A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Saying of the day: 6/28/13
Posted June 28, 2013 by DW
“If history tells us anything, the fight against NSA secrecy is a winnable.” — Gregory Ferenstein, TechCrunch
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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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Of technical competence
Posted February 27, 2013 by Politis
What do politicians do when they are not politicians? Or better yet, what did they do before they became politicians? Two scholars, Mark Hallerberg and Joachim Wehner, asked more or less these questions. They were particularly interested in the circumstances when an electorate would choose technocrats to lead a government. Their findings? “Our analysis of data […]
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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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Absurdities
Posted January 20, 2014 by M P
By Maria Patsarika First, our ministers make earnest declarations that in order for smog percentages to diminish, people need to return to the use of oil for heating purposes. I’m sure it crossed all people’s minds: are they nuts? With such high oil prices, who can afford to buy it? And, surely, people would rather […]
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Golden Dawn: before and after?
Posted October 3, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts below from an article by Clark Boyd of Public Radio International’s The World on possible consequences of the recent arrest of members of Golden Dawn. The author cites Politis’ good friend Brady Kiesling, former political affairs officer at the US Embassy in Athens. …/… “[I]n the wake of the arrest of a number of […]
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How simple it is to know who’s who
Posted July 29, 2013 by DW
Fact checkers and vote counters are legion in the US. Here is site that prides itself for being up on the latest in IT developments. No hiding behind the anonymity of an electronic vote. At issue in this instance is an amendment to cut off funding the the recently divulged NSA spying program. Now, who […]
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How to design a new government
Posted September 27, 2013 by Politis
With all the talk of public sector reform in Greece these days, it would not be surprising if a casual reader might ask, what alternatives are there to the current state of affairs? Where might one start to look? Fear not, Google has an answer. It is called Constitute. It works, too, according to a recent […]
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The downward spiral of Turkish democracy
Posted June 1, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Livy Merchant When I was a curious teen-aged kid, I subscribed to a series of Time Life books on history and civilization. One was a beautiful book entitled Islam, the Religion of Peace. It was the early fifties and this was the only source of my knowledge of Islam at the time. It was illustrated with […]
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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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A public service announcement on uninsured vehicles
Posted March 10, 2016 by Politis
Is your vehicle currently insured? A penalty of 250 euros will apply for any uninsured vehicle the next few days, as soon as the cross check will be made by the Greek Ministry of Finance, since yesterday, was published the relevant law. If your vehicle is not then insured within two months, further penalties will […]
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Saying of the day 1/29/14
Posted January 29, 2014 by Politis
“I’ve never sung anywhere without giving the people listening to me the chance to join in — as a kid, as a lefty, as a man touring the U.S.A. and the world, as an oldster. I guess it’s kind of a religion with me. Participation. That’s what’s going to save the human race.” — Pete […]
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In praise of subjecthood (of the right sort)
Posted June 10, 2013 by Politis
Living in Europe today is akin to being a subject in some latter day Holy Roman Empire, that “political commonwealth under which the Germans lived for many hundreds of years.” So says Brendan Simms of Cambridge University in today’s New York Times. While the Empire lasted nearly a thousand years, however, the comparison is not […]
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Giorgos Toulas live at ACT
Posted March 21, 2012 by PR
Live video by Ustream
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Huffington Post: Greece Immigrants Face ‘Alarming’ Increase In Attacks, Group Says
Posted July 12, 2012 by MK
Derek Gatopoulis 7/10/12 ATHENS, Greece — A leading human rights organization is urging Greece’s new government to take “urgent action” to curb an “alarming” increase in attacks against Asian and African immigrants, including brutal assaults by gangs on teenage boys and pregnant women. In a 100-page report issued Tuesday, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said xenophobic […]
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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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Citizenship in Greece in questions
Posted February 26, 2012 by pdcadmin
By Despina Ventouri Despite the fact that the concept of citizenship has roots in ancient Greece, one must not confuse this with more modern definitions and forms of citizenship. First, citizenship and democracy were invented in city-states, where it was possible for an elite class of citizens to participate directly to the political process. Second, […]
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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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Crimes against ourselves
Posted April 26, 2012 by iankehoe
Recently I read that a group of Greek anti-austerity campaigners want to bring the government on trial for ‘crimes against humanity’ at the International Criminal Court. Understandably, there is considerable anti-government sentiment at the moment. However I’d like to offer another perspective on what is going on, one that might not be popular. The problem […]
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Is this news newsworthy?
Posted February 26, 2013 by KK
By Krysta Kalachani A couple recent articles, the one in Proto Thema, the other in To Vima, relate to an older (2011) news story about a big fraud that was taking place at the Kallithea office of IKA. One of the employees exposed a case of fraud where some employees had found ways to collect […]