“So what does it mean when a company institutionalizes altruism? It means more students are mentored and tutored, more afterschool programs funded, more books read, better grades and test scores, and more poor families helped.” — Julia Wade (Domus Kids)
“… we still have a system that treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent.” — Bryan Stevenson
“It is often said that our political system is incompetent, but it is doing a perfect job in reproducing the existing model. “ — Paschos Mandravelis, Kathimerini English Edition
By Maria Patsarika Whenever I am faced with a dilemma I know that my choices are limited. Dilemmas represent difficult decision making, being torn between solutions neither of which is convincing enough to go for with watertight certainty. (Unless, of course, the dilemma is about choosing between Santorini and Crete for one’s holiday) On the […]
By David Wisner If I were a photographer, I would take portraits of individual sitters. I would try to capture one’s eternal youthfulness, and yet simultaneously project the whole of one’s temporal experience. As I write these lines, I find myself thinking also that I might be able to discern the countenance of their personal […]
2012 World Map of the Index of Economic Freedom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2012_World_Map_of_the_Index_of_Economic_Freedom.PNG).
By Mark Lowen, BBC News, Athens It is rare for citizens to try to take their government to court, and even more so for a Western European government to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. But that is what one group based near the Greek capital is now attempting. And […]
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 21st March- Milo-Z Live- He calls his music “Razzamofunk”, a combination of Rock, Rap, Jazz, Blues and Funk. Inspired by the music he grew up with in New York City’s Lower East Side, Milo-Z’s music has […]
Ahead of the Thessaloniki European Youth Capital 2014 year, the British Embassy in Athens is organising a debate at Thessaloniki Municipal Council Hall on Wednesday, 13 November 2013 at 4.30, open to the public. Four young speakers from UK and Greece, Natalie Robinson – UK Young Ambassador, Sophie Rodgers – UK Young Ambassador, Ioannis Konstantinidis […]
“I’ve never sung anywhere without giving the people listening to me the chance to join in — as a kid, as a lefty, as a man touring the U.S.A. and the world, as an oldster. I guess it’s kind of a religion with me. Participation. That’s what’s going to save the human race.” — Pete […]
On the TV news a few days ago Greek journalist Pavlos Tsimas suggested that the Greek government and several other EU member states, especially Germany, were engaged in a war of words. The next day Bloomberg said what Tsimas could not, or would not, alluding to a “Greek alternative reality,” a “twilight zone.” No less […]
By Konstantinos Bouas The ongoing administrative reform effort is one of the most critical issues of concern for administrative science in Greece. Considering the longstanding structural weaknesses of the public administration, as well as the explicit commitments of the Greek State deriving from the Memorandum, it is easy to realize the urgency of immediate and effective […]
GoodNews is a collection of good news related to or coming from Greece, to “whoever contributes to Greece and its citizens, whatever makes life in their country unique and drives it forward.” Their goal is to launch a “revolution of goodness.” The page exists in Greek and in English. The site has lots of categories, […]
By Maria Kalogeroudi I just read a post by Angelos Barbalios. This guy is what we need in today’s politics: enthusiastic and young. I like how his article is straight to the point, yet any college student who is psyched about politics could generate such a blog entry. Still a very interesting blog to follow […]
By Panagiotis Karkatsoulis Politis wanted to post the names of those ministers who recently tried to amend legislation agreed to by the Greek government in exchange for the next tranche of aid from the Troika. When we could not find what we wanted online, we approached internationally renowned expert Panagiotis Karkatsoulis, who responded as follows. […]
In this post we publish the responses of a group of young Greek voters to the question, “How will you feel when you go to vote in Sunday’s elections?” It is perfectly certain for a responsible and thoughtful citizen that his right to participate in politics by voting is not so simple. In a democratic […]
By David Wisner Some years ago, when I first settled permanently in Thessaloniki, I met another ex-patriot who had been here for decades already. How long? I asked her. “Long enough to think the Greek way of doing things is the normal way,” she replied. Won’t happen to me, I thought, naively. And continued to […]
Clive Crook has this to say about the proposed legislation to tax depositors in Cyprus, an idea he labels as “stupid.” “You want bank bondholders to be concerned about the safety of their investment, so that they exert some discipline over the banks, and you want small depositors to rest easy about the safety of […]
By David Wisner I was invited not too long ago to discuss my views on citizenship on a local television program. What is different about citizens in Greece and in the US, was more or less the line of inquiry. I answered in somewhat broken Greek, and for fear that my thinking is not easily […]
German philosopher Juergen Habermas spoke at the Catholic University of Leuven last week to an audience that included students and Herman Van Rompuy, current President of the European Council. Habermas entitled his lecture “Democracy, Solidarity and the European Crisis.” What Europe needs, he said, “is solidarity and a cooperative approach that results from a shared […]