Michael I usually don't care about politics, except maybe when there's something to laugh about. However, the fun of observing San Franciso politics has evaporated completely in recent years, having to watch helpless feel-good politicians turning the city into a lawless hellscape. When you can't buy a bicycle anymore because it will be stolen immediately, or you can't park a car on the street anymore because unchallenged thieves cut off the catalytic converter in broad daylight, the fun stops eventually (USARundbrief reported).

Angelika The German journalists have already written their fingers to the bone about the latest decisions of the American Supreme Court. So you should already be well informed. But not everything that was written explained the situation correctly and based on facts. But we all agree that the decisions will have or already have groundbreaking consequences. It is on everyone's lips that the abortion law that has been in force throughout the USA for almost 50 years has fallen. Back in the day, the case "Roe versus Wade" had been decided in favor of the plaintiff Norma McCorvey (called "Jane Roe" in the proceedings) by the Supreme Court in 1973.

Angelika On July 4th, the United States are celebrating their national holiday. It is the day that the United States declared its independence from England in 1776, stopped paying taxes to England, and began to govern itself. Most American holidays fall on a Monday. However, Independence Day is always tied to the date of July 4th. This year, the fourth happened to fall on a Monday, giving everyone a long weekend. Independence Day is also the holiday when there are parades and fireworks in even the smallest towns. Traditionally, people also set off fireworks privately and shoot rockets into the sky, just like in Germany on New Year's Eve. However, this year, due to the severe drought in the American West, many communities officially banned private fireworks to reduce the risk of fire. San Francisco had an official fireworks display, which, as always, disappeared in the fog. That, too, is a tradition on July 4th.

Angelika Here in the US, the Wordle fever has been spreading for quite some time now. Everyone is playing the game, and a common question at work is: "Have you figured out today's "Wordle" yet?" What's going on? Behind "Wordle" hides an online letter game. The task in each round of the game is to guess a secret five-letter word in a maximum of six attempts. You start with any word that consists of five letters. The software then indicates whether the word to be guessed has same letters as your guess.

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Michael One of our favorite hiking trails runs along the Pacific beach below the former artillery position of Fort Funston. There, military fortifications made of concrete from World War II protrude from the sand. The whole thing gives the area an apocalyptic look, and always reminds me of the first movie in the "Planet of the Apes" series, in which Charlton Heston is one of the few survivors of an atomic war and stumbles upon such a relic protruding from the sand. He realizes that the relic is the Statue of Liberty, and that humanity has actually managed to blow up the planet, and he screams his famous line: "You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you!" What a movie! Nowadays only technically bloated nonsense junk comes out of Hollywood.

Angelika Most Germans know the concept of American corner stores from various Hollywood movies, where customers can quickly buy a few things at any time of day or night that they have just run out. There is usually an interesting range of things to be purchased there from beer to snacks, milk and sweets, but also flour and toilet paper.