Tea & Two Slices is a long-running local news round-up by NEEDS frontman and veteran dishwasher Sean Orr, who lives and works in Gastown, deeply aware of his privilege.

Rotten to the core: B.C. casino regulator received complaint alleging BCLC management pressured to ‘allow dirty money’. One of BC government’s top anti-money laundering officials telling staff to ease up on anti-money laundering measures is the most #BCPOLI thing to happen since the conflict of interest commissioner was suspected of having a conflict of interest.

B.C.’s new ride-hail licensing too complicated for prospective drivers, advocates fear. Aw, poor babies. Your addiction to a never-ending supply of precarious workers didn’t work out and we’re supposed to feel bad? Your demand to be driven around by unlicensed, uninsured drivers didn’t work out? Your demand to move around the city faster by putting more cars on the road didn’t work out?

And you want us to feel bad for this fucking guy? Uber co-founder buys record-breaking LA mansion for $72.5m as drivers fight for wages.

The purchase by Camp is particularly eye-popping given that Uber continues to lose money and has also aggressively opposed drivers’ efforts to organize and improve their working conditions, said Veena Dubal, an associate law professor at the University of California, Hastings, who is an expert on labor rights in the gig economy.

“It’s a slap in everyone’s face,” she said, arguing that Uber was built on the idea of breaking labor laws and violating existing regulations. “The capitalist system we have has unduly rewarded him with extraordinary, in-your-face wealth.”

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun wants us to feel bad for…CEOs: Executive brain function: How CEOs risk becoming walking zombies. The fact that this is paid content is even funnier:

The zombie apocalypse is already here. Or at least, it might seem that way for many business executives. While they may not be the groaning, shuffling brain-eaters from Hollywood horror movies, more often than not, CEOs are running on empty and can feel like they are experiencing “brain fog.”

Dr. Robespierre: Maybe we can cure their brain fog by removing their heads from their bodies.

Oh boy, rich people are shook: The NDP’s new tax-the-rich plan is terrible, even by their standards. I’ve seen three bylines by this writer: one for the CAPP front group ‘Canadians for Affordable Energy’; one with the Koch-bros funded ‘Foundation for Economic Education’; and one last one with…you guessed it…the Fraser Institute! What a gem.

Ah yes, the Fraser Institute. They’ve drawn my wrath (such as it is) for the last decade but it seems they’ve fallen off my radar: 4 ways far-right foreign radicals are influencing Canadian politics.

Related: Tell Jason Kenney? Who Opposes Trans Mountain? I do.

Satire of the day: Premier’s meeting to be held in steam room now that there are no more female premiers. Lot’s of pipeline talk in there, if you know what I mean.

This is amazing. And from Kamloops?! Opinion: Dear Straight People, here’s how I’m celebrating Straight Pride Day.

Crippling tax burden could close Vancouver’s Beaumont Studios by year’s end.

“That’s what we’re dealing with here,” said Kusnierz, who serves as executive director at Beaumont. “[The city] doesn’t want us to be taking up this space, they want us to be a four-storey high rise. We’re not using our density to our fullest capacity, according to the city.”

“Yeah that about sums up the problem with *gestures wildly at everything*” – Steve Mann.

Reminder of the day: Discarded Needles Are Not a Threat.

Bonus: Surrey BC House Party Dec 31 1989. Pretty sure my brother was at this party.