A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Greece’s state broadcaster and the politics of eternal discontent
Posted June 12, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Kostas A. Lavdas The news is plain and simple. The Greek government has shut down the public broadcaster ERT, calling it a “haven of waste.” While all 2,500 employees would be sacked, the government says they would be paid compensation and would be able to apply for work when the corporation relaunches as a […]
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Coming to grips with children trying to earn money on the streets
Posted July 11, 2013 by Politis
By Alyssa Olivo Even though I’m used to seeing homeless people begging on the streets of New York City, I’ve been surprised at the amount of children trying to earn money on the streets in Greece. I can count on both hands the amount of times I’ve had a child come up to me, play […]
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Does this count as participation?
Posted May 20, 2013 by Politis
Do IT and civic engagement mix and match? What do you think these young people are reading (and/or writing) on their smart phones? Are young people more active as a result of being more “connected?” Maybe, maybe not. Judith Froemming writes, “A true zombie is nothing more than an unconscious being apathetically and lifelessly lumbering […]
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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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Civic engagement and the practices of democracy
Posted April 8, 2016 by Politis
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A solution for Greece’s debt and immigration problems
Posted May 29, 2013 by Politis
Is this a hoax? We don’t know, but the idea might just be sound. Invest in a country and earn a non-resident passport for your troubles. It’s the Dominica Economic Citizenship Program. For 100,000 USD you can get a passport for yourself; 200,000 USD will buy you passports for your whole family, valid for 10 […]
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Privatization woes
Posted January 28, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts from Vangelis Mandravelis’ analysis of the myriad difficulties faced by Greek authorities seeking to move ahead with Greece’s privatization program, from today’s Kathimerini English pages. “Although Greece has been discussing its privatization program for almost three years, precious little has materialized to date. In essence, the sell-off program is yet to start, given that […]
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Saying of the day: 6/9/13
Posted June 9, 2013 by Politis
“When police attack peaceful protesters, when protesters attack property, everyone loses.” — Livy Merchant
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The joys of austerity
Posted June 4, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Graham Hill I live in a 420-square-foot studio. I sleep in a bed that folds down from the wall. I have six dress shirts. I have 10 shallow bowls that I use for salads and main dishes. When people come over for dinner, I pull out my extendable dining room table. I don’t have […]
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Around the town: 14/02/13
Posted February 15, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Now to Sun March 31st– The Telloglou Art Institute of Thessaloniki- will be exhibiting paintings, sculptures, and carvings from the private collection of the Telloglou family. Location: Telloglio Museum, Agiou Dimitriou 159A. Tues, Thur, Fri 10am-1pm, Wed […]
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Who were the aganaktismenoi?
Posted February 21, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Who were the aganaktismenoi, the Greek indignados? They were mostly people who were not supporting strongly any ideology or party. They might have been coming from all parties and all ideologies, meaning that they could have voted for one party or another in the past, but the gatherings in Syntagma Square during the […]
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Taxes and citizenship
Posted January 3, 2013 by Politis
We rarely equate paying taxes with citizenship these days, although it is certainly one of those old-fashioned obligations we associate with residing in a certain place. French actor Gerard Depardieu (by the grace of God born a Frenchman, has now been offered Russian citizenship (along with the Belgian citizenship he sought a short while back […]
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315 charts on poverty and inequality
Posted May 15, 2013 by Politis
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development has just released data on poverty and inequality for all OECD mamber states in the form of some 315 charts, including one interactive chart on income distribution and poverty.
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A poor excuse for a country?
Posted March 29, 2013 by Politis
From today’s Greek Reporter, a story on how Greece ranks next to its EU partners in terms of relative poverty. “Greece is one of the poorest countries in the EU according to a research published today by a German think-tank. The country is third only to Bulgaria and Romania which are poorer. Some 20 percent […]
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Available since this morning! Monopoly money for Europe!
Posted May 14, 2013 by MK
By Maria Kalogeroudi This is the new 5 euro bill. The old one is still acceptable and can be used for trade. We still do not know when it will be considered invalid, but announcements will be made. Includes new and more amplified evidence of authenticity. The watermark and hologram present the portrait of Europe, […]
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Life lessons from Cyprus
Posted March 22, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Edward Scicluna, Minister of Finance, Malta There is nothing more undignified than the sight of a bankrupt person begging for assistance. The contrasts between the cosy and sometimes sumptuous living before the event and the state of helplessness and destitution soon after are stark indeed. While generous persons may come forward to offer their […]
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Citizenville
Posted August 4, 2014 by Politis
The story of one man’s quest — and a politician’s no less — to modernize the “most modern” of America’s cities… “Citizenville is the story of how ordinary citizens can use new digital tools to dissolve political gridlock and transform American democracy. As social networking and smart phones have changed the way we communicate with […]
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Exostis
Posted October 11, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Exostis seems pretty interesting, a “place” where residents of Thessaloniki can find interesting cultural and other types of events. The good things that happen in the city, as they assert. I am not familiar with the site or the magazine (which I understood circulates as well), but it seems a good site […]
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Four things we learned on May 6
Posted May 9, 2012 by DW
By David Wisner The crisis in Greece is political. Very few of the reforms the governments of George Papandreou and Lucas Papademos pledged to undertake in exchange for loans from the Troika have materialized. The evaluation of public sector employees to have begun this week has been put off indefinitely. Very little has been done […]