The results of the elections have brought an end to the post-Junta era in Greek history dominated by New Democracy and PASOK. But if this is a vote for something new, it is by no means clear what this "new" will be. By Iannis Carras.

There were no flags flying in Athens tonight.

As I take the metro home and walk through the half-empty streets of Athens shock is written all over people’s faces; shock or despair. The full moon stares down, accusingly.

The results of the elections have brought an end to an era in Greek history, the era of dominance of PASOK and New Democracy that lasted from the fall of the Junta in 1974 until today. Combined these formerly “catch-all” parties gained under 33% of the vote, with PASOK dropping more than 30%, ending up with just over 13%. Despite the large number of small parties that did not pass the 3% threshold to enter parliament, PASOK and New Democracy do not have a sufficient majority to form a coalition government.

Following the murder of Trayvon Martin, African American parents and families must now confront the very real possibility that a vigilante can murder their children in cold blood without legal penalty as a result of racist micro-aggression gone haywire. By Justin Hansford.

A few weeks ago, while walking to my car after teaching a class, I saw a white woman who was approaching me on the sidewalk clutch her purse on her hip, cross the street, and head past me continuing in the same direction.  Out of curiosity, I looked backwards, and I saw her cross back to my side of the street again after I had passed.

A few days later, as I shopped for some incidentals at a local convenience store, I looked up and suddenly realised that the Asian store owner had “coincidentally” decided to start reshelving items on my isle, shifting to the next isle every few minutes to coincide with where I was, until I finally paid for my items and left.

Invisible Children are back with a second Kony video - but the campaign’s short-term goals and expectations are still badly mismatched with the long-term and sustained efforts that are needed to effect progress on the ground. By Alexandra Buskie.

Hold on to your hat, the Hurricane Kony is on its way back! Will Invisible Children’s (IC) second video shoot to viral status in as little time as the first? I doubt it: it is not nearly as dramatised and the tone hasn’t quite the same urgency, although the last two minutes are quite something. This second video tries to answer some of the critiques laid against the first – this time round the voices of those affected by the violence perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army are included, partnerships and collaborative projects on the ground are highlighted, and the importance of international support to local initiatives is stressed. In all, this video shows that the IC can do things differently. There is more meat in this video, but they have succeeded in delivering much the same message. The question is; why did they need two attempts to get it right?

By all means engage in a thoughtful, substantive critique of the Kony2012 campaign and the discourse within which it operates, but do not for one second attempt to re-colonise the conversation by drowning out the mission for stability in the region. By Áine Carroll.

In this hemisphere at least, Africa appears as little more than a salvage operation. The currency of this discourse is the commercial humanitarian campaign which uses a blend of typecast images to convey life as an unbearable marathon of suffering and abjection: mutilated victims in nameless wars, dead-behind-the-eyes child soldiers and passive, hollowed-out mothers holding distressed, starving infants at arms-length. First-worlders gaze through this diabolical space and wonder if it really is just an allegorical holding pen for a gazillion hungry, pathetic mouths. The hot mix of distended bellies and marauding flies is combined with an ignorance of the social and political context, generating a blueprint for the misinterpretation of an entire continental situation.

Last week's general strike in Span is only part of the opening act in a period in Spanish politics that may have major repercussions for the future of the Eurozone. By Benito Cao.

Spain’s general strike last week has sent a clear message to other Eurozone countries about how challenging it may be to implement labour market reform. 

The strike was mostly peaceful, with the exception of some violent incidents in Barcelona. While participation rates are disputed, it is clear voters are unhappy with deep labour reforms announced by the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy.

The majority government, which came to power last November, wants to make it easier to hire and fire workers, claiming such reform is essential to get Spain’s economy back on track and bring down the country’s 24% unemployment rate.

Thanks to an overdose of austerity, it is highly likely that Spain will be pushed out of the finance markets - and into an IMF-ECB bailout programme - by the end of the year. By Aidan Regan.

The Spanish government, under the conservative Partido Popular, will impose €15bn in spending cuts and raise €12bn in tax, as part of a €27bn austerity program. The objective is to bring the budget deficit down from 8.5 to 5.8%. The cuts are spread across government departments whilst the revenue raising measures include an amnesty for tax evaders (aimed at raising €2.5bn) and a reduction in corporate tax breaks.

The purpose of this radical austerity program is to satisfy an arbitrarily imposed number from Europe. The obsession with reducing budget deficits to 3% in a context of mass unemployment (almost 25% in Spain) is not only economically illiterate but socially dangerous. European elites have refused Spain the flexibility to lift the target to 5.8% because it is wedded to an ideological framework that assumes the economic crisis can be traced to bad fiscal policy (overstretched budgets). In reality, it can be traced to the maniacs who control international finance markets, and who are now speculating against the Spanish state.

The Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat has an international reputation for his sharp vision and expressive ways in illustrating the problems, visions and dreams of humanity. In August 2011, Ali Ferzat was brutally attacked and beaten and left for dead. His hands and fingers - his only weapons - were broken to silence his pen, and with it, a dynamic Arabic conscience that expresses a nation's will. Ali is the son of his homeland Syria, a visionary, committed to his cause while building a legacy of Arabic and international caricatures, reviving values of humanity, justice and liberty in his work. Interviewed by Soumaya El Azem.

Paul Murphy is in Greece this week, meeting with workers, trade unionists and members of parliament. He will be reporting daily on his experiences there for Politico. You can read his first installment here; part two is below.

Day two of my visit to Greece started with a presentation from workers from the organisations for social housing and social protection to all of the GUE/NGL MEPs. What they told us really brought home the almost total dismantling of basic social infrastructure going on in Greece. The areas of social housing and protection in Greece have traditionally been run not by the state, but by two non-profit organisations. They are paid for by an extra tax, on both workers and employers, amounting to 1.75% of income for workers. These organisations currently employ about 1,500 people and provide almost 200,000 families with rent allowance and assistance with their mortgages. They also build social housing. The organisation for social protection also provides the most disadvantaged with access to cheaper holidays and cultural events.