A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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From Delacroix to Dorian Grey
Posted February 10, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner If I were a photographer, I would take portraits of individual sitters. I would try to capture one’s eternal youthfulness, and yet simultaneously project the whole of one’s temporal experience. As I write these lines, I find myself thinking also that I might be able to discern the countenance of their personal […]
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Tea Party right, Tea Party left
Posted February 9, 2013 by Politis
From yesterday’s CNN, the following report that Senator Rand Paul will deliver the official Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address on February 12. “Tea party leaders are turning to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, to deliver their message following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, a speech that will […]
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Austerity cuts Greek household income 38%
Posted February 8, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Andy Dabilis “The severity of Greece’s crushing economic crisis and austerity measures demanded by international lenders has drastically cut the incomes of more than 90 percent of Greek households, with an average drop of 38 percent. The startling numbers that illustrated how bad the crisis is for most Greeks, apart from politicians, the rich […]
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Creativity sentenced to death
Posted February 8, 2013 by M P
By Maria Patsarika I never thought academic writing could be that frustrating until I started practicing it. And it’s not because I prefer live dialogue to print dialogue (although I do); writing is a pleasure, whether you are the author or the reader. It can be as natural, direct and emotive as a conversation between […]
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Feministiki protovoulia
Posted February 8, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani Feministiki protovoulia. A number of women’s groups participate in this blog. They are serious and active in a number of worthy causes, with a focus on violence against women. The blog itself suffers from a lack of copy editing, however. In their most recent post they ask for a reply from Syriza […]
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Citizen? No more
Posted February 8, 2013 by Politis
The Canadian paper Globe & Mail has published a searching editorial on the circumstances under which citizenship might be revoked. The case at hand involves the question of what punishment to mete out to Canadians who commit acts of terror or acts of war against Canada — or, by extension, to any Canadian person having […]
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Wanted: deep thinkers
Posted February 7, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner The title of an article in the English version of Der Spiegel got me thinking about what appears to be a systemic problem throughout Europe and the eurozone. Spiegel claims that Europe needs new blood, not so much in terms of higher birthrates and immigration, but in terms of ideas and thinkers. […]
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Saying of the day: 2/7/13
Posted February 7, 2013 by Politis
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” — Aristotle
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Aristotle scholars head for Thessaloniki
Posted February 7, 2013 by Politis
Aristotle was, arguably, one of the fathers of the idea of public service. With this in mind Politis brings the following announcement to the attention of its gentle readers. “The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) on Feb. 13 will host an International Colloquium on Aristotle, featuring a series of lectures presented by researchers specialized in […]
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Democratic futures: mobilizing voices and remixing youth participation
Posted February 6, 2013 by Politis
“There has been a longstanding narrative of youth political apathy and disengagement from democratic life. However, this perception is now giving way to a richer account, one that seeks to illuminate the dynamic ways in which young people are redefining expressions of ‘citizenship,’ ‘political engagement,’ and ‘democracy.’ As the currents of social, political, financial, and […]
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Center right, center left: How’d we do?
Posted February 5, 2013 by Politis
How’d we do? Not especially well if we give credence to the methodology of the recently published Pew Charitable Trusts’ Election Performance Index. Scores of near-systemic flaws were reported throughout the US in 2008 and again in 2010, giving rise to doubts about the integrity of the voting process across the country. Even states which […]
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Politicized Greek porn?
Posted February 5, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Kostas Kallergis In an attempt to identify with the widespread anger in Greek society, targeted mainly against corrupt politicians, the country’s biggest porn production company has produced its latest gem, a politicized porn movie (!?!?!) where terrorists rape Ministers’ wives. The movie’s title is “Impact” (the rhyming Greek headline translates into something like “The […]
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Wanted: A new narrative for the nation
Posted February 5, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Alexis Papachelas What Greece really needs right now is a fully-fledged plan to regenerate the nation. People are in despair. Some over the extra taxes they are forced to pay at the end of each month, and others because they simply cannot afford to pay the emergency property tax on their house. The conservative-led […]
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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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Saying of the day: 2/3/13
Posted February 3, 2013 by Politis
“You should love responsibility. You should say, I and I alone am charged with saving the earth. If it is not saved, I am at fault.” — Nikos Kazantzakis
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The Athena project to reform Greek universities: creating a new generation of citizens?
Posted February 3, 2013 by Politis
Politis posted yesterday a note on the potential of online course delivery to revolutionize the face of university teaching in the years to come. Here in Greece the focus is on reform of the existing system. According to a report filed in Greek Reporter, the current government’s Athena project is aimed at both upgrading and […]
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GoodNews is good news
Posted February 1, 2013 by KK
GoodNews is a collection of good news related to or coming from Greece, to “whoever contributes to Greece and its citizens, whatever makes life in their country unique and drives it forward.” Their goal is to launch a “revolution of goodness.” The page exists in Greek and in English. The site has lots of categories, […]
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Paideia meets demos
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
TechCrunch has announced its pick of Coursera as the 2012 Crunchies’ Best Overall Startup. Their rationale: “because more than anything else our country is heading into a period where higher education and job training is not catching up with the pace of innovation, where the creative part of “creative destruction” has not yet overwhelmingly kicked in.” […]
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Foreign media and press freedom in Greece
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
A few weeks ago the Dukakis Center hosted Reuters investigative journalist Stephen Grey, whose articles on cronyism and corruption in the Greek banking sector roused the ire of local media outlets, to the extent that he was accused of being on the vanguard of a new Frankish invasion. Politis has commented on more than once […]
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The perils of democracy
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
Politis posted excerpts earlier today from a Council of Europe report on domestic threats to democracy in Greece. Below a short article taken from Portside giving a left-of-center take on the same question. “There’s a new smog hanging over Greek cities this winter: an acrid cloud of wood smoke that burns the back of the […]