Excerpts below from an article in yesterday’s New York Times by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Felix Marquardt, founders of Europeans Now. “The time is ripe for a transnational, transgenerational, transpartisan, grass-roots and crowd-funded movement to take European integration to the next level. And before forming a party, we should look to Europe’s success stories to determine what […]
By David Wisner There is good news and bad news this week from the birthplace of democracy. On the one hand, according to findings from the European Values Study published by Tilburg University in Holland, more than 80% of those polled in Greece showed support for a democratic regime. This is clearly the highest average in the […]
“Culture is like marmalade. The closer you get to the bottom of the jar the more you try to spread what’s left.” — Anonymous (Paris, 1968)
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship We were struck this week by one response to our broadcast last week on gun violence and the Newtown school killings. A visitor to the website wrote, “It is interesting to me that Bill Moyers, who every week describes the massive levels of corruption in our government… [and] the […]
During the Fall 2015 semester the Dukakis Center was involved in three major undertakings, conceived above all to inspire young people to take an active role in the public life of their country. First, the Dukakis Center underwrote and was present at the annual Thessaloniki International Symposium organized by the Navarino Network, on Sunday, October […]
“What does a congressman do? He works a lot and produces little. That’s the reality.” — Tiririca (Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva), Brazilian Congress
By Krystallia Kalachani It is late afternoon, June 2011, the temperature in Athens is high. I am still at work giving a last look at my social media accounts before I leave for home, there is calling for a gathering in Syntagma Square, central Athens, in front of the Greek Parliament. I would be there […]
By Kostas A. Lavdas ‘Bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand With a grip that kills it.’ Rabindranath Tagore Hardly a day goes by without an analysis appearing in the international media on the rise of the extreme right in Greece. And rightly so. At the same time however the Greek left’s contribution […]
Politis attended an interesting three-day event in Thessaloniki on the future of public television, organized by Filios Stangos and friends at TV100, Thessaloniki’s municipal TV station. Two interventions caught our attention during the session dedicated to the theme “Economic crisis: the challenges on public television.” “As long as you serve the public interest, you are […]
Excerpts from an article by Helena Smith in today’s Guardian about the projected sale of a privately owned chain of islands in the Greek Ionian Sea. “The suitor is one of the world’s wealthiest men; the location happens to be the eurozone’s poorest country. But in an unlikely coming together of economic circumstances, the emir […]
A striking scene from the Copacabana.
Peter Economides has a post in praise of Cypriots on his blog. “There is no such thing as a financial crisis. It’s the result of a social crisis, a values crisis, a confidence crisis, a how we feel about ourselves crisis. And I am starting to feel that the current European crisis is a crisis […]
By Nikos Konstandaras Groups of left-wing protesters have been fighting to obstruct university reforms which, among other things, will put an end to their lengthy dominance. At the same time, groups of far-right thugs have stepped out of the shadows and can now be heard bragging that the time of their own dominion is coming. […]
By Fotinie Efstratiadou Here is a story about a public servant — an employee at the public ambulance service in Northern Greece — who missed work for five years from 2006 to 2011 and yet was payed throughout without his superior having been notified. One is almost left speechless. What can one think of these […]
By Krysta Kalachani Exostis seems pretty interesting, a “place” where residents of Thessaloniki can find interesting cultural and other types of events. The good things that happen in the city, as they assert. I am not familiar with the site or the magazine (which I understood circulates as well), but it seems a good site […]
By Alexander Besant The office of Greek app-maker Taxibeat is located in a modern building, surrounded by shuttered shops and streets with cracked pavement, in the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood in Athens. The contrast between the office and its surroundings is more than aesthetic—it’s the difference between where Greece is, a low-tech economy based on tourism […]
By Kostas Vaxevanis Journalism is often either invested with magic powers or blamed for all that is wrong in the world. Both positions are wrong. Journalism is the way, lonely most of the times, of truth. Often colleagues discuss journalistic objectivity as a mausoleum where we kneel down. There is no objectivity. What matters is […]
In a less than tongue-in-cheek account, Bloomberg’s Megan Greene recounts conversations she has had of late with former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou in an attempt to make sense of what happened to the data stick containing the original version of the so-called “Lagarde list.” It seems that the latter had to cut his much desired […]
By Maria Patsarika The world of video-gaming is usually discussed in these controversial terms: does it promote violence or is it simple entertainment, in the same way that films are? I discussed this issue in depth recently with a group of college students, over a series of presentations that they had prepared on the subject. […]
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 14th to Sun17th March – Slava’s Snowshow- The multi-award winning international sensation, Slava’s Snowshow, will be performing in Thessaloniki. Experience a joyous dream-like world which will touch both your heart and funny bone, culminating in a […]