![\"Brewery](\"https:\/\/kewus.net\/yesterday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Brewery-Fire-Oregon-July-27-2026.webp\" "\\"Brewery")
<\/a><\/p>\nMatt Willis @ Your Local Epidemiologist<\/em><\/small>:
\nWhen wildfire smoke hits home<\/a><\/h2>\nFor years, I approached wildfire smoke as a health professional: caring for patients with smoke-related illness, writing advisories as a health officer, and researching its health impacts. But as a dad, all that boiled down to one urgent question: when the skies fill with smoke, how do we keep the air we breathe as clean as possible?<\/p>\n
I went deep into air filtration. My son\u2019s exposure may be more extreme, but the lessons are increasingly relevant for all of us. This is what I learned.<\/p>\n
Yes, wildfires are increasing.<\/em>
\nWhen I\u2019m not writing with Katelyn for YLE, I work with climate scientists to model the health impacts of climate change. Our report will be out in December (stay tuned), but here\u2019s a teaser\u2014the increased burden of wildfires we\u2019re feeling isn\u2019t a one-summer fluke. Even the best-case scenarios show an upward trend in wildfire size, frequency, and intensity until we can slow global warming.<\/p>\nThis doesn\u2019t just matter for those of us with houses in dry areas. Wildfire smoke risk isn\u2019t limited to \u201cfire county.\u201d Our most fire-prone states are in the West, and prevailing winds blow east. In late July, smoke from the fire my son was fighting in Oregon reached Florida.
\n(Matt Willis @ Your Local Epidemiologist<\/em> more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\nRebecca Solnit<\/small>:
\nThe Right Word is Wrongness<\/a><\/h2>\nI’ve been in northern New Mexico for more than two weeks, in what is normally the monsoon season, but there has been no rain beyond a brief, quickly evaporated spatter of drops three times so far. The plants are parched, and the usual green regeneration of monsoon season I was looking forward to has not happened. The animals seem thirsty too, and we think the deer that come down among the houses are hungry and thirsty. I saw one try some juniper, which does not seem like its usual food, and because of this desperation, I’ve seen deer closer than almost ever before, and seen that they are missing patches of fur and look beat up in contrast to the elegance I admire from afar.<\/p>\n
Too, there is a fire burning not far away, the Frijoles Fire, started by a lightning strike on August 5th, and steadily growing since to reach more than 12,000 acres to date. That’s not big by modern wildfire standards, but it’s impactful locally. When the wind sends it our way, the smoke has been intense, and often I can smell the campfire scent of burning trees before I check the AQI (air quality index). On Tuesday, August 11th, the early morning AQI reached horrific levels, the 400s and one reading over 500, and the morning light was somehow dingy, dirty, the light I saw so much of during north\/central California’s huge fires in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. …
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\n\n![\"Kash](\"https:\/\/kewus.net\/yesterday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Kash-Patel-drinks-a-beer-in-front-of-hockey-players.webp\" "\\"Kash")
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Joyce Vance<\/small>:
\nKash Patel\u2019s Response<\/a><\/h2>\nKash Patel filed a defamation case against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick over a story<\/a> that characterized him as an incompetent drunk who is jeopardizing national security. In July, The Atlantic responded with a motion to dismiss<\/a> the complaint for failure to state a claim. Earlier this week, Patel filed his response. He argues that the court cannot decide, at this stage, that Patel cannot prove his case to a jury. This argument is less about the substance of the matter\u2014whether The Atlantic got it right\u2014and more about where the case is procedurally and what the Judge is being asked to do right now.
\n…<\/p>\n… By filing these suits, Director Patel sends an ominous message to the press: “publishing reporting that he does not like comes at a high cost.”
\n(Joyce Vance more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
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James Eagle<\/small>:
\nAI agents now beat humans at computer tasks<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n![\"AI](\"https:\/\/kewus.net\/yesterday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AI-agents-now-beat-humans-at-computer-tasks.webp\" "\\"AI")
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\n(James Eagle more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
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Heather Cox Richardson<\/small>:
\nLetters from an American – August 19, 2026<\/a><\/h2>\nThe political world has been consumed over the past few days with a Republican meltdown about Trump\u2019s aide Natalie Harp.
\n…<\/p>\n
… \u201cNever have I seen a more exquisite example of the Streisand Effect where someone\u2019s supporters fall over themselves to basically accuse them of adultery when it wasn\u2019t even brought up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commandeering the news cycle with manufactured outrage distracted attention from other issues Ossoff did call attention to in the same sentence. Ossoff called out Trump\u2019s apparent stock manipulation, an issue Trump highlighted recently when he sold early access to his Truth Social posts for as much as $100,000 a month. It has been widely reported that investors appear to be making a killing by anticipating Trump\u2019s posts as they make markets go up or down.<\/p>\n
An investigation by Casey Tolan and Isabelle Chapman of CNN published on July 16 found that Trump himself \u201cmade at least 44 stock purchases of 21 different companies within a week before he posted a complimentary Truth Social message about the firms, their executives or their products.\u201d
\n…<\/p>\n
When Trump left a decoy Air Force One airplane for a smaller plane in early July, he left behind cabinet secretaries but brought Harp with him.
\n(Heather Cox Richardson more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
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\n
\nWhen I\u2019m not writing with Katelyn for YLE, I work with climate scientists to model the health impacts of climate change. Our report will be out in December (stay tuned), but here\u2019s a teaser\u2014the increased burden of wildfires we\u2019re feeling isn\u2019t a one-summer fluke. Even the best-case scenarios show an upward trend in wildfire size, frequency, and intensity until we can slow global warming.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t just matter for those of us with houses in dry areas. Wildfire smoke risk isn\u2019t limited to \u201cfire county.\u201d Our most fire-prone states are in the West, and prevailing winds blow east. In late July, smoke from the fire my son was fighting in Oregon reached Florida. I’ve been in northern New Mexico for more than two weeks, in what is normally the monsoon season, but there has been no rain beyond a brief, quickly evaporated spatter of drops three times so far. The plants are parched, and the usual green regeneration of monsoon season I was looking forward to has not happened. The animals seem thirsty too, and we think the deer that come down among the houses are hungry and thirsty. I saw one try some juniper, which does not seem like its usual food, and because of this desperation, I’ve seen deer closer than almost ever before, and seen that they are missing patches of fur and look beat up in contrast to the elegance I admire from afar.<\/p>\n Too, there is a fire burning not far away, the Frijoles Fire, started by a lightning strike on August 5th, and steadily growing since to reach more than 12,000 acres to date. That’s not big by modern wildfire standards, but it’s impactful locally. When the wind sends it our way, the smoke has been intense, and often I can smell the campfire scent of burning trees before I check the AQI (air quality index). On Tuesday, August 11th, the early morning AQI reached horrific levels, the 400s and one reading over 500, and the morning light was somehow dingy, dirty, the light I saw so much of during north\/central California’s huge fires in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. … Kash Patel filed a defamation case against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick over a story<\/a> that characterized him as an incompetent drunk who is jeopardizing national security. In July, The Atlantic responded with a motion to dismiss<\/a> the complaint for failure to state a claim. Earlier this week, Patel filed his response. He argues that the court cannot decide, at this stage, that Patel cannot prove his case to a jury. This argument is less about the substance of the matter\u2014whether The Atlantic got it right\u2014and more about where the case is procedurally and what the Judge is being asked to do right now. … By filing these suits, Director Patel sends an ominous message to the press: “publishing reporting that he does not like comes at a high cost.” The political world has been consumed over the past few days with a Republican meltdown about Trump\u2019s aide Natalie Harp. … \u201cNever have I seen a more exquisite example of the Streisand Effect where someone\u2019s supporters fall over themselves to basically accuse them of adultery when it wasn\u2019t even brought up.\u201d<\/p>\n Commandeering the news cycle with manufactured outrage distracted attention from other issues Ossoff did call attention to in the same sentence. Ossoff called out Trump\u2019s apparent stock manipulation, an issue Trump highlighted recently when he sold early access to his Truth Social posts for as much as $100,000 a month. It has been widely reported that investors appear to be making a killing by anticipating Trump\u2019s posts as they make markets go up or down.<\/p>\n An investigation by Casey Tolan and Isabelle Chapman of CNN published on July 16 found that Trump himself \u201cmade at least 44 stock purchases of 21 different companies within a week before he posted a complimentary Truth Social message about the firms, their executives or their products.\u201d When Trump left a decoy Air Force One airplane for a smaller plane in early July, he left behind cabinet secretaries but brought Harp with him.
\n(Matt Willis @ Your Local Epidemiologist<\/em> more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\nRebecca Solnit<\/small>:
\nThe Right Word is Wrongness<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nJoyce Vance<\/small>:
\nKash Patel\u2019s Response<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n…<\/p>\n
\n(Joyce Vance more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
\nJames Eagle<\/small>:
\nAI agents now beat humans at computer tasks<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n<\/a>
\n<\/center>
\n(James Eagle more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
\nHeather Cox Richardson<\/small>:
\nLetters from an American – August 19, 2026<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n…<\/p>\n
\n…<\/p>\n
\n(Heather Cox Richardson more…)<\/small><\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
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