A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Saying of the day: 6/28/13
Posted June 28, 2013 by DW
“If history tells us anything, the fight against NSA secrecy is a winnable.” — Gregory Ferenstein, TechCrunch
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The European response to the global migration crisis
Posted November 10, 2016 by Politis
By Lauren Rothschild NB Lauren Rothschild is a Freshman at Northeastern University majoring in international relations and political science and studying abroad at ACT and interning at the Dukakis Center during the Fall 2016 semester. On Saturday October 22nd, the Olympion Theater in Thessaloniki hosted the 5th annual symposium on World Affairs, with this year’s […]
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There are demonstrations and then there are demonstrations
Posted May 26, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I have been watching the anti-gay marriage demonstrations in France for some time now (live blog here). Were one perfectly objective, one would appreciate the degree to which a grass roots mobilization of civil society was seeking to make its point. Granted, there are extremes to this movement, as there are in […]
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Anything new here?
Posted November 12, 2015 by KK
By Krysta I am reading two new sites. First, Liberal.gr. My first impression is not positive. In one recent post the author wants to reply to his readers who he is (he used to write for www.capital.gr). But eventually after sharing two irrelevent stories he doesn’t say. Judging from his writing, I have difficulty taking […]
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Skateboard civil society
Posted May 11, 2013 by Politis
By Politis A wonderful story here by Sam Jones in last Friday’s Guardian about a group of skateboarders in Britain who have organized themselves to preserve their skateboard park. So called “Long Live Southbank,” the effort is focused on gaining recognition of an undercroft of the central London arts complex as village green, a community […]
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Aristotle scholars head for Thessaloniki
Posted February 7, 2013 by Politis
Aristotle was, arguably, one of the fathers of the idea of public service. With this in mind Politis brings the following announcement to the attention of its gentle readers. “The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) on Feb. 13 will host an International Colloquium on Aristotle, featuring a series of lectures presented by researchers specialized in […]
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Politicized Greek porn?
Posted February 5, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Kostas Kallergis In an attempt to identify with the widespread anger in Greek society, targeted mainly against corrupt politicians, the country’s biggest porn production company has produced its latest gem, a politicized porn movie (!?!?!) where terrorists rape Ministers’ wives. The movie’s title is “Impact” (the rhyming Greek headline translates into something like “The […]
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A cynic’s guide to Greek politics
Posted January 26, 2013 by Politis
At Politis we try to encourage our readers to look for things positive regardless of how bleak a situation might appear. It is always instructive to distinguish between fairy tales and cynicism, however. A recent column by Andy Dabilis in Greek Reporter borders on the latter. Dabilis pulls no punches, and this is to his […]
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Would you swear an oath to the Queen?
Posted July 11, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner The Globe and Mail ran a story yesterday about “would-be Canadian citizens” who are up in arms about the oath of allegiance they must swear to the British monarch prior to earning full rights as citizens of Canada. The Citizenship Act requires applicants for citizenship to swear or affirm they will be […]
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American politicians love their job
Posted March 12, 2013 by Politis
According to a poll published in Roll Call, 95% of members of the US House of Representatives say they get a sense of personal accomplishment from their work as legislators. 89% claim that they are performing an important public service. The sample was small, however: 194 House members were selected randomly, but only 25 responded. […]
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Pirates of the Aegean (almost)
Posted March 24, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Steve Coll The other day, near Athens, I met a cheerful Greek-American economist who is in his mid-seventies. He sported a white Vandyke beard. He was shuffling around his veranda in a mischievous mood. He was planning a party for that night, which would run from ten o’clock until about five in the morning. […]
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Tribalism and postpartisanship: competing visions of the state of nature?
Posted March 15, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner These are interesting times for the analysis of European politics, from a hung Parliament in the UK, to the rise and fall of the Pirate Party in Germany, to the triumph of M5S in Italy, to the surge of Golden Dawn in Greece. What does it mean? Perhaps there will be a […]
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Tax cheat sheet
Posted March 13, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Andy Dabilis After hostile reaction, the Greek government said it would not go ahead with plans to give tax cheats an 80 percent discount on fines they would have to pay for breaking the law, including some 2,062 people with $1.95 billion in secret Swiss bank accounts, the so-called Lagarde List, that has created […]
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Obviating political responsibility: violence and the left in Greece
Posted July 8, 2013 by pdcadmin
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 […]
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Open Government, E-Government, and Government 2.0
Posted January 8, 2014 by Politis
The MPA program at the University of North Carolina has a really useful “Citizen’s Guide to Open Government, E-Government, and Government 2.0.” They conclude that Open Government is here for the long haul. “Engaged citizens want clear, credible information from the government about how it’s carrying on its business. They don’t want to thumb through […]
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She faces the music
Posted May 12, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika “She faces the music” – I can’t think of a better way to express my own thoughts about Kiki Dimoula, a great (the greatest?) poet of our times, and the uproar that her apparently xenophobic public comments caused. My inital reaction was surprise and disappointment in her. Greek intellectuals appear perplexed, lacking […]
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Greek-Turkish kinship
Posted March 2, 2013 by Politis
Speaking recently in Ankara at a Greco-Turkish forum dedicated to tourism, the current mayor of Thessaloniki, Ioannis Boutaris, suggested that he felt a feeling of kinship with Turks, acknowledging among other things the important monuments in his city dating from the Ottoman occupation of Greece. “I feel myself to be a brother with the Turks, […]
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That’s right, keep talking…
Posted March 4, 2015 by KK
By Krysta “Keep Talking Greece” is one of the sites I have been following from time to time. Although they do not really say who is writing (this is not to their advantage), they seem to have a clear distinction btw the articles they repost and their own original opinion articles. They seem pretty serious […]
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Tax paying as civic duty
Posted April 3, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I file my tax returns in Greece and in the US. I read this comment by Lawrence A. Zelenak in the New York Times as a welcome counterpoint to all the negative press generated throughout the Western world about tax evasion. “In the next two weeks, Americans rushing to file their returns by […]