A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Independence day, for whom?
Posted March 25, 2014 by DW
Politis found this note on Facebook today. Apparently citizens were discouraged from attending today’s Independence Day parade in downtown Athens. “When the public cannot be trusted to celebrate their country’s independence, what independence is it, exactly, that they have to celebrate?”
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New media and the future of journalism
Posted June 28, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Let me bring to your attention a very interesting discussion (in Greek) about the new media and new types of journalism in the context ERT, as ERT was / is supposed to be. Worth watching, it tackles specifically the situation in the Greek media.
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Looking at strangers in a globalized world
Posted November 29, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Franchesca Verendia Leaving for Greece from the US I was expecting plenty of things—good food, a nice view, rich history, and some beautiful weather. I was even expecting some initial culture shock. What I was not expecting were the long stares when I walked down the street, the second-guessing questions (“So where are from?” […]
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The spirit of public service
Posted April 16, 2015 by DW
By David Wisner For EF For the better part of the past decade and a half I have been searching for ways to translate the concept and practice of public service, so commonplace throughout the United States, into the contemporary Greek reality. I learned early on that there is not a direct or literal translation […]
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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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RIP Loukakinos
Posted October 9, 2014 by Politis
Photo: Thanasis Tsalikis
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“Do you mean what you say?” Mark Mazower on political extremism
Posted February 11, 2013 by Politis
Mark Mazower, the author of “Salonica, City of Ghosts,” was interviewed in Kathimerini this past weekend. Here is what he had to say about political extremism in Greece today: “The new and highly disturbing feature of the scene in Greece is obviously the rise of the far right. Its emergence forces us to confront the […]
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Diaspora Perspectives
Posted June 28, 2013 by Politis
By Elizabeth B. Seliotes Bolling [Editor’s note: Politis welcomes Alaska-born Hellene Elizabeth B. Seliotes Bolling, who will contribute notes on the experience of a diaspora Greek during the crisis.] Being an American of Greek blood who grew up in Alaska but is living in Greece, I experience treatment from the older Greek generation that sometimes […]
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The tyranny of little things
Posted January 14, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Nikos Konstandaras Our country bears many great wounds, which, over the years, brought us to the point of bankruptcy, ridicule and insecurity. But however great the problems which stem from the corruption and incompetence of our political elite and state machinery, from the chaos of the public sector, from the lack of national strategy, […]
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Saying of the day: 1/27/13
Posted January 26, 2013 by Politis
“Neither a life of anarchy nor one beneath a despot should you praise.” — Aeschylus
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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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Wanted: the right kind of Greeks
Posted March 23, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner A contestant in a British reality show called “The Apprentice” has indicated in an interview that there are certain types of children she will not allow her own kids to play with. For one, they need to have the right sort of name. “At the risk of sounding snobbish, I also favour […]
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Dukakis Lecture 3/20/13
Posted March 19, 2013 by Politis
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service Cordially invites you to attend A Dukakis Lecture Featuring Stan Draenos, sometime resident historian, Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation “Andreas Papandreou’s New Nationalism and Kennedy’s New Frontier: Greece in the Tangles of the Cold War” Wednesday, March 20, 5 PM ACT New Building Conference Room […]
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Citizenship for All Children
Posted February 28, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Christina Flora Immigrant children living in Greece made their case for citizenship on Feb. 27 at a news conference held at the offices of the Journalists’ Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers, under the title Citizenship for All Children. “We claim citizenship for all children. They are our children, children who live at the […]
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53 seconds
Posted February 23, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Nikos Xydakis Last Sunday, during Spain’s biggest annual cinematic event, an actress from Catalonia walked onto the stage to receive the Goya Award from the Spanish Film Academy for best actress, marking the third major prize she has won in her career. Candela Pena, a Mediterranean brunette in her 40s who looks a little […]
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Noam Chomsky: a life shared?
Posted March 23, 2013 by MK
By Maria Patsarika Every time I read about Noam Chomsky my impression of a sarcastic, dominant, relentless thinker and academic is reinforced. In an article in today’s Guardian I see more than this – apparently he still is sarcastic and uncompromising – which is encapsulated in his phrase “No individual changes anything alone.” He grasps […]
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Sport and politics
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
This bit was posted by a wag yesterday on the BBC web site, relative to the transfer of soccer star Mario Balotelli from Manchester City to AC Milan (the latter owned by Sylvio Berlusconi). “When Inter president Massimo Moratti said yesterday that Silvio Berlusconi would have many uses for Mario Balotelli he was absolutely right. […]
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Saying of the day: 6/12/13
Posted June 12, 2013 by Politis
“Culture is like marmalade. The closer you get to the bottom of the jar the more you try to spread what’s left.” — Anonymous (Paris, 1968)
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Are we moving leftward?
Posted January 9, 2013 by Politis
The Republican Main Street Partnership, a Washington-based group that has promoted moderate GOP lawmakers and policies, will remove the word “Republican” from its title and welcome center-right Democrats in 2013, Yahoo News has learned. The organization’s board of directors voted Tuesday morning to scrap party identification from its title and be known simply as “The […]
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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 […]