You probably did not hear about this today because the right dominates the transmission of what can be described as "the code of capital." Nevertheless, the US economy actually grew by an impressive 2.6 percent. (And this is also growth that is not, in the final analysis, good—this is the tragedy of the Keynesian left.) The upshot? All of that talk about a recession happening this year turns out to be a lot of hot air. How did this miscalculation happen? As I predicted in another PM, the Fed's up-cranking of interests rates would ease inflation not by bringing pain to the American worker, as the cold heart of Fed Chair Jerome Powell hoped, but by making the US dollar, world's currency (privilège exorbitant), more and more expensive.

A strong American buck effectively exports inflation to other and usually poorer parts of the world that export goods to the US. Powell had no idea this would be the result of his pain because the American economy of our moment is actually novel. He was using all old tricks on a post-lockdown American economy that had a considerable labor shortage. I will have more to say about this in future. But for now, Republicans will need more work to sell economic doom to voters.

Proposition Nos. 1A and 1B? "Will we choose Ranked-Choice Voting, Approval Voting, or maintain the status quo?" Let's listen to what Logan Bowers (a key 1A activist) and Kamau Chege (a key 1B activist) have to say about themselves and their opponent in this video.  

Is "tonight, tonight, tonight ohh-ohh?" The night when the wind makes itself felt and makes leaves shake like someone who has been touched by the Holy Ghost? Trees fall, power is disrupted, and, in the words of the great American poet Robert Johnson, we say to our lover: "Oh, can't you hear that wind howl? Oh-y', can't you hear that wind would howl? You better come on in my kitchen."

I'm in your kitchen, and what I remember is when I first experienced Seattle's windy day and night. This was in 1991, and it was like nothing else I experienced during the year. Seattle, in those days, had no weather. The summers never got that hot, and the winters never that cold. But on this windy day, the weather made itself known. It darkened the clouds and sent all manner of objects into its swirling air. This was the only day I saw something that was like the waiting room of the end of the world. Or, put another way, the hors d'oeuvre of the apocalypse. But the next day came. The sun was in the sky again, and the crows and seagulls were nothing but overjoyed by the garbage spilled from wind-felled bins.    

This line has never impressed me: "Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die. When all the birds are singing in the sky." I actually think it's much harder to die on a cold and dark and windy night. That howling over the house. How can I go now?  

Amazon did not make enough cheese this quarter. The market considered its "overall sales of $127.1 billion" not up to snuff. Investors punished the Seattle-based corporation by eliminating 20 percent of its imaginary (but still real) value. However, Amazon's position was, from Meta's (Facebook's) current market position, the stuff of envy.   

And, yes, that Smiley character, just like the rest of them MAGAs, lies and lies and lies. But what else you got when the economy is not tanking and you put all of your eggs in the inflation basket? 

Hating on graffiti is so middle class, and those in this segment of society have a value system that deserves nothing but our contempt. If the middle class ruled this world, there would be no art, no nothing of any real value. Their souls can only grow like lawn grass.  

Is it pedestrian-hunting season already? Sure sounds like it: "Two pedestrians dead in two separate crashes in Seattle." Cars, the city is yours, the mayor loves you, no one can stop you. Enjoy this hunting season. And go ahead and place our stuffed heads on your grill.

Let's end PM with Cassandra Wilson's powerful version of Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen":