JªMē§ MªŁe

@Dearme2_ RSVP = “Répondez s’il vous plaît”— French for “please reply”. We use it because it solves the problem of a host needing to know how many people are actually coming to a party/event. We stole it 200+ years ago from the French as it is the language of manners.

I’m sick of pretending, what does RSVP stand for?

@iAmJoshHunt Still... good news about the chocolate oranges!

I want to talk about the scale of what’s coming for the UK over the next three months. Because I don’t think many people have joined the dots yet. The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for over five weeks. Before this war, 135 ships passed through it every day. Now it’s 5 to 7. Over 600 vessels are still stranded. Iran has mined the strait, is charging tolls, and controlling who passes. The CEO of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company said it this week: “The Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled. That is coercion.” Two thirds of Gulf crude has no alternative route. 14 million barrels a day behind a 21-mile chokepoint. Energy bills are forecast to jump 20% in July. From £1,641 to nearly £2,000. The second major energy shock in four years. Petrol up over 15%. Diesel up nearly 30%. Wholesale gas rose 75% in under four weeks. Food inflation could hit 8% by June and 9% by December. Academics advising DEFRA say it could reach 12%. UK food prices are already 38% higher than before Covid. We’re only 62% self-sufficient in food. We import 60% of our nitrogen fertiliser. Red diesel for farming has surged 60%. Average arable farm income has fallen to £17,000, the lowest in over 20 years. Yesterday, China announced it’s halting all sulphuric acid exports from May. Sulphuric acid is essential for phosphate fertilisers, copper mining, oil refining, and battery manufacturing. A third of the world’s sulphur was already blocked by the Hormuz closure. Now the world’s largest exporter has pulled the other lever at the same time. The fertiliser crisis just got significantly worse, heading straight into planting season. Before the war, markets expected rate cuts. Now they’ve priced in two rate rises. Over 1,500 mortgage products have been pulled. Two year fixes have jumped from 4.8% to 5.5%. Nearly £1,000 a year extra on a £200k mortgage. Gone in weeks. Flights are next. A quarter of UK jet fuel comes from Kuwait, behind the strait. In early April, major carriers said they had five to six weeks of reserves. That clock is running. Ryanair’s CEO has warned 5-10% of summer flights could be cancelled. Iran’s strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG complex, which handles 30% of the world’s helium, is estimated to take 3 to 5 years to repair. Helium is critical for semiconductors and MRI machines. That’s not a disruption. That’s structural damage. Chemical and steel manufacturers are imposing surcharges of up to 30%. Analysts are warning of permanent deindustrialisation. European gas storage was at just 30% after a harsh winter. If the strait stays restricted through summer, Europe can’t refill for next winter. In Ireland, fuel protests shut down Dublin for four days. The army was deployed. Over 100 fuel stations ran dry, with warnings of 500 by end of the week. Downing Street has held talks on the potential for mass protests here. The OECD has downgraded the UK more than any other G7 nation. Growth slashed from 1.2% to 0.7%. Inflation forecast nearly doubled to 4%, with some saying it could breach 5%. Starmer and Trump spoke this week about military options to reopen the strait. The UK is leading a 30+ nation coalition. But the ceasefire is already fracturing. Iran re-closed the strait over Israeli strikes on Lebanon. Reeves is boxed in by fiscal rules. Higher gilt yields are eating her headroom. And I haven’t heard a credible plan from anyone in Westminster. Energy. Food. Fertiliser. Aviation fuel. Mortgages. Industrial chemicals. Semiconductors. Shipping. Government borrowing. Political stability. All under stress. All compounding. This country imports 44% of its energy. Has almost no gas storage. Imports most of its food and fertiliser. Gets a quarter of its jet fuel from behind a mined strait. Every structural weakness built up over 20 years is being stress tested at once. The next three months aren’t going to be uncomfortable. They’re going to be defining

@GleeClubCardiff @marioadrion Gutted to miss this tonight in Cardiff. Blooming weather causing traffic problems on @2SevernBridges meant I've missed out.

Times for tonight's @marioadrion show! 🕖👇 Doors: 6:45pm Last entry: 7:15pm Approx finish: 9:35pm 🎟️ Tickets can be purchased on the door or in advance from bit.ly/MarioAdrionCar…

@jaykay3737 Newport, ICC

It's going to be really weird having a one off different venue in 2030 though. York?

@ek_rugby @distantpod

Forwards are evolving too fast. #BULvCAR

@DoctorLemma Hello @distantpod. Are you watching this?

19 years ago, a high school basketball coach put his team manager into a game for the final four minutes. The kid had never played a single minute of competitive basketball in his life. He scored 20 points. Jason McElwain was diagnosed with severe autism at age two. He didn’t speak until he was five. He couldn’t chew solid food until he was six. He wore a nappy for most of his early childhood. As a baby, he was rigid, wouldn’t make eye contact, and hid in corners away from other children. He tried out for his school basketball team every year and got cut every time. Too small. Too slight. Barely 5’6 and about 54 kilograms. But he loved the game so much that his mum called the school and asked if there was any way he could be involved. The coach created a team manager role for him. For three years, McElwain showed up to every practice and every game. He wore a shirt and tie on match days. He ran drills, handed out water, kept stats, and cheered every basket like he’d scored it himself. On 15 February 2006, the last home game of his final school year, the coach let him suit up in a proper jersey and sit on the bench. With four minutes left and a comfortable lead, the coach sent him in. His first shot missed. His second missed. Then something shifted. He hit a three-pointer. Then another. Then another. His teammates stopped shooting entirely and just kept passing him the ball. He hit six three-pointers and a two-pointer. 20 points in four minutes. The highest scorer in the game. When the final buzzer went, the entire crowd rushed the court and lifted him onto their shoulders. His mum tapped the coach on the shoulder, in tears. “This is the nicest gift you could have ever given my son.” McElwain won the ESPY Award for Best Moment in Sports that year, beating out some of the biggest names in professional sport. He’s 36 now. He works at a local supermarket, coaches basketball, has run 17 marathons including five Boston Marathons, and travels the country speaking about never giving up. When asked about that night, his coach still gets emotional. “For him to come in and seize the moment like he did was certainly more than I ever expected. I was an emotional wreck.”

@SixNationsRugby please change your website. It says there were 211 tries in the tournament. But it was 111.

@SixNationsRugby Wales 21 v 24 Italy

🎟️ WIN tickets to Wales v Italy this weekend 🤩 All you have to do is answer the following: What was the score the last time Wales faced Italy in Cardiff in the #GuinnessM6N? 🤔 Comment the answer below to be in with a chance of winning 🙌 #Since1883 Ts & Cs over on our website

@SixNationsRugby Henson kick vs England that begun the 2005 grand slam "shave away Gavin, shave away". Ticket cost: £14

What is your "I was there" rugby moment? #GuinnessM6N #Since1883

@qikipedia This is a nugget of information

During the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt ate 1,000 chicken nuggets over 10 days.

@FPLAbhimanyu Is semenyo an option for captain?

🚨 GAMEWEEK 28 Captain Selection 👇 👕 Erling Haaland (£14.8m, FWD) 🐝 Igor Thiago (£7.1m, FWD) 🐦‍🔥 Hugo Ekitike (£8.9m, FWD) 🔴 Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m, MID) MINI THREAD 🧵 LIKE, REPOST, BOOKMARK 🙏 #FPL | #FPLCommunity

@WeAreWST VAR in snooker

Great spot by marker Kevin Dabrowski to see the foul by Michael Holt on the yellow ball 🧐 👏 Ref and marker working together 🤝 #WelshOpen

@FRugbyGeek Yep. Same. I missed the deadline to change Conan and now I've got to pick Garbisi at 10. What a rubbish week

When I woke up this morning I had Conan as Supersub and Jalibert as Captain. What an insane week of Six Nations. This is why we love/hate fantasy! 🤣😢 Come join me and share your stories of pain in the “Jalibert loss / Only 3 French / Garbisi or Marin appreciation society” 👇

@SixNationsRugby It actually looks like a punt not a drop kick. So that is absolutely illegal and wales have been robbed.

And Darcy hits the burners and scores! #GuinnessM6N #Since1883

@FRugbyGeek @MikeWazowski919 @SixNationsRugby Caught me out. Fuming

@MikeWazowski919 @SixNationsRugby Typical isn't it! That's definitely going to catch a few out

Final Fantasy @sixnationsrugby Captain and Supersub poll results... CAPTAIN 1 - Jalibert - 25% 2 - Ramos - 19% 3 - LBB - 16% 4 - DVDM - 4% 5 - Russell - 4% SUPERSUB 1 - Conan - 21% 2 - M Smith - 14% 3 - Graham - 8% 4 - Ollivon - 7% 5 - George - 7% fantasyrugbygeek.com/six-nations-20…

@FRugbyGeek Fuming. He's my supersub.

Now official on Conan 👇

@mg1owDVp5IGZ5Wc Me too. Fuming. Why can't they just let us change it

Left Conan as SuperSub I woke up late and forgot to check Twitter at all 😭

@EwenDCameron Are we saying that that shot was actually planned to end up that good? Isn't there some luck involved

@bakwasfellow @grok why are the so many posts with 4 pictures of a photo that has been split into quarters

Believe Me She's 53 Years Old

@keithdunn Thank Keith

The conch was blown at 5:00am. The 2026 Barkley Marathons begins in one hour. #BM100