Alexia Tsotsis has written an engaging review in TechCrunch of the neighborhood social media service Nextdoor. The platform is a de facto neighborhood support group among subscribers. Nextdoor now serves some 10,000 neighborhoods and roughly 1 million households, and has a very savvy matrix for developing a local network to its optimal level. Users explain […]

“How To Raise Your Child’s IQ” – by Professor William Maxwell, an Inspiration Exchange discussion series event to be held under the auspice of Michael and Kitty Dukakis Centre for Humanitarian and Public Service at the American College of Thessaloniki on Wednesday, May 9, at 5 PM in the Bissell Library. All Revolutions are born […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

By David Wisner For EF For the better part of the past decade and a half I have been searching for ways to translate the concept and practice of public service, so commonplace throughout the United States, into the contemporary Greek reality. I learned early on that there is not a direct or literal translation […]

A great story published in today’s Globe and Mail focuses on the driving forces behind Canada’s Idle No More movement. They call themselves an “indigenous rights revolution” aiming at honoring and fulfilling Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. The movement is the brainchild of four women, which, as Friesen writes, is “one of […]

I read a tongue-in-cheek article by the wags at Reform Watch Greece some weeks ago which got me thinking about one of my favorite Balzac stories, Cesar Birotteau. The middle class has been decimated, so the argument goes, the principal victim of the sovereign debt crisis. Depending on one’s reading, the Greek bourgeoisie has been […]

By Nikos Konstandaras Our country bears many great wounds, which, over the years, brought us to the point of bankruptcy, ridicule and insecurity. But however great the problems which stem from the corruption and incompetence of our political elite and state machinery, from the chaos of the public sector, from the lack of national strategy, […]

By Jiya Pinder Tensions have risen in Bangkok over the past few weeks, as anti-government “yellow-shirt” protesters have sought to remove democratically elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her cabinet.  The Protestors descended on the city center, popular TV stations, police headquarters and the government house in an effort to disrupt the capital city and […]

The Dukakis Center will host a virtual launch of “Still at Aulis: Essays on Crisis and Revolution in Greece and the Eurozone,” a Kindle e-book by David Wisner, Executive Director of the Center, on Thursday, March 6, 2014, from 12 noon throughout the afternoon. Interested parties can follow the event on the “Still at Aulis” […]

By Nikos Xydakis Last Sunday, during Spain’s biggest annual cinematic event, an actress from Catalonia walked onto the stage to receive the Goya Award from the Spanish Film Academy for best actress, marking the third major prize she has won in her career. Candela Pena, a Mediterranean brunette in her 40s who looks a little […]

SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT TO SECTION 251A OF THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED By the authority vested in me as President by the laws of the United States of America, and in accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended […]

By Krista Kalachani I just found a small gap to write a couple of things about what is happening in Italy. If you checked the newspapers in Italy this week, apart from the Pope’s election which is probably the most important news story of the week, one of the things that has been circulating is […]

By Ginger Gibson While continuing to identify as a Republican, former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday criticized the GOP for a series of racist attacks against President Barack Obama. “There’s also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party,” Powell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “What do I mean by […]

“To me, achieving a global classroom means using education to erase barriers between people of different cultures and backgrounds; it means giving people the opportunity to learn without the limits imposed by physical or socio-economic circumstances; and it means giving schools and instructors around the world the ability to transcend boundaries to bring high-quality education […]

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 Maria Patsarika I never thought academic writing could be that frustrating until I started practicing it. And it’s not because I prefer live dialogue to print dialogue (although I do); writing is a pleasure, whether you are the author or the reader. It can be as natural, direct and emotive as a conversation between […]

  This clip, courtesy of The Guardian, provides a nice overview of the state of thinking about open data, which advocates argue will revolutionize political practice in positive fashion in the months and years to come. See for yourself whether you agree.  

By Maria Patsarika Scenario 1 A couple of weeks ago I read that Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary in the UK, claimed that he could live on £53 per week, after a benefits claimant told the BBC that he makes ends meet with the same amount, excluding housing costs. Ιn light of […]