#hungary 2024 thursday

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton talks about inclusion in the sport on media day, hungary - july 18, 2024 Lewis: "Within sport, I think it still has a long way to go. There's one thing, saying that it's inclusive, and then it's another thing actually making sure that people feel comfortable in the environment. I mean, this is a male-dominated space and, as far as I know, he's one of the first to at least publicly be speaking in that respect. But we're very inclusive within our team, but I think the sport does need to continue to do more to probably make people feel more comfortable; make women feel more welcome in this space, 'cause I know they've not always been treated well in this space, and so we have to one-hundred percent do more, yeah."

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed on media day, hungary - july 18, 2024

[ummick]

mick schumacher in the paddock on media day, hungary - july 18, 2024 📷 eibner / imago

[115464631314]

Tourism in Hungary 2024 | +966 50 112 8411

In Hungary, there are many famous tourist attractions that could arrive in 2024. Here are some of them: https://samatravell.com/%d8%a3%d9%81%d8%b6%d9%84-10-%d8 %a3%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%83%d9%86-%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9 %8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ac%d8%b1/

Obtain a Hungary visa with Sama Travel Agency

https://samatravell.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/balaton.jpg

The currency of Hungary 

The Hungarian currency is the Hungarian plesent (HUF). The Hungarian Reston has been the official currency in Hungary since 1946. The mortgage is settled in several metals, including coins and banknotes. You can use the credit throughout Hungary to provide services and services. You may find some places that accept foreign currencies such as Euros, but Forint is the common currency accepted in all places. You can change foreign currencies to ATMs at banks, market rate offices, hotels and airports.

[umseb]

The Day Sebastian Vettel Decided To Retire From F1 — Then Annoyed Aston Bosses With Climate Campaign

Two years ago, Sebastian Vettel decided to bring an end to his glittering F1 career, so picked up the phone to Matt Bishop, then Aston Martin comms boss. He details the ensuing scramble and Vettel's increasing determination to speak out

Just over two years ago, on Wednesday July 27, 2022, I was forced to do something that I really hate doing: at the eleventh hour I had to cancel a long-standing dinner arrangement with my husband and two of our dearest friends, who live in New York and were on holiday in London for a week. The reason was that, at 5 pm that afternoon, I received a phone call from Sebastian Vettel telling me that he had decided to announce his retirement from Formula 1 in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock the following day. I was Aston Martin's chief communications officer at the time, and, when something as big as that is sprung on a Formula 1 team's most senior comms/PR operative, he or she has to drop everything and focus on briefing colleagues in confidence, writing press releases, planning social media content, arranging press conferences, and formulating comms/PR strategies designed to optimise the management of a tricky news narrative that in this case would surely unfold rapidly, and perhaps also trickily, over the next 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. I have written above that Vettel had "sprung" his decision on me, but, although the imminence of his announcement was a surprise, its content was not. Four months earlier you will recall that he did not travel to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, since he was recovering from a bout of Covid-19. His place was taken by Nico Hülkenberg, who, despite race-rustiness caused by his not having competed in F1 the previous year, did a typically excellent job.

Seb had made no secret of his disapproval of the Saudi regime when we had all gone there the first time, in December 2021, and, not surprisingly, in March 2022 rumours soon began to spread to the effect that he had invented a Covid-19 diagnosis so as to avoid racing there a second time. The truth was that he had indeed had Covid-19, and that he was indeed still unwell; however, was he disappointed to have had to skip the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? No, he was not. Two weeks later, in Melbourne, he was back. On the Thursday before the Australian Grand Prix, in the Albert Park paddock, I gave him his comms/PR briefing, as was my habit on the Thursday before every grand prix. We discussed media matters of moment, including his not having raced in Jeddah. "The truth is that I was ill, honestly," he said, "but I admit that I don't like or approve of the country, so if I was going to have to miss a race because of Covid-19 that's probably the one I'd want to miss." He paused, smiled, and added, "I'm pretty sure I'm never going to race there again." Then and there I realised that 2022 would probably be his final season as an F1 driver. Not only was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix going to be a fixture on the F1 calendar for years to come, but also one of Aston Martin's principal sponsors was Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned national oil company. Missing that particular race without a 24-carat excuse would henceforth therefore be impossible for any Aston Martin driver. So, axiomatically, it followed that the only way he could make sure that he would never have to race there again would be to retire from F1 at the end of the year.

On the morning of Thursday, July 28, 2022, having worked until 3 am the night before, my comms/PR team and I issued a video in which our much loved four-time world champion announced his F1 retirement in his own words, and he posted it on his then brand-new Instagram channel at the same time. It included the following sentences, which he spoke with his usual eloquence: "I love this sport but, as much as there's life on track, there's also life off track. Being a racing driver has never been my sole identity. I want to be a great father and a great husband. I believe in change, and progress, and that every little bit you do can make a difference. We all have the same rights, no matter where we come from, what we look like, or whom we love. I'm an optimist and I believe that people are good, but, in addition, I feel that we live in very difficult times. How we shape the next few years will determine the rest of our lives. Talk is not enough. We can't afford to wait. I believe that there's still a race to win." The race to which he was referring was his growing and accelerating commitment to doing whatever he could to leverage his fame and popularity for the good of the inhabitants of planet Earth. That may sound grandiose, but it is also entirely valid. In the two years during which I worked with him, 2021 and 2022, we won awards for the inspirational way in which he did just that.

Just before the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, helped by local schoolchildren, he created an F1 car-shaped 'bee hotel' at the Red Bull Ring. Three weeks later, straight after the British Grand Prix, in which he had raced hard for forty laps until his Aston Martin's Mercedes engine had terminally overheated, he led a group of volunteer litter-pickers to clear the Silverstone grandstands of the trash that irresponsible spectators had left behind. A month after that, in Hungary, infuriated by that country's new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, he wore rainbow-coloured sneakers in the F1 paddock, and he donned a similarly hued T-shirt bearing the legend #SameLove as he took the knee on the grid before the race. Throughout the weekend he had talked to journalists and TV crews intelligently, thoughtfully, and compassionately on the subject of LGBTQ+ rights, equality, and inclusion. In May 2022 he visited and spoke inspirationally at HMP (Her, or now His, Majesty's Prison) Feltham, a young offenders institution in a suburb of west London, formally opening a new workshop in which the teenage inmates could learn how to become car mechanics as part of their rehabilitation. Immediately afterwards he and I took a South Western Railways train to London's Waterloo Station, sitting among regular commuters, so that he could spend time with the pupils of Oasis Johanna Primary School, which is in a disadvantaged part of inner London, and after that we went by Uber taxi to a church in Hackney, in the East End, where the BBC's prestigious political television talk show Question Time would be filmed. As the TV cameras rolled, he conversed fluently on the subjects of Brexit, the UK's cost of living crisis, the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'partygate' shenanigans, and even Finland's desire to join NATO, consummately out-arguing one of his fellow panellists, Suella Braverman, who was then the Attorney General for England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

In addition, as the months went by, he continued to speak out in support of what he saw as humankind's collective global responsibility to address the climate crisis, doing so with increasing regularity, vehemence, and fearlessness, with the result that he began to irritate the very most senior people at Aston Martin, even though what he said tended to please most journalists and fans. "I don’t care," he said when he learned of his big bosses' disquiet. "I must do what's right." Behind the scenes what he did was perhaps even more admirable. F1 teams receive communications from troubled people all the time. You try to do what you can to help them, but sometimes their difficulties are of the type that human kindness alone cannot resolve. I am thinking of recently bereaved people, terminally ill people, profoundly disabled people, people with debilitating mental health issues, etc. Sometimes all you can do is send them a team cap signed by a driver. It is not much, and it breaks your heart that you cannot do more, but it is better than nothing.

Yet Vettel always tried to do more. On one occasion, I had been contacted by a young man who was deeply depressed. I told Seb about him, and he said, "Let's do a Zoom call with him." So I arranged it. I had thought that Seb might speak for five minutes or so, but no. He chatted animatedly for more than twenty minutes, with touching humility and heart-warming empathy, and I feel confident when I say that those twenty-odd minutes were significant in expediting the lad's mental and emotional recovery. A few months later, Seb hand-wrote the boy a four page letter. He gave it to me at a grand prix-I cannot remember which one-and he instructed me to post it on when I returned to the UK. I read it before I did so, and the tenderness and beauty of Seb's prose brought me to tears. There are many other examples of his remarkable generosity and sensitivity: too many to mention, in fact. This column has been about Vettel the man, not Vettel the driver. He was fast and clever in the cockpit, and I may well write about that side of him one day. I could write much more about Vettel the man, too, for I have dozens of stories that I could tell on that subject, because I worked very closely with him for two years and, more importantly, because he is a truly great man. In my long career I am lucky enough to have spent time in F1 teams with four world champions-Seb, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button-and they are all fantastic guys in their own, very different, ways. But, in my 61 years on this planet, I can state with confident and emphatic certainty that Sebastian Vettel, from the small town of Heppenheim, south-west Germany, is one of the most impressive people whom I have ever had the pleasure and honour to know, whether that be inside or outside F1. As he is fond of saying, "You can't always be the best, but you can always do your best." As a maxim to live by, it is hard to beat.

article by matt bishop

[willowsnook]

hi! could i get a scotch with lime in a copper mug? 💞✨

lando norris x mclarenrookie!reader

just shut up and come here

-----------------------------------------------------------------

With Max’s car starting to falter, Lando knew he had a real shot at competing for the WDC. As the season progressed, he’d become the favorite, and it finally felt like his time. There was just one problem: you.

In your rookie year in F1, you were holding third place, just 40 points behind Lando. Exceeding all the team's expectations, you’d proven to be a real competitor — and Lando wasn’t pleased. To him, the strategy should have been obvious: you were supposed to help him beat Max. But you saw it differently. After all, you were only 80 points behind the leader, and Zak and Andrea had decided to let things play out between the two of you, which only heightened the tension.

What started as a friendship had quickly soured after you overtook Lando to win in Hungary. Furious, he stormed into your driver’s room after the podium celebration, his eyes blazing.

“What the hell was that?” he snapped, voice sharp.

You didn’t flinch, meeting his gaze. “A clean overtake,” you replied coolly.

“You’re screwing up my chances at the championship!” he seethed, his tone bitter.

"You do realize that I also have a shot at it?" You questioned. "Not my fault that I'm faster than you either."

At that, he got in your face, practically radiating anger. “Just stay out of my way,” he bit out before stalking out of the room.

It was the first of many heated clashes, and even Zak was starting to worry about the tension between his drivers. Things only escalated after your win in Baku, when Lando stood stony-faced on the podium, arms crossed, barely acknowledging the celebration. The media had a field day, and McLaren’s PR department wasn’t happy.

Seeing his growing frustration, your initial resentment slowly turned to concern. His behavior was spiraling, and it seemed no one was willing to address it — except you.

“What’s going on with you?” you demanded one day after a rough qualifying session, pushing open his door to find him pacing.

“What are you talking about?” he snapped, but you didn’t back down.

“You’re being a brat to everyone! It was fine when you were just an asshole to me, but this is getting out of hand.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied venomously.

“If you need someone to talk to, you know McLaren has plenty of resources,” you said softly, trying a different approach.

“I don’t need your help so just fuck off,” he said and you backed off.

That didn’t stop you from giving your own therapist his email, instructing her to email him nonstop until he set up a session. Something must have worked because in the break before Austin, Lando did some press about his struggles with mental health and you heard that he’d bought gifts for the whole garage team as an apology for his behavior.

You two still didn’t really talk but he gave you a head nod now as a hello and there wasn’t much tension between you in front of the media anymore.

Then, on the Thursday before the Austin GP, during your post-free-practice interviews, a reporter brought up Lando.

“Y/N, any thoughts on Helmut’s recent comments?” they asked.

You raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I don’t keep track of what everyone’s saying.”

“He claimed that Lando has ‘mental weaknesses’ preventing him from being a real championship contender.”

You stiffened, feeling anger bubble up. “Yeah, interesting,” you started, your PR manager nodding, likely expecting you to stay professional. Too bad for them. “Honestly, he can go fuck off.”

The press buzzed with shock, and your PR manager hurried over, but you went on.

“Red Bull’s looking for anything to distract from their own mess. It’s 2024, and criticizing a driver for being open about mental health is pathetic. We’d all be a little better off if they put him in a nursing home Lando’s one of the most talented drivers out there, so Helmut can shove it. Thanks.”

You walked off, ignoring your PR manager’s frantic scolding.

Later, after the team debrief, you headed to your room, ready to call it a day. But outside your door, you saw Lando waiting, his expression softer than usual.

“Are you okay—?” you began, but he cut you off, stepping forward.

“Just shut up and come here,” he murmured, pulling you into a hug. You rubbed his back as he buried his head against your shoulder, his voice muffled. “I owe you so much. And after what you said today… even more.”

“This stuff is hard, Lando. Sometimes it feels like the whole world’s on our shoulders.” You pulled back to meet his gaze. “I like it better when you’ve got the energy to actually fight me.”

He laughed softly, then hugged you tighter. “Can we… start over? As friends?” he asked, his voice tentative.

You smiled. “Of course — but only after I win the championship.”

He groaned, but his eyes sparkled with humor. “In your dreams, rookie.”

[jokeroutsubs]

[ENG translation] Joker Out after performing at Sziget: This is a dream come true for us

This article was written by Katja Kaja Mejač and published on the 12th of August 2024 on the Njena.si website. Translated by @kurooscoffee, @chaosofsmarty and a member of JokerOutSubs, review by @weolucbasu, English proofreading by IG GBoleyn123.

The band 'Joker Out' performed on the main stage of the Sziget festival. Photo: VitaOrehek

The 30th edition of one of Europe's largest festivals, Sziget, is coming to an end today in the capital city of Hungary. On Thursday, the Slovenian band Joker Out also took to the main stage, impressing the gathered audience. After the concert, they gave an exclusive interview for the web page Njena.si as well.

Sziget festival, which has been attracting music lovers from all over the world for decades, was not only a venue for top-notch performances this year, but also the realisation of long-held dreams for the Slovenian band Joker Out. The Hungarian festival is one of the largest European festivals and also one of the most significant events in the music industry. With a diverse array of music for all tastes and other artistic programs that transform an island in the middle of the Danube into an island of freedom for almost a week, it creates an atmosphere which keeps everyone coming back. For Bojan, Kris, Jan, Jure, and Nace from Joker Out, who returned to the festival this year as performers, this performance undoubtedly represents the pinnacle of their career and a confirmation of their hard work and persistence.

Sharing the main stage with Kylie Minogue and Sam Smith

One of the greatest confirmations of their success is that the boys stepped onto the main festival stage at 5:30 PM on Thursday, sharing it indirectly with some of the biggest names in contemporary music, such as Halsey, Tom Odell, Kylie Minogue, Liam Gallagher, Sam Smith, Louis Tomlinson, Martin Garrix, Fred again, and others. The band’s lead singer, Bojan Cvjetićanin, proudly emphasises: "This is a dream come true for us. We have always viewed Sziget festival as the ultimate goal. When we were asked in an interview years ago how we would define success, we said back then that it would be the main stage at Sziget festival. I believe that at the time, in our minds, we didn't think that it would happen anytime soon. But we counted on it as a 'maybe, someday, in the future,' so this is all really crazy."

The unbelievable joy, to finally be able to perform on the stage where we watched our biggest musical idols when we were younger. The audience in front of the stage has more than exceeded our expectations and gave us excellent energy that will remain a pleasant memory.

The guitarist Kris Guštin added that even though the names performing on the main stage this year are, of course, very important in the world of music, the most important piece of information to them is who performed on stage in the same time slot as they did. Not only at this year's festival, but in previous years as well. "Because it's a more direct comparison," he explains, adding "when I was at Sziget 2018 as an attendee, I went to listen to my favourite band in the same time slot. We also found out that our friend from London, Lewis Capaldi performed in the same time slot when he first performed at Sziget. And yesterday (on Wednesday) Tom Odell, who is an outstanding musician. This is a beautiful and realistic display of our slot and what we managed to achieve."

Slovenian flags could be seen in the crowd. Photo: VitaOrehek

The boys made their dreams come true. Photo: VitaOrehek

Jan Peteh arrived at the festival already on Wednesday, because he wanted to see the shows of two performers live, otherwise the boys had to leave Budapest immediately after their show and head towards their other concert locations. "It was planned, because I wanted to see two, or rather one performer. L'Impératrice, who are currently my favourite band and Marc Rebillet, who is known because of his YouTube streams and I've got to say, I'm even more impressed than I thought I'd be and it was definitely worth it."

The boys had to set off quickly as they had new concerts waiting for them, but if they had been able to stay, they unanimously singled out a peformer they would've wished to see and hear live at this year's festival. "Liam Gallagher, for sure." Liam performed at the festival on Friday night, and is otherwise best known as the frontman of the former English rock band Oasis, with which he and his brother Noel made some of the greatest hits of the 90s. That includes the legendary song 'Wonderwall'. Kris also added that he would've liked to see today's performance of the English producer and DJ who makes music under the name 'Fred again..'. "I don't know him that well, but it would've been interesting to see him because a lot of people are into him."

Slovenian music sounded out in Budapest at one of the biggest European festivals. Photo: VitaOrehek

"The unbelievable joy, to finally be able to perform on the stage where we watched our biggest musical idols when we were younger." Photo: VitaOrehek

A new album and a different concept of concerts 

The musicians have some more performances ahead, and then they're promising to release a new album in the autumn. "The album, the release of our third studio album, which will also kind of open the season of the last quarter of this year. As far as concerts go, we will focus mostly on the Balkan region. We will also do a few standalone concerts in this area to promote the album," reveals Bojan, and adds that they will go back to their beginnings a little.

"There's a more intimate atmosphere in store again, as we will choose venues that might not be as big as we could've gone for, but this album will be our first new experience in a while of playing new material that we don't know very well either, and we would like to get to know it in a circle of people that we can feel more in touch with," he explains. The Jokers will reveal more information about the album and the performances that will accompany its release in the coming weeks.

[tuntetesinfo]

Párttól és pártállástól független szolidaritási gyűlés Gurmai Zita, Szél Bernadett és Donáth Anna mellett, utóbbi bűne annyi, hogy két éve a testével védte Iványi Gábort lelkészt, az aktuális NAV-vegzatúrakor.

A NER malmai lassan, de biztosan őrölnek, és a kellő időben mindig lecsap Justitia ökle: kivárták, hogy megszűnjön a mentelmi joga, és most, egy családi tragédiát követően érkezett el az idő, hogy alaposan megcibálják Donáth Annát. Ha lehet, kettőtől nyolc évig terjedően.

Ilyen érzéketlen cinizmus és jogi visszaélés mellett jóérzésű ember nem mehet el szó nélkül.

„A legtöbb, amit egyik ember a másiknak adhat, az a szolidaritás."

Donáthnak szeptember 5-én reggel 9 órakor kell megjelennie az ügyészségen.

Legyünk ott minél többen. Mi fehérben leszünk, és szolidaritásunk jeleként egy-egy szál sárga rózsát is viszünk magunkkal.

.

Kedves civilek, a Magyar Anyákkal várjuk azon csatlakozó szervezetek jelentkezését, akik kiállnak velünk a jogállamiság és a lelkiismeret szabadsága mellett. Az esemény, bár történetesen egy politikus melletti kiállás, pártoktól és pártszimpátiától független, civil kezdeményezés.

Az eddig csatlakozó civilek:

Civil bázis Közösség Dél-Budáért Egyesület Miután felmondtam Nem tehetsz róla, tehetsz ellene Nőkért Egyesület

[brgzmpff]

Fel eve tervezzuk a migrans szlavokkal, hogy na egyszer osszeulunk szamokat mutogatni egymasnak, en vszeg sutok pirogot es iszunk. A falakra atvalogatom az ikonokat, megprobalom kolcsonkerni a Mariakat, befejezem a Voros Jezust es pop up kiallitas husvet elott.

Picit aggodom, de igyekszem bizalmat szavazni a kozonsegnek, az eddigi tapasztalataim alapjan az ukran es az orosz is tudott teljes tisztelettel lenni egymas tarsasagaban nalam, nem is akarom tul nagy dobra verni az esemenyt.

Ilyen beke szeretet es a zene meg a muveszet ami osszekot klubbolas a terv.

Szoval tmblr szlavofiljei, gyertek, gyertek. Adidas nem kotelezo❤️‍🔥

[fovarosiblog]

Ma este ingyenes filmvetítés a Szent István téren, Budapesten.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton and george russell are interviewed on media day, hungary - july 18, 2024

[umgeorge]

lewis hamilton and george russell are interviewed on media day, hungary - july 18, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Journalist: "Hi. Question for both of you to weigh in on, if you'd like: We're halfway through the season, in terms of number of races. I don't know if you've got any particular lessons or takeaways or hurdles that you, as a team, have overcome that you're really proud of, now that you're in the position you're in. As Lewis said earlier, game on, with a four-way battle at the top." Lewis: "Hurdles? We've turned a not-so-good car into a good car. [laughs] That's a huge hurdle." George: "It's a high-jump." [laughs] Lewis: "Yeah. It was pretty bad." [laughs] George: [laughs] "I think the biggest takeaway is we sort of stayed as one, as a team. Everybody stuck together and there's been no major changes within the organization, Mercedes, and you've got to give credit to Toto, believing in his people and just giving them the chance to do what they do best, and I think that's something that sets this team apart from many others. And so far it seems like we've done a really great job of that, so we're just hoping to continue in this journey."

[ummick]

📷 @.peetersxlaura / instagram

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Kevin (KAL) Kallaugher

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 23, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUN 24, 2024

On Thursday, Moody’s Analytics, which evaluates risk, performance, and financial modeling, compared the economic promises of President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Authors Mark Zandi, Brendan LaCerda, and Justin Begley concluded that while a second Biden presidency would see cooling inflation and continued economic growth of 2.1%, a Trump presidency would be an economic disaster.

Trump has promised to slash taxes on the wealthy, increase tariffs across the board, and deport at least 11 million immigrant workers. According to the analysts, these policies would trigger a recession by mid-2025. The economy would slow to an average growth of 1.3%. At the same time, tariffs and fewer immigrant workers would increase the costs of consumer goods. That inflation—reaching 3.6%—would result in 3.2 million fewer jobs and a higher unemployment rate. 

Trump’s proposed tariffs would not fully offset his tax cuts, adding trillions to the national debt. 

Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said that Trump’s tariff policy “would be bad for workers and bad for consumers.” Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics Mark Zandi said: “Biden’s policies are better for the economy.”   

In the New York Times today, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the president of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute at the Yale School of Management, debunked the notion that corporate leaders support Trump. Sonnenfeld notes that he works with about 1,000 chief executives a year and speaks with business leaders almost every day. Although 60 to 70 percent of them are registered Republicans, he wrote, Trump “continues to suffer from the lowest level of corporate support in the history of the Republican Party.”

Among Fortune 100 chief executives, who lead the top 100 public and private U.S. companies ranked by revenue, Sonnenfeld notes, not one has donated to Trump this year. 

While they might not be enthusiastic Biden supporters, unhappy with his push to enforce antitrust laws and rein in corporate greed, the president has produced results they like: investment in infrastructure, repair of supply chains, investment in domestic manufacturing, achievement of record corporate profits, and transformation of the U.S. into the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. 

In contrast, they fear Trump. The populist plans that thrill supporters—like hiking tariffs and taking financial policy away from the independent Federal Reserve Board and putting it in his own hands—are red flags to business leaders. Such positions have more in common with the far left than with traditional Republican economic policies, Sonnenfeld says. Those policies reflect that Trump has surrounded himself with what Sonnenfeld calls “MAGA extremists and junior varsity opportunists,” while the more senior voices of his first term have been sidelined. 

On Saturday, Trump spoke in Philadelphia with a message that The Guardian’s David Smith described as “light on facts, heavy on fear.” He appears to be trying to overwrite his own criminal conviction with the idea that Biden’s immigration policy has brought violent undocumented migrants to the United States, creating a surge of crime. He told rally attendees that murders in their city have reached their highest level in six decades, while in fact, violent crime in the city is the lowest it’s been in a decade. 

In February, Trump pushed Republican lawmakers to reject a strong bipartisan border bill so he could use immigration as his primary issue in the election. That focus on immigration was key to the rise of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to power, and it is notable that Trump’s picture of the United States echoes the rhetoric of the authoritarians hoping to overturn democracy around the world.  

On Friday, during a podcast hosted by venture capitalists, Trump blamed Biden for starting Russia’s war against Ukraine by calling for Ukraine’s admission to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that resists Russian aggression. This statement utterly rewrites the history of Trump’s support for Russia’s annexation of the same Ukrainian regions it has now occupied: as Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort testified, the Kremlin helped Trump’s 2016 campaign in exchange for the U.S. permitting Russian incursions there.

More significant in this moment, though, is that Trump, who is running to become the leader of the United States, is siding against the United States and parroting Russian propaganda. Mark Hertling, a retired lieutenant general of the United States Army who served for 37 years and commanded U.S. Army operations in Europe and Africa, wrote: “This statement is—to put it mildly—stunningly misinformed and dangerous.”

Trump told host Sean Spicer that the U.S. is a “failing nation,” claiming that airplane flights are being delayed for four days and people are “pitching tents” because their flight is never going to happen. In reality, as Bill Kristol pointed out, with 16.3 million U.S. flights, 2023 was the busiest year in U.S. history for air travel, and the cancellation rate was below 1.2%. This was the lowest rate in a decade. 

Trump is insisting at his rallies that crime is skyrocketing under Biden. In reality, crime rose rapidly at the end of Trump’s term but is now dropping. From 2022 to 2023, according to the FBI, the only crime that went up was motor vehicle theft. Murders dropped by 13.2%, rape by 12.5%, robbery by 4.7%, burglary by 9.8%. The first quarter of 2024 showed even greater drops. Compared to the same quarter in 2023, violent crime is down 15.2%, murder down 26.4%, rape down 25.7%, robbery down 17.8%, burglary down 16.7%. Even vehicle theft is down 17.3%. 

Trump’s negative picture might play well to his die-hard supporters, but portraying the U.S. as a hellscape has rarely been a recipe for winning a presidential election.

President Biden and Trump are scheduled to debate on Thursday, June 27, and Trump’s team is trying to lower expectations for his performance. He became so incoherent in Philadelphia that the Fox News Channel actually cut away while he was talking. The Biden-Harris team has taken simply to posting Trump’s comments, prompting Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo to note: “It’s pretty bad when one candidates rapid response account just posts the other guys quote verbatim with no explanation at all.”

After months of insisting that Biden is mentally unfit, now Trump and his surrogates are saying Biden will perform well in the debate because he will be on drugs. There is no evidence that Biden has ever used performance-enhancing drugs, but curiously, Trump’s former White House physician Ronny Jackson (whom Trump repeatedly misidentified as Ronny Johnson last week) gave Fox News Channel host Maria Bartiromo a very detailed list of drugs that could sharpen attention and clarity. One of the ones he mentioned, Provigil, was on the list of those widely and improperly distributed by the White House Medical Unit in the Trump White House. 

Jackson said that he was “demanding” that Biden take drug tests before and after the debate. A White House spokesperson responded: “[A]fter losing every public and private negotiation with President Biden—and after seeing him succeed where they failed across the board, ranging from actually rebuilding America’s infrastructure to actually reducing violent crime to actually outcompeting China—it tracks that those same Republican officials mistake confidence for a drug.”

With the evaluation that Biden is better for the economy and Trump’s apocalyptic vision of the U.S. is not based in reality, it jumps out that on Thursday, a filing with the Federal Election Commission showed that the day after a jury convicted former president Donald Trump on 34 criminal counts, billionaire Tim Mellon made a $50 million donation to one of Trump’s superpacs. Since 2018, Mellon has contributed more than $200 million to Republicans, giving $110 million to Republican candidates and funding committees in the 2024 election alone. He has also given $25 million to independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. 

In a 2015 autobiography, Mellon embraced the old trope that “Black Studies, Women’s Studies, LGBT Studies, they have all cluttered Higher Education with a mishmash of meaningless tripe designed to brainwash gullible young adults into going along with the Dependency Syndrome,” saying that food assistance, affordable health care “and on, and on, and on” had made Americans on government assistance “slaves of a new Master, Uncle Sam.” “The largess is funded by the hardworking folks, fewer and fewer in number, who are too honest or too proud to allow themselves to sink into this morass,” he wrote. 

It is this trope that the Biden administration has smashed, returning to the idea that the government should answer to the needs of all its people. The last three years have proved the superiority of this vision by creating a roaring economy; rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, supply chains, and manufacturing; cutting crime rates, and reinforcing international alliances. 

As Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and chief executive officer of the energy company Canary, told��Wall Street Journal reporter Tarini Parti about Mellon: “He’s clearly terrified of Biden remaining the president.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mariacallous]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was convicted by a New York jury on Thursday of felony charges for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to an adult film star as part of an effort to illegally influence the 2016 election. The verdict, which found the presumptive Republican presidential nominee guilty on all 34 charges, sent political shockwaves through the United States as the 2024 election cycle gains steam.

But the historic court case also captivated readers well beyond U.S. borders. Below, we’ve rounded up the international reactions to the verdict.

Germany: The news dominated newspaper coverage in Germany and across Europe, with many outlets giving the conviction front-page, above-the-fold treatment. The coverage broadly mirrored that of U.S. outlets, with more ink spent speculating on how the guilty verdict would galvanize Trump’s supporters than reflecting on the historic nature of the conviction itself.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine simply trumpeted: “Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.” Leading newspaper Der Spiegel upped the ante with the headline “Guilty!” repeated 34 times. Tabloid Bild covered all the bases by asking, “Victory for Justice, or Dark Day for America?”

United Kingdom: Trump’s guilty verdict was splashed across the front pages of top newspapers and tabloids including the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Scotsman, the Mirror, and the Daily Star (the last of which proclaimed with its trademark subtlety, “Orange Manbaby Is Guilty on All Counts”). The Financial Times asserted that the verdict “puts America’s political system on trial,” while the Economist led with a banner headline: “Guilty as charged: The disgrace of a former American president.”

But the magazine also argued that the case was “counter-productive” ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The “prosecution has done more to help than hurt Mr Trump’s chances of winning back the White House, and, as the insurrection of January 6th 2021 ought to have made clear, that is a greater hazard to the rule of law than any fraudulent book-keeping,” the Economist concluded.

France: In France’s Le Monde, the verdict led the day as well, with the flagship French daily noting that the echo of that one word—guilty—“speaks both of the vitality of the state of law put to the test and of the unprecedented challenge that is emerging for American democracy.” Another French daily, Libération, highlighted that although the verdict frees Trump from the burden of having to report to court almost daily as he has had to do over the past month, he will continue to be “weighed down with the aura of being a repeat offender, unanimously condemned by a jury of 12 regular citizens.” Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11.

Switzerland: Swiss newspapers cut to the chase, with prominent coverage in Zurich’s Tages-Anzeiger noting that “Trump’s political comeback will now become a campaign of revenge.”

Poland: Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza put the verdict into local terms, highlighting Polish President Donald Tusk’s conclusion that “Polish politicians must learn the lesson from America.”

Spain: Spain gave front-page treatment to Trump’s conviction in all the major dailies, though right-leaning outlets, otherwise engaged in ousting Spain’s current prime minister, had less time to spend on judicial comeuppance abroad.

Russia: Russian state-funded media outlet RT led its coverage with a quote from Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, calling the trial a “kangaroo court.” Another state propaganda outlet, Sputnik, echoed Trump’s talking points, calling the trial “rigged” and “disgraceful.”

Hungary: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a friend to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, has consolidated control over Hungary’s media landscape as part of the country’s worrying backslide from democracy, even as he is lionized by factions of the U.S. Republican Party and some far-right political groups in Europe. The pro-government daily Magyar Hirlap led its coverage with photos of Trump supporters waving flags as the former president’s motorcade departed Manhattan. Its other top U.S.-focused news story was on claims that a plan by U.S. President Joe Biden to ease restrictions on marijuana use “could endanger the lives of millions.”

China: The Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times led its English-language coverage with the slightly garbled headline “Trump convicted in hush money case, ‘to exacerbate political extremism, social unrest’” and threaded its coverage with quotes from Chinese academics such as: “The attitudes of both parties further reflect the rottenness of American politics, and that the law now seems to be used as a political weapon.”

Israel: The Trump verdict hardly made a dent in two of Israel’s leading papers, the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel, where coverage of the ongoing war in Gaza still dominates the news cycle. Ynet, another popular Israeli news outlet, topped its coverage with: “‘Hang Them All!’: The Rage of Trump Supporters and the Women Voters Who Might Abandon Him.”

The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz covered the political fallout of the trial through reactions from influential Jewish political groups in the United States, noting that Matthew Brooks, the CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, had decried the verdict as a “political prosecution of a political opponent.”

Haaretz also noted that shortly after the verdict, Trump lashed out at the district attorney who prosecuted the case, Alvin Bragg, calling him a “Soros-backed DA” in reference to the Jewish billionaire philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros. The newspaper explained that Soros’s name “has been frequently used as an antisemitic dog whistle” and quoted Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, as saying that Trump’s invocation of such “antisemitic, racist, and bigoted tropes” is “intended to undercut our democracy and fuel political violence.”

Qatar: Al Jazeera had multiple front-page stories on Trump’s trial on its website, from the moment the verdict came to an explainer on what it will mean for the U.S. elections. Al Jazeera correspondent John Hendren argued that the verdict will only energize Trump’s base: “It is interesting to see that so far nothing has really tainted his appeal among his die-hard supporters.”

Nigeria: The Vanguard, a leading Nigerian newspaper, led its headline coverage of the case with a quote from Biden’s campaign: “No one is above the law.” The newspaper added that “Trump’s historic conviction — which would have been a knockout blow in any other election year — is undoubtedly a brighter spot for Biden after weeks of polling showing him neck and neck nationally with Trump.”

South Africa: One country where the Trump verdict hardly made any waves was South Africa, which is in the midst of its own national elections, where the ruling African National Congress party is on track to lose its majority for the first time since the country became a democracy in 1994. There were no stories on Trump in some of the country’s top papers—the Johannesburg Star, the Mail & Guardian, or the Sunday Times—as they focused on their own election.

India: This was the case in India, too, where the country is poised to announce its national election results next week. None of India’s top newspapers, including the Times of India, Hindustan Times, the Hindu, and the Indian Express, prioritized coverage of the Trump trial.

Argentina: Clarín gave the trial—helpfully labeled “pornogate”—some coverage, with emphasis on the “fuel” it will provide to Trump’s campaign.

Mexico: Mexico’s biggest daily found space amid the country’s own presidential race to highlight Trump’s becoming the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony.

[robinfrinjs]

can you explain the alex palou situation please. i don't follow indycar but i need to know the tea

Ok so I'll try to explain it but it's quite a complicated situation. This is all I know and can remember at this point.

Back in 2022 Chip Ganassi Racing, the team he was driving for at that moment. Had announced they had taken the option on Alex's contract so he would be staying with the team for the 2023 season.

However a little after that Alex Palou released a series of tweets stating that this wasn't true. See below.

According to Alex as said CGR used a quote that wasn't his. And specifies he does not intend to continue with the team after 2022

Just after Alex his Twitter thread, McLaren announces Alex will be driving for the team in 2023.

However CGR still stays with their press release and says Alex Palou is under contract through the 2023 season.

A few days after this rumours surface that Palou would be benched for the remaining IndyCar races. This however did not end up happening. What did happen is Palou saying his access to team date had been restricted.

Not too long after CGR files a civil lawsuit

Alex his lawyers state that by filing a lawsuit, CGR is impacting Alex his F1 opportunity for the worse.

CGR dropped the lawsuit and on September 14 2022 it was announced Palou and CGR would stay together for the 2023 season. This included a blessing to test Formula 1 cars with McLaren.

After this the news died down a little. It seemed Palou would drive his last season for CGR in 2023 and would then move to McLaren. However recently it appeared Alex Palou has informed the team he "does not intend to honor his contractual obligations," according to a statement from McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown given to IndyStar.

To thicken the plot. His management team wasn't notified of this either. Monaco Increase Management said Palou last spoke to his management on 9 August and hasn't returned any calls since. And hadn't mentioned any intention to not honor the contract he had with McLaren. Since then he hadn't returned any calls or messages and thus released this statement.

Chip Ganassi released a statement Saturday saying: "I grew up respecting the McLaren Team and their success. The new management does not get my same respect. ... Simply stated, the position of McLaren IndyCar regarding our driver is inaccurate and wrong; he remains under contract with CGR."

During this season he has represented McLaren at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami and has tested the car in Hungary.

Yasukawa, Palou's former manager has confirmed that he's now in charge of his contractual affairs.

This next text is all from IndyStar:

Earlier this summer, IndyStar was told by a source close to the parties' negotiations that in McLaren's signed contract with Palou existed a clause listing a date (believed to be July 31) before which the driver could have released himself from his future deal with McLaren if he had landed an offer for a 2024 F1 ride. Should an F1 offer have come in after that date, Palou would've been required to have McLaren loan him out (or arrange for McLaren to be paid some level of a buyout) in order for Palou to be driving anywhere other than Arrow McLaren during the 2024 racing season.

As Palou told reporters Thursday, no offer for a 2024 F1 ride had been made to Palou before he informed McLaren of his decision to back out of his multi-year deal. Pertinent to Friday's news, IndyStar also reported earlier this summer that CGR had extended Palou a new, sizable seven-figure contract offer in the midst of the runaway championship leader's run of three consecutive wins and four in a five-race span.

After this the news died down again for a few days but it has since been revealed McLaren has filed a lawsuit against Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing driver's racing entity and also ALPA Racing USA, LLC.

This is still recent news so all can be found here: