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In Consent of the Networked, internet policy specialist Rebecca MacKinnon argues that the purpose of technology is to serve humanity, not the other way around. It’s time to wake up and act before the reversal becomes permanent.
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As 200 out of 300 Greek deputies voted in favor of the new austerity deal “Memorandum 2″, these were some of the different scenes. Jimhellas provides his perspective [el] on yesterday's #12febgr huge citizen protest and massive police teargas repression in a post entitled “Mass murder attempt at #Syntagma, as I lived it”. Jenny Hauser made a Storyful collection of photos and tweets from clashes and fires in the center of Athens last night. NassosKappa shared on his Twitter a photo of the burning Attikon cinema in Stadiou Street. Vassilis Vlachos posted a photo on Facebook, depicting Greek MPs watching television at parliament cafe.
Photos and videos from the latest massive anti-austerity protests in downtown Athens on February 12, 2012, the extensive clashes that ensued and their aftermath were posted on Real Democracy Now, while 19 photosets were uploaded on Demotix. Photos were also posted by Odysseas Galinos Paparounis and John Carnessiotis on Flickr, and on Athensville. A video showing an unprovoked police attack on a Thessaloniki rally went viral on Facebook. The events of the day were liveblogged in English by radiobubble and Greek Left Review.
Elsa Doladille writes [fr] on the Educators Without Borders blog : ” While the Guéant Bill in France aims at toughening the conditions for foreign students to obtain a work permit, Germany encourages the integration of students from abroad in their workforce.”
Pierre Vicari [fr] had this to say about the results of a survey [fr] which appeared on the site Lefigaro.fr, “To the ignoramuses who say that PACS and marriage are the same thing: No! A PACS does not provide any of the same rights as marriage! In addition, you intolerant people who do not want equality for all human beings, please tell us why because so far, despite the years that this debate has been going on, nobody has been able to put forth any real arguments.”
As parliamentary elections approach this year in Georgia, to be followed by a presidential vote in 2013, allegations against Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire opposition politician, have appeared on the Internet. The alleged exposé of life in the Ivanishvili household by American teacher Patrick Downey, formerly employed by the businessman turned politician, have been met with skepticism from other expatriates in the former Soviet republic, and not least because of claims also made against Georgia in general, the U.S., and [his ancestral homeland of] Ireland. Downey had sought asylum or residency in the latter, according to a video blog, “[…] in light of recent uncontrolled and willfully ill-advised policies concerning the mass emigration of non-Irish persons to Ireland […].” Ivanishvili has responded by saying that Downey “is suffering from psychological problems.”
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Based on the Wikipedia list of countries, details.
Veroniaca, I was not able to locate your article but given the caption I fell captive to your statement reagrding Scandinavian influence in Estonia. Obviously, the same would hold true for Russia, Ukraine , Belarus and Poland, amongst a few other countries. The Nordic Vikings proliferated in these areas establishing trade routes and cities, mixed with the peoples and many of them later came to reside in these areas. How could there not be influence?
Ruben Filimonczuk
Actually Ruben, nordic Vikings are quite different than scandinavians, who fought the vikings in the 11th century, (who were located on the east of the baltic sea) establishing the Hanseatic League.
Scandinavians are cultured, civilized people not to be confused with Vikings. Scandinavians and their culture arose from the royal families of Denmark and Sweden.
Then Mike, clarify who exactly were the Vikings?
So nice to bring up this topic. Basically, Estonia was part of Denmark for 120 years (1220s to 1340s) and part of Sweden for 160 years (1560s to 1710/21). The Danish impact is really only in the name of the capital, Tallinn (Danish city). But it also links the Estonians historically to Scandinavian history (the Dannebrog allegedly fell from the heavens during a battle in Estonia). The name Eistland also appears in several sagas. So Estonia was part of the Viking/Scandinavian consciousness.
The Swedish impact is more important because it was under the relatively liberal administration of Imperial Sweden that the first books were published in Estonian, the University of Tartu — which many consider the birthplace of the Estonian national movement — was founded by the Swedes in 1632. So in many ways it was this early Swedish influence that allowed Estonians to later become Europeans (not to deemphasize the role of Estophile Baltic Germans).
Because of this long, mostly positive relationship, Sweden is one of the larger adjacent countries that Estonians feel most comfortable with. That is why, perhaps, the Swedish ambassador Dag Hartelius is doing so well in the Dancing with the Stars competition here on TV this autumn :)