A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Yes? No? Vote, and stay engaged
Posted July 3, 2015 by DW
We have an expression in the US. “Vote early and often.” Lest you think I am encouraging you to commit voter fraud, I actually have something else in mind. If you vote when young you are likely to continue to want to vote whenever you have the opportunity. Make it a habit. Just look at […]
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Thessabike is here!
Posted September 9, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika Beware Boris with your Barclays bikes; beware Copenhagen and Amsterdam: Thessbike is here! This was missing from our city, no doubt. A bike-renting service is now available in Thessaloniki at various hotspots downtown. For Thessabike to partake some of its predecessors’ success, however, cyclists need accessibility, safety and peaceful co-existence with pedestrians […]
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Light on the Cypriot horizon
Posted March 27, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Javier Solana Once again, Europe has peered into the abyss. But the tentative agreement between Cyprus and the troika (the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank) probably means that the worst has been avoided. Big losses for large depositors in Cypriot banks will now be imposed, and the country’s […]
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Things I could not believe about Greece until I got here
Posted November 18, 2013 by pdcadmin
It is said that people have many reasons for being amazed by Greece. Here are mine! How long people stay at restaurants and cafes. At most places in America you receive your meal and the waiter stands by the table waiting for you to finish. As soon as you complete your meal you are […]
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Golden Dawn: before and after?
Posted October 3, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts below from an article by Clark Boyd of Public Radio International’s The World on possible consequences of the recent arrest of members of Golden Dawn. The author cites Politis’ good friend Brady Kiesling, former political affairs officer at the US Embassy in Athens. …/… “[I]n the wake of the arrest of a number of […]
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Center right, center left: How’d we do?
Posted February 5, 2013 by Politis
How’d we do? Not especially well if we give credence to the methodology of the recently published Pew Charitable Trusts’ Election Performance Index. Scores of near-systemic flaws were reported throughout the US in 2008 and again in 2010, giving rise to doubts about the integrity of the voting process across the country. Even states which […]
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With partners like these…
Posted June 10, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I read in Simon Johnson’s column in Bloomberg last week (later picked up by Kathimerini English edition) an interesting critique of the performance of the EU in the unfolding of Greece’s sovereign debt crisis. One of Johnson’s main points is as follows. “Greece came to the IMF in 2010 later than it […]
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Alex is back, lazier and more hard-working then ever
Posted May 8, 2013 by Politis
Alex is back, thanks to Damian Mac Con Uladh of EnetEnglish. “Alex, the popular animation character that seeks to demolish the negative, crisis-fuelled stereotypes about Greece in his own little way, has returned to YouTube, this time to challenge the “fact” that Greeks are lazy… Part two features Alex, a metaphor for the Greek people, […]
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Is this what your average Cypriot citizen wants?
Posted March 25, 2013 by Politis
According to the 7:26 PM GMT entry of the Guardian’s live blog on the situation in Cyprus, “The Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades announced plans by his government to appoint investigators ‘to find out where responsibility lies’ in relation to what has happened in the country over the past two weeks. In a television address in […]
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College is over, guys
Posted August 1, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Paschos Mandravelis Most people look back on their college years with nostalgia. Those were carefree and uncomplicated days, but three times a year, the sensation of nonchalance was brutally interrupted. In late May, early September and mid-January, the backgammon board, students’ favorite pastime, would slam shut. Traffic at students hangouts would halt. Students would […]
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Making sense of the suicides
Posted July 4, 2013 by Politis
By Alyssa Olivo As a New Yorker and visitor of Greece, my view on the crisis differs from natives. Our newspapers tell stories about riots in the streets and articles talk about austerity endlessly but the main question and concern is what’s going to happen to the euro. It’s rare I do not hear or […]
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En deuil
Posted January 8, 2015 by DW
Charlie est mort, vive Charlie.
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Double standard on immigration?
Posted July 17, 2013 by Politis
By Alyssa Olivo Coming from the United States, immigration isn’t a new issue for me. The US is filled with plenty of people from other countries. Grab five people off the street in New York and ask them where they’re from, you’ll probably get five different answers. The real issue is illegal immigration. Some come […]
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Crimes against ourselves
Posted April 26, 2012 by iankehoe
Recently I read that a group of Greek anti-austerity campaigners want to bring the government on trial for ‘crimes against humanity’ at the International Criminal Court. Understandably, there is considerable anti-government sentiment at the moment. However I’d like to offer another perspective on what is going on, one that might not be popular. The problem […]
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A Greek winner!
Posted March 22, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Christina Flora A Greek team of student-entrepreneurs won first place at the Pan-European trade fair, organized by the international organization Junior Achievement Europe (JA-YE), in Riga, Latvia, with 450 pupils from secondary schools and high schools from 30 countries of Europe and Africa participating. Business ideas were presented in the exhibition and combined technology […]
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This is not Sparta
Posted December 23, 2012 by pdcadmin
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. […]
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Administrative reform and the Greek parties
Posted June 4, 2012 by pdcadmin
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 […]
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Dualing rallies: whose democracy?
Posted June 19, 2015 by KK
By Krysta Editor’s note: Krysta Kalachani has been a regular contributor to Politis from Athens since 2010. She attended anti-memorandum rallies in downtown Athens throughout the summer of 2011 — despite managing two companies — and has a particular interest in the development in Greece of alternative media. Here Krysta reflects on some of the […]
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Waiting for a leader: a post-leftist appraisal
Posted October 7, 2013 by KK
A review by Krysta Kalachani of Alain Badiou, “Greek anti-fascism protests put the left’s impotence on display,” The Guardian, October 3, 2013. Here are my first thoughts but one has more to say. This is no ordinary article: one must read it carefully. There are some interesting views there, while one can find counter arguments […]
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Saying of the day: 6/19/13
Posted June 19, 2013 by Politis
“We didn’t decide that Greece was in trouble; Greece was in trouble…” — Jean-Claude Juncker