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rislandr.bsky.social
EU Reestablishment Treaty | United Federation of Europe | Land Value Tax | Metropolitan Development | Geopolitical Engineering | Native Woodland | Social Media Regulation | Secondary Sanctions 𝑆𝑖 𝑣𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑚 https://mastodon.social/@rislandr
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The euro remains the world's second most used currency after the dollar, and no other currency comes anywhere close 2/n
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CCCTB is the solution, but given the unanimity requirement for tax policy, Ireland ,must be strong-armed into accepting it. The EU desperately needs QMV in all policy areas, but probably nothing short of threatening to unilaterally re-establishing the EU without uncooperative countries would do it.
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Yep. QMV should apply to all policy areas. Unfortunately, a new EU treaty is needed to achieve this, and we can forget that given Hungary (re. Russia) and Ireland (re. tax). That's also why TEU art. 7 is only a half-measure, and why I'm looking at radical ideas like unilateral EU re-establishment.
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The European Commission proposed the CCCTB, a well designed solution to make the corporate tax system fair for everyone. Ireland could even keep it's low corporate tax rate. The proposal still failed due to Ireland's threats to veto it.
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Quite proud of myself
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In a spectacular cession of sovereignty, Ireland even outsources air defence to the UK. Worryingly, despite being an island nation, Ireland has no navy capability to protect assets within its EEZ, such as crucial submarine power and communications cables. It's time for Ireland to grow up. 6/6
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To make matters worse, Ireland spends the lowest of all European countries on defence, at under 0.25% of GDP, while its neighbours strive to increase military spending to deter Russian aggression and support Ukraine. Ireland neglects its strategic interest in a peaceful and prosperous Europe. 5/6
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In today's new geopolitical context, Ireland can no longer get away it. Fiscal and political tensions are rising in other EU member states, as they struggle with high budget deficits, while facing headwinds from abusive Chinese mercantilism. Ireland's taxation is drawing attention from Trump. 4/6
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So, at least Ireland has invested its massive siphoned corporate tax revenues for the future, right? Not really. Ireland's $25 billion sovereign wealth fund pales in comparison to Norway's $1.5 trillion or Singapore's $2 trillion. The much needed Dublin metro system never materialised. 3/6
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Ireland's economy is now larger than Singapore, UAE, Norway and Denmark, with a GDP of over half a trillion euros (yes, with a 'T'). Incredibly, Ireland has the world's highest GDP per capita (excl. microstates). Even after adjusting for profit shifting, the story is essentially the same. 2/6
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LVT! You were sooo close 😉
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It’s clear why Russia and China wanted Trump to win.
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Just the wikipedia picture. The central large tower above the portal and several smaller towers seems to be a fairly common pattern.
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Way off here, I know, but Parliament Hill, Ottawa was the first thing that popped into my mind.
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I never said that. PV, or other renewables, not coal or other fossil fuel. Without demand for non Chinese production, what’s still left will be gone, almost irrecoverably. Once China starts coercing not just with trade but also militarily, we need independent industrial base for renewables.
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Vast majority in China
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*part* of the solution - yes - but it’s on the way to be the *only* solution, with all the problems that entails. No other nation produces at that scale or efficiency because of Chinese state subsidies and market manipulation until the non-Chinese competition was all but destroyed.
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Xi Jinping is in his 4th term of a max 2 term mandate. Having coerced CCP to remove term limits, he effectively became dictator for life… or as long as he wants it. The end of any checks on his power means there’s no counterbalance. A dictatorship as the world’s 1st or 2nd power is not desirable.
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Indeed. Sourcing PV, batteries etc from democratic countries based on rule of law is perfectly compatible with addressing climate change. It’s important to keep a non-Chinese option alive. As soon as China invades Taiwan, we’re in a new world and need an independent supply to endure until then.
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It could be European, South Korean, Japanese, etc. We’ve a dark future awaiting us if the Chinese dictatorship continues to accumulate all industrial production at our expense. Not sure what slavery you refer to in the U.S., although that country is headed in a bad direction too.
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Ideally, avoid Chinese PV, batteries, etc. if possible. Accept that you’ll pay a premium - it’s worth it. We don’t want to hand over our remaining industrial activity to the PRC.
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He’ll have the courts brought to heel in the first 100 days… of his third term.
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Western support statements are not enough. What’s needed now: 🔹Individual sanctions on Ivanishvili and inner circle 🔹Targeted financial sanctions on enablers using Western banks 🔹Clear linkage between repression and EU/NATO pathways 19/23
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Unfortunately, they’re based in the United States. These days that’s often a deal breaker.
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Not perfect, but much better than the current situation.
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A public (state) verification service would be technically feasible. All the social networks should know is whether the user ID is verified, but not who they are. To avoid the State tracking us, the process could be audited and required to not store or otherwise process citizens’ media usage.
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I understand. That’s one reason for bringing its EU operations under EU ownership, and strictly enforcing EU data protection. Two opposing pressures: The need to eliminate foreign interference on social media. The popularity of these social networks. Shutting it down is probably not an option.
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Let’s see if the Russians dial up disinformation vs France in Mongolia via social media. It’s a more difficult target for them. There’s no French colonial legacy, and China (and Russia) consider Mongolia a buffer state, so any disruption of the status quo could have unintended consequences.
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I wouldn’t quite call it a free market given the material in question, but yes, that makes sense. My initial perspective was geopolitical (France / EU, not companies per se), and Orano is a state owned company, hence the significance in relatively free market.