Morning Brew: May 2

National income inequality is on the rise, with BC sufferinig the most significant losses in median earnings... down more than 11% over the last 25 years. Also worth checking out is the Tyee report on the welfare 'savings' boomerang -- how welfare cuts have cost us all.

I don't even want to consider how much the BC Place roof replacement will cost us at the end of the day... but we probably won't have to think about that until after the Olympics.

Vancouver Police auction this weekend! Might have to wait till next year's for the tasers though, as more studies prove their potential danger.

So they're setting up a "French Quarter" on Granville Island for 2010 in a bid to celebrate BC's Francophone community... which will probably just turn what was already set to be the most ridiculously expensive place to get drunk come Olympics into the most ridiculously expensive place to get ridiculously drunk come Olympics.

Anyone remember the Garbage Gobbler?

Eby on mayoral hopeful De Genova talking DTES at the Commodore earlier this week.

Not everyone's happy about Emily Carr's new designation as a University. Hows this for a debate over social semantics: islanders from Lesbos, Greece are starting an international 'fight' against the term lesbian.

The Richmond Night Market is gone, and no one seems to care...

Was talking about the sustainability of seafood a couple days ago... looks like one Vancouver restaurant is debating dropping salmon from the menu...

The Tyee has the lowdown on a bunch of special film events this month... including tomorrow's screening of Raiders, a shot-by-shot remake of the Indiana Jones film made by a bunch of 12 year olds. Seriously. Sounds fun and all... but I'll be skipping that one for some Iron Man. Hollywood?? Superheroes?? Robert Downey Jr.

Now that National Poetry Month is over, May is, umm... hearing awareness month. To celebrate, check out the great sounds of local band Brasstronaut. You may recognize Edo Van Breeman as the lead from local favourites The Clips. While unfortunately named, they're highly reminiscent of a chilled-out Broken Social Scene and just released their debut EP. They play next on the 16th, and I'd expect really big things from these guys at some point.

Why does stupid humor always seem smarter when delivered with a British accent? Anyway, Facebook in Reality is worth a watch.

photo courtesy of The Blackbird