Sampson

Connections Puzzle #1039 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟦🟩 🟩🟦🟦🟩 🟩🟩🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦

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Failed miserably today

The 3 Body Problem books definitely sounds interesting. A friend of mind also had great things to say. I might start it next month.

Finished book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl. These books really helped get me through it all since I started reading them after Christmas. Given they’re the themes are so much about paranoia over AI breaking free of its safeguarding and finding humanity in exploitation by populist governments and corporate tech giants they really have been the perfect escapist reads for me these time. Already got book 8 pre-ordered for its release on 12th May. I want to start a new series, but waiting until I read book 8 next month first. So going to read a couple of standalone books in the meantime. Actually started Operation Bounce House also by Matt Dinniman but thinking of trying some Brandon Sanderson afterwards too.

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Connections Puzzle #1037 🟨🟨🟪🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪

Their only allies left are Isreal and Russia. Has there been an instance since WW2 of a single nation causing so much destruction to its own reputation within the space of less than 18 months?

Is Trump really openly saying the US is going to block European, Chinese and Japanese boats through a piece of water halfway across the world from the US that the US has zero jurisdiction over? Feck me. If we weren’t so exhausted by it all, this would have the feel of August 1914 to it. He really is thrashing about trying to do anything he can to stuff the worms back into the can, but is only breaking the can even more as he does.

I just hope when Orban does the inevitable “the election was rigged, rise up for me” schtick that Hungary does what Brazil did and what the US didn’t and throw the guy in prison for life for trying to subvert democracy.

Most important European election of the year today. But it’s the spillover over the next few days which could be key.

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Connections Puzzle #1036 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟩🟦🟩 🟦🟦🟩🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wrong thread

This is it for me. Football is supposed to be escapism, with the world as frightening as it has been since WW2 right now, it’s escapism we need, but I just haven’t got that from Leicester or football in general since we won the FA Cup really. Today, I stated it and read a book, then checked the score a couple of times. I felt nothing when I saw we’d lost and Portsmouth and Oxford won. I just shrugged and went back to reading my book. It’s not even frustration anymore, it’s just apathy. Football and Leicester City Football Club have just ceased to mean anything to me anymore, they ceased to give me that escapism I used to get where for 2 hours on a Saturday, win or lose, all the problems in the world drifted away and all my focus was just on the game. To me that’s even worse than the frustration and sadness I remember feeling when we were relegated to League One 20 years ago. That relegation hurt. This relegation just makes me shrug. The club has made me just not care anymore about something I’d forged friendships over and used to talk constantly with my dad and brother about. My dad and brother recently said the same as well, we barely talk about City anymore, we’ve all stopped caring.

Primates gonna primate.

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Really should’ve got perfect there. Saw the obvious yellow one I’d missed as soon as I pressed my first guess. Connections Puzzle #1035 🟪🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪

Definitely feels like Iran has forced Starmer to follow the way the wind of public opinion is blowing. There’s definitely coded language in grouping Putin and Trump together there that is probably the first time he’s publicly disparaging Trump and the US https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly7d9rv4nro 'We should not be at the mercy of events abroad' - Starmer Sir Keir met aircrew members during a visit to Taif Airbase in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday The UK must become more resilient to deal with a "volatile and dangerous" world where "shocks" like the conflict in Iran are frequent, the prime minister has warned. Writing in The Guardian, Sir Keir Starmer said he was "thinking about the long-term, and remaking this country" so that people "are not at the mercy of events abroad". Separately, he told ITV's Talking Politics podcast he was "fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down... because of the actions of Putin or Trump". The prime minister is currently on a three-day trip to the Gulf to meet regional allies. On Wednesday he met the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah and on Thursday he travelled to the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar. His visit comes as a fragile ceasefire pausing the Iranian conflict has come under strain, with disagreements over whether the truce covered Lebanon. On Thursday evening, Sir Keir held a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Downing Street says the two men discussed the need "for a practical plan to get shipping moving" through the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane that has been effectively closed as a result of the conflict. Israel to hold talks with Lebanon as Beirut attack death toll rises to at least 303 Israeli strikes on Lebanon are wrong and should stop, PM says Ships remain cautious approaching Strait of Hormuz amid fragile ceasefire Why fuel and food prices could still be affected for months Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes overnight as Trump criticises Iran's handling of Hormuz strait The closure of the strait has had an impact on the cost of living in the UK with petrol and food prices driven up. Speaking to Talking Politics, Sir Keir said the events of the past two months had demonstrated why the UK needed to have "energy independence". "I'm fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses' bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or Trump." In his article for the Guardian newspaper, Sir Keir said Britain had been "buffeted by crises for nearly two decades", citing the 2008 financial crash, Brexit and Covid. "The response from Westminster has always been the same - manage the crisis, find a sticking plaster and then desperately try to reassert the status quo." He promised that "this time, it will be different" and that the conflict in Iran "must now become a line in the sand". He argued that government policies such as investing in renewable energy, strengthening workers' rights and removing the two-child benefit cap would help prepare the country for increased global instability. "Because resilience is what gives us control. Without it, we are constantly pushed off course by events beyond our borders." Giving the Mansion House speech in central London, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper echoed the prime minister's sentiments. "It might be tempting, even comforting, to think that the Iran crisis is a once-in-a-generation shock. "But this is the third time in six years that international events have sent economic tidal waves around the globe, hitting Britain's shores - the Covid pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and now the Iran conflict. "Instability and volatility are becoming increasingly chronic and turbulence is the new normal. "The new reality we face did not begin with the war in Iran, nor will it end with a reopened strait." Responding to the prime minister's comments, Conservative Chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: "Keir Starmer says he wants resilience and energy security. So why is he banning North Sea drilling and ducking welfare reform? "You cannot build a resilient economy by turning your back on British oil and gas workers, handing energy dependence to foreign states, and leaving millions trapped on benefits rather than in work." Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Calum Miller MP said: "The prime minister is right that we must increase our resilience but he cannot achieve that if he won't name the greatest strategic challenge we face. "It's clear we can't trust a Trump-led America anymore and the government should be doing everything it can to rebuild ties with our closest allies in Europe." A spokesperson for Reform UK said: "If we don't want to be at the mercy of global crises, the answer is obvious: Use our own energy, control our borders and put the British people first." Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: "Starmer is finally waking up to a reality Greens have been raising for years, and been attacked by him for - we cannot rely on the US for security, we need European security partnerships." "And yes, we must end fossil fuel dependence but Starmer's words are not a plan... energy bills are soaring, the gap between rich and poor grows, and this government tinkers at the edges," Polanski added.

It’s the only word I can remember when I’ve absolutely never heard it before in either spoken or written text.

Just did it based on 10 minutes of typing remaining letters until something was allowed. Never heard that word in my life Wordle 1 756 5/6 🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

So annoying Connections Puzzle #1034 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟦🟨 🟨🟦🟨🟦 🟦🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟦🟨

He’s probably learnt the lesson of Labour in the last election with their “ming vase strategy” tbf, who spent the whole election cycle and their manifesto saying they weren’t going to do this and that in trying to defend themselves from the Tory attack line. They ended up painting themselves into a corner where they can’t actually do anything. 5 years in an incredibly long time in this day and age with how many crisis there are in the world, it’s not the predictable world order 90s or 00s anymore. You can say you’re not going to raise taxes or just the customs union or certain international institutions; but then your biggest ally starts publicly attacking you to the world. international wars and oil crisis happen and you’ve basically crippled your own options of responding to crisis years down the line… And you’ve allowed foreign bad actors to corner your decision making. I think any party would be silly to go down the path of constantly denying policy and saying they aren’t going to do xyz for the next election after the example Labour have set in the last one tbf.

Phew! Just did it! I thought the answer to blue was something slightly different but got it in the end Connections Puzzle #1033 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟪🟦 🟦🟦🟪🟦 🟦🟪🟦🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪

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