A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Panhellenia (sounds like quadrophenia)
Posted May 17, 2013 by Politis
By Maria Kallogeroudi Panhellenic exams tomorrow eh…. ahhh!! I remember… I remember myself… it was just a few years ago these days, I’d sit every day for hours and sip on coffee… BECAUSE I NEVER HAD TO TAKE THESE EXAMS YEAH YEAH OHH YEAH YEAH YEAH
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Is the crisis over?
Posted May 17, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner “Phew, that was tough,” is the initial impression left behind by Nick Malkoutzis in his comment in the pages of today’s Kathimerini English edition. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now. “And like that… poof, the crisis is gone. More bailout loans approved by the Eurogroup, a sovereign rating upgrade from Fitch, […]
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Young people for human rights online
Posted May 17, 2013 by Politis
Internet offers us the possibility to create, publish, distribute and consume media content fostering therefore a space of full participation, engagement and self-expression. With the development of social networks we all can participate in cyberspace in a variety of ways ranging from keeping in touch with your friends and developing new contacts to sharing content […]
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Art, Aesthetics, and Power
Posted May 18, 2013 by Politis
A very interesting yconference organized at the American College of Thessaloniki by Dr. Maria Kyriakidou. Wednesday, May 22, 11-6. The event is open to the general public. For further information contact Maria Kyriakidou at markyria@act.edu.
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Occupy Barbie Dream House
Posted May 18, 2013 by Politis
By Politis A group of activists have been protesting the opening in Berlin of the European Barbie Dreamhouse, a new theme park which the protestors are calling “pink hell.” In an interview in Deutsche Welle, the leader of the “Pink Stinks” movement, Stevie Schmiedel, described their action as follows. “Basically we have a press stand […]
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Are Europe’s education systems failing young people?
Posted May 18, 2013 by Politis
Debating Europe is asking this question in its online forum: Are Europe’s education systems failing young people? “All this week, Debating Europe has been publishing a themed series of posts looking at the issue of youth unemployment in Europe. With young people the first to be fired and the last to be hired in a […]
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Saying of the day: 5/20/13
Posted May 20, 2013 by Politis
“Men with guns I’m used to. But kids without books, teachers or classes for a long time — that’s trouble. Big trouble. “ — Thomas Friedman
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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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How do you learn?
Posted May 20, 2013 by Politis
Coursera has published this nifty learning map on their Facebook page. What does it represent? “Mindmaps, lecture notes, quiz cards are just a few ways that Courserians study and reinforce course material. Learn more about what these are and how you can utilize them based on your learning style.”How do you study, they ask? Might […]
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Greece 2012 International Religious Freedom Report
Posted May 21, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts from the annual international religious freedom report that was published on Monday by the US State Department. Executive Summary The constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom with some restrictions. In practice the government generally respected religious freedom, although it imposed restrictions affecting members of non-Greek Orthodox religious groups. The government granted privileges […]
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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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Fathers, sons, and political preferences
Posted May 22, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner There is a wide ranging debate ongoing these days about the sources of political behavior, be they social or genetic. Elias Dinas of the University of Nottingham has published a very interesting bit of research on the effects on youth political socialization of politically engaged parents. The general question asked is how […]
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Protection rackets
Posted May 22, 2013 by Politis
Say you are an eager entrepreneur seeking to launch you own business. In the past, says Alexis Papahelas of Kathimerini, you might have faced “tailor-made amendments, biased legal and standards committees, and odd circulars were all mobilized in an effort to erect obstacles in the path of people outside the loop who wanted to enter […]
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Greece: growth target pipedreams
Posted May 23, 2013 by Politis
In response to recent media commentary that Greece has turned the corner in its economic woes, Bloomberg’s Megen Greece had this to say earlier in the week. “The nature of economic activity in Greece also suggests that the European Commission’s growth target is a pipe dream. Although hedge funds have been active in buying Greek […]
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Neo-nazi hate in Greece
Posted May 23, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Nicholas Burns In Athens, a popular far-right party condemns Jews as a source of the country’s misfortune and recycles the ancient lie depicting them as “Christ killers.” In Hungary, the prime minister fails to disassociate himself convincingly from an anti-Semitic and increasingly powerful fascist group. Scenes from Europe in the 1930s? No. Both examples, […]
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Around the town: 5/24/13
Posted May 24, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 23rd May- Ondatropica- Colombian musician:Mario Galeano, and an English producer: Quantic, have joined forces to create the Ondatropica project. This project endeavors to explore and expand the tropical sound of Colombia in its rawest form and […]
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Stai’s the limit
Posted May 24, 2013 by MK
By Maria Kalogeroudi Elli Stai works for the public sector news channel which is essentially the voice of the leading political party. Apparently she would not dare to criticize Prime Messers Samaras and Papandreou. Blaming a party is unprofessional, no matter how right she is. However, criticizing and blaming are two different things. Golden Dawn […]
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Global mafia
Posted May 25, 2013 by Politis
Chris Hedges posted a desperate warning in his column in Truthdigs earlier this week: rise up or die. His focus is the conspiritorial, near-criminal triumph of corporatism in the US, but the symptoms and peril he decribes are global in scale. You cannot get more stark than this. Here is his conclusion to that post: […]
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Saying of the day: 5/26/13
Posted May 26, 2013 by Politis
“Truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.” — Bill Watterson
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There are demonstrations and then there are demonstrations
Posted May 26, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I have been watching the anti-gay marriage demonstrations in France for some time now (live blog here). Were one perfectly objective, one would appreciate the degree to which a grass roots mobilization of civil society was seeking to make its point. Granted, there are extremes to this movement, as there are in […]