The Skim Opinion

The Great Eskimo Tax Scam

by Robert Lettin, March 30, 2016

[H]ere’s a fun story from the Wayback Machine to remind you it’s never the wrong time to pay attention to taxes.

Back in 1971, President Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The law was intended to settle a long history of land disputes dating back to before Alaskan statehood. It distributed up to 104.5 million acres of land to the native tribes, paid out $962.5 million… and created 13 “Alaska native regional corporations” to manage those assets. But timing, as they say, is everything. Fishing, timber, and oil industries collapsed, and nearly all of the new corporations were left with losses.

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Narcotic Notice

Importer of Controlled Substances Application: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

A Notice by the Drug Enforcement Administration on 01/16/2018

This document has a comment period that ends in 31 days. (02/15/2018)

Publication Date: 01/16/2018
Agencies: Drug Enforcement Administration
Dates: Registered bulk manufacturers of the affected basic classes, and applicants therefore, may file written comments on or objections to the issuance of the proposed registration on or before February 15, 2018. Such persons may also file a written request for a hearing on the application pursuant on or before February 15, 2018.

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WTO Chair Dance Appeal

TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues
By Third World Network, in SUNS #8583, 27 November 2017

US rejects proposal by 52 WTO members on AB selection

Geneva, 24 Nov (Kanaga Raja) – The United States has again blocked efforts to launch the process for filling three vacancies at the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization.

At the meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on Wednesday (22 November), the United States rejected a new proposal tabled by some 52 members calling for the simultaneous launch of the selection processes to fill three vacancies at the seven-member Appellate Body (AB).

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Amina Mohamed (Kenya)

Amina Mohamed

Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril (Somali: Aamina Maxamed Jibriil; Arabic: امينة محمد جبريل‎‎) (born 5 October 1961) is a Kenyan Somali lawyer, diplomat and politician. She previously served as Chairwoman of the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organisation’s General Council, as well as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. She is the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya.

Minister for Foreign Affairs
Assumed office: 20 May 2013
President Uhuru Kenyatta
Preceded by Sam Ongeri
Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
In office: 13 May 2011 – 20 May 2013
Appointed by Ban Ki-moon
Preceded by Angela Cropper

Personal details
Born 5 October 1961

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Transit Into QMV

New method of calculating a qualified majority in the Council
Council of the European Union, 29 September 2014

As from 1 November 2014 new rules for the calculation of a qualified majority in the European
Council and in the Council of the EU will apply. As from this date, a system of double majority of members and of population will replace the current rules based on a system of weighted votes attributed to each member state, applied since 1957.

The new voting rules are aimed at facilitating the European Council’s and the Council’s decision taking by qualified majority and at strengthening the democratic legitimacy, in line with the principle “one citizen – one vote”.

When acting on a proposal from the Commission or the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, a qualified majority will require the support of at least 55% of the members (i.e. in the EU 28 at least 16 member states) representing at least 65% of the EU population (i.e. in 2014 around 328.6 million).1 A blocking minority will have to include at least four members; otherwise, the qualified majority will be deemed to have been attained.

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Error of Article 50

THE ERA OF ARTICLE 50:
HOW THE UK WILL LEAVE THE EU IF IT OPTS FOR BREXIT IN ITS 23 JUNE, 2016 VOTE
GAVIN BARRETT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
UCD Working Papers in Law, Criminology & Socio-Legal Studies, Research Paper No.02/2016

Introduction
Article 50, introduced into the Treaty on European Union by the Treaty of Lisbon, sets out a mechanism for a state which wishes to end its membership of a supposedly ‘ever closer Union’. Article 50 provides

“ 1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.2 It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

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No Community to Fall Back On?

Maastricht Treaty
European Union treaty of 1992
From Wikipedia [Excerpted]

The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union or TEU) undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. (On 9–10 December 1991, Maastricht hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty.) Upon its entry into force on 1 November 1993 during the Delors Commission, it created the European Union and led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro. The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon.

The treaty established the three pillars of the European Union — one supranational pillar created from three European Communities (which included the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar, and the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar. The first pillar was where the EU’s supra-national institutions—the Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice—had the most power and influence. The other two pillars were essentially more intergovernmental in nature with decisions being made by committees composed of member states’ politicians and officials.

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