Right now millions of people are worried about DEATH! When it comes to TAXES some of us are also worried for various reasons. As for me I’ve been ready for death for years, death as such doesn’t worry me, I’ve had a long innings not a particularly happy one but nevertheless “knock knock knocking on heavens door” at 70 is quite a long innings, and who knows when I come back either as a virus, tree or bird I’ll experience far fewer problems like TAXES!
Now I think I’ve written about this many times, in the past now 15 months sorting out my taxes and the stress surrounding it has taken a large portion of my time. I’ve worked 50 years of my life (I still work but not for wages), I’ve always paid tax of course, in the UK the tax system is relatively easy PAYE (Pay as you earn). So long as that worked out I never had to spend more than an hour a year to complete my taxes. However, compare that to the United States and their massively bureaucratic IRS. I spent 10 years in the USA most of the time working in education so when I left in 2015 I was of course not only due my social security payments but a reasonable teachers pension. Things went well and all was paid into my bank as as it should have been but suddenly without any warning or reason why the IRS started to deduct 30% tax.
Now yes we all have to pay taxes and in one of my favorite movies “Meet Joe Black” Brad Pitt as the grim reaper himself tells Anthony Hopkins their are two things you can’t escape in life Death and Taxes. However, I live in Malta, I’m a Brit (surprise) and as such I pay my taxes in Malta under the double taxation treaty between these two countries. But despite letters, and forms almost on a weekly basis I’ve not received and response.
The IRS have around 75000 employees they report to The Department of the Treasury with almost 90000 employees. Now compare that to say the UK their equivalent is the Department of the Treasury with around 1170 employees and when it comes to the the actual tax office that becomes a little harder to find as this department covers two areas customs and excise. However back to the IRS.
The IRS have over 800 different forms available take my latest for only 2 pages (not bad for the IRS) unfortunately that comes with 26 pages of instruction which itself has ‘hyperlinks’ to even more information. Consider the number of trees needed to make the paper where all that came from let alone the Billions of wasted hours spent filling them in. So if I was the IRS commissioner what would I do. ‘Keep it simple stupid’. Maybe just value added tax (a tax on what we consume) everything should be more transparent. So why doesn’t someone do something? A more sinister conspiracy theory might suggest its another way to control us. One of the most infamous quotes made by the New World Order clearly laid out that so long as you controlled the money you controlled everything and everyone. They no longer hide behind closed doors now they do what they do in the open because they believe they are immortal (and maybe that’s what they’re aiming for). IMMORTALITY. Get rid of the 99% and the 1% can live in their Utopian world. They have AI (artificial Intelligence) to do all the hard work, no need for us worker Bees and the space we take up,
The reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States (1776). The Latin phrase “novus ordo seclorum”, appearing on the reverse side of the Great Seal since 1782 and on the back of the U.S. one-dollar bill since 1935, translates to “New Order of the Ages”and alludes to the beginning of an era where the United States of America is an independent nation-state; conspiracy theorists claim this is an allusion to the “New World Order”.
Now I thought long and hard before I wrote this post, no point in scaring people unnecessarily, after all what can we mere mortals do about it? Well first of all I don’t want to be a blind sheep led into the gas ovens without a fight. Why should this 1% have it all their own way. So what can we do? Start by doing your own research, Google the terms used here, don’t take my word for it and when you finally realize that what I’ve written is true then those of you/us that are left should get together and decide for themselves united we stand divided we fall.
So I have this theory, when I dream I feel no physical pain, if its a good dream I will wake up happy and wish I could go back and continue the dream. Is dreaming like death or Nirvana or is it just a chance for our brain to reboot. This is an interesting proposition because if we can enter a dream state without the constant worries and pressures of the “real”world then isn’t that a better way to exist?
We will never really know what makes us dream maybe one day someone will be able to explain.
Wikipedia says “A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.[1] The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, although they have been a topic of scientific, philosophical and religious interest throughout recorded history. Dream interpretation is the attempt at drawing meaning from dreams and searching for an underlying message. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology.[2]
Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable.[3] The length of a dream can vary; they may last for a few seconds, or approximately 20–30 minutes.[3] People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams per night, and some may have up to seven;[4] however, most dreams are immediately or quickly forgotten.[5] Dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep, most dreams occur in the typical two hours of REM.[6] Dreams related to waking-life experiences are associated with REM theta activity, which suggests that emotional memory processing takes place in REM sleep.[7]
Opinions about the meaning of dreams have varied and shifted through time and culture. Many endorse the Freudian theory of dreams – that dreams reveal insight into hidden desires and emotions.[qualify evidence] Other prominent theories include those suggesting that dreams assist in memory formation, problem solving, or simply are a product of random brain activation.[8]
Sigmund Freud, who developed the psychological discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and their interpretations in the early 1900s.[9] He explained dreams as manifestations of one’s deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to repressedchildhood memories or obsessions. Furthermore, he believed that virtually every dream topic, regardless of its content, represented the release of sexual tension.[10] In The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), Freud developed a psychological technique to interpret dreams and devised a series of guidelines to understand the symbols and motifs that appear in our dreams. In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious mind. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as being frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware.[11] Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration.[12]
Ancient history
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the “timeless time” of formative creation and perpetual creating.[13]
The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia have left evidence of dream interpretation dating back to at least 3100 BC.[14][15] Throughout Mesopotamian history, dreams were always held to be extremely important for divination[15][16] and Mesopotamian kings paid close attention to them.[15][14]Gudea, the king of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash (reigned c. 2144–2124 BC), rebuilt the temple of Ningirsu as the result of a dream in which he was told to do so.[15] The standard AkkadianEpic of Gilgamesh contains numerous accounts of the prophetic power of dreams.[15] First, Gilgamesh himself has two dreams foretelling the arrival of Enkidu.[15] Later, Enkidu dreams about the heroes’ encounter with the giant Humbaba.[15] Dreams were also sometimes seen as a means of seeing into other worlds[15] and it was thought that the soul, or some part of it, moved out of the body of the sleeping person and actually visited the places and persons the dreamer saw in his or her sleep.[17] In Tablet VII of the epic, Enkidu recounts to Gilgamesh a dream in which he saw the gods Anu, Enlil, and Shamash condemn him to death.[15] He also has a dream in which he visits the Underworld.[15]
The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883–859 BC) built a temple to Mamu, possibly the god of dreams, at Imgur-Enlil, near Kalhu.[15] The later Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668–c. 627 BC) had a dream during a desperate military situation in which his divine patron, the goddess Ishtar, appeared to him and promised that she would lead him to victory.[15] The Babylonians and Assyrians divided dreams into “good,” which were sent by the gods, and “bad,” sent by demons.[16] A surviving collection of dream omens entitled Iškar Zaqīqu records various dream scenarios as well as prognostications of what will happen to the person who experiences each dream, apparently based on previous cases.[15][18] Some list different possible outcomes, based on occasions in which people experienced similar dreams with different results.[15] Dream scenarios mentioned include a variety of daily work events, journeys to different locations, family matters, sex acts, and encounters with human individuals, animals, and deities.[15]
In ancient Egypt, as far back as 2000 BC, the Egyptians wrote down their dreams on papyrus. People with vivid and significant dreams were thought to be blessed and were considered special.[19] Ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were like oracles, bringing messages from the gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine revelation was through dreaming and thus they would induce (or “incubate”) dreams. Egyptians would go to sanctuaries and sleep on special “dream beds” in hope of receiving advice, comfort, or healing from the gods.[20]
In Chinese history, people wrote of two vital aspects of the soul of which one is freed from the body during slumber to journey in a dream realm, while the other remained in the body,[21] although this belief and dream interpretation had been questioned since early times, such as by the philosopher Wang Chong (27–97 AD).[21] The Indian text Upanishads, written between 900 and 500 BC, emphasizes two meanings of dreams. The first says that dreams are merely expressions of inner desires. The second is the belief of the soul leaving the body and being guided until awakened.
The Greeks shared their beliefs with the Egyptians on how to interpret good and bad dreams, and the idea of incubating dreams. Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, also sent warnings and prophecies to those who slept at shrines and temples. The earliest Greek beliefs about dreams were that their gods physically visited the dreamers, where they entered through a keyhole, exiting the same way after the divine message was given.
Antiphon wrote the first known Greek book on dreams in the 5th century BC. In that century, other cultures influenced Greeks to develop the belief that souls left the sleeping body.[22]Hippocrates (469–399 BC) had a simple dream theory: during the day, the soul receives images; during the night, it produces images. Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) believed dreams caused physiological activity. He thought dreams could analyze illness and predict diseases. Marcus Tullius Cicero, for his part, believed that all dreams are produced by thoughts and conversations a dreamer had during the preceding days.[23] Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis described a lengthy dream vision, which in turn was commented on by Macrobius in his Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis.
Herodotus in his The Histories, writes “The visions that occur to us in dreams are, more often than not, the things we have been concerned about during the day.”[24]Beginning of “The Dream of Macsen Wledig” from the White Book of Rhydderch, f.45.r
In Welsh history, The Dream of Rhonabwy (Welsh: Breuddwyd Rhonabwy) is a Middle Welsh prose tale. Set during the reign of Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (died 1160), it is dated to the late 12th or 13th century. It survives in only one manuscript, the Red Book of Hergest, and has been associated with the Mabinogion since its publication by Lady Charlotte Guest in the 19th century. The bulk of the narrative describes a dream vision experienced by its central character, Rhonabwy, a retainer of Madog, in which he visits the time of King Arthur.[25]
Also in Welsh history, the tale ‘The Dream of Macsen Wledig’ is a romanticised story about the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus, called Macsen Wledig in Welsh. Born in Hispania, he became a legionary commander in Britain, assembled a Celtic army and assumed the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 383. He was defeated in battle in 385 and beheaded at the direction of the Eastern Roman emperor.[26]
In Judaism, dreams are considered part of the experience of the world that can be interpreted and from which lessons can be garnered. It is discussed in the Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55–60.
The ancient Hebrews connected their dreams heavily with their religion, though the Hebrews were monotheistic and believed that dreams were the voice of one God alone. Hebrews also differentiated between good dreams (from God) and bad dreams (from evil spirits). The Hebrews, like many other ancient cultures, incubated dreams in order to receive a divine revelation. For example, the Hebrew prophet Samuel would “lie down and sleep in the temple at Shiloh before the Ark and receive the word of the Lord.” Most of the dreams in the Bible are in the Book of Genesis.[27]
Christians mostly shared the beliefs of the Hebrews and thought that dreams were of a supernatural character because the Old Testament includes frequent stories of dreams with divine inspiration. The most famous of these dream stories was Jacob’s dream of a ladder that stretches from Earth to Heaven. Many Christians preach that God can speak to people through their dreams. The famous glossary, the Somniale Danielis, written in the name of Daniel, attempted to teach Christian populations to interpret their dreams.
Iain R. Edgar has researched the role of dreams in Islam.[28] He has argued that dreams play an important role in the history of Islam and the lives of Muslims, since dream interpretation is the only way that Muslims can receive revelations from God since the death of the last prophet, Muhammad.[29]
In Hinduism
In the Mandukya Upanishad, part of the Veda scriptures of Indian Hinduism, a dream is one of three states that the soul experiences during its lifetime, the other two states being the waking state and the sleep state.[30]
In Buddhism
In Buddhism, ideas about dreams are similar to the classical and folk traditions in South Asia. The same dream is sometimes experienced by multiple people, as in the case of the Buddha-to-be, before he is leaving his home. It is described in the Mahāvastu that several of the Buddha’s relatives had premonitory dreams preceding this. Some dreams are also seen to transcend time: the Buddha-to-be has certain dreams that are the same as those of previous Buddhas, the Lalitavistara states. In Buddhist literature, dreams often function as a “signpost” motif to mark certain stages in the life of the main character.[31]
Some philosophers have concluded that what we think of as the “real world” could be or is an illusion (an idea known as the skeptical hypothesis about ontology).
The first recorded mention of the idea was by Zhuangzi, and it is also discussed in Hinduism, which makes extensive use of the argument in its writings.[32] It was formally introduced to Western philosophy by Descartes in the 17th century in his Meditations on First Philosophy. Stimulus, usually an auditory one, becomes a part of a dream, eventually then awakening the dreamer.
Postclassical and medieval history
Some Indigenous American tribes and Mexican civilizations believe that dreams are a way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors.[33] Some Native American tribes used vision quests as a rite of passage, fasting and praying until an anticipated guiding dream was received, to be shared with the rest of the tribe upon their return.[34][35]
What is the secret, attraction of thought, whatever we think is what we get? Think about it, we feel love we get love (so long as the other person wants love), we feel hate we get hate. It is all down to attraction. Whatever we think is what will be attracted to you. As it happens I have just watched a movie called “The secret” it’s not a best seller, most people won’t have even heard of it but it gives a message and the biggest message is the Law of Attraction. Over the centuries the message has always been the same, the genie from the lamp “your wish is my command” whatever you wish for yourself will in time happen. So what is the secret, most people would say it’s all about money, but as the song goes money can’t buy you love. What we are all seeking is happiness. It doesn’t mean that we have to have lots of money, I know lots of people who have lots of money who aren’t happy. I also know lots of people that have lots of money that are happy. Positive thoughts will in time bring positive outcomes, I use the word exponential what that really means to me is if something happens it will build to make something even bigger.Good thought attract good outcomes, bad thoughts attract bad outcomes. Some of the happiest people on this earth are what we would regard as being “dirt poor” but they’re smiling. They’re happy. I’ve had the misfortune in my life to experience real poverty. Pakistan for example in the interior is a no man’s land, but people are still happy, granted many are not. But why do the same people in the same place attract so many different outcomes. Well at this point it’s for you to find out. WATCH THE MOVIE!
I heard today that the cast of friends are getting back together and it made me think of friends. I’ve have quite a few “friends” but some are what are described as fair weather friends. My best friend Steve Poskitt died a few years back he was a true friend, he made me laugh right up to the day he passed away. But there are the others who only stay around when there’s something in it for them. They should know who they are and IF they don’t they will just as soon as I get a chance to “unfriend” them on Facebook.
I don’t like trying to preach to people even when I have a strong point of view and it annoys me when I see people spouting out how we should behave, how we can be better human beings, how to attain spiritual enlightenment etc etc. who are they to tell me or you anything! So over the course of the next few days I’m beginning the process of “unfriending”.
IF I post on Facebook I want it to entertain and (maybe) pass on information and news that I’ve picked up (once I’ve checked it out of course) because there’s so much fake news out there.
I heard the news today oh boy, 4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire and though the holes were rather small they had to count them all, now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert hall.…OH there’s so much bad news out there John Lennon IF you were still alive today you’d be disappointed how little we have learnt.
So a blog a day keeps the ??? away. Peace and Love
I live opposite a monument that has fascinated me since I moved here, the dedication is in Maltese so its been kinda difficult to find out what or who the monument is for. The light shines bright throughout the night and I’m sure it can be seen from miles around. My investigation shed light on what to me was a mystery. Bryan Portelli someone here really loves and misses you.
The monument I have discovered was built with the support of his mother Rita Portelli (its amazing what you can find out on Facebook). I feel it best to leave any further commentary to those who know more about Bryan in the meantime these are just a few random photos I’ve taken of this magnificent view.
So there you have it, a sad story no doubt perhaps Bryan’s mother can explain?
So an interesting start to my day, I decided to take a walk down to San Blas a local beach. Purpose to find a good bamboo cane to make into a hat/coat stand.
unusualthe long and winding roadstrange formationsanther odd structurewalls made from whatever is aroundview of the sea
I found the bamboo and it looks quite good holding up my hats etc. Gozo is an unusual place as I was walking (yes walking) down the path in the early hours old men were walking up the hill with sacks over their shoulders. No doubt they’d been sorting out their piece of land and taking back home dinner. You could live for free here IF you wanted.
Children our FutureWhen the idea of this group started I had no real idea as to what its primary purpose would be. I knew I wanted to help children and that’s about it. The inspiration for starting the group came at thanksgiving 2013. I was at a thanksgiving party with my ex-wife. The hostess June had invited us both as the only none family members of what was a special family get together. The people at the party were very nice, everyone was relaxed and having a really nice time Some guests had brought babies and children which made the evening even more relaxed and a family celebration. Before we began to eat, June started by asking us to join hands and say what we were thankful for. This may well be a tradition that happens at thanksgiving celebrations, but in my 10 years in the US it was the first time I’d been asked that question.I really didn’t know what to say and looked around the table, then I realized what I was thankful for“children, because they’re our future”. That started what has become http://www.childrenourfuture.org. So then I thought about what can the group could achieve? What was its purpose? We had/have zero resources, I’d just lost my job, I had some connections on LinkedIn and Facebook, so why not start a group on LinkedIn. I already had a small group I founded on LinkedIn called “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to” a quote used by Richard Branson years ago that had become something of a mantra for me. So I started our group, still wondering, what is our purpose. What is our mission? I wanted it to be a new tool and not simply add to the already huge resources helping kid’s but being of some use, and not just some sort of ego trip for me. There are indeed many organizations out there, and lots of resources all over the world. Some of the Buddhist principles I so greatly admire and support are being made available on the internet but how do you get to them? I thought maybe we can build a network of links for kids, parents, teachers and counselors so they are able to look and see what’s happening with kids in different parts of the world (So take a parents situation, my child has ADHD I’ve checked out everything in the US, I wonder what they’re doing about it in say Ireland or India or the UK).This exchange of information should grow exponentially so we can access other alternatives and read success stores, decide for ourselves how to help our kids, home schooling? Who knows, but the links “the bricks” would be there.
So why bricks? Anyone who knows the story of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” will know it’s about childhood, it’s about the effect others can have on the “development” of a child. The bricks are built around the child during its life (in this case Roger Waters). Our bricks hopefully represent the answer to your questions, and over time when “the content” gets better then it will be the place where we can check out for help, and in many cases that would be help for parents who are at the end of their tether, they need help.
I’m a very proud father and grandfather and great grandfather and I love to see kids happy, Children our Future needs to be in the hands of someone who can make sure its mission will continue whatever happens to me and I will always welcome ideas as to how we can ensure that happens. We have a website www.childrenourfuture.org OK well I did pay for that, and now we have a mission. “A resource for those wanting to Support, Advise, Validate Encourage our children, our own or the worlds. So now its 14th FEBRUARY 2020 and I found this old blog quite by chance its still relevant so enjoy or not but PLEASE comment
I’m told by WordPress that in order for me to start earning money from the advertisers on my posts is to post more so here goes #advertise#post#fun#money#007#food#thought#blogging#valentine
There are two parts to this story, the first part is by way of an introduction of how this unethical company has affected me personally, the second part is how it has affected you and others who aren’t aware of how far their exploitation has gone.
Part 1. Me. Well this doesn’t need any great research Medtronic has cost me financially, they have stolen my time, my health and my Karma. Why?
I was fitted with a Pacemaker made by Medtronic *[1] after fainting in my home. I look back now and consider ‘should I have had the operation in the first place knowing what I know today’. To explain, I got out of bed one morning and felt lightheaded, I fainted banged my head and when I came to, I decided to drive to the local hospital. I was admitted and six days later was fitted with a Medtronic Pacemaker. What I didn’t know at the time was the track record of what I regard as a completely unethical money-making machine that puts profits before patients was the maker of this device. After months of tests following a “recall” of my device by Medtronic I was told that I needed a different Pacemaker and have the old one removed (under local anaesthetic) which was quite painful. The Pacemaker was replaced by a German made Biotronik *[2] Pacemaker. As I write this I felt it appropriate to give Biotronik an opportunity to speak their mind and sent this message, (I recently had one of your Pacemakers fitted to replace a Medtronic device, I can say your pacemaker is now working well. However, I am now very concerned that Medtronic is putting profit before patients and continues to place patients at risk. I am now writing an article for the Times newspaper exposing some of the facts that I’ve uncovered and by way of this message wanted to give you the opportunity to have your say whether that be by means of your mission statement or whatever you feel appropriate. You don’t of course need to respond at all I should mention that this case has been running for some time and has now involved friends (politicians in Malta and the USA) Who I’m assured will want to see some real action against this company. Thank you for producing a reliable device and I look forward to hearing from you.) I will forward their reply if and when I get one.
So enough about me what about Medtronic *[3]. Medtronic was founded in 1949 in Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie, as a medical equipment repair shop.
Through his repair business, Bakken came to know C. Walton Lillehei, a doctor of heart surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The deficiencies of the pacemakers of the day were made painfully obvious following a power outage over Halloween in 1957, which affected large sections of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A pacemaker-dependent paediatric patient of Lillehei died because of the blackout. The next day, Lillehei spoke with Bakken about developing some form of battery-powered pacemaker. Bakken modified a design for a transistorized metronome and created the first battery-powered external artificial pacemaker.
Medtronic’s original headquarters in St. Anthony, Minnesota
The company expanded through the 1950s, selling equipment built by other companies but also developing custom-made devices. Bakken built a small pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work in the new field later produced an implantable pacemaker in 1960. The company built headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Anthony, Minnesota, in 1960 and the company moved to Fridley in the 1970s. Medtronic’s main competitors in the cardiac rhythm field include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical. In 1998, Medtronic acquired Physio-Control for $538 million.
Animal rights (2005 to 2010) In 2005, 2008, and 2010 PETA threatened to submit a shareholder resolution to improve animal welfare standards in the company. In 2005, PETA attempted to stop five specific animal experiments that it deemed “crude and cruel”. In 2008, PETA protested the outsourcing of animal testing to countries with lax animal welfare laws, such as China. In 2010, PETA attempted to stop Medtronic’s reported use of live animals in testing and training. In response, Medtronic conducted a feasibility study that found that banning the use of live animals was impractical. Medtronic continues to use live animals for testing and training but has said that it will look for alternatives in the future. In each case, PETA withdrew its shareholder resolution after talks with Medtronic’s leadership.
In June 2014, Medtronic announced it would execute a tax inversion to Ireland by acquiring Irish-based Covidien plc (a previous U.S. tax inversion to Ireland in 2007), for $42.9 billion in cash and stock. The tax inversion enabled Medtronic to move its legal headquarters to Ireland, while maintaining its operational and executive headquarters in the U.S., thus allowing it to avoid taxation on more than $14 billion held overseas, and avail of Ireland’s beneficial low corporation tax regime. Medtronic’s tax inversion is the largest tax inversion in history and given the changes in the U.S. tax-code in 2016 to block the Pfizer-Allergain Irish tax inversion, is likely to remain the largest. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak defended the tax inversion in a 2015 interview to the Financial Times saying, “We just followed the rules and the deal was done based on strategic merits”. Ireland is less than 0.1% of Medtronic (or Covidien) sales, and the majority of Medtronic’s sales, and an even greater percentage of Medtronic profits (due to the higher margins on U.S. medical devices), are from the U.S. healthcare system. In 2016, the Star Tribune reported that Medtronic was still winning U.S. Federal contracts and attending U.S. trade-missions as a U.S. company.
In terms of scale, on 23 November 2018, Ireland’s largest stockbrokers, Davy Stockbrokers reported that the total capitalization of the Irish stock market was €104 billion (this does not include Medtronic, which Davy do not consider an Irish company). In contrast, on the same day Medtronic’s capitalisation was listed on Bloomberg at just over $130 billion (or €115 billion).
Medtronic’s acquisition of Covidien plc made Medtronic the world’s largest medical device company by revenues.
Post tax inversion to Ireland (2014–)
In February 2016, the company announced that it would acquire Bellco from private equity firm Charme Capital Partners. In June, the company announced its acquisition of HeartWare International Inc. for $1.1 billion. In December 2017, Medtronic acquired Crospon in €38 million ($45 million). In September 2018 the company acquired Mazor Robotics for $1.64 billion ($58.50 per American Depository Share or $29.25 per ordinary share. In late November, Medtronic acquired Nutrino Health Ltd boosting the company’s nutrition-related data services and analytics.
In May 2019, Medtronic announced it would acquire Titan Spine, a technology company focussed on titanium spine implants. Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak *[6] will retire in April 2020 and will be succeeded by senior executive Geoff Martha. In January 2020, the company announced its intention to acquire Stimgenics, LLC and their primary therapy, differential target multiplexed spinal cord stimulation.
Acquisition history Medtronic Global rankings
In May 2018, Medtronic was ranked as the world’s largest medical device company by 2017 revenues (see table below).
In March 2017, Bloomberg’s database of U.S. tax inversions listed Medtronic and Wright Medical Group (Medtronic’s 2015 inversion to Ireland was over $100 billion, while Wright’s 2015 inversion to the Netherlands was $3.3 billion), as the only U.S. tax inversions of a U.S. medical device company in history. In February 2018, the Wall Street Journal listed Medtronic’s 2015 tax inversion to Ireland as the largest U.S. corporate tax inversion executed between 2013 and 2016. In May 2018, Medtronic was ranked as the largest corporate tax inversion in history.
So not only is this company exploiting the worlds population but its also avoiding tax to the US government of $ billions. Should they be brought to task? Should Omar Ishrak their CEO be asked to explain the actions of this company under his watch before he “retires” (well word has it he’s off to yet another money-making opportunity). How much money can one man accrue and what does he do with it all?
I hope the US government responds to what is a complete disregard for ethics and also regain control of this huge tax injection which can be used for the betterment of us all.
It’s 6am on Friday 31st January 2020, I’ve been looking forward to 2020 for some time now 20/20 vision and all that, but strangely my view on things has changed and I think for the better. Take yesterday for example, and don’t forget I’m running 2 blogs apart from this I also have http://www.britishbuddha.com which when I set that up made the mistake of adding blog to the BB part. Confused? Well I certainly was, but to get back on track (I really must stop rambling).
I set off yesterday with a mission, as usual I’d had little or no sleep (I can’t understand how this worn out body keeps going). It’s now 6-45 so to continue, confusion reigns as with 2 blogs, 3 email addresses numerous domain names? I need to simplify my life (perhaps that’s where Odoo can help. After all they paid for most of the day yesterday. So the Marriott Hotel in Malta, its only been open 2 weeks it’s got to be their flagship location, its huge, its luxurious, its state of the art. Do you think I’m exaggerating? OK all will be revealed. IF you ask via this blog
crazybritblog 
