This morning I woke up to a nice little message. 11 of my videos have been demonetised. Time for a celebration! It means that I am making videos that may “offend” some people. Technically, the videos haven’t been fully demonetised. The actual message reads as follows: “Monetization status: Limited or no ads due to content identified as not suitable for most advertisers. Your video remains fully playable and is eligible to earn subscription revenue from YouTube Red. Advertisers avoid placing ads on videos that don't align with their brand. For example, they may choose not to advertise on content that's sexually suggestive, includes bad language, or is considered controversial.” The list of my videos that are not considered appropriate include: Diversity in the Workplace Is out of Control, News Blackout Day 03, Same Sex Marriage Should Be Legal in Australia, Just a Rat in a Japanese Cage, Film Discussion - Sexy Beast (2000), Decadence - The Moral Decline of Society, Capital Punishment is Wrong, Military Might, Violence Begets Violence, War on Drugs Doesn't Work, and Political Correctness Gone Mad. I’ve posted a link to each of these videos below so you can see how “controversial” they are. I get why it has happened. YouTube (and their parent company Google) make most of their money from advertising. If the advertisers kick up a stink about the videos that are showing their ads, then YouTube are forced to take action. If they don’t do what their advertisers demand, then they will lose money. As a consequence, I lose money. I can still have my say, that is, my videos are still available to be watched on YouTube, but I won’t be getting much money from the more controversial ones. So what do I do? I could just make videos that meet all the guidelines. For your interest, here are the official things that videos should not contain: Controversial issues and sensitive events; Drugs and dangerous products or substances; Harmful or dangerous acts; Hateful content; Inappropriate language; Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters; Incendiary and demeaning; Sexually suggestive content; and Violence. So what’s left? Opening presents is okay. Cat videos are okay as long as they’re not violent. Maybe I should change my channel from Daily Rant Australia to Daily Pussy Australia and show cats running about doing stupid things. Hmm … now that’s an idea. All of this just proves my point that wealthy people control society. If they don’t like something, then the little people don’t get paid. Even the so-called “free” and “open” Internet is not immune to the power of the dollar. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if they demonetise a couple of videos. They could demonetise all of them – I’m still going to make th ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV1xkPITjo0

The global economy is looking rather gloomy if you look at recent manufacturing data. In June 2019, global production continued to weaken and is reaching seven-year lows. Global PMIs (that is, Purchasing Managers' Indexes) are a fairly reliable way of measuring economic health. The multinational investment bank JP Morgan collate this data and have recently released a press release titled, “Global Manufacturing PMI at lowest level since October 2012”. In June, the Global Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.4 — its lowest level for over six-and-a-half years — and posted back-to-back readings below 50 for the first time since the second half of 2012 (50 being the level at which the economy is considered to be expanding). The majority of nations surveyed indicated a contraction including China, Japan, Germany, the UK, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy and Russia. Sub-sector data indicated that operating conditions weakened again in the investment goods and intermediate goods industries. In comparison, consumer goods fared better, despite being at a three-year low. This table tells it all. Global PMI is falling. Output is falling. New Orders are falling. New Exports are falling. Employment is falling. Input Prices are rising, but at a slower rate. Output Prices are rising, but also at a slower rate. The only positive news is the Future Output index, which although positive, is positive to a lesser extent. We also have to remember that future output is a prediction, and predictions can change. JP Morgan’s Olya Borichevska commented on the survey. She said, “The global manufacturing sector downshifted again at the end of the second quarter. The PMI surveys signalled that output stopped growing, as inflows of new business shrank at the fastest pace since September 2012. This impacted hiring and business optimism, with the latter at a series-record low. Conditions will need to stage a marked recovery if manufacturing is to revive later in the year.” This global slowdown has been driving recent rate cuts. Overall demand is sluggish, confidence is sliding, and business investment is likely to stay weak well into the foreseeable future. Markets are pricing that around 17 central banks will cut rates this quarter, including the Fed in the US later this month, and the European Central Bank in September. It’s also quite possible that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut rates again soon. On Thursday, the boss of the New York Fed John Williams commented about the need to “vaccinate the economy”. He said, “It's better to take preventative measures than to wait for disaster to unfold. Don't keep your powder dry.” Taking a look at the CME FedWatch Tool, there’s a high likelihood that the Fed will cut interest rates at the July 31 meeting. The on ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNhA4ssrmkg

The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut interest rates again to an all-time low of 0.75%. Their official reasoning is to “ward off rising unemployment” (which has risen from 4.9% to 5.3% since early 2019), and to “stimulate a stalling economy”. But of course, another reason for the cuts is to tempt first-home buyers and investors into an already bubbly, frothy housing market. So has it paid off? How have these rate cuts affected house prices? MY GEAR Rode NT-USB Microphone: https://amzn.to/2OjhgB4 #housingprices #interestrates #perth ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dazfXnuu6z0

Last year during peak insanity, I had to see the dentist. This was back when I wasn’t allowed to enter a cafe or cinema, or even go visit my elderly mother in the nursing home. Yes, Australia lost its collective mind. But I needed to see the dentist, so I gave them a call. It’s the same dentist I’ve been seeing for a long time now, so they were very polite to me. Over the phone, they were asking all the normal questions, but were obviously trying to broach the subject of vaccination. I’m not stupid, I knew what they wanted to ask. So I just told them that I’m not vaccinated against COVID-19. As I said, they were very polite, but they said that they would have to follow new protocols and the only way they could see me was if I was the last patient of the day (because after they see me, they would have to perform a thorough “deep clean”). Okay, whatever. I didn’t really care. I just needed to see a dentist. When I arrived, I was cordoned off in a marked area, kind of like cattle being cordoned off for slaughter. Apart from the receptionist, the dentist and the assistant, there was nobody else in the building. They were all dressed in cloaks, face masks, and face shields, and asked me to put on a face mask. They were treating me a bit like I had the black plague, except being quite polite about it. I was like a leper of old segregated into their own compound, feared and ostracised by the outside world, frequently condemned to wander the roads wearing a sign and ringing a bell to warn healthy people of my approach. (Noting that I was completely fit and healthy at the time. I didn’t have any symptoms of anything whatsoever, but they still treated me like I was some kind of walking dead). I walked down the corridor by myself wearing my N95, noting that I said there was nobody else in the building, and then as I sat up on the dental chair, I was asked to take off my mask. Anyway, apart form the ridiculousness of wearing a face mask down the empty corridor, then taking it straight off when I arrived, the dental treatment went fine. Once they finished, I was asked to put my mask back on straight away, and was promptly ushered out the front door (of course, not before paying a hefty bill). One year later, now that the insanity has mostly subsided, there are pretty much no more mandates for the general public. You don’t have to wear masks. Us lepers are free to go to the restaurant or the pub without carrying a bell or sign. But about four weeks ago, I needed to see the dentist again. I rang them up, and they were very polite as usual. They told me that they’d have to ring me back after checking a few things. Two weeks later, they still hadn’t rang me back, so I contacted them again. Again, they were very polite, and the receptionist told me that they might have a cancellation on Friday. I said, “Great”, I’ll see you then. But then they just told me that they’d have to check a couple of things before they booked me in, and that they’d get back to me that afternoon. I guess it’s no surprise to you that they never got back to me. That was two weeks ago. I don’t mean to tar all dentists with the same brush, but from my experience, dentists like money, right? If they see me, they get my money. So there must be some reason they’re not booking me in for an appointment. Yes, I know, I could just go see another dentist, but I’m a creature of habit. I don’t like changing my routine. Plus, I like a challenge. I want to work out why they don’t want to see me. Is it just an innocent misunderstanding? Are these trained medical professionals actually fearful of me because I haven’t had a couple of doses of AstraZeneca? Or, perhaps more likely, are they just embarrassed? Are they embarrassed that they treated me like some sort of plague-ridden swamp creature, despite me being obviously healthy? Are they embarrassed that despite them being trained medical professionals, they still somehow let themselves go along with all the arbitrary and often ridiculous pandemic measures? I guess I’ll never know. MUSIC Allégro by Emmit Fenn ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu0PzX-kvCU