Europe – Page 20 – Slugger O'Toole

Euro crisis: “We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”

Pete Baker on May 18, 2010, 7:19 pm

| Readers 778

In the Irish Times, Arthur Beesley identifies “one of the fundamental dilemmas in political leadership” being faced by eurozone politicians caught in a manifestation of “the political trilemma of the world economy” This presents a cocktail of nasty choices for EU leaders, many of whom seem more comfortable in the local arena than in the European amphitheatre. Previously, they were free to do as they pleased in a currency system that did not hold debt-addiction to be any great sin. Now, national …

Euro crisis: The shrinkage of politics?

Pete Baker on May 17, 2010, 9:16 pm

| Readers 101

Via a post by Crooked Timber’s Chris Bertram. Here’s a point worth considering from Dani Rodrik on the growing crisis in the Eurozone. Deep down, the crisis is yet another manifestation of what I call “the political trilemma of the world economy”: economic globalization, political democracy, and the nation-state are mutually irreconcilable. We can have at most two at one time. Democracy is compatible with national sovereignty only if we restrict globalization. If we push for globalization while retaining the nation-state, we …

Euro crisis: “decision to create a single currency in Europe was an eminently political decision.”

Pete Baker on May 15, 2010, 5:20 pm

| Readers 13

At the Cedar Lounge, WorldbyStorm has a lengthy post detailing his increasing scepticism as a pro-EU[ropean] over the EU Commission’s proposals to “co-ordinate fiscal policy in advance”. But more importantly to me, however pro-EU I am, as noted above I have to admit that I am becoming more and more dubious about the very notion of an EU polity that transcends national divisions. It seems to me that the distinctions between nations within the EU is so great as to …

de Juana Chaos extradition appeal to continue in his absence

Pete Baker on May 14, 2010, 4:08 pm

| Readers 2

Despite having had no contact with their client since he jumped bail in March this year, lawyers acting on behalf of the convicted ETA killer, Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, are “continuing with instructions” in the appeal against his extradition to Spain. Which is nice… But have they checked his Dublin address yet? Pete Baker

EU Commission: “essential cornerstone of reinforced economic governance is to coordinate fiscal policy in advance”

Pete Baker on May 13, 2010, 3:22 pm

| Readers 3

The EU Commission’s proposals for in-advance peer-review of proposed national budgets has provoked a heated political reaction in the Dáil. As Miriam Lord wryly notes, the a vice-president of the European People’s Party, Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny is being accused of Euroscepticism. However Taoiseach Brian Cowen doesn’t seem as opposed to the proposals as, say, the Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt. In Germany, despite a difficult week, Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the proposals Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the EU’s attempts to crackdown on irresponsible spending, and said …

Stephanomics: “That is getting very close to a fiscal union…”

Pete Baker on May 12, 2010, 12:45 pm

| Readers 7

While our focus was on the Prime Ministerial negotiations, the European Commission was moving to shore up the eurozone – agreeing emergency measures worth €750billion ($975bn, £650bn). That’s on top of the earlier € 110billion three-year bail-out package to rescue Greece’s economy agreed with the IMF. Ireland’s contribution to that earlier plan, providing for bilateral loans up to € 1.312 billion from Ireland to Greece, is due to go before the Dáil next week. As, still everyone’s hero, Robert Peston warned …

Trial begins of three arrested in MI5 sting operation

Pete Baker on May 5, 2010, 2:52 pm

| Readers 58

The BBC notes the start of the trial of three County Armagh men arrested after a two-year operation directed by “role playing Security Service officers”. The three men were originally charged in June 2006 following a high profile joint PSNI and Security Service operation in Armagh and Fermanagh. At an earlier hearing, noted here, the prosecution applied for anonymity for the 35 Security Service agents due to give evidence in the trial. From the BBC report Mr McCaugherty faces seven including conspiring …

de Juana Chaos jumps bail

Pete Baker on April 29, 2010, 2:45 pm

| Readers 2

The BBC reports that convicted ETA killer, Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, has jumped bail and may have left Northern Ireland. He had been contesting the Spanish authorities’ attempt to extradite him on a charge of glorifying terrorism. From the BBC report De Juana Chaos, who had been living in west Belfast, was out on bail ahead of an appeal against his extradition. On Thurdsay, High Court judges were told he has not reported to police in Belfast or been …

“Art and science both lost blood when monsters vanished from the maps”

Pete Baker on April 24, 2010, 5:46 pm

| Readers 4

The Guardian has a fascinating essay by Jonathan Jones on the golden age of map-making, 1500 to 1700, to tie-in with a forthcoming exhibition at the British Library – Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. There’s also an equally fascinating BBC 4 series covering the same ground – The Beauty of Maps. From Jonathan Jones’ Guardian article Magnificent Maps leads us deep into the mentality of awe and wonder his pictures of maps communicate. It tells the story of mural …

Greece activates EU-IMF bailout

Mack on April 23, 2010, 11:54 am

| Readers 4

The Greeks have called in the IMF. RTE report that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has asked for the activation of an aid package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund aimed at pulling the eurozone member out of a debt crisis.

Irish 2009 budget deficit goes upwards to 14.3% (past Greece)!

Mack on April 22, 2010, 12:26 pm

| Readers 4

Ireland surges past Greece into first place for 2009 European fiscal deficits. Per the Eurostat report In 2009 the largest government deficits in percentage of GDP were recorded by Ireland (-14.3%), Greece (-13.6%) the United Kingdom (-11.5%), Spain (-11.2%), Portugal (-9.4%), Latvia (-9.0%), Lithuania (-8.9%), Romania (-8.3%), France (-7.5%) and Poland (-7.1%). No Member State registered a government surplus in 2009. The lowest deficits were recorded by Sweden (-0.5%), Luxembourg (-0.7%) and Estonia (-1.7%). In all, 25 Member States recorded …

José versus the volcano

Blank on April 21, 2010, 9:34 am

| Readers 1

Disruption due to volcanic ash has reached the European Parliament with changes to the agenda; debates continue mostly as normal but given travel issues for many Deputies voting has been postponed to 5/6 May. The European Commission & Council will have made statements on the volcano (online at some point today) at Tuesday’s session and have already decided to set up an Ad Hoc group addressing the economic consequences. Similar measures haven’t been put in place at Leinster House with the …

“We do not want foreigners in here.”

Pete Baker on April 4, 2010, 2:07 am

| Readers 7

The Irish Times’ Miriam Lord spotted this outburst by Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East, Edward ‘Ned’ O’Keeffe, during the Dáil debate on the banking system on Tuesday – the same day that the Irish Financial Regulator, Chief Exexcutive Matthew Elderfield, took High Court action against Quinn Insurance. From the Dáil record Deputy Edward O’Keeffe: Why should AIB be told to sell its assets in the next 30 days? It should be given space to sell its assets and they …

“the hunt begins for dark matter, new forces, new dimensions and the Higgs boson”

Pete Baker on March 30, 2010, 7:34 pm

| Readers 2

As it turned out the Irish Times’ Dick Ahlstrom was a tad optimistic. About the time, not the end of the world… And, despite the Guardian’s live-blogging Ian Sample’s tongue-in-cheek concern that the early glitches today were due to “the Higgs particle wooing its way back in time and jinxing the machine”, again, at approximately 1300 Central European Summer Time [12pm local] the beams of protons in the Large Hadron Collider at Cern were stabilised and fully aligned and the …

“At these energies we are starting to enter a new regime”

Pete Baker on March 30, 2010, 4:04 am

| Readers 4

Ahead of the start of First Physics at the Large Hadron Collider tomorrow, and I should correct the times for streaming on-line coverage as 7.30am to 5pm local time, the Irish Times has a report on Belfast-born director of accelerators at Cern, Steve Myers, at the annual conference of the Institute of Physics in Ireland in Athlone. Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Science Blog interviews Cern physicist Jon Butterworth on the [cautious] way forward So, the first results are in. The detectors …

“the reference … would not appear to be based on sound historical fact.”

Pete Baker on March 25, 2010, 8:46 pm

| Readers

Irish President, Mary McAleese, is on an official state visit to Turkey this week. But, as the Irish Times notes, at a dinner in the capital, Ankara, she’s been perpetuating a myth. Mrs McAleese told VIP guests Turkey had helped Ireland during the Famine. She said: “During that famine, Turkey’s then leader Sultan Abdul Majid sent three ships loaded with food to Ireland. The cargo was unloaded in a port called Drogheda and since then, at the insistence of the …

“It’s a bit like firing needles across the Atlantic and getting them to collide half way.”

Pete Baker on March 24, 2010, 1:12 am

| Readers 4

The Large Hadron Collider at Cern set another new world record for particle accelerators on Friday with twin beams each at an energy of 3.5 trillion electronvolts (TeV) and, as the BBC notes, on Tuesday 30th March those beams will be made to collide. Btw, that’s still only half-maximum power. And there’ll be a live webcast of the event, LHC First Physics, on the Cern website from 8:30 to 18:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time) – 10.30am to 8pm local …

“must surely be regarded as the country’s greatest contribution to European sculpture”

Pete Baker on March 21, 2010, 4:23 am

| Readers 2

The BBC notes the recommendations of a Conservation Study [9Mb pdf file] for the early medieval ecclesiastical site of Monasterboice, County Louth, commissioned by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works and Louth County Council. In particular, proposals to remove and replace with replicas the likely late 9th to 10th centuries, exceptionally significant, Monasterboice high crosses. From the BBC report The study notes that there will be opposition to moving the crosses. “Some local residents strongly oppose any option that …

“We never before had to deal with a manuscript recovered from a bog”

Pete Baker on March 20, 2010, 8:42 pm

| Readers 6

The Irish Times reports that conservation work on the 1,200-year-old “Faddan More Psalter”, discovered in 2006 by a workman operating a mechanical digger, is almost complete. The National Museum of Ireland plans to put the eighth century religious manuscript “of staggering importance” on public display next year. From the Irish Times report Yesterday, the museum’s director, Dr Pat Wallace said the psalter was so rare and important it now ranks among the top 10 of the tens of thousands of …

“Tendrils of the coldest stuff in our galaxy”

Pete Baker on March 18, 2010, 2:54 am

| Readers 3

ESA’s cool infrared Herschel observatory sent its first images back in October last year, just after its launch companion, the even cooler Planck observatory achieved first light. Both are twittering away – Planck and Herschel. But as the BBC notes Planck scientists have now released “a snapshot of the colossal swathes of cold dust that spread through the Milky Way galaxy.” Wednesday’s pictures come from Planck’s highest frequency channels and cover about 10% of the sky. They show the great …