Europe – Page 22 – Slugger O'Toole

The world’s highest-energy particle accelerator

Pete Baker on December 1, 2009, 3:37 am

| Readers 4

The Large Hadron Collider at Cern experienced its first collision a week ago and, as the BBC reports, in the early hours of this morning it officially became the world’s highest energy particle accelerator by accelerating its twin beams of protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV – breaking the previous world record of 0.98 TeV, held by the US Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Tevatron collider since 2001. There’s an elongated Cern video report here. First physics due early 2010 …

What happens when you shop too much and save too little…

Mick Fealty on November 30, 2009, 10:27 pm

| Readers 2

Okay, in news from elsewhere… Willem Buiter with what we should and should learn from Dubai… In comparing Ireland the UK in a basket of other countries he identifies the greater independence of the ECB from Irish government control as a positive factor in favour of Ireland’s chances of a credible recovery: From Dubai to Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, France, the UK and the USA, the sovereign debt burdens have been at current levels during peacetime …

“the Wild West of European finance”

Pete Baker on November 29, 2009, 2:41 am

| Readers 18

In today’s Guardian, Terry Eagleton reviews Fintan O’Toole’s Ship of Fools – “As O’Toole points out, bribery, tax evasion and false evidence under oath have not simply gone unpunished; the very idea of penalising the culprits is viewed by the governing elite as unsporting or even unpatriotic.” This is partly because Ireland, having in O’Toole’s words “imported” its modernity from elsewhere, is in some ways a country with a first-world economy and a third-world political system. Local, cronyist and clientelist …

“economic downturn is so acute it is causing many to consider leaving the country..”

Pete Baker on November 26, 2009, 3:43 am

| Readers 2

In yesterday’s Irish Times, the Republic of Ireland’s President, Mary McAleese, was telling anyone who would listen that “Ireland’s young people have the sort of can-do mentality, combined with education and confidence, that is needed to lift the country out of its gloom.” Elaine Byrne chipped in on the opinion pages – “Rising generation will regenerate a better Ireland”. Unfortunately for their argument, the same edition carried these details from the latest Irish Times /Behaviour Attitudes opinion poll. THE VAST …

“The tracks we’re seeing are beautiful”

Pete Baker on November 24, 2009, 2:45 am

| Readers 4

Beams of protons started circulating again on Friday at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern. And the first low energy collisions have begun! From the Cern press release. “It’s a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. “But we need to keep a sense of perspective – there’s still much to do before we can start the LHC physics programme.” Also from the Cern press release, some of those …

“It’s great to see beam circulating in the LHC again”

Pete Baker on November 21, 2009, 4:12 am

| Readers 4

Understandably, it’s been a lot more low-key than last year. At the newly refurbished, and tested, Large Hadron Collider [LHC] at Cern scientists have successfully sent a beam of protons around the ring in a clockwise direction, some 10,000,000 times, and are preparing for the anti-clockwise beam. BBC report here. And from the Cern press release Particle beams are once again circulating in the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, CERN1’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This news comes after the machine …

“A very unseemly squabble about individuals”

Pete Baker on November 19, 2009, 5:39 pm

| Readers 1

Ahead of what’s likely to be a lengthy Swedish-chaired summit of EU leaders, the Irish Times lists the potential candidates for the posts of President of the EU Council and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. And, as Germany and France look to strike a deal, the Guardian surveys the “cartoon version of the choices facing European leaders”. Update Not as lengthy a process as feared, not that it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a carve up.. Belgian Prime …

Fitzsimmons remanded in custody in Dublin on European Arrest Warrant

Pete Baker on November 19, 2009, 2:00 am

| Readers 63

An iol report notes that Harry Fitzsimmons, aged 40, has been remanded in custody in the High Court in Dublin today after being arrested in Dundalk, Co Louth earlier this month on foot of an European Arrest Warrant [EAW]. Fitzsimmons was one of four men who went on the run in May 2006 after pleading guilty to attempting to kidnap dissenting republican Bobby Tohill on 20th February 2004. Two further charges against the men – of false imprisonment and unlawful …

Could UKIP (and Lisbon) cost Cameron his comfortable majority…?

Mick Fealty on November 18, 2009, 4:36 pm

| Readers 2

I’ve a pretty chipper Tory mate who did have his party pegged for a 90 seat majority in the next parliament. But Simon Heffer probably raises an issue that most Tories don’t want to talk about in public… a possibly deleterious drift to UKIP in their long prepared and highly funded effort in the southern English marginals as a result of David Cameron’s climb down over Lisbon… I’ve not checked with my Tory mate since then… I keep meeting Tory …

Tory U-turn and DUP `isolationism`

Kilsally on November 17, 2009, 1:33 am

| Readers 3

There has been a noticeable presence of NI Tory correspondence in the letters page of the News Letter in recent weeks. A noticeable theme seems to be portraying the DUP as isolationist, which presumably builds on the UUP`s claims that the DUP are actually `Ulster Nationalists`. Meanwhile the DUP have been attacking the Tory stance on Europe over the past month or so. First we had Ian Paisley in his News Letter column with a piece entitled `European dream has …

“a find of international importance.”

Pete Baker on November 6, 2009, 9:20 pm

| Readers 42

A remarkable discovery by a metal-detectorist near Stirling, and apparently on his first attempt. And this time it doesn’t look like a collection of trophies.. Four iron age gold torcs, three complete, believed to be from 1st to 3rd centuries BC. More images at the Belfast Telegraph report. As the Times report says For archaeologists, monetary matters pale against the historical significance of the torcs, which probably date from between the 1st and 3rd centuries BC. Intriguingly, the Stirling find …

Cameron will not be holding a referendum on Lisbon after all…

Mick Fealty on November 3, 2009, 4:16 pm

| Readers 5

(Poster is courtesy of DizzyThinks) With the ratification of Lisbon by Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic, frankly there is no point. The deal was done when the Irish people kicked the idea of further resistance firmly into touch last month. Most of the rest has been spin. And the pretension that the UK can ‘repatriate’ powers ceded under this and/or other treaties is just that, a pretension. Unless, as Dizzythinks (one of the few Tory inclined blogs to cover …

An ‘old style left’ view on the dignity of labour…

Mick Fealty on November 3, 2009, 1:51 am

| Readers 2

One of the most refreshing pieces I’ve heard on British politics in a long long time was Clive James’ point of view piece on Sunday morning on Radio 4… My politics on this remain where they have always been, on the old style left. I think it is up to management and it always has been. If the management can’t manage to sort it out preferably in advance, then they ought not to be managing. But quite often they haven’t …

Particles are back in the Large Hadron Collider!

Pete Baker on November 1, 2009, 11:09 pm

| Readers 11

After a successful switch-on in September last year there was a slight electrical mishap, and a large helium leak, at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern. They completed the £14million £24million refit back in May this year and, after testing the high-current superconducting electrical connections, have now started to test fire particles through one sector of the super-cool collider. Beams are expected to be in full flight, if not full power, by the end of the year. For those of …

“We are talking too much about the president and not enough about the high representative”

Pete Baker on October 29, 2009, 4:55 pm

| Readers 2

With Mary Robinson declaring herself out of the running, and Tony Blair undeclared but campaigning for the job, is John Bruton the first to officially throw his hat into the ring as a candidate for EU President President of the EU Council? At the Guardian, Tim Garton Ash warns that the figurehead president is not the post that matters most To give Europe a stronger voice in the world also requires a machinery that does not yet exist. But it’s …

East-West co-operation on disqualified drivers

Pete Baker on October 28, 2009, 10:02 pm

| Readers 6

As RTÉ reports “A new deal has been made between the UK and Ireland to ensure that disqualified drivers do not use the roads in either country.” Announced by UK Road Safety Minister Paul Clark, MP, it is “the first practical step of its kind in Europe” and is due to come into force in February 2010. The Northern Ireland Environment Minister Edwin Poots borrows some of Paul Clarke’s lines for his press release. [Good to see the government press …

Guardian accuses ‘a Tory’ of ethically cleansing new Polish ally’s wikipedia entry…

Mick Fealty on October 18, 2009, 11:05 pm

| Readers 4

Despite the shoulder to shoulder performance at the Manchester conference there is a significant body of Conservative opinion that is embarrassed about the party’s new friends in the east… One, it would appear a Westminster based, took the slightly desperate (not to mention pointless) action of trying to erase references Michal Kaminski’s previous life on the wild side of Polish right wing opinion, after they were raised Edward McMillan-Scott (who subsequently cashiered for his efforts)… IN fact if you look …

Ireland signs the Lisbon Treaty…

Mick Fealty on October 16, 2009, 3:41 pm

| Readers 3

As it is a moment in history, Mary McAleese has ratified the Lisbon Treaty on behalf of the Republic… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Tory dither on European referendum…

Mick Fealty on October 6, 2009, 11:07 pm

| Readers 1

Clipped and cut courtesy of UKIP… Worth sticking it out to the end, for Boris’s top drawer dither… And Norman Lamont’s thoughts about just how quickly the Tories may be thinking about cutting debt… If you are a devolved minister with responsibility for finances, then be afraid, be very afraid… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking …

Money well spent?

Pete Baker on October 6, 2009, 5:35 pm

| Readers 1

The Irish Times has the self-declared amounts spent by the various parties and groups on the Lisbon II campaign. AT LEAST €3.5 million was spent by the main groups campaigning for and against the Lisbon Treaty, while the Referendum Commission spent under €4 million. Political parties said they spent about €1.47 million, including contributions from European Parliament groups, while various civil society groups and corporations revealed spending of about €2 million. From the IT report The cost: what the main …