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Showing posts with label What is Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What is Greece. Show all posts

Thursday, 28 June 2018

What's in a Name?...

This is not Sparta!

So Nova Scotia gets its independence and decides to call itself The Republic of East Maine. The Walloons of Belgium break away and chose to be the Former Belgian Republic of Champagne, The Scots Upper Cumberland, China Greater Nepal, Pakistan North India. For that matter Canada would have every right to call itself America, It is on the North American continent, has shared heredity and by omitting the ‘United States of’ part could not be accused of inciting confusion. You get the picture and you’re probably laughing at my ridiculous notions but that is exactly what has been happening in the Balkans for the past 20-odd years. Since Yugoslavia fragmented, the southernmost state has been claiming right to call itself Macedonia.

Macedonia (Macedon) was the birth place of Alexander the Great and a key part of Greek heritage. In fact, the claim over Alexander has as much to do with the dispute as the name and territories. He was born in Pella, which is still a small town in Greece. He was Hellenic, the group of ancient civilisations that shared language and culture, though at that time not a unified nation. He was tutored by Aristotle until manhood. He was what we now consider to be Greek.
The area of Macedonia has been shaved by wars and politics over the centuries and while the majority remains in modern day Greece, some is in Albania, Bulgaria and the area that claims a right to the Macedonian name, an area that the Greeks insist on calling by the name of its capital city Skopje or FYROM.
So what’s the big deal? So many years have passed since then and it could be argued that modern Greeks have little to do with the Greeks of antiquity. But it is a big deal, to both the Greeks and the former Yugoslavians. So much so that the former Yugoslavian state named their international airport ‘Alexander the Great’, named major highways after him and in 2011 a huge statue of Alexander on a horse was erected in the centre of the capital, named Macedonia square. It is a big deal to them.
The Macedonian identity and heritage means a lot to the Greeks, as the Parthenon does, as heritage means a lot to many nations it is often confused with nationalism but common heritage is imperative to all peoples, it is what bonds the residents of an area into a tribe of common goals.
Families are the smallest building blocks of community, they have a name and members are easily recognisable by this name. A chance meeting of individuals with the same surname will often spark the question of shared heritage, my name is quite rare outside Ireland and when I do meet someone who shares it, I will ask about their family history. This has on occasion sparked a feeling of kinship. Names matter. People who have grown up in the same area will have connections of memories or friends or schools or places they played. We need to have bonds. We live in an age where Europeans are encouraged to identify as one people but it will not happen and if it does, it will come at great cost. The larger the geographical reach of ethnicity becomes, the more abstract it becomes. The USA has managed this well but it began with a melting pot of Europeans who were looking for a new life far from home. That said, it has taken a lot of flag waving jingoism to maintain. The American dream, Superman, The Super bowl, a common language.
Greece has had a hard time adjusting to the Eurozone architect’s dreams of a unified republic, more than most, it just wasn’t ready. Protests at the imposed austerity were regular but since the capital controls of 2015 the fight seems have left the Greeks. Now they are reemerging with zeal, the prime minister, Alex Tsipra’s capitulation to external pressures have made him a traitor to his people and the Greeks are angry again. Tsipra has sold his address to secure his mortgage with implied promises that putting this matter to bed will be favourable to a restructuring of the bailout loans from the TROIKA of creditors. The Greeks are back on the streets but I fear now as before, no one is listening.
Macedonia is Greece, its culture, its history and its antecedents. It is as Greek as The Parthenon and as that it is a piece of world Heritage. It will not be long before whatever prefixes to the name Macedonia that are agreed by the each party are dropped in favour of the simpler Macedonia. Eventually, in the name of unification, the Greek and Slavic versions of the Story of Alexander may become homogenised.
We are trained to consider the greater good, the big picture, international relations, the smooth running of trade but identity is the base on which all these must grow. Denying where we come from will only confuse where we are going. The former Yugoslavian republic realised that early on and their leaders recognised the need for history, they found a powerful if tenuous narrative for their people and have stuck doggedly to it. To reverse this now could be catastrophic for them to continue would be a lie.
What’s in a name? Just think of when a colleague or acquaintance got yours wrong or ask a Canadian where in America he is from or a Scot if he is English, an Austrian if he is German. What’s in a name? The first thing they do in prison is take your name away, they know why and so do you.

Thursday, 3 September 2015

My Name is David and I am an Addict

My name is David and I'm an addict, it’s been almost no time at all since my last fix.

fugitiveMy habit began in the 90s when I first tried ‘Greece’ (check out the story of my arrival here). I had planned to stay for two weeks as many of you have but I was maybe more vulnerable than most. I stayed for seven months. The pressure at work was getting to me and Greece had all the answers, ‘life’s a beach’. I quickly met a commune of other addicts and we laughed at you. You work like ants all year, eating bake beans on toast in order to enjoy what we had for free. NO, we were getting paid for it. We all had jobs in the tourist industry, serving your souvlaki, thrilling you with jet-ski rides, taking you on tours of culture and ancient history, from the country that gave you civilisation. I was not a user, I had discovered the wisdom that eluded you all.

On my thankfully infrequent trips to sobriety, I was envied. I had taken the life less ordinary, I was mainlining sun and Britons crave sun. I wore shorts out of necessity and had a collection of sunglasses that I needed, daily. My mode of transport was a Vespa and if I owned a helmet, I couldn't tell you where it was. My diet was the fresh aromatic fare that Jamie Oliver thought was ‘pukka!’.

I later met the woman who became my wife and we decided that we should grow up and shoulder the life of reality. We decamped and moved to England to resume careers and begin a family business that would give us access to the comforts of modern life while still being able to afford an annual ticket to Europe’s theme park of hedonism. This lasted four years. A few short weeks in the summer were not enough and I, not my Greek wife decided to return to a life less pragmatic.

I now ‘own’ a house that is worth a half of what I borrowed to buy it and my euros are worth a fraction of the pounds I brought here. I fear that even this will be a small fortune compared to the Drachmas that may soon line my pockets.

I have taken a number of initiatives to maintain my habit but my Greek, while respectable for a foreigner is still only elementary school level and my children cringe when I use it with them. My options have shrunk but like boiling a frog I resist the discomfort preferring instead to cling to my life in the pages of national geographic on my mountain top home. And every day I hear of another Greek friend or friend’s friend who has gone. Most of my wedding guests are now in Sweden, Germany, the US or London to take my place.

This summer I took my family ‘cold-turkey’ in the UK for a month. We were greeted by rain and a wind that threatened to peel our tans. Cameras hung over every road and there were few to speak to after 10pm. The airfare was cheaper than a bus ride but our funds didn’t go far. The shops were throwing things out the door but after exchanging our diminished Euros we had enough to see a castle or two and restock our wardrobes from a charity shop and boot sales.

With my sun-tinted glasses off, I saw how far we had fallen.

Back home, back in the crack-house, we went to stay a few days at a friend’s summerhouse. We were once more in sympathetic company. After the midday heat we headed to the beach. From the balmy, crystalline sea we watched the sun set over a jagged horizon and I pondered...

sunset on Greek beach
Is this life?
Have I discovered true wisdom or am I just another crack head?

UPDATE 2016: Just got back from a Grand Tour of Europe to find that Greece is now facing a Malaria epidemic, one of the hospitals now refusing to take blood donations is just down the road from us in the area where my kids go to school. Christ! it don't get any easier, does it?

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Wednesday, 17 June 2015

And the band played on.

and the band played on
Fresh calls for capital controls in Greece have met with frantic activity in the markets. As the game of brinkmanship plays out between the Euro 'institutions' and Alexis Tsipras' SYRIZA government, the only certainty in Greece today is the weather. So much money has left the country's banks over the last few years that they are only being maintained by emergency liquidity assistance, which itself is reliant on compliance to the ECB's terms. The country has already defaulted on one payment to the IMF under the guise of a forgotten clause in the loan agreement. The only question is whether the next will have any disguise or not.

A queue of bleary-eyed commuters wait at the bus stop to make their way to school or work. A car horn vents frustration at a driver taking a slim opening in the traffic.

The Greek economy has been in a shit blizzard for years now. A raft of new, often backdated, taxes and seemingly daily revisions to existing ones has made financial planning almost impossible for all but the biggest enterprises. In an attempt to extract blood from a stone, the government has raised VAT, imposed 'objective' taxes on the self-employed's receipt books and levied new taxes through energy bills.

A group of teenagers chat nervously as they walk into school for their final exams while another hits 'pay' to book his ticket to the UK to study advanced mathematics.

Tsipras has stood firm against the Eurogroup negotiators, refusing to cross the red lines of his mandate from the people to ease austerity. His economists recently presented a new set of proposals in order to release bailout payments, borrowed money that will go straight back to the creditors without touching the Greek economy.

A mother phones round her friends to reschedule her son's birthday garden party after hearing the weather forecast. Another packs her kids up for a day at the beach, now that they are on summer break.

According to Paul Mason, there is an option whereby the situation is put on suspension for nine months during which the IMF/ECB pay themselves, yet another default by another name. This may, however give time to work out a more tenable and long term solution or maybe give Tsipras time to prove his commitment to making reforms. But as GDP shrinks quicker than Levi's on a boil wash, there really isn't much more to tax. Greek HNWI have been squirrelling their assets far away from the greek economy for years now. VSBs and one-man-band enterprises have faced such aggressive taxation in a shrinking market that many just cover costs hoping against hope for things to change.

The owner of a car dealership goes through the week's sale figures. He is focused on improving turnover. He has a sizeable nest-egg in a foreign bank. He calls in his sales team, who do not.

The high drama being played out in Brussels and the telephone-number sized debts have ceased to have any relevance to the Greek people. They know that nothing will change, the fear of falling has long passed. The colour of the notes in their pockets has lost any bearing on reality. Parents hope for a better future for their kids while their eye darts to this week's deals on the supermarket shelf. Few talk about it anymore, life has no penalty time, each day lost fretting over it will not be added to the end.

A man digs coins from his pocket to pay for his tobacco. Some teachers sit restlessly through a seminar on bullying in a stuffy school hall.

Greek capital will return home, when falling asset prices make Greece the biggest church bazaar in Europe. When land and real estate and any surviving businesses can be bought up and new empires built.

The Greeks are now the refugees with nowhere to go. They are already in Europe, they have no hazardous journey across the Mediterranean and no one to ask for asylum.

...and the band played on.

Sunday, 5 April 2015

Who is the pilot on the GreekWings flight

The flight deck door is locked, autopilot is set, the passengers are frantically banging on the cabin door but can Greece bank before it crashes into the immovable Alps. And, more importantly, will we have to wait for recovery of the black box to discover who was really at the controls.

In these final few hours before impact the Eurogroup is steadfast in its position of total and complete capitulation by the Greek government before it will consider releasing €7.2 billion bailout funds. After reviewing Athens’ proposals for reform, the guardians of the purse strings have deemed them inadequate and even amateurish. So, what are the options for the eurozone if Greece does not satisfy their demands and defaults on the €450 million payment to the IMF on 9th April and who or what is driving those decisions.

The suspects are:

Alexis Tsipras, 40 year-old ‘Radical’ leader of left-wing coalition party, Syriza who has seen a meteoric rise in the last two years but has been in activism and politics since University. His mandate from the Greek electorate is the lifting of Austerity measures imposed by the Troika of creditors and to keep Greece in the single currency.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, 49 year-old Dutch Labour party finance minister and president of the Eurogroup, the select committee of European finance ministers who since 2015 have jurisdiction over the Euro. His role is to maintain stability of the single currency.

Angela Merkel, 60 year-old German chancellor. She is the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union. Germany’s position in the union makes it the de facto leader in negotiations but she has expressed a desire not to have the Euro fail under her watch.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem
If Greece defaults and a Grexit occurs then in the short term, the bond markets could go bear and the euro would go into free fall. In this age of bond market sycophancy, this is a big deal.

That said, any concessions given to the Greeks would become a precedent for other struggling Eurozone nations and while the band-aid needed to plug the hole in Greece is relatively small, Italy and Spain or even France could be far more damaging.

The austerity strategy appears to be working for some members such as Portugal and Ireland, both have exited the bail-out programme and re-entered the international credit market, the latter is now the fastest growing economy in Europe. However this is just balance-sheet understanding, many Irish and Portuguese are not seeing the benefits.

Many Eurozone nations would be watching Greece to see how it dealt with the divorce and depending on how painless it turned out or what could be learned from the experiment, there could be more departures from the single currency which could well lead to complete devolution.

Alexis Tsipras
In the event of an ill-prepared and messy Grexit the already fatigued Greek people would loose faith in the young prime minister, not only ending his career but sparking chaos and possibly an opening for the far-right fascist groups to seize control. Greeks have hankered for state reform for as long as I can remember but the reality would cause more collateral damage than they are prepared for.

An unnamed Syriza official recently said that as a left-wing government, faced with the choice of defaulting to the creditors or their own people it was a no-brainer. Brave words indeed but also damn straight, given the choice of paying the mortgage and feeding your kids, what would you do. No-brainer, right?

But his choice is not just death or dishonour.

Greece could gain support from Russia. Syriza harbours within its ranks some far left idealists who may still hold romantic notions of allegiance to Russia. They may not have realised that Putin’s Russia has bypassed communism to revert back to the days of the Tsars.

However, Russia has its own liquidity problems and would not bailout Greece without some pretty heavy caveats whether declared or implied. Recent events in Ukraine are very telling of Putin’s ambitions. Russian gas supplies to Greece which are used for domestic use and electricity generation have already given it a significant political foothold.

Russians also represent a huge growth in tourism for Greece who are also buying up holiday property. In some tourist areas English has been demoted to third place on menus and shop signs.

Angela Merkel
Germany’s motives have much in common with the Eurogroup’s, but Angela must play to the home audience. Germany is running a sizable surplus due to its reluctance to take advantage of cheaper than cash credit which is available to it and the austerity measures it has been imposing on its own people, which it systematically blames on Eurozone slackers like Greece. Bending to Greece would be a domestic disaster for Merkel. While a short-term fall in the Euro could hurt but foreign currency holdings and cheap exports would buffer the blow and she would be seen as a saviour.

The Euro is significantly undervalued compared to the German economy. It is the only economy that could withdraw from the Euro with money in the bank but a return to the Deutsche Mark would mean more expensive German exports and it would go back to being another European nation rather than the epicentre of an EU empire.
If Greece were to be cut loose this would mean a constriction of the European borders especially in a very strategic area of the Mediterranean.

We forget though, there is a new wave of Eurozone candidate nations in the wings including Iceland, Albania, Montenegro and Turkey. Turkey gives access to the Med and the middle east, Albania and Montenegro who give access to the Ionian across from Italy and who along with Serbia and Macedonia go to bridging the northern members to Bulgaria and ultimately Turkey and beyond.

These candidates may be seen as more manageable than Greece and not to mention, a Greek withdrawal would make Macedonia and Turkey’s integration easier.

So who is in the driving seat then?

Well, Merkel does seem to have the most options.

Tsipras is between a rock and several hard-places. Threats have been thrown of everything from Russia to opening the roads for Islamist extremists but ultimately his hand is bluff. Varoufakis’ and his post-election European road trip found few allies. His only option may be to steer into Russian and Chinese ploughed fields.

Dijsselbloem represents the auto pilot, his role is the result of programming. He can only prepare for the fallout.

And all the while the bond markets are licking their lips with glee, fail or fly the euro will make many hedge funds even more obscenely rich.

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Monday, 30 March 2015

Go Greek for a Week

The Greek tragedy that is being played out like a car-crash reality show that gets recommissioned for a new series every time we think it is coming to the final episode. Like any of you who stuck with ‘LOST’ until the climax, the story just lost any semblance of reason. The Greek narrative is becoming so convoluted and discombobulating that it is difficult to make any sense of it. Are the Greeks the lazy feckless moustache twirlers who siesta’d away over 300 billion Euros or is it the insensitive megalomaniac Germans, hell bent on annexing their neighbours… again. Is Varoufakis an economics rock star Yoda or a naive idealist who still believes he can have his souvlaki and eat it and is Greece’s claim to WWII reparations that could effectively wipe the slate clean valid or simply risible. The fact is that all of this has clouded the real issues. For the simple answer I urge you to look no farther than yourself, your neighbours and your family.

For anyone following the will-they-won’t-they Grexit saga that is being played out in the media, you will notice that the story invariably falls into the language of bond yields and bank solvency. The macroeconomics of the situation are both baffling and contradictory. The Greek government was loaned more money than they could repay under the guise of a stable Eurozone member. Then, woken by the shock waves of the same crash that brought down some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, the markets began to panic causing a world recession which tipped Greece, among others, into a downward spiral. Greece is now locked out of the world finance markets beholden to the TROIKA for its life blood. The money needs to be borrowed in order to pay the loans that have stacked up and not to repay the loans but just the interest. So, more than two thirds of the bailout money is going straight back to the banks. But, it still holds a responsibility to its pensioners, unemployed and the people who earn a living working for the state.

The EU have attached certain conditions to these loans, the so called austerity measures, imagine the credit card company coming into your home and telling you what you can and can not spend your money on, imagine the bank telling you that in order to keep your overdraft facility you will have to sell your delivery van and service your customers with a bicycle then punish you for your business going down the tubes.

I’m sorry, it is really difficult to talk about the Greek crisis without getting bogged down in the big picture, because it is so big and there is a reason for that. I did ask you to look to yourself for the answer and I will make good on that.

What did you do to create the property boom? Maybe you bid a little too high on the home you dreamed of, maybe you were a little creative with your mortgage application.

What did you do to cause the decline of the health service, did you worry too much about that lump, did you have an accident in your car, did you get into a fight.

What did you do to cause the downturn in industry that forced companies to move production to Asia, did you need too much to pay you rent/mortgage, did you pull a few sickies, did you spend a bit too much time on facebook.

What did you do to cause the credit crunch, did you fail to resist the sales, did you get tired of your old banger and borrow to get your family around in something cleaner and safer.

You will surely answer yes to many of these questions and more I could ask, so are you deserving of a country that has 25% of its workforce unemployed. A tax system that changes so unpredictably that businesses cannot plan or develop. Or as has recently started, main roads and high streets with the lights out at night because the council can’t pay the bills. No, of course you are not.

In 2011, channel 4 invited audiences to ‘Go Greek for a week’, they laid the blame for Greece's woes quite firmly on the population. This is a message that they intended you to internalise, to make you look to your own culpability in your nation’s flaws. There was some truth in the examples given but it did miss the point. The same point that is missed every time the media bang on about bond market yields and currency markets and GDP. The system manages the country not the other way round, the people took advantage of what was on offer, as you do. Government exists to manage a nation, bond markets exist to help finance these nations and the businesses that rely on the nation’s workforce and infrastructure to make profit. These same businesses and industries rely on the same population to consume their products and services.

The markets, industries, banks and governments exist because of the people, not the other way round. The EU and government’s sycophancy towards narcissistic markets has caused the problem, not you.

The markets are everything that Greece and all the other failing nations are accused of. They are fickle and myopic, they grab all they covet, they do not build civilisations, they do not nurture their own. They liquidate all they touch.

I would, once again, ask you to ‘Go Greek for a week’. Look at what is being allowed to happen to the people you met on holiday and whether you be British, French, German or anyone who feels above their plight to look around and see that you may not be the next Greece but that your time is coming.

The banks are so often described as ‘Too big to fail’ but surely this is a description that should only apply to nations of people.

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Europe needs councelling

I've been living in and writing about Greece for over 15 years This is my ride

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Investment tip: Go long on Jackboots

The clock is ticking for Greece, a new tranche of bailouts has been agreed on the caveat that Alexis Tsipras’ reforms are up to scratch, not something he managed last time. When the money runs out the banks will implode and Greece will default and fall out of Merkel's merry little club and start printing drachma, right? Wrong. My investment tip is go long on jackboots because there are groups in the sidelines rubbing their hands together for a chance to begin their own ‘Project Mayhem’. A wave is coming and it smells of smoke.

Greece's new government will be successful just so long as it can maintain some stability. At the moment, the people are behind them in sufficient numbers, 47% according to a recent Metro analysis poll (but since when have polls been bankable), because they are trying to stand their ground against the austerity measures that have brought the country economically and socially to its knees. But if Varoufakis’ game theory ultimately turns out to be Candy Crush vs Eurogroup’s World of Warcraft, things will change and fast.

The country’s neo-nazi group, Golden Dawn has had its head a little low of late. Its leaders have been in prison and it has fallen back a little in the polls but that does not mean their support has waned. The thing with single policy groups is that they always attract floaters who will align with whoever satisfies that need at that time. The need at the moment is HOPE and Syriza is selling it by the bushel. But, If their ring turns brass, as is inevitably will, the need will be ANGER and for that the far-right is one-stop shopping.

In Germany, the war of words between the Greeks and the Germans has stoked the fires of xenophobia. The German government has been running a surplus which has called for a its own brand of austerity. Wages have not been keeping up with inflation and many are feeling the pinch. The obvious cause of this turn of fortunes is the lazy Mediterraneans and the French who have not been pulling their weight. Many Germans are tired of bailing out the rest of Europe and neo-nazi groups have gained ground.

Nigel Farage’s Ukip seem to be talking to the people despite the derision in the media, they are saying something the people need to hear. The ‘squeeze on the middle’ has made the middle-classes less affluent in real terms and house prices are taking a huge chunk from their incomes. At the lower end, eastern Europeans are believed to be taking unskilled and semi-skilled positions driving wages down to a point where the minimum wage is a standard not a safety net.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s Front National took 25% of the votes in the recent local elections. This is largely due to the Charlie Hebdo and related attacks as well as the struggling economy. The people are looking for action not words, they don’t feel safe and could easily fall into getting more protection than they bargained for.

The right-wing Sweden Democrats have been maintaining a steady presence and are now the third party with 13% of the vote.

So why the comment at the beginning of this article about ‘going long’ on jackboots.

It seems that the current obsession with finance and economics, the bond markets, going long, going short, currency markets and yields has detracted for the reason for their existence. Adam Smith, the grandfather of capitalism in his 1776 seminal work “The Wealth of Nations” focuses on the people, population’s role in wealth and prosperity. Marx built his thesis around the needs of the people vs the aims of industry, JM Keynes with JF Roosevelt built a ‘New Deal’ that focused on putting liquidity into the market (shops and industry) through the workers’ pockets and even Milton Friedman recognised the fundamental role of the population.

‘The markets’ have become narcissistic in their Hubris, a self-serving Matrix with the right to all and responsibility to none. But, worse of all, we and especially the world’s leaders are buying into it. The Banks must be firewalled at all cost and market value is the only value. Our young entrepreneurs are told to seek out venture capitalists, Dragons den and Shark tanks. Work, build and form an exit strategy. Investment is the only real goal. The markets are betting on the Eurozone’s demise and in the bond markets they are trading sovereignty futures.The system is no longer serving anyone but the system.

And, while the world is looking the wrong way, certain groups are flourishing in the peripheral vision. Building networks, brewing hate and offering solutions.

It is often said that Europe sleepwalked into WWI but we couldn’t make that mistake again, after all, we all learned from the past mistakes, didn’t we. Could it be said in the future that we were not asleep just blindsided by the markets and the pursuit of a unified European trading platform.

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Friday, 20 March 2015

What will Greece do after the GREXIT

Last night Alexis Tsipras entered talks with Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and select members of the Eurogroup for yet more discussion on what is essentially how to do what fewer and fewer people want and what more and more fear; keeping Greece in the Eurozone. The result wasn't much different to the previous summits; we'll wire the money if you play ball. Tsipras has not played ball and it seems just a matter of time before one side or the other calls time on this game of ping pong. So what will Greece do after this push/jump scenario plays its logical conclusion.
Eurozone tug o' war
Game Theory: Candy Crush vs World of Warcraft
In a recent interview with Costas Lapavistsa, Economist at London's SOAS and Syriza MP he said they were 'Flogging a dead horse'  he added that Syrizas' strategy had come to an end and it was time to negotiate an amicable departure from the Eurozone. Indeed, after a huge show of strength by Tsipras and Varoufakis it seems that Yanis' famous game theory has been but Candy Crush to the Eurogroup's World of Warcraft. The question on everyone's lips now is what will the bankrupt nation do after default or a negotiated withdrawal from the single currency system. The one would leave Greece with cleared debt but no line of credit with international financiers, the other with a huge debt hanging but maybe some line of credit. Recent example of these scenarios being played out are Argentina and Iceland, two quite different cultures that resulted in very different outcomes.
Yanis Varoufakis, Greek finmin and self proclaimed Erratic Marxist subscribes to the theory of growth through massive public investment, the Keynesian approach to economic development. This is the same strategy that brought the US's New Deal which many believe brought the country out of the Great Depression in the 1930s under Roosevelt. But this was a programme implemented by a country with huge resources in a time very different from now, when people's expectations from the state were almost non-existent. We now live in a world of state benefits, healthcare and education, undeniably progress but also costly. Varoufakis believed that this strategy could be successful from within the Eurozone but it is obvious that this is not compatible with the Eurozone's strategy. In fact, Germany has been tightening its purse strings with its own people. Their idea of a New Deal is Quantitative Easing (QE), pumping money into the top and preying that it will reach somebody grateful. The Keynesian approach is to pump money into projects that put money in the public's pocket so they will share it with each other and industry.
The common misconception with Keynesian capitalism is that it is a spendfest. The Greek government is historically bad at making free with capital. Tsipras has already committed to re-bloating the public sector and while this may put a few more Euros (or Drachma) on the high street it will do little to stimulate industry or entrepreneurial activity. On the contrary, a more populous public sector tends to increase bureaucracy to keep the bodies busy. This has traditionally been Greece's major obstacle for foreign investors as well as local entrepreneurs.
So, where could the money, if there were any, be spent to get the country's economy moving.
AGRICULTURE: Investment in farming could boost the economy, there are few places as fertile and the quality of its produce is world-class. But, the industry will need to change fundamental attitudes. This has already begun but years of unrealistic state compensations have made it more viable for many producers to be less competitive. A turnaround in approach with higher productivity could well save the country’s ailing fortunes. Farming has traditionally been viewed as peasantry but food technology is a growing and the world needs food, not just from mass consumption but also premium quality, something that Greece could do very well at.
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Greece has more than twice the sun-hours per year than the UK. While there has been huge investment in solar farms in recent years, changes in policy and the national electricity company reneging on contracts has made this area much less attractive. Farming and domestic waste could also be a good source of fuel for anaerobic digestion plants that may not be an export but they would take the pressure off imports of oil and gas from Russia.
MINERAL RESERVES: Greece has untapped reserves of gold, rare-earth metals while speculation of oil and gas reserves have yet to be fully explored. The exploitation of these may be another way forward but this must be approached cautiously as there is a lot of resistance from groups that maintain that the ecological impact could damage tourism, Greece’s major income. It must also be ensured that profits find their way into the Greek coffers and not Swiss banks.
NEW TECHNOLOGY: Greece has one of the highest levels university graduates in Europe and a thriving entrepreneurial community but the lack of jobs and funding has caused a huge haemorrhage of graduates and young entrepreneurs abroad. Their startups ultimately contributing to the GDP of other countries, their skills acquired and paid for by Greece, working for foreign interests. This trend needs to be reversed with support, funding and stripped-down bureaucracy for new ventures.

And don't forget: Greece is a fabulous winter destination with history, clement climate and even skiing. Visit this site for ideas
It is painfully obvious that the Euro has failed on so many levels but mostly it has failed the people it was supposed to serve, the European citizens. Instead of unifying a continent it has bred mistrust and acrimony.
The Greek exit will be traumatic, as will be the exit of other members. But, it is good management that will make the difference. Iceland made a quick turnaround but Argentina continues to suffer and I fear that Greece has more in common with the latter.
I believe that the Keynesian approach is the way forward, Hayak/Friedman's free market neo-liberalism has already devastated many nations at a social level (let's forget the markets for one moment). Good management is the key, funding needs to find its way to stimulation of GDP not the deficit.

Follow me on Twitter @acropof and like me on facebook you won't regret it for long!

From Under Dark Clouds

The Century of DIY


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Real Estate Agent - Jameson Sotheby's International Realty
© 2008-2020 Alan May, World Rights Reserved. Evanston Real Estate, North Shore Real Estate
Not your father's basement panelling.Oh, wait... yes it is!  This is exactly what we saw in homes of our region, in the panelled basements.  It was often mistakenly called knotty pine, or wormwood, ... but it's actually a rarer commodity called Pecky Cypress.I found this sample in the basement o...
Allright.  Enough complaining about accessiblity?Here's a little bit of fun to start your day.Enjoy, I know I did.
We've been spoiled.  For the most part Active Rain has functioned fairly well for years, with the exception of the occasional glitch.Recently we suffered a serious crash, which to this date still hasn't been resolved.  People are up in arms, some complaining bitterly on the Q&A section seeking re...
I have lost 44 pairs of posts, wrote them out by designI have written and posted 2 dozen comments, Well before the clock struck nineI read that tub of lard's post about dual agencyThrew up in a bucket, went shopping and kicked him in the can.Cause my points have gone missin'... M-I-S-S-I-N, I'll ...
I think that we can all agree that in most cases (not all), we real estate agents are fairly well compensated for the service we provide.Part of our services to our listing clients includes marketing the property to the best of our ability.This photo is an image from our MLS.  It is one of 22 pho...
I don't expect that my listings will suit every viewer.  Sometimes they'll walk in and know immediately that it just doesn't work for them.  Sometimes they need to inspect every inch of the property, and then ruminate for a couple of hours, or days before they know.I recently accompanied a showin...
Yesterday a wedding took place amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.  It took place in Cleveland, Ohio outdoors (you know... social distancing?) in clothes-drenching heat and humidity.The bride was beautiful (she's my daughter... fortunately she gets her looks from her mother... phew!) the groom was even...
And now, a moment, or two, of calm and enjoyment, in the midst of chaos. Bolero.I hope you enjoyed it. I know that I did.
The question was recently asked whether you should bring your political slant (and let's admit, shall we, that everyone has one) to your Facebook posts, knowing in fairly strong certainty, that anyone reading your posts can easily figure out that you are a real estate practitioner... and your opi...
On the phone with a medical professional today, giving her my sister's email.  I said "It's a long one, okay... are you ready?"   She said she was... in the middle of this long string of characters, I told her, included a hyphen.   So, i explained similar to "Alans sister at Jameson hyphen sotheb...

Alan May

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Bitcoin 'HODLing:' Right way to maximize profits? - AMBCrypto

in hive-116221 •  2 months ago

With every passing day, the hodling narrative for Bitcoin is picking up more and more traction in the space. The present sentiment started right after the crash in March, but according to recent statistics from Glassnode, it has gone on to touch new heights in terms of crypto-asset accumulation.

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We are a team of creative experts, and we've worked hard to hone our craft.

About Us

We have learned that in order to execute superior work, we have to pair passion with purpose and stay committed to utilizing the best technologies available.

From digital marketing to web and print design, we have a passion for technology and are committed to growing your business. We know that earning your trust is important because there are plenty of people who do what we do–but not everyone can do it how we do.

We push the envelope–constantly engaging with the newest technology and staying in line with what’s trending in marketing, social media, and design.

Our team knows what works.

Let’s make something AMAZING together.


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leaking flat roof repair builders york builder ryedale

Leaking Flat Roof Repair

Spring is finally here and we are thankful for some decent weather for our outside projects. The incessant rain has caused all manner of problems for householders and we’ve been busy repairing leaking roofs, repointing chimneys and replacing guttering and downpipes.

Next week we replace a badly leaking flat roof with a new rubber roof which will solve the problem once and for all. Because the flat roof has been leaking for a long time we will need to put in new rafters and ply before the rubber roof goes on.

If you have flat roof problems give us a call to discuss some options. The benefits of a rubber roof are no leaks, no joins and low/no maintenance. A rubber roof will also last much longer than a traditional felt roof.

News | Comments Off on Leaking Flat Roof Repair, Old Byland

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What Henry James Taught Me about Writing Suspense

If you’ve read any works by Henry James, American-born British author (1843-1916), great suspense probably isn’t the first thought that leaps to your mind. Consider the all-important first sentence of his famous novella The Turn of the Screw.

The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child.

That’s sixty-two words in the first sentence alone. By today’s standards, such writing is “wordy” at best and “frankly hard to read” at worst. But writing styles come and go just like the bell-bottoms of the seventies, and during James’s day, this was cutting-edge stuff. Perhaps the economical writing so popular today has lost its sparkle and dumbed down what otherwise might be great literature. A discussion for another time.

I don’t intend to bash Henry James’s writing style but to point out a writing technique he reinforced in my recent exploration of his famous (and heavily debated) story The Turn of the Screw. Actually, I listened to it and read it at the same time, and the vocal skills of Richard Armitage and Emma Thompson via audiobook made the journey even more enjoyable.

While the tale mesmerized me for several reasons, something I particularly noticed buttressed my belief in writing advice I’ve heard repeated for years. Namely what I’m referring to is the importance of ending fictional chapters with dramatic hooks. The easiest example comes from any Hardy Boys novel I read when I was a kid. Consider the ending of chapter 3 from Danger on Vampire Trail (grabbed randomly from my bookshelf):

All four boys dozed off quickly and slept soundly until the middle of the night when a mysterious thumping on the roof awakened them. Joe whispered, “Frank, do you hear that?”

The wind had risen and whistled through the trees. Again came the thump, thump.

Sherlock began to whimper, and Biff tried to quiet him.

Suddenly Chet let out a cry of terror!

The next chapter, of course, begins where the last chapter ended. Now that’s not great literature, but you see my point.

What does this Hardy Boys novel have to do with The Turn of the Screw? Not much except chapter-ending hooks, traditional cliffhangers, appear in this famous novella too. James knew how to write suspense. But before I give two examples, let me tell you a little more about the story. This novella is about a governess who agrees to look after two children, Flora and Miles, at an estate in Essex and sees a strange man lurking on the grounds. One day the man stares at her through the dining room window, startling her. Through a conversation with the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, she learns the stranger is Peter Quint, a former valet and an unsavory character. But there’s more. Don’t miss the dramatic hook, actually the epiphany, at the end of chapter 5.

“And what became of him [Peter Quint]?”

[Mrs. Grose] hung fire so long that I was still more mystified. “He went, too,” she brought out at last.

“Went where?”

Her expression, at this, became extraordinary. “God knows where! He died.”

“Died?” I almost shrieked.

She seemed fairly to square herself, plant herself more firmly to utter the wonder of it. “Yes. Mr. Quint is dead.”

This revelation, of course, is what immediately turns the novella into the famous ghost story. The governess sees dead people.

James used the technique again at the end of chapter 10. The governess believes Peter Quint’s ghost is trying to corrupt little Miles, and she begins watching the boy’s movements. One night she sees a figure on the grounds through a window.

The moon made the night extraordinarily penetrable and showed me on the lawn a person, diminished by distance, who stood there motionless and as if fascinated, looking up to where I had appeared—looking, that is, not so much straight at me as at something that was apparently above me. There was clearly another person above me—there was a person on the tower; but the presence on the lawn was not in the least what I had conceived and had confidently hurried to meet. The presence on the lawn—I felt sick as I made it out—was poor little Miles himself.

Why was Miles out of his bed and wandering around the grounds at night? What was he looking at above the governess? Do you dare stop reading? Oh, the stuff of great suspense.

Of course, the best chapter ending of all is the novella’s famous conclusion, but I’ll leave that for you to explore. In 1898, authors knew how to weave suspense into their stories and leave hooks at chapter endings. I’d seen this technique as a boy while reading Hardy Boys books, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the same technique used in this example of classic literature. Perhaps there are more examples out there than I realize, just waiting to surprise me. Time to do more exploring. Stay tuned.

What about you? Have you seen other examples of powerful suspense technique in great literature? If so, where? Feel free to sound off.

2 thoughts on “What Henry James Taught Me about Writing Suspense

  1. Barbara H.

    Somehow I’ve never read Henry James, but I have heard of this story. I do enjoy those hooks that keep me wanting to turn pages. I can’t think of any off the top of my head except one I just read in Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Read: “She had little time to miss him, however, for, at the end of the week, and in accordance with immemorial custom, the Unexpected happened.” These days it would probably be better to hint at what the unexpected thing was rather than just say something unexpected came up. This struck me as almost funny, which I am sure is not what the author had in mind. 🙂

  2. Adam Blumer Post author

    Thank you, Barbara. I’ve tried some other Henry James, and let me just say that Turn of the Screw is probably shorter and lighter compared to many of his other stories and novels. Some of it (Portrait of a Lady, for example) takes some real work to get through. Unless there’s some sort of suspenseful element to the plot, I probably wouldn’t venture into it. Yes, I saw your review of Lavender and Old Lace. Some very good thoughts there. Thanks.

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Sinhala Wadan Photo Download

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Sinhala Wadan Photo Download

Do you like to uplift your mind and soul by some inspirational stories? Or do you want to change someone’s day completely by some inspirational quotes? And are you looking them in Sinhala language? If so you are in right place. Check out our Sinhala Wadan Photo Download collection to read meaningful and inspirational Sinhala quotes.

Do you know that reading and listening to inspirational quotes is an amazing experience? Yes, it does. So it’s time to read and enjoy Sinhala Wadan Photo Download. Here you can find your favourite adara wadan in sinhala and download them free. And we hope that they will touch your hearts and minds.

Sinhala Wadan Photo Download – More

Someone may think that reading Sinhala Wadan is just wasting time. But if you’ll go through some meaningful quotes, you can experience that thoughts personally. Actually the good quotes can inspire steps that would otherwise remain untaken and stir new perspectives on life and possibilities. From our Sinhala Wadan Photo Download. You can find many inspirationz through something small on a large scale.

Not only that, but also you can find many Sinhala Wadan of inspiration, motivation and insightful quotes. From this collection, you can see the culture of Sri Lankans, the rituals and habits of them, varieties in thinking styles of Sri Lankans, social classes and behavioural patterns and so on. Rather than reading foreign quotes, this will really touch your soul as these quotes origin from Sri Lankans. And don’t stop by just reading these Sinhala Wadan Photo download. Try to share them with your colleagues. Then you can promote good values within you or among your friends. And you can share the positive values you live by are worth more when you pass them on. Stay tuned with us to have more uplifting messages in Sinhala language.


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Outside.In Gets $7 Mil; AdMeld Optimizing Mobile Display; FTC Roundtable Sparks Discussion, Fun

Here's today's AdExchanger.com news round-up... Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Outside.InOutside.In VC Pockets

Neighborhood news/blog aggregator Outside.In announced that it rang the register with a $7 million round of financing with investors that include CNN, Union Square Ventures and Betaworks . As newspapers struggle to find a solution to drive revenue, local news solutions have been a much-discussed topic. Read more from the WSJ or ReadWriteWeb.

Real-Time Search

Google announced its getting more "real-time" than ever before as it adds FriendFeed, Twitter and blog posts that have just posted to its search engine result pages (SERPs). Whenever you see "Latest Results" in the SERP, it's the latest relevant news from real-time sources for a keyword phrase. Read more on the Google blog. Rob Hof covers the real-time unveiling.

AdMeld On Mobile Display

Yield optimizer AdMeld said in a release yesterday that it would begin optimizing mobile ad inventory along with standard (PC) display: "Currently undergoing beta testing, the combined product will be available to select AdMeld customers in Q1 of 2010." Read the release.

Triggit Reflects And Predicts

On the Triggit blog, CEO Zach Coelius provides his recap of the year beginning with RTB and demand-side platforms and ending with a list of predictions for 2010 including, "Once Google makes all of AdSense available to RTB (and it is pretty close now) the media buying world is going to change very quickly." Read more.

Rubicon Project UK Data

Good news for UK publishers according to Farney Media and recent data from Rubicon Project. Farney Media writes that in a recently commissioned study, Rubicon Project found that 61% of publishers said pricing remained steady compared to a year ago and 22% even admitted an uptick in rate card prices. Read more on Farney Media.

KBSP Gets Ex-Fish

Ad Age reports that Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners has hired ex-Razorfish chief creative, Marc Lucas, to become its chief creative officer as Richard Kirshenbaum steps back from the help of the mother ship. Lucas will be in charge of all "integrated creative work" for KBSP shops Media Kitchen, Dotglu and Lime PR and Promotions. Read more.

The Start-Up Stretch

Jill Gambon of Mass High Tech writes about how startups have learned to stretch every dollar during the recent recession. "To preserve cash, some startups are contracting out software or web development work, rather than hiring employees." No mention of ping tables being cut from the budget, though. Read more.

Privacy Is For The Naughty

Google CEO Eric Schmidt delivered a solid gold quote when he told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo in a December 3 interview that in regards to safeguarding privacy, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." Take that! (HuffPo)

Better Advertising

It was Privacy Monday yesterday! Turn CTO Xuhui Shao announced that Turn has joined a consortium of agencies to create a privacy monitoring tool and establish trust with consumers (and more importantly, government officials) about behavioral targeting in online advertising. Visit the Turn blog. And, www.betteradvertising.com.

New Yahoo! Opt-Out

The new "Ad Interests Manager" from Yahoo! was released yesterday allowing users to opt-out of tracking for Yahoo!'s behavioral advertising purposes. On the site there is a complete list of interest categories in which users get bucketed. Among them, "Automotive > Wagon and Crossover" - a category I would not be caught dead in. Vist the Ad Interests Manager. Or, read the release.

Washington Watch

In Washington, another FTC privacy roundtable was held that included Simulmedia's Dave Morgan according to his Twitter feed. Morgan tweeted, "FTC chair Leibowitz likens Internet privacy issues to those Justice Brandeis had [with] intro of cameras." Visit FTC.gov's privacy roundtable page. Read about yesterday's event from MediaPost.

Beacon Meets Judge Wapner

Litigation alleging wrongdoing by Facebook for its implementation of Beacon is at the heart of this austerely-designed site. The home page says it all, "Beacon was designed to allow users to share information with their selected friends about actions taken on affiliated, but third- party, websites. The Plaintiffs in this lawsuit are claiming that they did not receive adequate notice and/or choice..." Someone should have called for godsakes! Read more.

BlueKai In-Market Reports

MediiaPost's Gavin O'Malley reports on BlueKai's new In-Market Reports which can help advertisers find scalable, targetable audiences through data segments on the BlueKai Exchange according to BlueKai's CEO Omar Tawakol. Read more.

Are You An MBA 2009?

Well maybe you should be. Everybody's an MBA as Paul Kedrosky notes that more than any other year this decade, people remain interested in becoming masters of business administration. See the graph.

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How can the firmware for the Delsys Trigno hardware be updated?

If you are experiencing persistent "USB connection" errors, the firmware of your Delsys Trigno hardware may need to be updated.

To accomplish this, ensure all Delsys equipment (Trigno base station and sensors) is fully charged, powered on, and connected to the computer.  Next, run the "Delsys Software Update" tool to check for firmware updates. The tool can be downloaded HERE. This application will likely trigger Windows' security measures. You may see a message like "Windows SmartScreen prevented and unrecognised app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk." Select Run Anyway. The Update tool will advise you on which components require updating. All sensors need to be updated individually, follow the on screen instruction in regards to powering off cycles. At the end of the process, run the Update application again to confirm all components were updated.

Additionally, we recommend using the latest release version of the Trigno Control Utility. The Utility is distributed as part of the EMGworks software package and the installer for the latest version can be downloaded HERE.  The installer program will automatically run after clicking this link.  When using the Trigno Hardware with ADInstruments' LabChart Software, select to include Delsys Hardware Support only. By default, Delsys Software support will also be installed (which will put software on your computer that you won't need).

If you experience any issues during this update process, please contact your local ADInstruments Technical Support.


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Between Time and Space

In this series of Theatre of the Absurd playlets, abstractions such as language, time, and existence itself are provoked from our subconscious to (quite literally) the spotlight. "Between Time and Space" serves to question the mundane and reconsider banality. Though isolated in scenario, each playlet is connected through the notion of “perhaps”: what actually occurs is at the behest of the viewer.

Originally produced in Playground XV: A Festival of Student Work at Carnegie Mellon University.

Co-Directors - Adira Rosen and Cameron King
Playwright - Parker Felterman
Stage Manager - Shahzad Kahn
Assistant Stage Manager - Emma Patterson

Dramaturg - Emma Cordray
Lighting Designer - Cooper Nickels, Hannah Kerman

Sound Designer - Sydney Asselin

Costume Designer - Annabel Shuckhart

Technical Assistant - Binh-Ahn Nguyen

Photos by Playground XV Photographers

December 2017

© 2019 by Adira Rosen

Between Time and Space


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Quick Roof Extreme RV Roof Repair 4" x 6' White

About this product...
  • Quick Roof Extreme RV Roof Repair 4\" x 6\' WhiteShipping Cost
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Manufacturer's Number: UBE406
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Instantly stops leaks and permanently repairs EPDM, TPO, metal, fiberglass, vinyl, wood, OSB, PVC and most other roof materials. Works on aged and rigid PVC. Also repairs vents, skylights, slide-outs, windows, awnings, holding tanks, tents and more. Bright White.
WARNING: This product may contain one or more chemicals known in the State of California to cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov


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Anderson Erickson Family Favorite Recipes

Our delicious recipes are made with the goodness of AE Dairy products, and treasured by our family. Over the years we have enjoyed sharing our recipes and love hearing how theyʼve become favorites for so many other families. We hope your family enjoys these recipes as much as we do!

  • Garden Quiche with Candied Tomato Salsa
    Creamy AE Cottage Cheese adds protein to this vegetable-packed quiche, and the fresh flavor of the tomato salsa is a must!
  • Blintzes with Triple Berry Sauce
    A savory-sweet combo that protein rich.
  • Cottage Pear Bruschetta
    A savory and sweet take on Bruschetta made with AE Cottage Cheese that's perfect for breakfast or a quick snack.
  • Vegetable and Black Bean Quesadillas
    AE Hot Jalapeño Mexican Style Dip gives these cheesy vegetable quesadillas a spicy kick that sets them apart. Use whatever veggies you have on hand to make this tasty meal or snack.
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothies
    Chocolate, peanut butter and bananas – the perfect trio for an a.m. refuel or late night snack.
  • Hot Fudge Sauce
    The perfect ice cream topper, AE Whipping Cream + 4 ingredients = delicious & easy Hot Fudge.
  • Cocoa Banana S'Mores
    Thick, creamy AE Cocoa Hazelnut Whole Milk Yogurt pairs with bananas and chocolate for a scrumptious variation of this graham cracker treat. They'll be asking for S'More.
  • Chocolate Pepsi Bars
    The AE Buttermilk combined with Pepsi's carbonation give this cross between a brownie and chocolate cake delicious moistness.
  • Blueberry Muffins
    Fresh orange peel adds a layer of flavor to these moist muffins studded with blueberries.
  • Berry Banana Smoothies
    Citrus and berry combine for a quick and tasty breakfast that provides a healthy serving of protein too.
  • “Forgotten” Dessert
    Adapted from a 1950's church cookbook, this light and sweet dessert is perfect to showcase fresh summer berries and as a special treat at the holidays.
  • Vanilla Ice Cream
    Homemade vanilla ice cream is now just a few simple steps away with AE’s Sara Ann’s Vanilla Ice Cream Base. Bring on summer!
  • Bing Cherry Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce
    A frozen version of cherries dipped in chocolate.
  • Tomato Pesto Egg Baguette Boats
    Pizza for breakfast? Yes! This new take on an egg bake fills French bread with the classic Italian flavors of tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and creamy AE Cottage Cheese.
  • Buttermilk Fried Chicken
    The perfect trifecta that balances flavor and moistness in a crisp coating.
  • Whole Milk Yogurt Panna Cotta with Honey-Poached Peaches & Almonds
    This twist on an Italian favorite starts with AE Whole Milk Yogurt.
  • Sour Cream Brownies
    These fudgy brownies with a touch of AE Sour Cream are the ultimate chocolate rush!
  • Tomato Cottage Cheese Tart
    The flavors of fresh tomatoes and basil combine with creamy cottage cheese for this mouthwatering dish.
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Porcelain Veneer Services in San Francisco

Are you looking for porcelain or dental veneers in San Francisco? Dr. Peter Rabanus, one of only 350 dentists in the United States who have qualified for accredited member status in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, has created several platform to help you make an educated choice when it comes to your own smile makeover or cosmetic dentistry Dr. Rabanus considers it his community service to help you understand the sometimes difficult aspects of oral function, smile design, and the science of porcelain veneers.

Dr. Rabanus is not just a cosmetic dentist. He enjoys changing people's lives rejuvenating their smiles with porcelain veneers, by rebuilding worn teeth using the principles of oral rehabilitation, and by eliminating tetracycline-stained teeth with various cosmetic dental procedures.

Feel free to contact Dr. Rabanus directly if you have any particular questions about your smile or aesthetic shortcomings of your teeth. He will gladly answer any question you may have by contacting him at peter.rabanus@gmail.com.

You can also call 415-999-6194 to communicate with Dr. Rabanus directly. If you prefer to leave a message to be called back, you can call our toll-free number 1-877-SMILINE, or visit our Facebook Page, which offers you the option to share your concerns with others who are interested in cosmetic dentistry.

It is important that you understand every aspect of what is available to you and how teeth and smiles are evaluated by the cosmetic dental specialist as well as your friends and acquaintances. Take your time. Study as much as you can. The internet is full of literature and information that discusses cosmetic dentistry and porcelain veneers. Throughout this website you will find references to scientific publications that will help you get a reality on the parameters that contribute to dental health, longevity of dental restorations, and the way a new smile interacts with your own particular oral function.


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Musicovid – An International Research Network

News and Events  |  Ongoing Studies and Surveys  |  About this Network

Niels Chr. Hansen (Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies & Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University, Denmark)
Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M., Germany)

A global and interdisciplinary network of researchers and musicians has formed to support and facilitate research across the globe on the role of music during the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing opportunities for:

  • Knowledge sharing
  • Collaboration (across disciplines, cultures, and physical distance)
  • Grant funding

If you are planning or already engaged in research related to music and COVID-19 and want to be a part of the network, please send the signed

Registration Form

to  (Subject line: Registration Network)

News and Events

#MUSICOVID network: New name, new email address, and new hashtag!

Network name: MUSICOVID –An international research network on the role of music during the covid-19 pandemic

Hashtag: Please use #MUSICOVID whenever you talk about topics with relevance for music during the COVID-19 pandemic, including our network activities
Email address:

Virtual Get-Togethers on May 19

At these initial events, research ideas and preliminary results were exchanged and discussed between appr. 250 network members. We will now plan the structure of a related conference and an edited volume or special issue.

Program – Presentations

  1. Alexandra Lamont (Keele University):
    DIY Desert Island Discs: Building Collaborations and Taking Studies Online Under Lockdown
  2. Dana Swarbrick (University of Oslo):
    Quarantine Concerts: The Social Impacts of Virtual Concerts on Audience Members
  3. Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics):
    Musicking Against Loneliness and Depression: Preliminary Results From a Cross-National Survey
  4. Mikaela Leandertz/Andrew Danso Adu (University of Jyväskylä):
    Music Therapy & COVID-19: The Pandemic’s Impact on Music Therapists’ Professional Practice, Use of Virtual Therapy Environments, and Perception of Professional Identity
  5. Kelsey Onderdijk (Ghent University):
    Impact of Lockdown Measures on Joint Music Making: Playing Online and Physically Together
  6. Niels Chr. Hansen (Aarhus University):
    Musical Escapisms and A Crowd-Sourced Database of #Coronamusic
  7. Bavo van Kerrebroeck (Ghent University):
    A Breathing Musical Sonification System for Health & Well-Being
  8. Will M. Randall (University of Jyväskylä):
    Emotional Outcomes of Music Listening in Isolation: A Mobile Experience Sampling Study
  9. Jane Davidson/Trisna Fraser/Alexander Crooke (Melbourne University):
    Music Across the Balconies: A Site for Sharing and Exchange
  10. Eric Larrieux/Sascha Jösler/Eric Lemmon (Zurich University of the Arts):
    Sonification during the COVID-19 Pandemic as Music and Representation
  11. Ruth Müller-Lindenberg (Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien)/Steffen Lepa (Technische Universität Berlin):
    Streaming Berlin Opera in Times of Corona: Institutions, Performance, Reception
  12. Remi Chiu (Loyola University Maryland):
    Music and Pandemics: Possible Lessons from the Plague and COVID-19
  13. Psyche Loui (Northeastern University):
    Boston Hope: A Data-Driven Perspective for Music Making for Recovering COVID-19 Patients
  14. Lea Hagmann (University of Bern):
    ChorOnline: A Transnational Singing Project Fostering Applied Ethnomusicology
  15. Frank Russo/Arla Good (Ryerson University):
    Effects of Group Singing on Social Wellbeing in Older Adults
  16. Gracia M. Gil (University of Burgos):
    Dynamics of Use and Influence of Music During Confinement due to the COVID-19 Crisis in Spain
  17. Heather Sparling (Cape Breton University):
    Comparing COVID-19 Songs and Disaster Songs
  18. Carol Krumhansl/Emily Hurwitz (Cornell University):
    Disrupted Listening Niches: Signature Songs
  19. Pete Stollery (University of Aberdeen):
    Changing Places: A COVID-19 Sound Map
  20. James Deaville (Carleton University):
    Politicizing the Sounds of Quarantine: Music and Sound in Pandemic News Coverage from Wuhan, Tehran and Milan
  21. Amy Belfi (Missouri University of Science and Technology):
    Comparing Aesthetic Responses to Live vs. Recorded Music

Physically Distant #2: more online talks on telematic performance

Tuesday 28 July 2020, 14:00-19:00 CEST

Registration: Free via

Organizers: Gesture Embodiment and Machines in Music research cluster at the School of Music in Piteå, Luleå University of Technology

Contact  for more information

Link to event announcement

Music & Psychology Research Conference: “Virtually Together”

October 9, 2020, 10:00-16:30 AEST

Deadline: August 31, 2020 (200-word abstracts) via

Organizers: Australian Music & Psychology Society

Contact more information

Link to conference call

Preliminary results from Performing Arts Aerosol Study

Initial results of an aerosol study commissioned by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) and more than 125 performing arts organizations have yielded preliminary data and considerations that could help prevent the cancellation of performing arts activities in the future amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Link to preliminary results

Link to more info

Airborne transmission estimator

Researchers at University of Colorado Boulder have developed a risk estimator tool for administrators and band and choir directors who wish to assess the aerosol transmission risk relative to the unique elements of their rehearsal spaces.

Coronavirus Government Response Index

The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) systematically collects information on several common policy responses that governments have taken in response to the pandemic on 17 indicators such as school closures and travel restrictions. It now has data from more than 160 countries and provides a useful resource for #MUSICOVID researchers who, for example, want to relate crisis severity to musical behaviour.

Link to website

Link to working paper

Link to Github

Audience Outlook Monitor Survey

The Audience Outlook Monitor explores how Australian audiences feel about attending events in-person and online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides artists and cultural organisations with a resource to guide decision-making and forward planning with the hope that creative arts can help revitalise our communities.

CfP: Online symposium on “Music, Mediation, and Disability: Representation and Access”

Submissions in multiple formats and from all persons who are engaged in topics related to music, media, and disability in the time after the COVID-19 pandemic are warmly welcomed. This symposium will take place online, 21–22 November 2020. Selected contributions will be considered for inclusion in an edited volume.

Proposal submission deadline: August 31, 2020

Event details: Online symposium on November 21-22, 2020

Organizers: James Deaville (Carleton University), Natalia Esling (University of British Columbia), Stefan Sunandan Honisch (University of British Columbia), Samantha Jones (Harvard University), Chantal Lemire (University of Western Ontario), Ailsa Lipscombe (University of Chicago)

Abstract deadline (Sep 1) for Frontiers #MUSICOVID Research Topic

The Frontiers Research Topic “Social Convergence in Times of Spatial Distancing: The Role of Music During the COVID-19 Pandemic” is now open for submissions. Please note that abstract submissions are voluntary and primarily serve to give us as editors (Niels Chr. Hansen, Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, Jane W. Davidson) a sense of the field of submission to ensure wide representability. Full manuscripts can still be submitted if no abstract is submitted. Due to the exceptional nature of the COVID-19 situation, Frontiers is waiving all article publishing charges for COVID-19 related research in this Research Topic.

Deadlines September 1, 2020 (abstracts) and November 1, 2020 (full manuscripts)

Contact Niels Chr. Hansen, Aarhus University,

Link to Research Topic

CfP: Special Issue of Journal of Sonic Studies “Sound at Home”

Submission deadlines: September 1, 2020 (abstracts), November 1, 2020 (manuscripts)
Editors: Mette Simonsen Abildgaard, Marie Koldkjær Højlund, & Sandra Lori Petersen
Submission deadline: July 1, 2020 (full articles)

List of COVID-19-related psychology preprints

Google Doc provided by Moin Syed, University of Minnesota, updated daily

COVID-19 & the Future of Choral Singing: In conversation with Professor Raina MacIntyre

Online event organized by Gondwana Choirs and University of New South Wales

Link to recording

Music and Mind Live with Renée Fleming

YouTube video series with conversations on music, neuroscience, and healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring Charles Limb, Miriam Lense, Wendy Magee, Daniel Levitin, and others.

Link to recording

Musicological musings

~30 min videos from Musicological Brainfood on “Impromptu in the Key of COVID-19" (Daniel K. L. Chua), "Celebrating Beethoven's 250th Birthday in the Time of COVID-19" (Daniel K. L. Chua), and "Schubert's Lullaby in the Presence of Death" (Nigel Nettheim).

Link to recording

Orchestrating Isolation: Musical Interventions and Inequality in the COVID-19 Fallout. Online Conference and Intervention

June 22, 2020

Organizers: Shzr Ee Tan, Royal Holloway University of London, and Kiku Day, Aarhus Academy of Music / University of London
Contact for more information

Full programme and registration

CfP: Frontiers Research Topic “Social Convergence in Times of Spatial Distancing: The Role of Music During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Submission deadlines: September 1, 2020 (abstracts), November 1, 2020 (manuscripts)
Editors: Niels Chr. Hansen, Jane Davidson, Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann
Note: publication fees waived for COVID-19 research.

CfP: Special Issue of Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing, “The Role of Music During Social Isolation: Perspectives Through Technology, Wellbeing and Education”

Submission deadline: none indicated
Note: no publication fees

CfP: Special Issue of Music & Science, “The Role of Music Psychology Research in a Complex World: Implications, Applications and Debates”

Submission deadline: December 31, 2020
Editors: Emily Payne, Karen Burland
Note: publication fees waived for COVID-19 research.

Coronavirus Funding Monitor

Provided by Frontiers, updated daily

Music in the Home: A Virtual Symposium

June 2–5
Northumbria University
Free registration (deadline May 29)

Ongoing Studies and Surveys

Please check here* if you are interested in finding ongoing studies for participation or collaboration.
(*downloads an Excel file)

About this network

The current COVID-19 pandemic and the related measures taken by governments and authorities have a plethora of severe consequences for individuals, societies, the economy, and the entire public life. They also affect the sphere of music all over the world: Live performances cannot take place and independent musicians have to fear for their livelihood. At the same time, an outburst of musical creativity can be witnessed and new forms of listening have developed.

It seems that music is being widely and creatively used as a means to individually and socially cope with several of the challenges posed by the current crisis onto individuals, among them anxiety, boredom, loneliness, stress, and uncertainty about the future.
Therefore, a global network of researchers from all backgrounds has formed to join forces in order to document, investigate, and understand the multitude of ways in which music is used, experienced, and discussed during the COVID-19 pandemic. If we can explain how and under which circumstances musicking practices can provide an opportunity for individuals to cope with a threatening situation such as the present one, this knowledge might help societies to be better prepared should a similar situation occur in the future. More broadly, research outcomes from this work may have long-term implications for developing clinical and therapeutic interventions and best practices tackling loneliness and social isolation.

Aims of the Network

  1. connect researchers who plan to study or have already started to study some musical aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic
  2. create and coordinate a shared archive of videos, hashtags, and media coverage, based on Niels Chr. Hansen’s crowd-sourced database and other similar efforts
  3. inspire interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global research on that topic and invite contributions to a workshop/conference and an edited volume or special issue

Relevant research topics/questions include:

  • How did listening and music making behaviour change during the COVID-19 pandemic?
  • How do people use music as a means to cope with the situation?
  • How do organizers of live music events (concert halls, festival managers etc.) respond to the situation?
  • How do musicians respond creatively and practically to the situation?
  • How can we simulate liveness in a time with no live music performances?
  • Can participatory music making from a distance be used as a remedy for spatial distancing?
  • How could we establish a typology of corona songs (in terms of content, approach, mood, instrumentation, newly composed vs. cover songs)?
  • Which pieces do people pick as repertoire for virtual choirs or ensembles or for balcony singing?
  • How has music been used during previous crises, and what implications may this have for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?

We are convinced that such a multi-faceted topic can only be studied if all branches of music research join forces. As of now, the network consists of more than 300 ethnomusicologists, historical musicologists, music sociologists, musical data scientists, as well as music psychologists, music neuroscientists, and researchers studying music-related aspects of health and wellbeing.


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Junior Cherries

Junior Cherries sports science masterclass a success

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth

A number of Junior Cherries were given the opportunity to take a first-hand glance behind the scenes with the AFC Bournemouth sports science department in January.

The 24 lucky youngsters got a unique insight to the work that is undertaken by the department, covering everything from preparation and training to rest and recovery.

The group were given an exclusive tour around the first team pavilion facilities at Vitality Stadium, access to the players gym where they were put through their paces much like Eddie Howe’s squad and had the chance to ask the sports science team some questions.

There are plenty more amazing opportunities coming up so don’t miss out!

Sign up for your Junior Cherries membership and enjoy access to special benefits for the remainder of the season.

Not yet a member? It’s only £7.50 to join and enjoy a whole host of benefits!

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The Supreme Court of Amhara Regional State condemned Berhanu Admasu, the manager of Dashen Brewery, during August to total term [...] (224 words)
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Sign Africa Live Presenting Free CorelDRAW Power Half Hour

Sign Africa LIVE and CorelDRAW Master Mo Jogie will present a free CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Power Half Hour online filled with bonus content on Thursday, 6 August at 11am.

From Creation to Completion, break down creative barriers with CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite 2020. Find all the professional vector illustration, layout, photo editing and typography tools customers need to create and complete important design projects, from virtually any device.

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Seyivibez – Bamishe (Freestyle)

The talented singer, Seyivibez is out with another motivation single titled “Bamishe”.

This comes after his previous song ‘On Your Own’ with Martins Feelz.

Listen Download & Enjoy Below:-

Download Audio Here

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About zefayo 2423 Articles
Head Of Content At AFRICAVIBEZ, The “Social Media Disturber”, ✉ [email protected]

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Bachelor LTYH Brandon Discusses ‘Tough’ Backlash For Julia Savannah Love Triangle

Brandon Mills reveals A MAJOR conversation with Julia Rae got left out on ‘Listen To Your Heart’ & discusses backlash from triangle with Julia & Savannah McKinley

Christine Alexis

AfterBuzz TV Host & Writer
Posted On: May 13th, 2020 5:31pm pst

Maria Menounos
Keven Undergaro
AfterBuzz TV Founders

Founded by Emmy winning journalist Maria Menounos and Producer Keven Undergaro, AfterBuzz TV is the artist-friendly entertainment news platform that celebrates, discusses, interviews, promotes and reports on the widest range of stars, creators and content through video, audio and article publications.

ABTV Bachelor Listen to Your Heart: Brandon Mills

Singer-songwriter Brandon Mills appeared on AfterBuzz TV’s The Bachelor: Listen To Your Heart after show on Tuesday, May 12, where he discussed the semifinal episode and shared what he’s been up to since the show ended!

The Nashville-based musician said he’s been working on himself during the quarantine and began collaborating with other local artists, but the coronavirus pandemic has posed its challenges. “We had some high quality video shoots set up, but quarantine kind of messed with that.” But this period has given him a lot of time to reflect!

Fans have been extremely vocal about his love triangle with Julia Rae and Savannah McKinley on social media, with many slamming how he handled the nature of both relationships. Brandon admits it’s been tough watching it all back on national TV.  “It’s been highs and lows,” he said. “I consider myself a grounded person and what was shown on the show is not who I am, especially in the holistic aspect of it all. It was rough. I caught some cheap jabs and some difficult comments. I’ve already done this work of forgiveness for myself and I’ve already asked for forgiveness from the people who needed it well before the show came out. So it was really me leading with love and empathy and compassion for the people that weren’t doing that for me. So that was super difficult but I’m so grateful for it all. It’s really allowed me to see who I am, what I need to work on, and how grounded I am in myself. And if I’m not, [here’s] what I need to work on moving forward.”

View this post on Instagram

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt… Thank you for your criticism. Thank you for your honest opinions. Being human, they are received and acknowledged. Not only a man of mistakes, I am a also a courageous man. A man who has been to the frontlines of war, and held the dying in my own hands. And I acknowledge the life that is required to be of service to the greater good of man kind. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your perspective. I take it all in stride. I take it all as it comes. And I continue to exercise love and compassion for me, and for each of you. @brandonmillsmusic @listentoyourheartabc @bachelornation #listentoyourheart #bachelornation #themaninthearena

A post shared by Brandon Mills Music (@brandonmillsmusic) on

The 34-year-old veteran went on to say “there was so much left out” from important conversations that happened on the show, including a moment where he told Julia about his lingering interest to work things out with Savannah long before that infamous “earmuffs” moment with contestant Natascha Bessez.

“There was a conversation on my date with Julia in which I told her, listen, I care for Savannah, so I need to go have a conversation with her, I don’t feel like her heart’s really in it. If we can have the right conversation, I’m going to need to choose her. And if we can’t then I would love to continue this on with you because I still cared for both of them. That wasn’t shown.”

“I did a really terrible job talking to Savannah,” he continued. “I was a little fired up and a little intoxicated. I’m sure you couldn’t tell at all. So that didn’t come out the best way. But it surprised me when Julia was so responsive to Natascha, that’s what kind of threw me for a loop most of all, I guess, in the entire show. That’s one of those things.”

That certainly changes things! Still, Brandon understands why fans might be upset with his behavior on the show.

“I didn’t always say everything right but I did try to be honest with everybody and sometimes that bites you in the ass.”

Now, he’s able to look back on the experience as “a mirror of self-reflection,” and is excited to continue growing as an artist. “I just realized that I got some s**t I need to work on.”

Brandon said he was able to meet up with Savannah in Los Angeles the day after their breakup and formally apologize. “ I got to let her know and apologize for what I did and how I did it. Not so much that I was having feelings for two people, I won’t apologize for that. But I did apologize for the way I conveyed that to her cause it didn’t go smoothly. She’s super sweet and super humble and a good human being, and she was able to forgive me. We’re still friends and I still care about her. She’s an amazing human being.”

As for where he stands with Sheridan Reed? Brandon says they’re “cordial.”

“I’ve reached out to Sheridan. He’s been very cordial about the whole thing but I don’t think that has been fully forgiven. The worst part is that we bonded pretty tight over the show until that date, so that was unfortunate” adding, “I’m sure if Sheridan were to hear this, he might reach out and say what’s up because I don’t think he has any ill will towards me. That probably stung and I can understand why.”

View this post on Instagram

“Fade back to sleep with me, Dream awhile as I sing, About what life has in store… Speak to me my sweet one, Tell me exactly what you’re thinking of, You’ve always seen me for who I am… Who am I, oh my, who am I…” @brandonmillsmusic. Feeling blessed to announce my new single #Glistening is now available for pre-save on all streaming platforms. The song drops May 29th! Press the follow button on Spotify and let’s continue to support one another on this beautiful journey. With gratitude always…@listentoyourheart @bachelornation . . . #newsingle #newmusic #spotify #newsong #singersongwriter #newrelease #single #songwriter #applemusic #itunes #soundcloud #artist #musician

A post shared by Brandon Mills Music (@brandonmillsmusic) on

Be sure to follow Brandon Mills on all platforms! You can find him on Instagram @brandonmillsmusic and keep up with him at Be sure to look out for his new single Glistening, available on all platforms on May 29. For more of Brandon’s thoughts on this season, check out our full after show here!

If you love Listen to Your Heart, share this article with a friend.  Tune in daily to AfterbuzzTV articles and aftershows for the latest news and info on pop culture and entertainment.

About The Author:

Christine Alexis is a digital host for AfterBuzz TV and a staff writer for As a reality TV and pop culture expert, you’ll always find Christine scrolling her social media feeds for the latest scoop, a funny meme, or getting lost in a juicy Twitter thread.

Founded by Emmy winning journalist Maria Menounos and Producer Keven Undergaro, artist-friendly AfterBuzz TV is the world’s largest digital broadcast network and pop culture news platform, producing post-game ‘after-shows’ for nearly all favorite TV shows, interviewing cast and showrunners and providing the widest video, audio and article coverage of shows, content and influencers than any entertainment news platforms in existence

“We don’t just celebrate and cover the top shows, content and stars, we celebrate and cover ALL the shows, content and stars.”

Maria Menounos

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Digital N-fertilization with sensors

Apply nitrogen fertilizer in verious proportions

agricon N-Fertilization

Increase certainty...

in making decisions:

  • transparent fertilization rules and algorithms based on agronomically tested principles
  • digital and fully automatic documentation of all N-fertilization measures
  • daily updated overview of N balance, compliance with the Fertilizer Ordinance (EU Nitrates Directive 91/676/EEC) and actual N requirement of all stands

in usage:

  • work orders for drivers with all specific sensor settings on paper and/or digital dispatch to the terminal
  • error-free and automatic adaptation of N fertilisation to the actual N requirement of the crop
  • automatic data transmission of the sensor distribution map back to the data portal

    in public relations:

    • use of the currently highest technology level in N fertilization - corresponding proofs are thus digitally available at any time
    • image improvement through innovative sensor technology
    • digitalisation as a socially oriented solution to the so-called 'fertilizer problem'

      Assume responsibility

      Ending overfertilization with intelligent technology
      Fertilize crops only when necessary
      Protect soil and water quality
      Reduce environmental impact to a minimum
      Protect employees from mistakes in N fertilization

      Improve competitiveness*

      Saving N fertilizer
      Stabilize and increase yields
      Improve N balance
      Homogenize and increase crude protein content
      Avoid N-induced lodging
      Increase threshing performance

      *Average additional revenue of EUR 100-120 per hectare per year. Calculated on the basis of results from over 280 on-farm research trials carried out together with farms and other partners (period: 2001 to 2014; farm sizes: 150 to 5,000 ha)

      Components of Agricon's N fertilization system

      YARA N-Sensor®

      YARA N-Sensor

      YARA N-Sensor® ALS 2

      YARA N-Sensor ALS 2
      Light sourceuse of daylightlight emitting diodes (LED)
      Daily operating timeup to 12 hours24 hours, even with dew
      Mountingon the roof of a carrier vehiclefreely chooseable due to modularity
      Compatibilityall electronically controllable fertilizer spreaders and field sprayers
      Measured parameteractual N uptake of the crops

      Data management with agriPORT

      • Determination of nitrogen demand in accordance with the Fertilizer Ordinance (EU Nitrates Directive 91/676/EEC); corresponding dynamic adjustment of N fertilizer quantities
      • Reliable planning and automatic balancing of all fertilizing measures (organic/mineral; constant/variable)
      • Save, assign, edit and export N-Sensor data
      • Order management for all work carried out with the N-Sensor more...

      Universal terminal und precision farming software

      • 23 control functions for variable N fertilization in winter and summer grain, winter rape, maize, potato and sugar beet
      • Three application modes: online approach, map approach, map overlay (fixed value, percentage)
      • Manufacturer-independent for all machines and devices

      Service & support - keep employees, technology and software up to date at all times

      After-sales service

      • Assembly and readiness for operation by an Agricon service technician*
      • Immediate help at any time through remote maintenance
      • Service helpline for technical questions
      • Annual check of all hardware components

      • Personal support from a regional Agricon consultant*.
      • Service helpline for questions about crop production and data management
      • Regular advice letters during the fertilizer season
      • Always up-to-date software due to annual updates

      Professional exchange and trainings

      • Exclusive access to agriconACADEMY with tutorials, webinars, manuals and much more
      • Professional exchange of experience in the annual working group "Digital Crop Production"
      • Continuous education in annual driver training courses

        *in the first year of use

        From the field: What our customers say

        Detailed information about Agricon's N fertilization system

        Would you like to have a personal consultation about our N fertilization method? Then simply let us know your contact details - we will get in touch with you immediately.


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