Smoke

Among all the smokers out there, I think there are only very few people I can tolerate polluting the air around me. There are those very pretty girls that add a certain coolness to their appearance while smoking. And then there are those apparently super old ladies that against all odds are still alive smoking one cigarette after another, preferably through a cigarette holder. Everybody else, the tough guys, the players, the gentlemen, the Halbstarken, you may proceed smoking in movies, but not while walking in front of me on the street. Thank you.This picture was taken in Essen, Germany. The little brownish square next to the billboard is a cigarette vending machine.

Harvesting Energy

You see these a lot in German landscapes and they seem to play an increasing role in the country's power generation. Germany has a law saying that none of its 19 nuclear power plants will be renewed after they have expired. Instead, they will be shut down. Once the last one is off the grid a couple of decades from now, the country will be free of nuclear power.