Despite the materialistic and/or post-pagan trappings of the season, the oft re-imagined, re-interpreted figure of Jesus remains at the core of our society’s yearly winter-solstice rituals. And he really is a great guy if you separate what he said and did from what some of his supposed followers have said and done.

Meanwhile, in Friday’s news we’ve got a call for an environmental study on a 15-year-old oil pier; big fines against a payday lender; more “youth jail” dispute developments; and the possible peak/slowdown of the overheated local apartment market.

I still disagree with the longstanding lefty meme that everybody outside “our” subculture is a fascist. And, I still insist we have to drop that notion if anything good is to survive. In more news-y news, there’s a condo tower planned for the International District, a little real-estate paperwork fee that does a lot for housing; two teenage boys implicated in the Mt. Vernon cop shooting; and an idea to build more Space Needles! (But not necessarily more Chihuly galleries.)

Here comes the solstice, whether you believe in days getting brighter or not. Further subjects this day: whether to tear down some of Seattle’s seawalls; Hanford-developed biofuel from sewage; the uphill drive facing Inslee’s tax plan; a defaced portrait of a black musician; and a Time magazine prophecy proven true more than 20 years later.

A new report depicts the state’s mental-health system (which Gov. Inslee has already vowed to fix up) as a shambles. Other items today discuss whether Af-Am cultural institutions can follow the population into the ‘burbs; new plans to support “affordable” housing; the fish factory at the ex-Weyerhaeuser campus is dead; the coal-train scheme in Whatcom County may be resurrected; and the usual dozens of weekend activity options.

We need all the socio-political allies we can get these days, even within the pages of Teen Vogue! We look as well at Amazon’s at-long-last charitable streak; a church sex-abuse victim who doesn’t like what the church said about her legal fight; the governor proposing a “carbon tax” while a state investment board puts money into the petrochemical biz; and a (justly) long-forgotten novelty sport.

Seventy-five years since Pearl Harbor, and not only are some dorks thinking of the Japanese American internment as a model for future endeavors, but also a serious totalitarian threat faces us not from without but from within. In relatively lighter topics, we’ve found one person who doesn’t like the new spiffy Wallingford transfer station; a local troll-avenger just might become the subject of a scripted TV series; a hotel project’s potential threat to the Chinatown-International District; and Seattle’s now home to America’s No. 5 airline.

Another day of no white stuff on the ground (probably) sees us discussing a GOP legislator’s attempt to negate public-school funding (and non-discrimination); an aborted scheme to put surveillance cams into a middle-school cafeteria; and Amazon’s latest “real world” retail concept.

Snow in Seattle is rarely forecast. Those forecasts, in turn, often don’t come true. What will happen this time? Further topics today include a victory (for now) at Standing Rock; a big “March Against Hate;” Airbnb working with the Urban League; another longtime local biz asking for your help; and Husky and Seahawk football blowout wins (albeit the latter with a price).

Howard Schultz, aka The Man Who Sold (Out) the Sonics, will step aside as Starbucks’ CEO. In further news, we peruse UW football’s next step toward a possible trip to Title-town; why remembering the Seattle of old is NOT a futile gesture; potentially huge Seattle school budget cuts; Seattle U’s student-body prez outs himself as “undocumented”; the obscure Seattle past behind a national icon; and scads of weekend events. And we just might have a little snow.

Seattle’s supposed to now be a “brain magnet,” which means the zombies will likely attack here first. And WSU’s breeding super bees (you know how that story usually ends in films). In less speculative news, we observe those pushing for human rights by pushing for “cities’ rights;” the “Hamilton electors” on a last-ditch crusade to prevent the new dark times; and, alas, another stupid shooting.

Even if there was the political will to “break up” Amazon, as one group wants, how would that apply to its bookselling operations, and would it do the book biz good or ill? We additionally ramble on about where all our construction dirt goes; an endangered butterfly living at Joint Base Lewis-McChord; memories of the local “sex industry” in the ’40s; and a tour of the Krusteaz pancake-mix factory!

Let’s face it: a lot of the GOP’s rural success is due to “branding.” They’re the party “for” rural whites; just like there are cigarettes “for” women. And with similar results among the end users. Further topics today: A hate crime right here in Seattle; why one white woman believes white people SHOULD march with Black Lives Matter; rebranding STEM education with eco-conservation (or vice versa); and the revenge of the WTO.

Huskies: Yay! Sounders: Triple Yay! Seahawks: Oh well. In non-sporting headlines, remembering F. Castro and his contradictions; factory robots not going away; another potential oil-export port; and the many non-POCs in the Black Lives Matter march.

Don’t think of today as a dispute between racial justice and shopping. Think of it as a potential meeting of racial justice and holiday compassion. Also: One of Belltown’s longest-running gourmet eateries threatened; art and music against the new DC regime; and Olympia’s police chief doesn’t like “fracking sand” trains through his town either.

Some advice on how to talk politics with relatives (and why you should) tops today’s installment. We additionally view the premature demise of a streaming-music startup; more Nor’Westers at the Standing Rock protests; a massive redevelopment on the Peninsula; and Boeing conspiracy theories.