A Citizen’s Guide to Greece 2015
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Indymedia: a different sort of public service
Posted January 25, 2013 by KK
Indymedia. The website is on the Politechnic’s server, or at least was in the past. From time to time the people that write there are accused of being anarchists. Whoever likes can write on the website. They started as independent media and often there have been efforts to shut them down… Sometimes they were actually […]
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Which Greece, which Europe
Posted January 25, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Two public speeches this past week have turned as sharp a spotlight on the future of the EU and certain of its members states as have few events since 2009. First, the leader of Greece’s main opposition party Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, spoke and took questions at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, […]
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A cynic’s guide to Greek politics
Posted January 26, 2013 by Politis
At Politis we try to encourage our readers to look for things positive regardless of how bleak a situation might appear. It is always instructive to distinguish between fairy tales and cynicism, however. A recent column by Andy Dabilis in Greek Reporter borders on the latter. Dabilis pulls no punches, and this is to his […]
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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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“Poor because of you” — Femen demonstrate in Davos
Posted January 26, 2013 by Politis
From the AP in Davos. “Three women angry over sexism and male domination of the world economy ripped off their shirts and tried to force their way into a gathering of corporate elites in a Swiss resort. Predictably, they failed. The ubiquitous and huge security force policing the World Economic Forum in Davos carried the […]
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Greek Reporter exposes fake Greek products abroad
Posted January 27, 2013 by Politis
Saddening news from today’s Greek Reporter. “Shady businessmen and companies produce thousands of fake Greek products in China, the UK and the US causing tremendous financial losses to Greek exporters and domestic economy, reported the Panhellenic Exporters Association Jan. 24, adding that ‘disturbing phenomena of malicious trademark registration of well-known Greek companies have been recorded […]
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Saying of the day: 1/28/13
Posted January 27, 2013 by Politis
“Every man of action has a strong dose of egoism, pride, hardness, and cunning. But all those things will be regarded as high qualities if he can make them the means to achieve great ends.” — Giorgos Seferis
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Privatization woes
Posted January 28, 2013 by Politis
Excerpts from Vangelis Mandravelis’ analysis of the myriad difficulties faced by Greek authorities seeking to move ahead with Greece’s privatization program, from today’s Kathimerini English pages. “Although Greece has been discussing its privatization program for almost three years, precious little has materialized to date. In essence, the sell-off program is yet to start, given that […]
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Civil servants’ woes — UK
Posted January 28, 2013 by Politis
The Guardian has an article today on the plight of a large number of disgruntled British civil servants. “Two-thirds of Britain’s most senior civil servants are so demoralised that they are considering leaving their jobs, according to the first survey of mandarins to be conducted since the coalition’s reform plans were published,” they write. The […]
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2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index
Posted January 30, 2013 by Politis
Greece’s position in Deloitte’s 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index is outright depressing. In terms of current competitiveness and of projected rankings for 2018, Greece is dead last among the 38 countries surveyed (1/10 for each category, ten being the highest ranking possible). China tops both lists.
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How Long Until Junta?
Posted January 30, 2013 by pdcadmin
By Bill Frezza. It is often said that to get a glimpse of our future we should study the lessons of the past. Or we can observe the fate of those marching a few steps ahead of us down a road we seem determined to travel. Take Greece. Long hailed as the birthplace of democracy, […]
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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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We can’t help it!
Posted January 31, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner I often tell my politics students that people have a natural predisposition to act and think politically. What we do with this is the great challenge of contemporary citizenship and civic education. Two recent articles in the mainstream media challenge our thinking about different dimensions of homo politicus. Some people seem to […]
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Truth or dare 2.0?
Posted January 31, 2013 by DW
By David Wisner Ask a young person today whether they like politics. More than half the time they will respond in the negative. Why do they dislike politics? Overwhelmingly, because politicians are corrupt and dishonest. (Now disliking the political for these reasons may merely be a symptom of a more systemic problem in our democratic […]
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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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Human rights watchdog says racist violence in Greece ‘a real threat to democracy’
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
From today’s Kathimerini English edition: “Europe’s top human rights watchdog on Friday urged Greek authorities to take action against the burgeoning wave of attacks against migrants in the country describing racist violence ‘a real threat to democracy.’ ‘Impunity for the rising number of racist crimes in Greece has to end,’ Council of Europe Commissioner for […]
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Twitter and analysis
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
The folks at First Read had this to say on the ultimate effect of quick fire tweets by new age pundits, with respect to Chuck Hagel’s Senate confirmation hearing yesterday. “We’ll make one more point about Hagel’s hearing yesterday: Twitter and all the instant analysis made a bad performance look even worse — just like […]
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Saying of the day: 2/2/13
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
“Unless we take action on climate change, future generations will be roasted, toasted, fried and grilled.” — Christine Lagarde
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WEF Creative for good
Posted February 1, 2013 by Politis
“As much as world change may be about politics or economics, at its heart it’s a creative proposition. It’s about insight, engagement and persuasion. It’s about ideas that are imagined, communicated and delivered in ways that move individuals, communities and whole societies to change the way they think and act. It’s about marketing. And while […]
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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 […]