In a new piece for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch—author of a criminally misleading and data-torturing article about conscientiousness last year—suggests that "the most recent [birth rate] plunge appears connected with our use of technology." He notes that in the past 15 years, birth rates have been falling "across different cultures and levels of economic development." And what unites all these disparate countries? The use of smartphones, of course.

It sounds so obvious! That is, until you consider the other things that have united many countries over the last few decades.

Councillor Adam Kent's suspension came after a full council meeting on Thursday that saw the Tories team up with the Green Party, Liberal Democrats and independents to form an alliance.

The move saw Reform lose control of the county council after 12 months in charge.

But a spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: "The chairman was very clear on a number of occasions that the Conservative Party was totally opposed to the proposed arrangement at Worcestershire County Council.

"The Conservative group leader did not make our opposition clear to his fellow Worcestershire councillors and has been suspended pending investigation.

"Conservative campaign headquarters has made clear to our councillors that this arrangement must not go ahead."

It is not yet clear how the suspension will affect the coalition.

Bluesky

https://atavistia.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-warfare

A Merseyside Reform UK election candidate who called the Holocaust a "hoax" and "propaganda" has been elected in the local elections. Jay Leslie Cooper has taken one of three available seats for the Bootle West ward on Sefton Council.

The newly elected Cllr Cooper secured 705 votes and will join two Labour councillors, Jim Conalty and Dan McKee, in representing the three-member ward.

Prior to the election, the ECHO revealed that Cllr Cooper had shared vile views on his social media accounts, including evidence of Holocaust denial.

In September last year Cooper reposted an article on Facebook about the fatal shooting of American political commentator Charlie Kirk with the accompanying headline: "Heartbreaking. Murdered for having an opinion."

In response to a comment which asked: "[Adolf] Hitler had an (opinion) too; did he deserve to die?", Cooper said: "I don't agree with him murdering innocent people. But the Hallocaust (sic) is a hoax. There wasn't (sic) even 6 million Jews in Europe at the time. Propaganda."

cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/37035115

Hey people,

Thank you again for coming together and submitting songs to Lemmyvision, it's heartwarming to see different communities of the fediverse participate in sharing their musical interest.

The voting form is available here: https://tally.so/r/GxY0ze

Everyone is welcome to vote, even if your instance or community did not participate! This is a great opportunity to discover new music, and cultures.

@Ategon@programming.dev took the time to create a playlist over at https://d2jam.com/c/lemmyvision-3 feel free to check it out!

Here's the full list of submitted songs:

• Vita - Merz Leck Eier
• Ecca Vandal - Bleach
• Boy Golden - Suffer
• Angine de Poitrine - Fabienk
• Elisapie - Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass) [Hologramme Remix]
• Igorrr - Limbo
• Signes à L'Œil - Quand on arrive en ville (D. Balavoine, N. Workman)
• Hyphen - This Might Be It
• Cris03sora - Markhamia Castle
• Swerve Strickland - Hit Different
• Jamie Paige - Birdbrain (w/ OK Glass) feat. Kasane Teto
• HAYASii - Hunting Soul
• Mudrat - Bars

The form will be available until around the 11th of May, I will then collect the results and publish them shortly after. I hope you’ll have a lot of fun listening to the 13 songs submitted for this edition. Don’t hesitate if you have any question!