Kaufhaus Mendel

Kaufhaus Mendel

Originally uploaded by kilgorebrian13

This is a large old house in the middle of town. It’s empty and I think it is or soon will be for sale. If I had the money, I would love to renovate it, and would live there, even though it is on the main street through town.

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Just Don’t Drink the Cola

Beta vulgaris L.

This is a pile of sugar beets. You see these piles in the corner of many fields this time of year. Second to carbonated water, sugar is the most important ingredient in soft drinks. There is a Coca-Cola factory here in Knetzgau. The factory is a major employer in the area. I suppose a lot of the beets grown around here are destined to end up in a bottle. Cans are not very environmentally friendly and unpopular in Germany for this reason.

Monsanto, one of the world’s leading evils, has genetically modified the lowly sugar beet to be resistant Roundup which, like Agent Orange, is a herbicide. Now growers can plant the beets, spray the s*** out of the fields with Roundup, and harvest the only thing that remains. Kind of a “last man standing” method of farming.

Sugar from the biotechnology-enhanced sugar beet has been approved for human and animal consumption in the European Union. On September 21, 2009, a federal court ruled that the USDA had violated federal law in deregulating Roundup Ready sugar beets without adequately evaluating the environmental and socio-economic impacts of allowing commercial production, and will be considering an appropriate injunction.

How could the EU approve use of this genetically modified sugar source when even the business friendly U.S. courts have found inadequate evaluation of the impact this product can have on the environment and the population? Beets me.

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Dam

Dam

Originally uploaded by kilgorebrian13

There wasn’t much going on this morning. Walked over the Main River and a floodgate was down a little, I suppose to drop the water level behind it.

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Sunrise

Every morning I try to get out early and wander on foot in different directions. I’m trying to learn my way around the area, plus I prefer sunrise to sunset for picture taking. Since I’m an early riser, this works out better for me.

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The Main River

It seems I can’t stay away from the Main River in the mornings. Sitting right on the bank as the Gaisburg came by heading upriver, I nearly was swamped by its deceptively gentle looking wake.

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Sun and Clouds

The sun looking for a way through the clouds

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