"Italian firm ASG Superconductors on Friday presented the first magnet for ITER, the world's largest experimental plant designed to show it is possible to produce energy from nuclear fusion. It is 14 metres high, nine metres long, weighs 300 tonnes - as much as a Boeing 747 - and is the shape of a big capital D. The super-high-tech magnet, the first of 18 destined for the ITER project, was made by the Malacalza family's ASG Superconductors in its La Spezia plant, which will go on to produce another nine (plus one spare one) of the 18 which will form the core of the Iter reactor being built at Cadarache in southern France."
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Developments like this in a country as developed as Italy always remind me why it irritates me whenever I hear it be tagged a PIIG.
Not only is Italy one of the wealthiest nations on earth as member of the G8, it also is a net giver to the EU - always was.
Never quite understood the source of this chauvinism. Italy's economy is far more advanced than Spain, Portugal and Greece. It feels like a guilt by association scenario.
Culturally, Italy shares a heritage with those countries, industrially and in science and technology, they're natural rival to Germany, the UK, France, USA and Japan.
There are serious economic problems indeed. From persistent low growth to high unemployment among the youth, to weakening banks, restrictive labor laws and a bureaucratic system so convoluted it's a marvel the country even ranks as high as it does.
But it's more in-line with France's problems than the so-called Pigs. And quite frankly, the media - so politically correct when it suits them - should drop the derogatory term altogether.
After all, are they not all part of the EU? What did they expect? That every country was going to perform to the highest standards? You can't claim to be a united block and then chastise members. It's not healthy or appropriate and is bound to cause friction.
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Developments like this in a country as developed as Italy always remind me why it irritates me whenever I hear it be tagged a PIIG.
Not only is Italy one of the wealthiest nations on earth as member of the G8, it also is a net giver to the EU - always was.
Never quite understood the source of this chauvinism. Italy's economy is far more advanced than Spain, Portugal and Greece. It feels like a guilt by association scenario.
Culturally, Italy shares a heritage with those countries, industrially and in science and technology, they're natural rival to Germany, the UK, France, USA and Japan.
There are serious economic problems indeed. From persistent low growth to high unemployment among the youth, to weakening banks, restrictive labor laws and a bureaucratic system so convoluted it's a marvel the country even ranks as high as it does.
But it's more in-line with France's problems than the so-called Pigs. And quite frankly, the media - so politically correct when it suits them - should drop the derogatory term altogether.
After all, are they not all part of the EU? What did they expect? That every country was going to perform to the highest standards? You can't claim to be a united block and then chastise members. It's not healthy or appropriate and is bound to cause friction.
