A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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What to do about getting the story out and getting the people organized
Posted April 10, 2013 by Politis
By Maria Kalogeroudi Two speakers with a common concern: acting against racial prejudice. The one, a journalist, the other, a community organizer. Meet Damian Mac Con Uladh. Damian is an activist journalist who used to work for Athens News. He explained what an activist journalist is: a journalist for whom the boundaries between personal and […]
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Livebloging and streaming at ACT
Posted April 10, 2013 by PR
Live streaming by Ustream
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Inspiration Xchange: activism, creative participation, and democracy
Posted April 9, 2013 by RS
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Erroneous Press Reports on U.S. Consulate General, Thessaloniki
Posted April 9, 2013 by Politis
Athens (April 8, 2013) — Erroneous press reports have appeared overnight suggesting that the U.S. Consulate General in Thessaloniki is closing. As the Consulate announced on February 15, certain U.S. citizen consular services and notarial services will be provided only on a periodic basis in Thessaloniki from the end of May onwards. Those services will […]
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Youth and public service: satisfaction and peril
Posted April 8, 2013 by DW
We share two poignant reminders of the lure — and challenges — of engaging young people in public service. In Afghanistan, a young American foreign service officer, Anne Smedinghoff, was the victim of a suicide car bomb attack which also took the life of four others. According to a story in today’s New York Times, […]
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A public service announcement for owners of uninsured vehicles
Posted April 6, 2013 by Politis
By Fotinie Efstratiadou A law pertaining to uninsured vehicles has recently been passed in the Greek Parliament and will enter into force on April 15, 2013. The law concerns owners of vehicles that will be found to be uninsured through database cross examinations conducted by the National Information Systems of the Greek Ministry of Economy, […]
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The new global populism
Posted April 5, 2013 by pdcadmin
By John Judis ‘Something is happening and you don’t know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?’ Bob Dylan sang. Mr. Jones was the typical suburban ‘square,’ and the ‘something’ that was happening was the sudden explosion of the new left and the counter-culture during the Sixties. Something extraordinary is happening now in European and […]
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Saying of the day: 4/4/13
Posted April 5, 2013 by Politis
“Science has become a branch of the Democrat Party.” — Rush Limbaugh
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Around the town: 4/4/13
Posted April 4, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 4th April- Wear Vintage Bazaar- Spring time’s new vintage arrivals are available for purchase today. Hundreds of cool 70s, 80s and 90 pieces can be found. Abel Nagengast and Tako Reyenga will on the decks playing […]
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Center. Period.
Posted April 4, 2013 by Politis
A soon-to-be-released book by Charles Wheelen called The Centrist Manifesto is described thus on the web site of amazon.com. “A vision—and detailed road map to power—for a new party that will champion America’s rational center. From debt ceiling standoffs to single-digit Congress approval ratings, America’s political system has never been more polarized—or paralyzed—than it is […]
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Open the doors/where are the people?
Posted April 3, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Growing up my friends and I used to play a small game with our hands. We would start with our hands clasped, thumbs aligned, index fingers erect. “Here is the church/here is the steeple/open the doors/where are the people?” We would then interlock our fingers and perform the same series of steps: […]
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Saying of the day: 4/3/13
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
“There are two Rules of Holes in politics. The first rule is well known: ‘When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.’ The second rule is less well known: ‘When you stop digging, you are still in a hole.’” — Roger Simon
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A culinary public service
Posted April 3, 2013 by M P
We all know that Ilias Mamalakis cooks delightfully… Imagine doing this in a prison and publishing a book about it. Cooking as public service.
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Send an SMS to your Congressman
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
We all know the expression, “Send a letter to your Congressman.” A company in India has just launched a Short Message Service (SMS)-based grievances redress mechanism in India, essentially to do just that. There is no indication yet how frequently citizens will use the service, or how well the system will function.
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Tax paying as civic duty
Posted April 3, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I file my tax returns in Greece and in the US. I read this comment by Lawrence A. Zelenak in the New York Times as a welcome counterpoint to all the negative press generated throughout the Western world about tax evasion. “In the next two weeks, Americans rushing to file their returns by […]
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How frequently do we use opengov services?
Posted April 3, 2013 by Politis
A nice chart below on the top online tasks carried out by frequent users in the UK. Note the lag in opengov service use relative to such tasks as reading the news, making purchases online, or engaging in some form of entertainment.
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The injustice of the Greek justice system
Posted April 2, 2013 by Politis
Politis asked EU law expert Anna Maria Konsta for her comments on a recently published review of the Greek justice system compared to other EU member states. Here are her remarks. “Even if these data date back to 2010, they are still indicative of the inefficiency of the Greek judicial system. In Greece, it takes […]
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What is the public value framework?
Posted April 2, 2013 by Politis
“[T]ransparency, participation, and collaboration are best viewed as instrumental to the accomplishment of democracy in that they enable citizens to enact their various roles as citizens. That is, transparency is not an end citizens pursue for its own sake. Citizens may desire their government to be transparent, but that is largely because something else is […]