A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Who is to blame?
Posted January 8, 2013 by DW
Two very symptomatic editorials featured in the Sunday news, both tending to focus blame for Greece’s woes on specific elements in Greek society. In the first, an editorial in the New York Times by Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor who published a version of the so-called Lagrarde list with names of Greek citizens having large deposits […]
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Austerity cuts Greek household income 38%
Posted February 8, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Andy Dabilis “The severity of Greece’s crushing economic crisis and austerity measures demanded by international lenders has drastically cut the incomes of more than 90 percent of Greek households, with an average drop of 38 percent. The startling numbers that illustrated how bad the crisis is for most Greeks, apart from politicians, the rich […]
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Around the town: 3/28/13
Posted March 29, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Fri 29th March- Hugo Race- A prolific and visionary performer, Hugo Race, will be performing music from his latest album, Fatalists. Drawing inspiration from all his travels, he has created a mix of rock ‘n’ roll, soul, […]
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What our dilemmas teach us
Posted June 16, 2012 by M P
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 […]
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Depositor’s rage
Posted March 21, 2013 by Politis
Helena Smith of the Guardian reports this from Nicosia on the evening of March 21: “At branches in Nicosia, the divided capital, Cypriots queued for hours in the hope of withdrawing cash with lines frequently moving at a snail’s pace because of the inability of cash machines to dispense more than €40 euro at a […]
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Women and politics: new rules
Posted January 23, 2013 by Politis
Joan Walsh, commenting in Salon on Hillary Clinton’s Senate hearing today notes that “Clinton stood up to the raging bulls with grace and fire of her own… After [which] she was lectured and hectored by guys who don’t quite measure up to her and never will.” Okay, so Salon is a liberal paper and one […]
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“Poor because of you” — Femen demonstrate in Davos
Posted January 26, 2013 by Politis
From the AP in Davos. “Three women angry over sexism and male domination of the world economy ripped off their shirts and tried to force their way into a gathering of corporate elites in a Swiss resort. Predictably, they failed. The ubiquitous and huge security force policing the World Economic Forum in Davos carried the […]
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New from the EU lexicography: Cyprexit
Posted March 22, 2013 by Politis
Originally posted by Vaggelis Papavasileiou for Eleftherotypia on March 23, 2013).
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Public sector reform, US style
Posted March 21, 2013 by Politis
Throughout Europe there has been an emphasis on public sector reform as the counterpart to austerity economics. In most cases, including Greece, little has been achieved. Paul Light of the Wagner School, NYU, makes a compelling case that the time is ripe in the US federal government for reform, now that sequester-imposed austerity has set […]
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Could citizenship ever be like surfing?
Posted June 27, 2013 by Politis
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Wanted: A new narrative for the nation
Posted February 5, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Alexis Papachelas What Greece really needs right now is a fully-fledged plan to regenerate the nation. People are in despair. Some over the extra taxes they are forced to pay at the end of each month, and others because they simply cannot afford to pay the emergency property tax on their house. The conservative-led […]
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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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The ultimate American decline story?
Posted May 22, 2013 by Politis
Mattea Kramer and Jo Comerford posted this article on the Moyers and Complany blog. It depicts one of the most extreme visions of 21st-century American decline in print. Politis reposts excerpts of the article below. “The streets are so much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks […]
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We want out
Posted January 31, 2013 by Politis
As reported yesterday in Greek Reporter, as many as One Greek in three would consider leaving Greece, as the economic situation becomes ever more dire. They report, “The startling statistic came from a a survey carried out on primary and secondary school pupils by the Children’s Ombudsman. Out of 1,211 pupils from 22 schools around […]
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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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How does it feel to be Ukrainian?
Posted March 10, 2014 by pdcadmin
By Iana Nazarenko In a democracy, realists claim that the government should represent the common will of citizens, or at least act in the interest of the state and its people. But what if it does not? Should then citizens take action and change the situation, even if at the cost of hundreds of lives? […]
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Can Facebook remake government?
Posted September 5, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts below from an article in TechCrunch last about about the prospect of Facebook and other social media to remake government around the world. Is there hope? Mark Zuckerberg has a grand vision that Facebook will help citizens in developing countries decide their own governments. It’s a lofty and partially attainable goal. While Egypt probably […]
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New Media emerging
Posted April 22, 2012 by KK
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 […]
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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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Public service: commitment and payback
Posted June 20, 2014 by Politis
By Brian Newby I’m blessed to be in a job that truly feels like it matches against my skills. There are many facets to overseeing elections, from public relations to candidate relations, from high-tech to situations that require a human touch, from logistics to statistics, and everything in between. I have a hard time considering […]