A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Research on automobile infotainment system safety
Posted April 7, 2014 by Politis
The team at Navideck have created an online survey to determine the relative safety of infotainment systems in cars. While this is a start up and Politis does not endorse commercial products, we have posted occasional public service announcements on the issue of automobile and driver safety, and are similarly inspired in this instance. The […]
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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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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 […]
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Is this the moment for national service?
Posted June 30, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Michael Gerson had some interesting thoughts about an offhand remark made recently by retired US General Stanley McChrystal on service to the nation. McChrystal had expressed concern that only 1 percent of Americans serve in the armed forces, resulting in an unequal distribution of burdens and an unequal development of citizens. “Once […]
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He’s back! (HH, that is)
Posted June 27, 2013 by Politis
COULD Adolf Hitler come to power today? Timur Vermes poses this question in his debut novel “He’s Back” (“Er Ist Wieder Da”). Told in the first person, the plot sees Hitler randomly wake up from a 66-year sleep in 2011 Berlin. There is no explanation for how or why this has happened, but that is […]
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Would you pass? Citizenship tests in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US
Posted March 16, 2013 by Politis
What does one need to know to be eligible for citizenship in a country not of one’s origin? Take Greece, for instance. According to the site Living in Greece, “For foreigners of no Greek origin who have long-term residency in Greece… [m]arriage to a Greek citizen does not automatically grant citizenship or a Greek passport […]
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Around the town: 4/25/13
Posted April 25, 2013 by laura
This weekly feature offers a glimpse of what is happening in and around Thessaloniki. Compiled by Laura Strieth. Thu 25th April– PillBOX open market ‘Spring Bouquet’- The PillBOX market features the latest trends in handicrafts, accessories, clothes, ornaments, cosmetics, collectable vinyl and many more cool items at low prices. This bazaar-market will take place in […]
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Party time
Posted March 13, 2014 by DW
By Damian Mac Con Uladh Exports, imports and retail prices might all be in decline. And unemployment hovering over 27% for nine months straight. But six years into a recession that has ravaged the gross national product, there is one Greek industry showing impressive growth rates: the production of new political parties, movements and coalitions. […]
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Gaming the election?
Posted March 29, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Researchers Robert Epstein and Ronald E. Robertson have prepared a paper in which they argue that an Internet search engine, not Google necessarily but “a future Google,” might be able to manipulate search results in such a way as to impact the outcome of an election. “In a controlled experiment,” they write, […]
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The virtuous cycle
Posted October 8, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Maria Tsiouri Why are the Swiss good at everything? ask the Huffington Post. People. “Countries that invest in human capital end up getting returns in terms of economic growth. And then countries that have that economic growth are able to reinvest further in human capital. So you have this virtuous cycle that’s established.”
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Post-crisis posturing?
Posted February 3, 2013 by Politis
A bit of finger pointing (and back-patting), if not distance-putting, today from Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras. Inaction by former PMs Kostas Karamanlis and George Papandreou exacerbated Greece’s sovereign debt crisis, claimed Sournaras in an interview in Sunday’s Kathimerini. As early as 2006 the Greek government could and should have taken corrective measures to lessen the […]
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Love and death
Posted May 8, 2013 by Politis
Photographer Taslima Akhter on a photograph she took at a collapsed factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. “I have been asked many questions about the photograph of the couple embracing in the aftermath of the collapse. I have tried desperately, but have yet to find any clues about them. I don’t know who they are or what […]
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Come to Greece and see for yourself
Posted December 3, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Diego Salas The center of Thessaloniki, by Aristotle square, is normally tagged as a zone for tourists to avoid during times of protests. I had no idea what Greek protests would look like and I didn’t think realistically that they could be as dangerous as the ones in my country (Venezuela), so I went […]
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Peter Economides on the Cypriot miracle
Posted March 24, 2013 by Politis
Peter Economides has a post in praise of Cypriots on his blog. “There is no such thing as a financial crisis. It’s the result of a social crisis, a values crisis, a confidence crisis, a how we feel about ourselves crisis. And I am starting to feel that the current European crisis is a crisis […]
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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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Entrepreneurship in Greece: Looking at the big picture
Posted December 5, 2014 by DW
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service and The Anatolia School of Business cordially invite you to attend the 2nd Business and Politics Forum Entrepreneurship in Greece: Looking at the big picture Thursday, December 11, 2014, 18:00- 21:00 Thessaloniki City Hall (Ground Floor) Speakers: Anastasios Tzikas, President of the Board, TIF […]
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German ‘hypocrisy’ over Greek military spending has critics up in arms
Posted April 25, 2012 by PR
By Helena Smith, The Guardian, Athens A few months before submarines became the talk of Athens, Yiannis Panagopoulos, who heads the Greek trade union confederation (GSEE), found himself sitting opposite Angela Merkel at a private meeting the German chancellor had called of European trade unionists in Berlin. When it came to his turn to address […]
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A Self-Help Revolution?
Posted October 21, 2014 by DW
By David Wisner Last week I was invited to attend a seminar organized by a well-known network marketing company. I do not collaborate personally with this company, but I know of it and have been curious to observe how their corporate philosophy resonates in crisis-stricken Greece. The keynote speaker was an American who has been […]
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Tax cheat sheet
Posted March 13, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Andy Dabilis After hostile reaction, the Greek government said it would not go ahead with plans to give tax cheats an 80 percent discount on fines they would have to pay for breaking the law, including some 2,062 people with $1.95 billion in secret Swiss bank accounts, the so-called Lagarde List, that has created […]
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Football activism
Posted June 23, 2013 by DW
A striking scene from the Copacabana.