CHANGE? California City Tests ‘Universal Basic Income’ Program.

The original premise behind UBI is that it would replace all existing benefits and transfer payments, not a new benefit on top of everything else.

SHE’S A GEM: Dolly Parton’s ‘Books From Birth’ Has Now Delivered One Million Free Children’s Books To D.C. Kids.

PAULA BOLYARD: Recovering from Labor.

I didn’t have a choice about joining a union when I was hired by CBS and then ABC. They told me that if I wanted to work, I had to pay dues to AFTRA (the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists). “I’m not an ‘artist’!” I complained. “I don’t want to pay a middleman, and I don’t want some actor setting my working conditions.”

“Too bad,” was the answer. “This is a union shop.”

Today, 28 states no longer force workers to join unions. Last year, the Supreme Court declared that unions forcing government workers to pay dues is unconstitutional. After that, hundreds of thousands of workers stopped paying union dues. Good. Unions tend to be enemies of workplace innovation and individual choice.

Also, some of their leaders are thieves.

Some?

THAT’S A B.S. EXCUSE: Facebook Blocks Bridget Phetasy’s Podcast With Glenn Beck: ‘Against Community Standards.’

DAVID HARSANYI: Dems Propose First Gun Grab Since Lexington And Concord.

As I recall, Lexington and Concord didn’t go quite as planned for the would-be gun-grabbers:

What Democrats propose can be more accurately described as “the first American gun confiscation effort since Lexington and Concord,” or some variation on that theme. Although tax dollars will be meted out in an effort to incentivize volunteers, the policy is to confiscate AR-15s, the vast majority of which have been legally purchased by Americans who have undergone background checks and never used a gun for a criminal purpose.

The “mandatory gun buyback” exemplifies the impracticality and absurdity of do-somethingism (although Biden’s proposal to ban “magazines that hold bullets”—so most guns—is also a contender!). Democrats are ready to instantaneously turn millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals overnight for refusing to adhere to a law that retroactively transformed the exercise of a constitutional right into criminality.

And they do it without any evidence that it would curtail rare mass shootings or save lives.

As I wrote last week, “mandatory buy-back” is just newspeak for “confiscation with a little sweetener.”

SOCIALIST BIRDS OF A FEATHER: AOC Fund-Raised For Antifa.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON: “When David Brooks says it, it’s profound,” she told me. “When I say it, it’s woo-woo.”

Well, she’s half-right.

ANY AMOUNT SEEMS CHEAP WHEN IT’S OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Cory Booker Wants to Fight Climate Change on the Cheap: Just $3 Trillion Over 10 Years.

All the really serious candidates have at least 14 digits in their plans, Senator.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Hong Kong Caves to Protestors’ Original Demand: So Now What?

NUTRITION: Teenage boy goes blind after existing on Pringles, white bread and French fries.

The unidentified patient told doctors he had only eaten fries from the fish and chip shop, Pringles potato chips, white bread, slices of processed ham and sausage since elementary school, and he avoided foods with certain textures. He first visited a doctor at age 14, complaining of tiredness, according to a case report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday.

He wasn’t taking any medication, had a normal BMI and height, and showed no visible signs of malnutrition.

Doctors discovered low vitamin B12 levels and anemia, treating the patient with vitamin B12 injections and offering dietary advice.

One year later there were signs of hearing loss and vision symptoms, but doctors did not find the cause.

His vision had worsened to the point of blindness by 17 years of age, and doctors identified vitamin B12 deficiency, low copper and selenium levels, a high zinc level, reduced vitamin D level and bone level density, according to a statement from the University of Bristol.

By this stage, vision damage was permanent.

Where were the parents in all this?

THAT WOULD BE NICE: Why California May Go Nuclear.

Last week, a California state legislator introduced an amendment to the state’s constitution that would classify nuclear energy as “renewable.”

If the amendment passes, it would likely result in the continued operation of the state’s last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, well past 2025, its current closure date.

Diablo generates 9% of California’s electricity and 20% of its clean, carbon-free electricity.

It is also the most spectacular nuclear plant in the world, made famous by an employee’s photo of a humpback whale breaching in front of the plant.

“I’m not going to argue it’s not a long shot,” said the legislation’s sponsor, Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham.

“But we can’t make a serious dent in slowing the warming trend in the world without investment in nuclear power.”

Whatever justification he needs, doesn’t change the fact the nuclear is good.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Midweek Mainstream Media Malpractice Edition. “While I had to go out of my way to find any updates about the tragedy in California, I was repeatedly reminded that ONE small Catholic removed Harry Potter books from its library. This hot piece of journalism broke on Saturday and was still in heavy social media rotation on ABC News’s and several other major MSM accounts early Wednesday morning. Four days of coverage. So far.”

YOUR LOCALLY-OWNED GUN STORE ALREADY HAD A BETTER SELECTION AND PROBABLY NO SUCH RESTRICTION: Walmart to no longer sell certain ammunition, ask customers to stop open carry in stores.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Putin Plays Erdogan Like a Fiddle.

Erdogan’s Moscow visit follows the delivery of Russian S-400 air defense batteries to Turkey. Ankara was repeatedly warned that these batteries would provide the Russians an opportunity to decipher the F-35’s stealth technology, thus jeopardizing the security of the whole F-35 fighter aircraft program. Paradoxically, Turkey was not just a future recipient of 100-plus F-35s, but also a co-producer of the aircraft. Washington, in what was an important gesture, had offered the Turks a role in the manufacturing of many of the F-35’s components, including parts of the fuselage. Ankara would have reaped billions of dollars in export sales and acquired valuable technological know-how in the armaments industry, a long-sought goal.

Not surprisingly, Turkey’s insistence on acquiring the S-400s triggered a crisis in U.S.-Turkish relations. The United States had few options but to expel Turkey from the F-35 program. The cost to Turkey has been enormous: It will not be able to modernize its aging fighter fleet, but perhaps more importantly, it lost out on technology transfer and the opportunity to earn billions of dollars in export opportunities. Instead it is Putin who is pocketing billions of dollars while successfully lobbing a hand grenade into the relationship between two critical and long-standing NATO allies.

Turkey under Erdogan was probably always a lost cause for the West, but blowing the F-35 deal was more stupidly damaging to Turkey’s national interests than is typical even for Erdogan.

SOD OFF, SWAMPY: Vegan woman demands neighbour stop using meat on barbecue due to smell.

The massage therapist has been embroiled in a battle with Toan Vu, his wife and children since late 2018.

After her claims were rejected by a tribunal earlier this year on lack of evidence, she applied to the Supreme Court of Western Australia for right of appeal. It was also turned down in July.

Lawyer John Hammond said going to the Supreme Court was an “extreme option” — but it hadn’t stopped Ms Carden from further appealing the case.

She told Nine News she believed her neighbours were “absolutely deliberate” in allowing their smells to cross into her yard.

And it’s not just the smell of meat and fish that has made her furious — it’s the smell of cigarettes and the sound of children playing with basketballs.

“It’s been devastating, it’s been turmoil, it’s been unrest, I haven’t been able to sleep,” Ms Carden said.

What manner of Hell is it that has other people in it?

BOOM: Google target of new U.S. antitrust probe by state attorneys general.

BREAKING: Hong Kong leader formally withdraws controversial extradition bill.

Related: Austin Bay’s piece from last night, featuring Michael Yon’s view from the ground in Hong Kong.

I’ll have more on this later.

WHEN YOU’VE LOST ‘THE VIEW’… ‘The View’ Panel Condemns Debra Messing’s Call to Publicly Shame Trump Donors.

OOPS: Vox accidentally serves up an ‘odd endorsement of the 2nd Amendment’ in global data about privately held firearms. “Americans make up less than 5% of the world’s population, yet they own roughly 45% of all the world’s privately held firearms.”

Only 45%? C’mon, America, we can do better.

VIDEO: Dave Chappelle on Jussie Smollett.

Not appropriate for sensitive ears or workplaces.

ODESSA: Proof That Criminals Don’t Follow Gun Laws.

HOPES TO BE EATEN LAST: French President Macron Offers $15 Billion Bailout to Iran to Stick with Nuclear Deal.

HMM: Nickel is surging after Indonesia said it will ban exports of the metal from January. “The move will create a gap in the nickel market of 100,00 tonnes a year, Colin Hamilton, a managing director of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets, told the FT. ‘This cuts off one of the major sources of raw material to the Chinese nickel pig iron industry’.”

FORGET IT, THEY’RE ROLLING: Socialist Scenario May Pose Risk For Democrats.

NORWAY: Busting The Myth Of The World’s Hottest Electric Car Market.

Norway’s cold weather makes the country one of the least suitable markets for electric cars since freezing temperatures tend to reduce an EV range by up to 40%. This fact alone makes Norway a less likely market for wide EV adoption. EVs high price tag, range limitations, slow charging time and limited second market makes them a niche product in many markets, said another way, EVs practical inferiority to internal combustion engine (ICE) cars has discouraged their adoption at a wide scale. To counter EVs inherent inferiority, the Norwegian government has introduced a host of market distorting – stick and carrot – initiatives to force EVs adoption:

EV Carrots:

• EVs are exempt from VAT and other taxes on car purchases and sales.
• Parking in public parking spaces is free.
• EVs can use most toll roads and several ferry connections free of charge.
• EVs are allowed to use bus and collective traffic lanes.
• The company car tax is 50 per cent lower on EVs, and the annual motor vehicle tax/road tax is also lower.
• Battery charging is free at a rapidly growing number of publicly funded charging stations.

ICE Sticks:

• 25% VAT.
• CO2 Tax.
• NOx Tax.
• Weight Tax.
• Exorbitant gasoline and diesel taxes.

As result of the above distortions, ICE cars cost more to purchase in Norway and are up to 75% more expensive to operate.

The irony is that Norway can afford all the largess in no small part because of its yuge oil revenues.