What is smoke plus fog?

We have a bit of smoke drifting down from Minnesota this afternoon, pushing our AQI up to 69. It's enough to taste, unfortunately, but not enough to hurt. We've also got yet another line of thunderstorms coming through in an hour. Cassie and I caught a little bit of drizzle just now, which was just an added bonus on top of the humidity. Once my shirt dries sufficiently I'll peel it off and take a shower.

Meanwhile, other places have worse weather:

• The UK recorded its hottest day of 2026 this afternoon as temperatures hit 36.1°C in London and 38.1°C farther south.
• Multiple cities across France hit 40°C with 80 of the country's 101 départements under an Orange Alert for heat. This also forced the government to shut down 6 nuclear reactors, just when people need more power for air conditioning.

Elsewhere:

• Francesca Hong didn't so much lose Wisconsin's Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday; rather, she lit herself on fire with rank-and-file voters with a little help from extremist weirdo Hasan Piker.
• Here in Chicago, our upcoming election for school board promises to be a trip to the big top. Already more than half the candidates have had their ballot petitions challenged, and five people of varying ability are running for president.
• You're not imagining it: shopping is impossible these days.
• The last barrel of Schlitz Beer was drunk this week in Old Town's Glunz Tavern. RIP Schlitz (1893-2026).

Finally, Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders try to separate the technological and capitalist problems with AI:

In any discussion about AI’s potential, it’s important to separate the technology from the socio-political system it’s embedded in. That AIs can lack context, mix up facts, or fall for stupid tricks are all technological problems. Because the giant developers like OpenAI and Anthropic have prioritized solving them, AIs can now more easily access resources like the web or email, are more disciplined about using those resources, and are better at staying within their guardrails.

In contrast, ensuring that AI models benefit people broadly, that their energy costs are fairly allocated, that their environmental impacts are minimized, and that they don’t steal content and revenue from publishers are all questions of incentives in a capitalist system.

Exactly. We're still many years from understanding how best to use these new models.