoatesSky Sir Keir Starmer ignored advice from the head of the civil service to ensure that Lord Mandelson’s national security vetting was carried out before appointing him as ambassador to the US Lord Case, who was the cabinet secretary at the time, told the prime minister in November 2024 that he should inform officials of the name of his preferred candidate so they could “acquire the necessary security clearances” and conduct due diligence on potential conflicts of interest The prime minister did not take the advice and instead pressed ahead with Mandelson’s appointment, announcing it on December 20, 2024. Senior allies of the prime minister including Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, raised concerns at the time that the appointment had been rushed Starmer pressed ahead with Mandelson's appointment despite being told about Mandelson's long-standing friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including the fact that it continued after he was jailed for child sex offences. The was also warned by officials about Mandelson's links to Russia and China UK Security Vetting, the small body in the Cabinet Office that vets public appointments, subsequently concluded that Mandelson should be denied clearance on January 25, 2025. It is understood to have raised concerns about Mandelson's business links to China and Russia rather than Epstein Sir Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the foreign office, considered the report from UK Security Vetting and decided that the security risk could be managed. He gave Mandelson's appointment the green light, and the peer became Britain's ambassador to the US in February. He was given the highest level of security clearance Robbins did not inform the prime minister or anyone in Number 10. The prime minister went on to make a series of public statements insisting that "due process" had been followed and, in February, stating categorically that Mandelson had passed his security vetting. That claim was false thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

There is always a Yes Minister episode!

Glad påsk! önskar Systembolaget.

From LibDem to Cameroon to Tory Right and now to what is actually the fringe of American conservatism, Liz Truss is just a grifter. She's now gone to the only place on the political spectrum that's mad enough to invest in her. We see you Liz, we see you.

Fascinating article by @jburnmurdoch in the FT: AI chatbots nudge people towards centrist and evidence-based positions (in contrast to social media, which push us towards extremes). ft.com/content/388017…

So what’s the plan then?

Canada and the US at opposite ends of the scale on how people view their fellow citizens. Might explain something. Good to see UK much closer to Canada than US

So oil at 110 a barrel and another Khamenei in charge of Iran . Operation Epic Fury is in danger of turning into Operation Epic Failure

When the world seems impossibly grim, @PrivateEyeNews always helps...

Same data, two different charts! A reminder that context - and proper explanation etc is vital!

This was quite the moment on quite the day out on Ile Longue today. La Marseillaise, sung in a high-security nuclear submarine base

Cyprus offers hard lessons for UK defence: - weakness of its anti-air defences - spending debate too often framed around Russia, the armed forces are exposed against far lesser enemies too - initially denying US rights to bases made no difference. Iran hit anyway. War may chose you regardless of your intent

Ah here, headline of the year, 10/10

Never in my life have a heard a French Geordie accent until now 😂😂