Althouse: At the Smoky Café...

August 4, 2025

At the Smoky Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

And that photo is from yesterday. Today was so smoky, I closed all the windows and hid inside. By the way, where are the leaves for those trees? It's getting ominous out there.

44 comments:

Sebastian said...: "Today was so smoky" Maybe Trump should raise the Canadian tariffs a bit more?; 8/4/25, 6:31 PM
Original Mike said...: Hum, I actually didn't notice the smoke today (maybe I'm getting used to it). Worked in the garden all day, preparing to put in a path. Discovered the best way to break up irises is with a pick axe.; 8/4/25, 6:52 PM
R C Belaire said...: "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine..."; 8/4/25, 6:54 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: The wife and I are staying indoors too. No blue skies around here!...
https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/
Check it out. Blame Canada!.; 8/4/25, 7:02 PM
Aggie said...: You know, thinking through this a little bit further, if the smoke is a combustion product of timber, i.e. wood, then isn't Canadian wood already subject to tariffs? I see some potential for a little Presidential trolling on 'X', here..... Maybe there are some out-of-work climate scientists that could pick up a little gig work, calculating the tonnage of imported Canadian wood product, subject to tariffs - eh?; 8/4/25, 7:07 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Wisconsin is Canada's ashtray.; 8/4/25, 7:14 PM
tcrosse said...: From what I read, the forests under provincial management use the best practices, while the federal ones don't. Another bit of conflict between the western provinces and Ottawa.; 8/4/25, 7:18 PM
Peachy said...: It's smokey here in CO. New wild fires are flaring up daily.; 8/4/25, 7:30 PM
john mosby said...: It's a war crime. Chemical agent on a defenseless civilian population. Trump needs to take immediate action to secure the northern border.

RR
JSM; 8/4/25, 7:40 PM
EAB said...: Smoky here. Disappointing. Our community auditorium had a showing of Stop Making Sense scheduled for next week, with appearance by Jerry Harrison. Cancelled…health concerns because of the smoke.; 8/4/25, 8:05 PM
john mosby said...: EAB: just a sign of how we Gen X'ers are getting old. Who would have thought a Talking Heads event would get cancelled for smoke?

RR
JSM; 8/4/25, 8:08 PM
n.n said...: Smokey and the Bandits have issued an Ottawa targeting Americans.; 8/4/25, 8:36 PM
Narr said...: You know it's bad when the Prof won't brave the air . . . I don't think I would either. I hope it all clears up soon for those affected.

In these parts, the weekend was exceptionally cool with low humidity, so I no longer had an excuse not to weed and shape the front flower bed. Had to take out a lot of vine and crap-plant growth along with numerous volunteer oaklings of varying sizes.

"Who would have thought a Talking Heads event would get cancelled for smoke?" Smoke from outside no less.; 8/4/25, 8:38 PM
Lazarus said...: Canada was always complaining about acid rain and now they do this to us. Anyway, I hope everyone had a happy and productive Barack Obama Day.; 8/4/25, 8:54 PM
Gospace said...: Some critter invaded my son's yard in FL the other night and dug under the fence and killed killed his roosters. A few months earlier, some critter, probably the same one, loosened the door and got his turkey, and later on, his drake- who fought fiercely so the critter left without killing the other ducks. Yesterday was spent moving the roosts around and pest proofing them. And- he put up trail cams. The culprit- a bobcat. He had left the other rooster carcasses on the ground- the bobcat had killed all of them but took off with only one. Turns out there's a bobcat season in FL- but a nuisance, that is, one who eats your birds, can be killed at any time. So now he's figuring whether to trap it or sit outside with a nightscope...

And that brings up one big difference between FL, at least this section, and NY. It's a neighborhood of $500,000.00 and up houses, and well more then half have chicken or other fowl in their backyard. Or side yard, or even front yard. People with half million dollar houses in NY don't keep chickens in their yard. And they make sure zoning laws don't allow others to do it.; 8/4/25, 8:56 PM
FormerLawClerk said...: How Women Communicate

Woman: "You wanna go get some ice cream?"

Men ... gather round. We need to chat about this kind of a question that I know some of your women have been asking you. Everybody schooch in real close now and pay attention.

She is NOT ASKING YOU if you want to get ice cream.

(Muttering, hurrumphing, whispering). Quiet down gentlemen. We shall have order in the cave. Right then. Now, we must ascertain what is really happening here, gentlemen and I will tell you. Quiet in the ranks there! Now pay attention:

You are about to go get ice cream, whether you desire it or not.

Now I know, it sounded like a question. It even had a question mark, after she said it. "DO YOU WANT to go get some ice cream." Now, you and I would understand this as a means to ascertain what YOUR desires are.

No, no, no, no, no. This is not how women communicate.

They have zero interest in what your desire is vis-a-vis going to get some ice cream. You ARE in fact going, despite whatever previous desire you may have had.

This isn't a question, good sirs. This is a DIRECTIVE.

GO. GET. HER. SOME. ICE. CREAM.

Thus endeth the lesson.; 8/4/25, 9:00 PM
Jaq said...: It was so smoky here that you could check the sun for spots with regular binoculars.; 8/4/25, 9:02 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Candace Owens, on Tucker, got me considering everything that's set in stone could be a big beautiful lie.

Harvey Weinstein was railroaded?; 8/4/25, 9:12 PM
Jersey Fled said...: Tariffs are the new climate change.; 8/4/25, 9:15 PM
Original Mike said...: Jaq said..."It was so smoky here that you could check the sun for spots with regular binoculars."

Did you actually do that? Because that would be smoky.; 8/4/25, 9:46 PM
Mark said...: So glad that DOGE cut all that 'wasteful' spending so that we could spend monry to put a nuclear reactor on the moon.

That will truly servr the needs of families struggling to make ends meet.; 8/4/25, 9:49 PM
Original Mike said...: "So glad that DOGE cut all that 'wasteful' spending so that we could spend monry to put a nuclear reactor on the moon."

So am I.
Oh, you were joshin'.; 8/4/25, 9:54 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Smoke coming down, Saharan Dust coming across ,now we need something coming up! My 4 mile jaunt tonight in 75% humidity and 85 degrees at 830 nice no more RENAUDS FROM sitting in woods hunting during those cold NEW YORK winters!!! Gotta sue somebody for this Right?; 8/4/25, 9:54 PM
Quaestor said...: Eco-terrorism. We've seen it before. Antifa zombies from Ottawa and Quebec are setting fires wildfires in Alberta with the intent of intimidation.; 8/4/25, 10:07 PM
Peachy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/4/25, 10:14 PM
Peachy said...: oh good gravy
Leftist Antifas like air pollution? Good to know.; 8/4/25, 10:14 PM
Peachy said...: Bag of Bones; 8/4/25, 10:23 PM
gadfly said...: Devin Nunes has another lawsuit tossed, this one was against Rachel Maddow.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif) against MSNBC personality Rachel Maddow nearly five years ago.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled last week that Nunes failed to prove Maddow and her team at the network acted with actual malice during a discussion about a package Nunes received addressed to him from Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian legislator with ties to Russian officials and intelligence services, while he was the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“The Court concludes that no reasonable jury could find that NBC Universal made the statement with constitutionally-defined actual malice,” Castel wrote. MSNBC received its information from Politico.; 8/4/25, 10:39 PM
Aggie said...: @Gospace "The culprit- a bobcat" Bobcats are bold. I've seen them hiding in the shrubs next to a home in a close-spaced residential development, with very limited wild habitat nearby - looking for yard rabbits. This time of year, they have kits and are trying to keep them fed.; 8/4/25, 11:01 PM
Iman said...: Trees make it look like a “hazy shade of winter”.; 8/4/25, 11:11 PM
buwaya said...: Mark, I have people on the inside of the Moon project(s). You can go stuff yourself.; 8/4/25, 11:40 PM
Andrew said...: What a scrawny little Entmoot! Probably discussing the desolations of Saruman up north.; 8/5/25, 12:03 AM
Mary E. Glynn said...: Some critter invaded my son's yard in FL the other night and dug under the fence and killed killed his roosters. A few months earlier, some critter, probably the same one, loosened the door and got his turkey, and later on, his drake- who fought fiercely so the critter left without killing the other ducks.
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Your son sounds like an idiot. Some people do not deserve to keep animals. They can't care for them properly and their neglect costs lives in ways domesticated animals should not have to suffer. Careful he doesn't shoot himself, a child or neighbor out there baiting bobcats.; 8/5/25, 2:35 AM
Breezy said...: That smoke must dampen any solar energy gathering quite a bit. As badly as clouds? Maybe not, but the smoke lingers for days. So perhaps the purposeful fire starters, likely believers of climate change hysteria, would want to reconsider. I suppose it’s a tough decision, though, enable green power or engage the evil power to force humans inside their homes for days on end. What to do what to do…; 8/5/25, 5:20 AM
Leland said...: Technically, we put a nuclear powered vehicle on the moon over 50 years ago. Unfortunately, we teach consensus science these days, so we have idiots that think nuclear energy is inherently dangerous and that a lumber industry damages our environment more than uncontrolled wild fires.; 8/5/25, 5:41 AM
Kakistocracy said...: Releasing the Epstein files could have a chilling effect of future presidents’ affiliation with known sex-traffickers.

Nobody takes time to think of unintended consequences anymore.; 8/5/25, 6:13 AM
boatbuilder said...: It appears that the Texas Democrats are in agreement that they have abandoned the field, and the Republicans should take full advantage.
https://mailchi.mp/texashousedems.com/1-21434614?e=055e6bf9a2; 8/5/25, 6:30 AM
Breezy said...: LOL Kak. Clinton would agree.; 8/5/25, 6:34 AM
rehajm said...: Bobcats are bold

Yah, we have a bobcat family or two that roam the neighborhood. They show up on the game cameras in our yard regularly. We’ve caught them walking right next to the foundation of our house looking for voles and mice. One time one hunkered down for a storm under our breezeway for the night…; 8/5/25, 6:48 AM
rehajm said...: Owl woke me up early this morning. Stupid owl…; 8/5/25, 6:48 AM
WWPaulKlee said...: The leafless trees may be ash, with their nemesis the Emerald Ash Borers, or box elders. In MN, our entire backyard wetlands population of box elders is leafless and falling over.; 8/5/25, 6:56 AM
rhhardin said...: Owl woke me up early this morning - check if it wasn't a mourning dove.; 8/5/25, 7:12 AM
Humperdink said...: Nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than seeing Pam Bondi empanel a grand jury to investigate the Commies from the previous administration(s).

You know, that “no one is above the law” thingy.; 8/5/25, 7:22 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: "By the way, where are the leaves for those trees? It's getting ominous out there."

Hmm... I have a Bradford Pear Tree in the backyard that is also missing a noticeable amount of leaves already. I'm in the Northwest Chicago suburbs so a similar region.; 8/5/25, 7:25 AM