Tomorrow begins the "Economic Blackout." The idea is not to use credit or debit cards for 24 hours. The hope is that this disruption will send a strong signal to the masters of the universe. I have two criticisms of this approach. One, many Americans won't find it that hard to not spend a dime on that day. They are already broke. Two: what doesn't exist is a single part of our lives that can be separated from capitalism and its corporations. Those who are protesting Tesla dealerships or not drinking Starbucks seem to believe there are better ways to spend our money in a totalized economy. This is a fantasy. Because of exchange value, each commodity is connected to all other commodities. A chocolate chip cookie is no more innocent than a F-16 Fighting Falcon. You can't slice this system into good and bad portions. 

I believe the protests at town halls are far more effective than Boycotts. Indeed, the GOP is running away from them because they work. So, buy your latte, get into your Tesla, drive to a House Republican's in-person town hall, and speak your mind.  

Let’s go www.yahoo.com/news/no-amaz...

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— Casey Johnston (@caseyjohnston.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM

Spring, it seems, is already reaching out to us. Today's highs will be around 60°. That's the warmest it's been here since the vampire-dark days of November. How depressing. Give us more time, Spring. It's still February. We are the ones who want the longest winters. Like a star, we shine brightly when the night is very cold and dark. We miss you snow. 

If you were in Kitsap County, you might have felt the 3.1 magnitude earthquake that happened at 5:16 am. If you were in King County, you felt nothing. I was awake at that time and was only moved by the melancholy music of Bill Evans, the jazz pianist I play while writing.    

Earlier this week, a strange sailor walked onto the Jamie Marie, a commercial fishing vessel in Westport, WA, woke up the crew, and announced that now was the time to take to the sea. Though the crew did not recognize the captain, it was not out of the ordinary for an alternate captain to command the ship, which is valued at $8 million. The unknown captain started the ship and smoothly operated it out of the bay. Then something strange happened as the vessel was "about to cross into the ocean." The unknown captain declared: "[We are going to meet] the Chinese Mothership." At that point, the crew knew they had been had. This was not a real Captain, but a madman. The crew regained control of the Jamie Marie and returned to the port. Once on land, Sgt. Mathews of the Westport Police Department arrested the illusion of a captain. He also had "$4,000 in cash and a large amount of individually packaged marijuana in his possession." We will call this episode of Pacific Northwest noir The Dark Passage. 

A person was shot "in the stomach area" on "Wednesday night at the intersection of NE 47th Street and University Way." There is no information about the suspect, but the victim will, it is expected, live to see another day.

The ceiling of Liberty Cinema, a theater in Wenatchee, collapsed during a screening of Captain America: Brave New World. That film features Harrison Ford as an American president who turns into a MAGA-looking Hulk. No kidding. After being injected with something wickedly powerful, Ford, the president, becomes a red (rather than green) Hulk. This MAGA Hulk then starts smashing the nation's capital to bits. Only a black Captain America can stop him. Two people were in the Wenatchee cinema house when it became apparent that the strange, rumbling noises were not coming from the movie but reality itself. Neither of them were hurt.

It's quite amazing to me that more Americans don't see the deep cuts at USAID, CDC, and HHS as a real security threat. The whole world now knows our defenses are down. A disease could spread like wildfire. The French philosopher Michel Foucault made a big deal about this kind of thing. He saw it as a key component of biopolitics, the science of regulating a large population. The idea is this: A state needs to be concerned about the health of its population for its own good. A sick population will result in a vulnerable state. This understating emerged in 17th century Europe. Somehow 21st-century America has decided to abandon this wisdom.   

The legendary actor Gene Hackman is with us no longer. Nor is his wife, Betsy Arakawa, or their dog. All were found dead in their New Mexico home. Police have yet to find evidence of foul play. Hackman, one of the great actors of the New Hollywood moment, exited at 95. His greatest moment on the screen is found at the end of The Conversation.

GOP states looking for ways to weaken the power of state judges. This was bound to happen sooner or later. All of that talk about the 10th Amendment (state rights) was never anything but a convenience. Now that the party controls all of the key federal institutions, the 10th Amendment can be treated like a burnt piece of bacon.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard gave the boot to 100 employees who, in the intelligence community, engaged in sexy-hot exchanges on "a secure government chat normally used to share sensitive information." Gabbard is apparently looking for others who participated in “obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit’ chatrooms.” But Gabbard is making a big mistake. She does not run the FBI. Those are the clean boys. Her employees are spies, secret agents, double agents, and the like. Their business is dirty to begin with. The best secrets are often found between the sheets.  

With that, lets end with a sexy beat that has a secret agent feel to it: vibessmusic's "Calling."