YouTubers are in for big changes and revenue losses

Starting January 1^st 2020, YouTube will begin enforcing the FTC rules that have been in place but ignored until now concerning children under 13 years old viewing videos not suited to their age group.

This sounds simple BUT, all tubers will have to categorize ALL their published and newly uploaded videos since they started uploading!

This may be one or thousands of your videos.

The fine for improperly categorized video’s is $42,000.00+ PER VIDEO!!

Who determines compliant videos? YouTube and the FTC, yes the government and there’s where it will get ugly because the FTC opinion and the tubers may be quite different, a very gray area.

Monetization of the children’s videos will be Zero$$ along with comments and sidebar advertizing will be gone.

Here’s an example of what I see coming:

Take camping and the hundreds of YouTubers uploading thousands of videos about their life as full-time van dwellers and RVer’s. They make their living off of YouTube. Here’s the issue is see, what 9 or 13 year old doesn’t like camping? They will have to categorize ALL their videos for children and then lose all the revenue from the videos..

It’s going to get ugly, I envision many YouTubers closing down and going away rather than risk financial ruin from the FTC for simply improperly categorizing. Remember the fines are $42,000 for each video.

Here’s a link to a very good video made by YouTube explaining the do’s and don’ts of the newly enforced FTC Rules:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JzXiSkoFKw

Here’s another good video from FY Nyth, who is a homesteader, tiny home dweller as well as professional wildlife photographer trying to explain how it will affect her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQuEVTPcJnc&t=18s

Tacoma; Gun and Ammunition TAX

For years I have been waiting for the Federal Government to not confiscate our guns, but levy a huge tax on ALL guns. Why a tax? Because confiscation of guns is a third rail for any politician to propose.

The easy way out for politicians is to tax the ownership of a gun, similar to Tacoma in the story below.

However, I do expect the Federal Government to go much further than Tacoma and levy an “ANNUAL Gun Ownership Tax” on every registered gun we own! The anti-gun, sub-humans would love it because they would see it as a financial punishment to gun owners including a forced gun registration law. In the end, it would make confiscation easy because they would know where all the registered guns are! Is the tax collectible? What if this Annual Gun Tax happens and we don’t pay? You can count on the IRS to be the collector of the tax and has the power to seize everything you own if you don’t pay!

Here’s what I envision for a Federal tax amount:

The evil AR15 and AK47 would be taxed at $100.00 each every year, handguns at $50.00 each every year and hunting guns at $25.00 each every year! A tax like this would bring in a substantial amount of money each year and where much of it, after all the under the table deal-making will end up in the politicians' personal money laundering foundations. It’s scary to think what’s inevitably about to come down on us.

The tax would be an easy sell for all the politicians as they would justify it like the tobacco tax, saying the money brought in “would be used to fund mental health programs” for the shooters and potential shooters!

First  Part of the Tacoma story:

“TACOMA -- After three hours of intense and heated testimony from 112 people on both sides of the divisive issue, the Tacoma City Council passed a controversial plan to tax guns and ammunition.

Council leaders passed the gun and ammo tax with the caveat that it won't go into effect until July 2020.

The tax adds $25 to each gun sold, plus an extra two to five cents for each bullet, depending on size.”

Link to the rest of the story:

https://komonews.com/news/local/tacoma-city-council-votes-on-controversial-gun-tax

What is the shelf life of plastic bottled water?

Most of us store some water for use during an emergency. What most people don’t know is there is an ‘expiration date’ or ‘best by date’ printed on the plastic bottles. How to store can be found in the link below. Why do I use Zephyrhills as an information source? Just my personal preference. I buy only Zephyrhills Bottled Water because it has the cleanest taste and with no after taste like I find in bottled water from major soda manufacturers. The following information is provided by Zephyrhills Brand, Florida.

What is the shelf life of bottled water?

We don’t have an expiration date on our bottles — just a "Best By" date. To figure out the “Best By” date, find the letters “BB” one inch above or below the label (depending on where your bottle was made).

Zephyrhills® Brand products have the following “Best By” dates:

Sparkling 1.0L PET: 12 months from manufacturing date

Sparkling 0.5L PET: 9 months from manufacturing date

Still (non-carbonated): 18 months from manufacturing date

What’s the best way to store my Zephyrhills® Brand 100% Natural Spring Water products?

It’s no big secret — handle them like any other food product. Just because Florida can be hot doesn’t mean your water bottles should be. Keep them at a moderate temperature in a cool, clean shaded location and away from detergents, cleansers and other strong-smelling chemicals or products (like yesterday’s mackerel).

Is it safe to drink from plastic water bottles? Does your packaging contain BPA?

The FDA and other international health organizations and regulatory agencies have approved the kind of plastic we use as a safe food packaging material.  Here at Zephyrhills brand, we continually evaluate packaging materials for safety and abide by all FDA regulations.  Additionally, all current and available scientific evidence indicates that our bottled water packaging is safe when consumed by its “Best By” date, stored at moderate temperatures and kept away from strong-smelling cleansers and chemicals.

BPA Free is a term than can only be used with certain types of “virgin plastic” bottles, meaning bottles made only with new plastic material that has not been previously used, sterilized and re-made into plastic pellets.   Today, the majority of our bottles are made with virgin plastic and are BPA free. This includes our “single serve” bottles, ranging from 8 ounces to 1.5 Liters, and our “multi-serve” sizes, ranging from 3 Liter to 5 gallons.   

As a company, we are looking to use more recycled plastic in our bottles and eventually would like all of our bottles to be made with 100% recycled plastic.  In this way, we can give new life to some of the existing plastic in our society, helping to keep it out of landfill and waterways. Our recycled plastic would meet or exceed all FDA guidelines.  Recycled plastic is virtually BPA-Free, but due to recycling process, we cannot use the term BPA-Free. 

Link for more information:

https://www.zephyrhillswater.com/faq

Gluten-Free Pizza, That’s Really Good!

I made this pizza Friday and the leftovers were just as good the next day!

For those who must eat gluten-free this pizza will amaze you. It tastes just like a regular pizza and it’s quick and easy to make. The thin crust is made from Almond Flour, Cream Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese. I know you are wondering how that combination can make a pizza crust? Trust me it does!

Here is the link to the recipe and a video showing the steps to make it. The pizza is called “Fat Head Pizza Crust”.

http://www.white-trash-cooking.com/recipes/fat_head_pizza_crust.html 

(I have Dennis’s blog featured in my sidebar. He has a lot of good and simple recipes all with excellent videos and instructions.)

Green Bell and Jalapeño Peppers

Learned something this year; Don’t pull out the old Pepper plants?

This year I had good production from my five pepper plants until the summer heat came in. The plants simply shut down and produced nothing while in the mid 90’s. The leaves by noon just wilted and looked like they were going to die. They also stopped producing. I watered twice a day but the heat seamed too much for them and I almost pulled the plants out but, since they looked strong I decided to leave them alone and see what happens.

Once the temperature stayed below 90f the plants started producing again! The Green Bell Peppers are much smaller (half the size) than the early summer crop but they taste great. The Jalapeño were a surprise, they are really hot, much hotter and smaller than the early summer ones. As long as they are producing weekly I’ll leave them alone and maybe eat peppers until March when I will replant.

The Green Bell’s. I’ll let them grow to about 2-3 inches then eat them.

The Jalapeño, some turn red but mostly normal size and green.

The five plants and still full of blossoms.