Morning Brew: December 21st: The Golden Compass edition.

So I think I figured out yesterday's parallel universe quandary by watching the Golden Compass. You see, Sam Sullivan is the king of the ice bears who thinks he is a person and desperately wants a daemon of his own. The gobblers are actually Gordon Campbell, and the severing of the kids from their demons is the severing of SRO residents from their rooms, while 'dust' is Olympic fever. It all fits. Even the experimentation facility in Bolvangar looks exactly like city hall from the inside. All art deco frosted oval windows, bronze cornices, cool marble floors, and maple bannisters. Speaking of the Golden Compass, the Catholic School Board has banned it. Doesn't that sort of do more of a disservice to Catholicism by validating its likeness to a children's fantasy?

In this world, this very special world, it is Sam Sullivan who is the victim. In this world, a CKNW poll puts him at a 47% approval rating. Where we forget to subtract all the housing we've lost before proclaiming that the housing issue is resolved. Um, hello? There were already people living in those 12 sites!

It is a Dickens style world where massive factories plume smoke, dirigibles blacken the sky, and the poor are treated with scorn.

Where air-conditioned super-highways of the future cut great swathes across the urban landscape. "When entering the city, the family separates. Dad goes to the office, mother and kids go to the shopping centre". The scariest part is that people still think like this. Kevin Falcon chief among them.

Maybe I'm just new to the wacky world of BC politics.

Vicotrias' own Dark Days. Homeless living in tunnel.

We need programs that get junkies off drugs, not keep them addicted. True, when you put it like that, who could argue? Alas, a pesky little thing called reason creeps in there, and we find out that science proves it saves lives. You know, clean needles and whatnot. I know it doesn't fit into your black and white moral paradigm, but there you have it. AIDS isn't a Darfur issue, or a gay issue. Its a Vancouver issue.

Jesus loves harm reduction, but Stephen Harper doesn't. We should elect this Jesus character.

Celebrate the Solistice with your Community. God damned pagans.

Let's all lighten up about party noise at this time of year. One thing we can agree on.

Stephen Rees analyzes yesterday's Free Ride piece in 24 Hours.

photo by Nofutureface in the Beyond Robson Flcikr Photo Yuletime celebration.