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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
Michael Have you seen the movie "Independence Day"? Do you remember the scene with the secret lab where researchers are examining a UFO that accidentally landed on Earth in the 1960s? There are plenty of such conspiracy theories in America: Americans attribute almost anything to the government. Including the idea that aliens have long since landed on Earth, but the nasty political crew in Washington is keeping this fact a secret from the population and is secretly studying their UFO technology.
When something like this appears on the radar of the newsletter reporters, there's naturally no holding back, and an expedition is set to begin. When we were in Las Vegas recently, we spontaneously drove 100 miles north one da,y to explore the mysterious "Area 51." there.
Countless legends surround this military research area. It is located in the middle of the desert, and it is rumored that the US military is testing out new weapons there. Allegedly, enlarged versions of the stealth bomber, which won't show on radar screens, have already been tested there (F-117). Unidentified flying objects, moving at breathtaking speed and emitting orange light, were also captured there on amateur videos.
Due to these suspected encounters of the second kind, Highway 375 in Nevada is called the "Extraterrestrial Highway." Between mile markers 34 and 35 on the Extraterrestrial Highway (hereafter referred to as ET Highway), the so-called "Groom Lake Road" branches off to the southwest, on an unpaved dirt road. It passes by a ranch owned by a certain Steve Medlin. His mailbox, located a few miles south on a dirt road, is quite possibly the most photographed mailbox in the world. Before March 27, 1996, it was black and looked quite eerie. Then it was replaced by the white box shown in illustration 3, which has an extra compartment at the bottom where you can leave mail for extraterrestrials.
It seems that UFOs are just whizzing past this mailbox, as there are numerous reports from people who drove by or parked there, claiming to have seen UFOs. There are even some amateur videos recorded there, showing orange glowing objects flying around!
If you drive about 15 miles west on "Groom Lake Road," you suddenly encounter clear warning signs strongly advising you not to proceed further. "Deadly Force authorized" sounded quite convincing, so we turned around. In the distance, we saw patrol vehicles from private security services, which supposedly ensure that no one proceeds unauthorized. However, there is no fence, just an imaginary boundary marked by signs every 50 meters.
If you drive a bit further north on the ET Highway, you will reach "Rachel," a remote settlement with a few trailers. The settlement was formerly known under the names of Tempiute Village, Shady Grove, and Sand Springs, but it was renamed "Rachel" when the first baby born there was named "Rachel Jones." The village pub is located in a barrack, and it's called Little A'le'Inn" The name refers to "aliens," meaning extraterrestrials, and in front of the store, there's even a tow truck parked with a UFO in tow for tourists!
In the pub, there's a super abrasive old hag behind the bar who snapped at me with "What kind of beer do you want?" when I asked, "What kind of beer do you have?" I could have, of course, said that I prefer Augustiner Edelstoff, but they most likely wouldn't know about this connoisseur's drink in this dive bar. Imagine, I could have been thrown out, abducted by the secret service, having to spend my remaining years wearing an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit. Better not!
TODO
Furthermore, the entire bar (illustration 8) was plastered with stickers featuring Republican slogans from the Clinton era. Examples: "Yeah! You can have my gun -- bullets first!", "Send Clinton to Mexico - not my job!", "Hillary's National Health Service = Efficiency of Postal Service and Compassion of I.R.S. at bargain prices of the Pentagon".
Unten In figure 9 Here's the translation to English:
"You can see the satellite image of Area 51 on Google Maps. The white spot is a huge dried-up salt lake called 'Groom Lake.' South of the salt lake, there are various hangars, tanks, and barracks-like buildings. Further south is a hilly area known as the 'S-4' security zone. Camouflaged hangars are built into the hills. The most unusual flying objects are stationed there, and some people suspect UFOs. If you zoom out a bit on the map, you'll see another salt lake just below, called 'Papoose Lake.'
In the left part of Groom Lake, you can see a gray line running from the top left to the bottom right. If you zoom in on Google Maps, you'll see that it's a runway about 9 km long. You can even see the dashed centerline! Even the Space Shuttle only needs about half the distance to land, so aircraft with incredibly high speeds can land on Groom Lake.
The employees of Area 51 are, by the way, flown in daily from Las Vegas. At McCarran Airport, there is a small terminal called "Janet" that is closed off to the public, from which several Boeing planes take off each day to fly to Area 51. Allegedly, several thousand people are employed there.
In the spiral-bound booklet "Area 51 & S-4 Handbook" by Chuck Clark, you can read plenty of juicy details about the secretive activities of the military for $15. Our copy (illustration 11), which we purchased at the bar of the "A'le'Inn," was even signed by the author! On the website of the The translation of"Hull UFO Society" to English is "Hull UFO Society." The phrase isalready in English. The translation from German to English is: "Can you gather more information on the topic of Area 51?
Immer wieder Las Vegas" translates to "Again and again Las Vegas"
in English.
Michael On our wedding anniversary, we are known to enjoy going to Las Vegas because that's where we met a long, long time ago. Ten years ago, you could still find super-luxury hotel rooms there (see... Rundbrief 01/2001 The translation to English is: "rent without the credit card immediately writhing in pain.
Nowadays, it's not that easy anymore, but every now and then you can find some real luxury for your money: This time we stayed at the MGM Signature, in one of the three new towers that were built a few hundred meters behind the MGM colossus. Our place was not only equipped with a kitchen (an absurdity in Las Vegas) but also had the most amazing balcony I have ever seen.
I am relatively free from dizziness and have only twice in my life felt that the ground was being pulled out from under my feet due to height: On Angel's Landing, the dizzying mountain ridge in Zion National Park. Rundbrief 12/2003 .. and on the open (!) balcony of this suite on the 23rd floor, about 80 meters above the swimming pool. Normally, you can't open even a window anywhere in Las Vegas, as the hotel operators are likely too afraid of million-dollar lawsuits or bad press. But at the MGM Signature, you simply open the door and step out of the air-conditioned room onto the balcony. You hardly dare to go all the way to the railing, feeling the still almost 40-degree hot desert night and shuddering at the height.
We have still not managed to see a show in Las Vegas, so the only news we can report is that the magician Hans Klok, who was previously unknown to me, is now performing with the Baywatch star Pamela Anderson. Instead of craving the glitz of the desert city, this time we explored the underworld and seedy side of the city of sin.
Unlike in Germany, prostitution is almost universally prohibited in the USA. One evening, we saw a bicycle patrol (!) of the police stop a conspicuously dressed young lady with a noticeably older gentleman on the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard and then question them separately.
In the state of Nevada (motto: Anything goes), there are some counties that allow the operation of brothels; however, the city of Las Vegas is excluded from this. To invite the, um, bachelors staying in the city to these establishments, South Americans distribute cards with scantily clad women and printed phone numbers at the roadside for the lowest wages. Recently, trucks with huge billboards have also been driving around to promote the brothels with the unmistakable names "Shady Lady Ranch" and "Chicken Ranch." According to a newspaper article, this doesn't sit well in prudish America, but legally, it seems to be fine.
The South Americans, by the way, have a special method for handing out the cards: they snap their fingers briefly on the card and extend it to the passerby who has been alerted by the sound. It takes a lot of self-control to hold back!
Michael In America, if you need a certified copy, you don't go to a government office, but instead look for a so-called... Notary Public" isalready in English. It refers to an official authorized to performcertain legal formalities, such as witnessing signatures ondocuments. In California, these are completely ordinary people who have completed a six-hour crash course, passed a test with a certificate, and can then notarize documents with a stamp and their signature for two years.
At AOL, many years ago, I needed a certified copy of a certificate for the immigration office, and I asked around where I could get it done. To my surprise, I was directed to the secretary, who promptly pulled a stamp out of her handbag, placed it on the document, and signed it. She then recorded in a small notebook when and what she had just certified. She added with a wink that some "Notary Publics" charge a small fee for this ($5 or so), but since she knew me, I would get the service for free, haha!
At Yahoo, there is a list posted on the intranet that includes all employees who have the license to stamp documents. If you need something, you simply go to the employee's cubicle and have the stuff stamped. In our neighborhood in San Francisco, we also have a package delivery service that offers notary public services on the side. With German documents that they don't understand, some notary publics can be difficult, but with a bit of luck, you might find one who doesn't care and signs anyway with the attitude of "It's fine!
The German phrase "Urbane Abkürzungen" translates to "Urban
Abbreviations" in English.
Michael And here are some English abbreviations that have emerged in the internet age, which you probably don't know if you're not very familiar with the internet. These acronyms are mainly used in chat sessions, but they also frequently appear in emails.
YMMV stands for "Your mileage might vary" ("Ihr Kilometerstand ist vielleicht unterschiedlich"). For example, when recommending a tactic that has led to success, but you want to express that the outcome might be different if the person seeking advice tries it themselves, you say YMMV. The "mileage" is not meant literally, but rather represents a kind of "end result." For instance, if you have successfully negotiated a lower price in a store using sophisticated methods and share this clever trick, you add YMMV to indicate that it might not lead to the same result if someone has less developed negotiation skills.
When giving legally relevant advice but not being a lawyer, it is advisable to add IANAL ("I am not a lawyer") to ensure that it is understood as a recommendation from a layperson who does not interpret the intricacies of the law as reliably as a professional attorney.
IMHO ("In my humble opinion", "Meiner bescheidenen Meinung nach") or somewhat less pretentious IMO ("In my opinion", "Meiner Meinung nach") indicate that the following text should only be understood as the writer's opinion and not as an indisputable fact. AFAIK stands for "As far as I know" ("Soweit ich weiÃ") and conveys a similar meaning. IIRC is the abbreviation for "If I remember correctly" ("Soweit ich mich erinnern kann").
If you find something funny, LOL is appropriate, meaning "Laughing out loud." As an intensification, ROTFL stands for "Rolling on the floor laughing.
Do you want more? Then we recommend studying the website. urbandictionary.com , which explains thousands of these abbreviations in detail.
The translation of "Lichter aus in San Francisco" to English is
"Lights out in San Francisco.
Angelika No, there was no power outage in San Francisco, and we were not sitting in the dark. Rather, the actors of the campaign... Lights Out" translatesto "Apagar las luces" in Spanish. They were called upon to voluntarily dim the city. For one hour, the lights went out at prominent buildings such as the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, the Coit Tower, the Ferry Building, and City Hall (Civic Center). Some restaurant owners also participated in the event (including the East German pub Walzwerk) and served guests by candlelight.
The main initiator, Nate Tyler, came up with this idea after experiencing a similar story during a vacation in Sydney. "Lights Out" was intended to symbolically highlight the necessity of saving electricity in order to better manage energy consumption and combat global warming. Additionally, volunteers had previously distributed 100,000 energy-saving light bulbs on the streets of San Francisco.
Even the internet search engine The translation of "Googleschloà sich an" to English is "Google joined in. The translation to English is: "and turned their main page black for a few hours. By the way, the initiator Nate Tyler was formerly a 'Communication Manager' at Google.
From our balcony, we observed that, amusingly, it took almost 45 minutes for all the lights on the part of the Bay Bridge adjacent to the city to finally go out. Overall, it was still quite bright everywhere, but hats off to the initiators who managed to overcome bureaucratic hurdles and persuade those in charge to participate. And they have further ambitions. On March 29, 2008, they want to carry out the action across America. Eleven cities, including New York and Los Angeles, have already agreed.
Angelika We have often mentioned in the newsletter that the American Social Security system is one of the few mandatory government insurance programs. It is a true exception in the USA, which is otherwise characterized by private and market-based systems.
The American President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935 to ensure basic security in old age. The Great Depression, which began in 1929 and plunged many households into deep poverty, had changed the mood in the country and paved the way for a European-style social insurance system. However, from the outset, the aim was not to maintain the standard of living through the pension insurance, but to ensure survival and prevent old-age poverty.
If the employee does not want to give up their accustomed standard of living in old age, they must supplement the state pension payments in some way. In the past, company pensions offered by firms like General Motors, Ford, or United Airlines were at the forefront in America. However, nowadays, more and more companies are trying to get rid of these obligations through various tricks.
Because company pensions are not subject to strict legal protection in the USA. There is a safety fund managed by the organization "Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation," which functions like reinsurance, guaranteeing payments if companies, for example, go bankrupt. However, these payments are often significantly lower than the promised company pension.
So that leaves only the 401k, which Michael once... Rundbrief 08/2003 ...or traditional saving. For many low-income earners, however, it remains utopian to privately prepare for their retirement. According to a statistic from 2005, 22 percent of today's retirees have to make ends meet with the help of payments from Social Security insurance.
And to give you an idea of how much the average retiree receives from the state insurance: it was 1050 dollars in 2007 according to the statistics from the "Social Security Administration," which would only get you a small room in San Francisco.
But how does one qualify for an American pension? In Germany, you have to pay into the system for at least five years. In the USA, a working individual accumulates what are called Social Security Credits (roughly equivalent to credit points). They need 40 of these to qualify for a pension.
Each year, there are a maximum of four credits (one "credit" per quarter). This year, you must earn at least $1,000 per quarter (increasing to $1,050 in 2008) to receive the credit, and at least $4,000 for the entire year.
This means (you've surely already calculated it) that it takes 10 years to acquire a claim. Foreigners who live and work legally in America are subject to the same rule. However, if they return to their home countries, the American state will only transfer the pension abroad if there is a social security agreement between the USA and the respective country. Rundbrief 08/2007 .
In the United States, as in Germany, contributions for pension insurance are deducted directly from the salary. Employers and employees each contribute equally to the fund, with each paying 6.2% up to an annual salary of $97,500 (as of 2007). Self-employed individuals accordingly pay 12.4%.
In the USA, unlike in Germany, practically everyone is required to have insurance, and redistribution occurs differently. Low-income earners receive, on average, more compared to higher-income earners. There is also a cap on the monthly pension payments. In 2008, it is $2,185 per month, and that's the limit. The pension contributions are transferred to the so-called Social Security Trust Fund, which invests in U.S. Treasury Bonds. Currently, this fund is still in the black. However, according to projections, this will change starting in 2018.
In America, both men and women born in 1960 or later reach the full legal retirement age at 67. If one wishes to retire earlier, the American government pays a reduced pension starting at age 62. However, a catch is that the retiree only becomes eligible for the state health insurance for retirees, Medicare, at age 67. Rundbrief 03/2005 The German word "kommt" translates to "comes" in English. The symbol ")" does not have a direct translation and might be a typographical error or part of a larger context.
The American tax office is ready to collect when a retiree's annual income exceeds $25,000 (or $32,000 for married couples). Income includes half (!) of the pension benefits, as well as, for example, interest income or part-time jobs, since many American retirees are forced to earn extra money. Generously, the retiree is allowed by the Social Security Administration to earn as much as they want without facing pension reductions once they reach full retirement age.
In America, there is also a survivor's pension, which provides for minor and/or disabled children and spouses if the breadwinner dies. However, a widow's pension without minor or disabled children in the household is available at the earliest from age 60. Divorced spouses are also entitled to a survivor's pension if they were married for at least 10 years. During my research, I found out that pension payments are suspended if the affected retiree is convicted and spends more than 30 days in prison.
President Bush had set himself the goal of privatizing the state pension system, but he failed due to public resistance. He eventually gave up, albeit through gritted teeth.
Michael Hold on a moment... the photo with Grandpa Meume and the cigar lit with a dollar bill in the last post wasn't from the editorial team's private collection! And the photo with the Jim Carrey lookalike in this section probably isn't either! That's right, because now on the internet, it offers... iStockPhoto.com Here's the translation:
"Stock photos that can be purchased for little money to promote products or visually enhance articles about pension insurance. Depending on the size, each photo costs a few dollars, and then you can display it on your website or print up to 500,000 brochures. Simply enter your credit card, buy 10 'credits' for $13, and then download up to ten small images from the provider's extensive collection to use them commercially and without further payment obligations. That's a good business principle! I got the tip from Guy Kawasaki, who mentioned it in the video. TheArt of Innovation The text translates to: "Casually mentioned. A very good video, by the way. It really inspired me a lot.
Michael If you are among the regular newsletter readers, you have surely noticed that the newsletter is now also available as a book. The 462-page tome is titled "The First Decade," professionally bound in a rock-hard cover. As a bonus, the book even contains a little more than ten years of newsletters, from November 1996 to October 2007, to be precise. The great thing about the self-publishing platform lulu.com is that the book is only printed when someone orders it. And it is printed exactly where it was ordered. If someone orders a copy in the USA, it is printed and shipped there. If someone in Germany clicks the order button, the printing press starts up there, and the printed work is sent to a German address for just a few euros.
We earn nothing (null, nada, zilch, njet, nix) from the company; the entire amount goes to Lulu. The newsletter is a free publication and will remain so. And the gigantic PDF from which the book is made is offered by Lulu as a free download. By the way, Lulu is a great place. Amateur authors simply submit electronic files, which Lulu prints and ships as soon as someone orders them. The books are advertised like on Amazon and are reviewed by customers.
And I probably don't need to tell you that the Rundbriefbuch is the ideal Christmas gift for your loved ones. When they unwrap the book on Christmas Eve from the tasteful wrapping paper that you, of course, have provided, your loved ones will be wide-eyed and exclaim: "I'm overjoyed, the Rundbriefbuch! Everyone knows that it costs 68 euros. Honey, you really didn't have to go to such expense! Ah, I knew how much I mean to you... (cuddling sounds)." There you go. But make sure to order it by early November at the latest, as it takes some time to print after you press the order button, so that it arrives on the gift table on time. On the Rundbrief website, you will find links to The translation of"Rundbriefbuch auf Lulu Deutschland" to English is "Circular letterbook on Lulu Germany. The German phrase "und dem" translates to "and the" in English. Circular letter book on LuluUSA .
Angelika Since 1981, the so-called Fleet Week has taken place every October in San Francisco to honor the men and women of the Navy and Coast Guard. It's a somewhat unusual celebration for the pacifist, left-leaning San Francisco. Large warships dock at the piers of San Francisco and allow naval officers in amusing sailor uniforms to come ashore. The Blue Angels, a Navy unit, are considered the highlight of the festivities for many with their air show featuring six F/A-18 Hornet jets. For others, they are the biggest nuisance, as their daredevil maneuvers over the rooftops of San Francisco are considered dangerous and too loud.
This year, City Councilor Chris Daly even made an attempt to ban the Blue Angels from flying for safety reasons, after one of the pilots crashed during an air show in South Carolina in April. Although the city council rejected this, the right-wing American press railed for days against the anti-military San Francisco.
In Germany, the Bundeswehr doesn't have a good reputation and everyone makes fun of it, whereas Americans don't like it when people criticize the men and women in uniform in any way. The Blue Angels are meant to spark interest in the Navy through their aerial acrobatics and attract volunteers for the American professional army. Pilots in blue jets are simply better for advertising purposes than returnees from Iraq.
The new Airbus A-380 also made a stop in San Francisco during one of its test flights. By coincidence, the giant aircraft was in the city at the same time as the Blue Angels. Someone came up with the idea that it would be nice if the Airbus also performed a low-altitude flyover of San Francisco, just before the Blue Angels' training flights. Suddenly, the giant bird appeared in front of our window, and Michael, who was working from home at the time, cheerfully snapped a few photos. It's amazing what flies over our heads.
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All that's missing is the marching music. With almost military proportions:
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The translation of "Angelika und Michael" to English is "Angelika and Michael.
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