How will Trump's tariffs impact Washington State? This important question is asked by Andre Bylk of the Kitsap Sun. The answer? It's found in these facts: A significant part of the state's economy is tied to the global market, which makes it vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs that could come from Canada and Mexico. In 2024, "[Washington] exported $57.8 billion worth of goods to the world... making it the ninth-largest state exporter that year." The state's main buyer is China, then Canada. Fourth is Mexico. Combined, these three countries, which are on Trump's hit list, account for nearly $25 billion worth of exported stuff. This is about 5 percent of the state's GDP ($677 billion). In short, the impact of Trump's tariffs will be considerable. And because a good part of what's exported is found in Washington's agricultural sector, deep red districts will really feel it. In the words of that old Toyota jingle: "You asked for it, you got it." 

Tariffs might be delayed a month, but the damage is already done. Indeed, Trump called Justin Trudeau a governor again. This insult only intensified Canada's anti-American feelings and sense of national identity. Thanks to Trump ("call the police, there's a madman around"), Buy Canadian is a train that has left the station and may never return. 

Trump is suspending military flights for deportations because it's too damn expensive. This man is the very definition of "all hat, no cattle." 

My barber had this to say while cutting my hair yesterday: "Trump is the kind of guy who can take the seeds out of a ginger cake without touching the crust. He's that kind a thief. He don't play." My barber is also a pastor.

What would America be like if Kamala Harris won the election? All you have to do to see this other reality is watch Zero Day, a Netflix show that stars Robert De Niro and concerns a systemwide (energy, banking, communication) cyberattack. The person in the White House during this deadly crisis is played by... Angela Bassett. She is President Evelyn Mitchell. She dresses like Harris, and she's competent. Reality gets a fictional president; fiction gets a real president. This is what they surely meant by "alternative facts."

Angela Bassett (as president) and Roberto DeNiro discussing vulnerabilities in the Oval Office on Zero Day is giving me the geekgasm I never knew I was missing.   #zeroday #cybersecurity #angelabasett

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— Grays Ferry (@graysferry.bsky.social) February 22, 2025 at 10:24 AM

How about the weather? Some clouds, some sun. And so something for everyone. 53 is as high as its expected to get during the day. The night will drop down to 37. There was a little talk last week about snow making a visit this week, but, as you can plainly see, that was all just a dream. We are now solidly on the bridge to spring, which is the gate to summer and its awful sun. Did you know the San people of Botswana really hate our nearest star. It's a great big ball of misery in the sky of their lives. Always harassing them; never cutting them some slack. It's no accident that Botswana calls its currency the pula, which means rain.     

The suspect in a fatal shooting that occurred on Tuesday at the United States Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in Tukwila was found dead by the police. He used a gun for his exit. The victim and suspect were postal workers.  

And what is a ghost bus? It's one that never shows up. You wait and wait and wait and... nothing but the late ghost of a bus passes you without even stopping. Apparently, Metro has a good number of buses of this kind, ones that are only there in spirit; and the King County Council wants to be done with them one way or another. In a press release concerning the matter, Councilmember Claudia Balducci put it this way: “Nothing is more frustrating than standing at a bus stop, waiting for a bus that is never going to come — maybe in the rain, in the dark, maybe now you’re late to work, missed a doctor’s appointment, or lost time that you could have been doing something important.” If we had world enough and time. Time is of the essence. In time, my brother, in time. 

By the way, I use Metro regularly but almost never encounter ghost buses because I have on my phone an app called OneBusAway. It shows me where a bus is and how long it will take to reach my stop. The app also provides real-time data for Link. No ghost trains there either. A car, however, can never be a ghost. That form of transportation can only be a  demon, like Christine. 

The Interim News Editor Marcus Harrison Green informed me that Erika Evans is running for City Attorney. Strangely, she hasn't officially announced yet, but is listed on the Seattle Ethics and Elections website as running. Erika Evans, who is Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, started her career as a prosecutor for the City, and is generally seen as a moderate.

Another earthquake! This one had a 3.9 magnitude, a depth of about 26.1 miles, and erupted near Port Angeles at 4:18 pm. 

The Bellingham Herald reports that since Feb 18, Western Washington has had four earthquakes "with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher." (The story appeared before yesterday's Port Angeles earthquake.) And the one that struck Orcas Island on Monday was the most powerful earthquake the region has experienced since 2020. Should we be alarmed? The answer is: We should always be alarmed and prepared for the Big One. It's going to happen. That's part and parcel of living "out here in the perimeter." 

First I lost King Cafe, the greatest dim sum joint in the history of this young city (it closed in 2004 and was replaced by the Wing Luke Asian Museum). Now it's Harbor City. Its last day was Feb 28. I loved that place, the food, and the people who worked there. But all is not lost. Northwest Asian Weekly reports the owners of Harbor City opened a second location in Tacoma in 2022. It's called Harbor City Tacoma. It's over here. The City of Destiny should do this more often. More of this unvanishing beloved businesses vanishing in Seattle.

Let's end with a dubby Nigerian/Indian beat I've been digging this week. It's "Gaani" by NDS: