The IRS penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes is up sharply this year, with self-employed and freelance workers at the biggest risk of getting hit.

The penalty, calculated quarterly based on the Federal Reserve's benchmark rate, hit 8 percent on October 1, up from just 3 percent in early 2021, when Fed rates were near zero.

The penalty rate applies to shortfalls in estimated taxes, which self-employed workers pay the IRS quarterly based on their earnings for the period.

If you’ve ever bought an engagement ring, or any other diamond jewelry, you likely know about the “Four Cs”: carat, cut, color, and clarity, which between them determine the quality of a gem. The unofficial fifth C is certification—paperwork from an independent authority validating the qualities and authenticity of a stone. Now, however, a UK startup is aiming to bring yet another C into the mix: code.

Opsydia, a company spun out in 2017 from research conducted at the University of Oxford, is pioneering the laser inscription of near-invisible identifier codes—what it calls “nano-IDs”—inside diamonds.

Each nano-ID consists of a series of submicron-size dots that are imprinted a fifth of a millimeter beneath the gem’s surface, the dots forming a numerical code that’s linked to official certification documents or (increasingly) blockchain ledgers.

Crucially, such an identifier doesn’t come close to registering as the kind of mark that would impact a stone’s quality. Magnification of at least 200X and specifically designed illumination is needed just to spot these subsurface codes. For comparison, specialists in diamond grading laboratories work with between 40X and 80X magnification; a jeweler’s loupe offers considerably less.

Last week ended the way all weeks have been ending: with the stock market raging higher based on future expectations of rate cuts that (1) have not happened yet (2) probably won’t happen until next year, unless a market crash happens first and (3) won’t make their way through the economy for another 18 to 24 months.

But nonetheless, the S&P is looking to finish the year nearing astronomical 20% gains, something that I would have thought to have been impossible with rates raging higher over the last 2 years. But, then again, remember as I wrote in September — rate cuts are usually the signal for the market to crash — not rate hikes: Fed Rate Cuts Should Scare The Shit Out Of You

Is that something I wish I had understood better heading into the last few years? Absolutely. Have I taken an ass whooping betting on volatility and being mostly net short? Absolutely. Does that mean I’m going to be deadass wrong again in 2024?

Not necessarily.

While world leaders spoke at a 'global warming' conference in Dubai, located in the heart of the Arabian Desert, discussing the usual: banning gas stoves, cow farts, and petrol-powered vehicles, a powerful snowstorm grounded all flights at Munich Airport in Germany. 

"Private jets in Munich on the way to Dubai global warming conference are literally frozen on the runway, which has turned into a glacier," said Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former NOAA chief scientist. 

Webmaster addition:

Tuam, a quiet town in the west of Ireland. Tuam, a name that traumatised the whole of Ireland in the spring of 2014, when an unimaginable story was revealed. A hidden mass grave containing the remains of some 800 children was discovered on the former grounds of a home for single mothers, a hell on earth where children died from ill treatment, and were shamefully buried in secret and forgotten. Up until the 1990s, dozens of these detention centres were run by religious orders, but the country is still reluctant to confront the ghosts of its past.

Webmaster addition: Long but worth it. Claire actually wrote a song about this incident. It's the third song down on this page from her website.

If I were going to commit a genocide, I’d make sure to kill as many women and children as possible to eliminate the future generations of the people I was trying to wipe out. Come to think of it, I guess I’d basically do what Israel is doing in Gaza.

Liz Gunn issues plea for help: New Zealand police are raiding home of whistleblower who leaked COVID-19 vaccine mortality data!

Steve Kirsch @stkirsch writes (12/02/23):

"BREAKING: Emergency video from Liz Gunn about the situation in New Zealand. They are arresting the person who wants data transparency. They should be arresting the corrupt members of the New Zealand Ministry of Health who are refusing to look at the data and prove it is safe."

A long-standing agreement between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to process claims for migrant medical care is drawing scrutiny from veterans’ advocates, who are concerned that it could jeopardize the agency’s mission of caring for veterans in the midst of an ongoing border crisis and existing complaints about veterans’ care.

“I’d like to understand why the VA is involved,” Russ Duerstine, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America and a veteran of the United States Air Force, told Fox News Digital.

In June 2022, Liz Cheney and the sham Jan. 6 Select Committee brought in Mark Meadows’ former junior staffer Cassidy Hutchinson as a “surprise witness.”

Democrats and their media lackeys billed this as an “explosive development” in their hopes to jail President Donald Trump based on a heaping pile of lies.
The fake news mainstream media GLADLY aired young Cassidy as she lied through her teeth to the J6 Committee and America. She fit in nicely with Liz Cheney and her committee.

Democrats, the FBI, the mainstream media, Big Tech, and Liz Cheney all believed Cassidy. They agree that Donald Trump and his supporters must be publicly humiliated and ruined for trying to save this country from their failed policies and tyrannical ambitions.

Obviously, this doesn’t count most of the foreigners.

How is this acceptable?

Why does anyone accept it?

Shifting to a target "rnge" is how the inflation target will be moved higher, from 2% currently to "2–3%" for example.

The recent spell of inflation appears to have shifted medium term inflation expectations structurally higher (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T5YIFR), where it has not declined despite tighter policy.

“I don’t think most people are aware of how possible it is to stop and reverse the current demographic changes occurring. A lot appear to have given up and accepted it as fate.

In July, the UN Chief declared the ‘Era of global boiling has arrived’, in a year marked by heatwaves and wildfires. COP28, an important UN Climate Conference, is currently taking place in Dubai, where world leaders will come together to discuss the urgent action needed.

Heavy winds and snow have hit parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, spawning travel chaos and leaving behind a winter wonderland.

"Global boiling"

At least 14 people died due to extreme weather conditions as a winter storm lashed parts of Russia and Ukraine, knocking out power from hundreds and thousands of households.

"Global boiling"

Forecasts estimate that the population living in the provinces west to east will experience the second cold wave of the winter season from Tuesday to Friday, with drops in temperatures of up to 16C reaching minimums of -30C in some areas of Inner Mon

"Global boiling"

The county's emergency services are engaged in a multi-agency response as heavy snow wreaks havoc on their road service - with vehicles stuck in the south of the Lake District.

Julie Coldwell, who lives in the lakes, says more than 100 cars have been ditched near Windermere as she posted on social media that 'It's awful here'.

It comes as temperatures could drop to minus 12C overnight, as forecasters warned that 10-15cm of snow is possible in some areas on Saturday.

"Global boiling"

Train and flight cancellations caused disruption to travellers in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic after heavy snow hit parts of Europe.

The German weather service has estimated that 30-40cm of snow could fall by Saturday evening and there are reports of numerous transport accidents and traffic jams on icy roads in the region.

"Global boiling"

"Global boiling"

Ukie bros, I don’t feel so good...

The UN: Israel bombardment is “the darkest chapter in Palestinian history.” and yet, the UN can not pass a ceasefire resolution.

No one can afford mortgages except the rich. Even upper middle class people can’t afford them now. It’s ridiculous.

Have you ever wondered how NASA updates Voyager's software from 15 billion miles away? Or how Voyager's memories are stored? In this video, we dive deeper into the incredible story of how a small team of engineers managed to keep Voyager alive, as well as how NASA could perform a software update on a computer that's been cruising through space for almost half a century.

Although exorcism may often be associated with horror movies and the distant past, it remains a practice in the Catholic Church today. Father Gabriel Amorth, the Vatican's former chief exorcist, served in this role for an impressive 60 years and is estimated to have performed approximately 160,000 exorcisms during his tenure. It is worth noting that the exorcism ritual is not limited to Father Amorth alone; Various Popes throughout history have also performed exorcisms. In fact, in 2018, the Vatican hosted an annual workshop where 250 priests from around the world gathered for this purpose, as the BBC reported.

The picture "Soviet Flag on the Reichstag" is full of symbolism and represents a historical moment. Built in 1894, the Reichstag's architecture was magnificent for its time.

The building contributed greatly to German history and the Red Army considered it a symbol of its enemy. The Soviets finally captured the Reichstag on 2 May 1945.

Next to Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the flag being raised on Iwo Jima, Yevgeny Khaldei's photograph of Soviet soldiers raising the flag on top of the Reichstag building in Berlin is perhaps the most famous photograph of World War II. But unlike the Iwo Jima photo, Khaldei's Reichstag photo was both staged and doctored.

Khaldei's photograph was directly inspired by Rosenthal's Iwo Jima photograph. Mindful of the publicity the Iwo Jima photo had received, Soviet officials (perhaps Stalin himself) ordered Khaldei to fly from Moscow to Berlin to take a similar photo that would symbolize the Soviet victory over Germany. Khaldei took with him a large flag, which his uncle had stitched from three tablecloths for the purpose.

Born in Sweden and raised in the United States, she enthralled audiences with her magnetic presence in the entertainment world.

But it wasn't just his acting ability that thrilled; It was her versatility – an actress, singer and dancer – that established her as an icon.

His singing and acting career has spanned seven decades, starting in 1961. Initially, she was presented as a female version of Elvis Presley.

She has a sultry, lively contralto voice. They had a Top 20 hit song in 1961 and a charting album in 1964, and they had a disco hit in 1979.

In an era of political rigidity, the women of the Soviet Union discovered a remarkable way of infusing a distinctive charm into style, creating a unique and surprisingly beautiful fashion.

In previous generations, fashion was not a focal point for Soviet thinkers and was often seen by these circles as an "anomaly in socialism".

However, at the turn of the Second World War, during the Khrushchev Thaw, officials became aware of fashion as a 'natural force' in society; Especially as more women became interested in wearing nice clothes.

Therefore, fashion became a medium through which the Soviet government, primarily, wanted to reconstruct the war-torn nation and revive efforts to foster pro-Party sentiment.

The symbol of the "New Soviet People" would thus emerge after the war, with young youth helping to create a modernist image of a new communist utopia and later helping to fight counterculture movements such as Stygian from the pop-cultural front.

Although on the surface Dublin remained moderately prosperous, beneath it was deteriorating. The city had some of the worst slums in Europe.

Infant and child mortality was unusually high, with tuberculosis a particular scourge; Cleanliness and sanitation were practically non-existent.

An investigation in 1910 revealed that 20,000 families were living in just one room.

A two-week survey of 22 public houses or taverns revealed that among the customers were more than 46,000 women and 28,000 children.