This coming Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia will almost certainly cut interest rates to a record low of 1.25%. Some lenders are already cutting their mortgage rates in anticipation of the upcoming cut. Several large banks — including NAB, ING and Bank of Queensland — have lowered their mortgage rates this week in an attempt to stay competitive ahead of the anticipated rate cut. Greater Bank, an Australian customer-owned bank, has made the unprecedented move of cutting one of its fixed-rate home loans to less than 3%. On their website they say, “Greater Bank will offer the lowest one-year fixed rate home loan in the market, after announcing today that it will reduce the interest rate on it's Ultimate Home Loan and Great Rate Home Loan to 2.99% p.a.” Greater Bank CEO Scott Morgan said, “As a customer-owned bank, we don’t have shareholders which allows us to redirect funds to directly benefit our customers. This is why we are in a position to offer the most affordable one-year fixed rate home loan in the market. This will ensure we remain very competitive against the industry’s major players in this fixed loan market. These are the lowest fixed term rates I have seen in my time in the banking sector and the perfect opportunity for new and existing customers to look at their current financial position and considering fixing their home loan.” But be warned… Just because the RBA is set to reduce interest rates, does not mean that all lenders will pass on the full amount. Graham Cooke, insights manager at comparison website Finder said, “If the RBA cuts by 25 basis points, this doesn't necessarily mean banks will pass on the rate cut in full. If you don't get the full rate cut, vote with your feet. A lower cash rate will spur even further competition within the market, so it is the perfect time to weigh up your options as you have the bargaining power. The best value home loan starts with a '3'.” But be careful about rushing in too early and fixing your mortgage rate. Westpac are predicting a total of three cuts this year! They suggest that June, August, and November will be the most likely months for a cut. After three cuts, that will put the interest rate at 0.75%! That’s insane! Westpac's chief economist, Bill Evans, based this prediction on the rather gloomy outlook for the Australian Economy. He said, “We see the unemployment rate drifting up to 5.4% by year's end, economic growth at 2.2% for 2019, underlying inflation at 1.4%, and the housing market still weak, although approaching stability.” Investment bank, JP Morgan, went even further and predicted that Australian interest rates will fall to around 0.5% by mid-2020. That would require a total of four rate cuts by the RBA. JP Morgan have stated their re ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InaIIt4WE04

I have talked about Universal Basic Income before, a universal payment given to all citizens of a society irrespective of their individual income levels or assets (https://youtu.be/PEerL0IIrGI). It has become increasingly apparent that modern technology will slowly erode the number of jobs that are needed for our future society to function. Take Uber for example. They have already started trials in Pittsburgh using automated car technology, that is, cars that don’t need drivers. Uber have a profit motive not to have drivers. Imagine how cheap a taxi would be if you didn’t have to pay a person to drive. I predict that in the near future, say 5 to 10 years, there will be a tipping point where paying for your own vehicle (registration, insurance, petrol, servicing) will be more expensive than opting for an Uber service or similar. For some people, it may even be cheaper now. What happens to all those taxi drivers? Well, they’ll either have to retrain, or be left without a job. Fewer and fewer jobs will be available, so a growing number of people will be left jobless. Certainly, we will need some form of universal basic income that will prevent people from taking extreme measures to provide for their families (for example, committing crime). AFFILIATE LINKS* eBay Deals & Sales ▶ https://ebay.to/30UxyGE Rode NT-USB Microphone (My Mic) ▶ https://ebay.to/3iEZK6h Buy goods from the US with https://www.bigapplebuddy.com – For $10 off your first order, use checkout/promo code: DAILYRANT * If you click on these affiliate links and purchase something, I get paid a small commission. SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.facebook.com/DailyRantAustralia/ https://odysee.com/$/invite/@DailyRantAustralia:d https://twitter.com/RantAustralia

Recently, I’ve been trying to book a place on Airbnb. I thought it would be nice to take my family away for a few days over Easter, but boy, has it been difficult. If you don’t already know, Airbnb allows owners to rent out their place for short-term lodging. It sounds fairly reasonable and the prices are usually much cheaper than traditional hotels. However, over the last weeks or so, I’ve found out it’s not everything it’s cracked up to be. First of all, there’s this ridiculous pricing system. Owners are able to set the nightly price seemingly to whatever they like. Here’s a picture of a nice apartment in the middle of Brisbane city. Only $77 per night! What a deal, hey? But then you go to put in your dates and then the true price is revealed – $236 a night! Sure, the base fee is still only $77 per night, but there’s a whopping $130 cleaning fee, and a $29 service fee! This allows owners to falsely manipulate the search results and allow their units to show up as cheap accommodation. It’s a rort! AFFILIATE LINKS* eBay Deals & Sales ▶ https://ebay.to/30UxyGE Rode NT-USB Microphone (My Mic) ▶ https://ebay.to/3iEZK6h Buy goods from the US with https://www.bigapplebuddy.com – For $10 off your first order, use checkout/promo code: DAILYRANT * If you click on these affiliate links and purchase something, I get paid a small commission. SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.facebook.com/DailyRantAustralia/ https://odysee.com/$/invite/@DailyRantAustralia:d https://twitter.com/RantAustralia #airbnb

On the morning of 27 March 2023 at around 10.11am, 28-year-old graphic designer and illustrator Audrey Hale forced entry to Covenant Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee, carrying three firearms, and used those weapons to kill three school children and three adults, and was shot dead by police about 15 minutes later at 10.27am. A few hours later, President Joe Biden was attending the Small Business Administration Women’s Business Summit hosted at the White House. He was cordially introduced and began his speech at 2:43pm, or 1:43pm Nashville time, I believe. To be fair to Biden, he wasn’t there to talk about the shooting, however, this was his first public statement about it and it took him more than two minutes to even mention it. And during that two or so minutes, he basically did a stand-up comedy routine about ice cream and other such things. Even after mentioning the shooting, he still continued to joke around about ice cream, which I will show you in this video. I have linked the official transcript of his speech below. Remarks by President Biden at the SBA Women’s Business Summit https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/03/27/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-sba-womens-business-summit/ Here are the highlights, if you can call them that, of President Biden’s Women’s Business Summit speech: “Thank you. My name is Joe Biden. (Laughter.) I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband. (Laughter.) And I eat Jeni’s Ice Cream, chocolate chip. (Laughter.) I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. (Laughter.) By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs. (Laughter.) You think I’m kidding, I’m not. Folks, welcome to the White House. Thank you. And it’s a delight to have you all here. And who are those good-looking kids back here? (Laughter.) Those are my kids. They’re your kids? All four of them? Yes. Well, stand up, guys. (Laughter and applause.) Well, I want you to know, like you, I had two brothers — there were three in our family, three brothers, and one sister. And my sister is smarter than all of us. (Laughter.) Not a joke. She used to be three years younger than me; now she’s 23 years younger than me. (Laughter.) You know, she managed every one of my campaigns for office, even back when I was in high school. We went to the same university two years apart. She graduated with honors; I graduated. (Laughter.) And we had a simple rule in the family: Listen to Val. (Laughter.) My sister, Valerie, is incredible. So, guys, be nice to your sister. You’re going to need her. (Laughter.) You’re going to need her. I promise. You got to take care of your mom. Dads are much harder to raise. But, you know, we’re — (laughter) — Before I begin to speak, and the reason I spent a little time on the kids, I — I just want to speak very briefly about the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. And it’s just — it’s sick. You know, we’re still gathering the facts of what happened and why. And we do know that, as of now, there are a number of people who are not going to — did not make it, including children. And it’s heartbreaking. A family’s worst nightmare. And we have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation — ripping at the very soul of the nation. And we — we have to do more to protect our schools so they aren’t turned into prisons. You know, the shooter in this situation reportedly had two assault weapons and a pistol — two AK-47. So I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban. It’s about time that we begin to make some more progress. Anyway, sorry to start off that way, but I couldn’t begin without acknowledging what happened. Today it’s all about lifting up women entrepreneurs and making sure they have the support they need to succeed. The businesses represented in this room stretch across industries, from restaurants to architectural firms to hardware stores, plus Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. And by the way — by the way, it is splendid. You think I’m joking. If I were allowed to take you upstairs, we got a whole freezer full of Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream. You know, it’s pretty dull when you’ve been in public life as long as I have and you’re known for two things: chocolate chip ice cream and Ray-Ban sunglasses. But what the hell, you know? $300 billion — to restore America’s technological edge by — including by manufacturing semiconductor chips. By the way, we invented those chips. No, we did. We, the United States of America. And then we got fat and happy. I’ve never been more optimistic — I mean this from the bottom — and I’ve been doing this — I know I don’t look it, but I’ve been doing this a long time. Folks, I can’t stay. I’ve got to go, but I hope you have a good conference here, and I hope you have a good roundtable. And there’s a little thing going on in — around the world. But anyway, I better — thank you so very, very much for everything.” MUSIC Allégro by Emmit Fenn ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuzGAbVfEkQ