The fire situation in Europe, form le Monde:
The entirety of Cap Ferret, on the Arcachon basin, has been ordered evacuated. It is a
major vacation spot...
Saturday, July 25, 2026
Friday, July 24, 2026
Windy
Beautiful day in perspective, warm, slight breeze, blue skies: everything there is
to like about summer. So let's talk about wind, in particular strong winds, very strong
winds. Because we have just experienced that on Wednesday afternoon.
At point, I was waiting for a pedestrian light to come on and give me permission to cross
a busy motorway. There came a gust of wind like Ihave never experienced before, my
clothes were flapping against me like a flag, I had to bend my knees to stay in place. Had it
continued a moment longer I would have been thrown to the ground and dragged away.
So yes, the wind is getting stronger. And Polytechnique Zurich has published explaining the
phenomenon...
* * *
So trade agreements between Canada and the US have historically been the work
of conservative governments on both sides... and they happen because the focus is
on something that both sides want: integrating the auto industry being a case in point.
Let's try to revisit that model: is there some form of integration that would advance
both countries at this time. My guess is that there is, and it has to do with the emerging AI
movement. Canada has already conceded on the issue by repealing a bid to tax bigtech in
Canada. What do we want on that front that would simplify life for everybody for the
next twenty years??
Thursday, July 23, 2026
Obesity_Inc
Hard to believe, bu by all accounts true. the rise of obesity in the USA:
* * *
Couldn't help snooping again, this time about how accessible cheap casual
dining really is in the USA. Quick answer: it is, in the South!
Copilot:
McDonalds; what would it cost me to order a 4-ounce cheeseburger, fries and a coke at a McDonalds in McCallum (McAllen) Texas. And what would that cost me in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Both in USD, with a calorie count for each (to check if am getting the same meal).
Short answer:
You’ll pay less in Texas and more in Québec, but the calories are essentially identical because McDonald’s uses standardized recipes.
Below is a clear, location‑specific breakdown using the closest available real store‑level price data.
🇺🇸 McAllen, Texas (closest match to “McCallum, Texas”)
McDonald’s does not list a “McCallum, TX,” but McAllen, TX is the nearest real city with full menu pricing.
Item Prices (USD)
Cheeseburger: $1.92
Medium Fries: $2.86
Medium Coke: $1.69
Total (Texas): $6.47 USD
Calories (U.S. standard items)
Cheeseburger: 300 cal
Medium Fries: 320 cal
Medium Coke: 210 cal
Total Calories: 830 cal
🇨🇦 St‑Jean‑sur‑Richelieu, Québec
Canadian McDonald’s prices are higher overall. We use the national Canadian menu (converted to USD) because Uber Eats listings do not show individual burger/fries/drink prices.
Item Prices (USD equivalent)
Cheeseburger: $2.90 USD (C$4.07)
Medium Fries: ≈$3.90 USD (typical C$5.29)
Medium Coke: ≈$2.00 USD (Canadian drink prices vary; typical C$2.70–3.00) inferred from Canadian beverage ranges
Total (Québec): ≈$8.80 USD
Calories (Canada uses same formulations)
Canadian cheeseburger/fries/Coke have the same calorie values as U.S. items:
Cheeseburger: 300 cal
Medium Fries: 320 cal
Medium Coke: 210 cal
(Same standardized nutrition; Canadian calculator confirms identical formulations.)
Total Calories: 830 cal
✔️ Conclusion
You’re getting the same meal nutritionally, but paying about $2.30 more in Québec for the identical cheeseburger + fries + Coke.
If you want, I can also compare Quarter Pounder (4‑oz patty) meals between the two cities — McDonald’s uses a 4‑oz patty only in the Quarter Pounder, not the standard cheeseburger.
I am surprised to see all the items are more expensive in Canada. Any idea why? I have heard fast food in the US is government-subsidized in some way!!??
Short version: Canada isn’t more expensive because of a secret U.S. fast‑food subsidy.
It’s a mix of higher labor costs, higher food costs, higher taxes, and currency effects — all of which push Canadian fast‑food prices up. The U.S. does not directly subsidize McDonald’s meals.
Let me break it down clearly and in a way that actually matches what you’re seeing in your Texas vs Québec price comparison.
🍔 Why McDonald’s is cheaper in the U.S.
1. U.S. food is cheaper at the wholesale level
The U.S. has:
Massive agricultural output
Lower dairy and beef prices
Lower transportation costs (larger, denser supply chains)
Canada’s food supply chain is smaller, more spread out, and more regulated.
This alone makes ingredients 10–30% more expensive in Canada.
💵 2. Labor costs are higher in Canada
This is the big one.
Typical McDonald’s wages:
Texas: often $8–$12 USD/hour
Québec: often $16–$20 CAD/hour (≈ $12–$15 USD/hour)
Plus Canada has:
Mandatory employer contributions to CPP/QPP
Higher payroll taxes
Stricter labor standards
Fast‑food is labor‑intensive, so this directly raises menu prices.
🧾 3. Taxes: Canada has sales tax on fast food
Texas:
0% state tax on groceries, and fast food is lightly taxed depending on city/county.
Québec:
GST + QST = 14.975% on restaurant meals.
That alone adds ~15% to your bill.
💱 4. Currency effects
When you convert Canadian prices to USD, the difference looks even larger.
Example:
A C$4.09 cheeseburger becomes $2.90 USD, even though Canadians see it as “four bucks.”
🏛️ 5. Is U.S. fast food subsidized?
This is where myths creep in.
There is no direct U.S. government subsidy for fast‑food restaurants.
McDonald’s does not receive government money to make burgers cheaper.
However, there are indirect structural advantages in the U.S. economy:
Indirect factors that feel like subsidies:
U.S. agriculture receives federal support (corn, soy, beef feed).
U.S. fuel and transportation costs are lower.
U.S. minimum wage is lower in many states.
U.S. corporate taxes are lower.
U.S. health insurance is employer‑based, not universal — meaning fast‑food workers often don’t receive the same benefits Canadian workers do.
These aren’t “fast‑food subsidies,” but they reduce operating costs, which makes U.S. fast food cheaper.
Result: Canadian McDonald’s prices are consistently 20–40% higher.
🎯 Bottom line
You’re not imagining it — the price gap is real.
But it’s not because the U.S. subsidizes fast food.
It’s because Canada has higher costs across the board, and those costs flow straight into menu prices.
If you want, I can also break down:
Why some Canadian items (like coffee) are cheaper
Which McDonald’s items have the biggest U.S.–Canada price gap
Whether Québec is more expensive than the rest of Canada
Just tell me what angle you want to explore next.
What would the meal cost in Houston, Texas, and NYC?
You’ll see Houston is cheaper than NYC, but both are still cheaper than Québec.
Below is a clean, data‑based comparison using real store‑level McDonald’s prices from 2026.
🍔 Meal Definition
You asked for:
Cheeseburger + Medium Fries + Medium Coke
Calories are standardized across the U.S.:
Cheeseburger: 300 cal
Medium Fries: 320 cal
Medium Coke: 210 cal
Total: 830 calories
🇺🇸 Houston, Texas
Using South Houston store‑level pricing:
Cheeseburger: $1.69
Medium Fries: $2.49
Medium Coke: $1.79
Total (Houston): $5.97 USD
🗽 New York City (NYC)
NYC prices are consistently higher across all boroughs:
Cheeseburger: $3.25 (NYC average)
Medium Fries: $4.35
Medium Coke: $1.92
Total (NYC): $9.52 USD
🧠 Why NYC is so much more expensive
NYC McDonald’s prices are elevated because of:
Higher rent and operating costs (NYC stores pay Manhattan‑level commercial rents)
Higher wages and labor costs
Higher local taxes
Franchise pricing freedom (NYC stores often exceed national averages)
Houston, by contrast, has:
Lower rent
Lower wages
Lower cost of living
Lower state taxes
✔️ Summary
Your meal costs approximately:
$5.97 in Houston
$9.52 in NYC
≈$8.80 in St‑Jean‑sur‑Richelieu (from earlier)
Calories remain identical everywhere (830 cal).
If you want, I can also compare:
Quarter Pounder meals (true 4‑oz patty)
Big Mac meals
Cheapest vs most expensive U.S. cities for this same meal
Just tell me!
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
No_Cheater
CNN
An OpenAI test model escaped and broke into a real company’s servers
By
Hadas Gold
CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit of government officials, corporate executives, and labor leaders, in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026. Kylie Cooper/Reuters/File
* * *
OpenAI says some of its experimental AI models left a test environment with no human direction and hacked its way onto a different company’s real production systems while trying to “cheat” on a cybersecurity test.
It’s one of the first publicly disclosed examples of an AI system autonomously breaching its testing environment and reaching a real external system - the “agentic attacker” scenario the AI and cybersecurity industry has been warning will happen. It’s like an engineered virus escaping a biocontainment lab and turning up inside a neighboring facility’s systems.
“We consider this incident to be an unprecedented cyber incident, involving state-of-the-art cyber capabilities, and are responding accordingly,” OpenAI said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are sharing preliminary findings at this stage to help defenders understand what happened and to help calibrate on what models are now capable of.”
The ChatGPT maker said the breach happened while it was internally testing how good some of its new models are at hacking. The models were in a sealed off test environment known as a sandbox so that its normal safety restrictions could be turned off.
But OpenAI said the AI agents broke out of the sandbox using a previously unknown security flaw and worked their way across OpenAI’s internal systems until they managed to gain internet access, something they weren’t supposed to have.
Once online, the model reasoned that Hugging Face - a well-known company that hosts thousands of open-source AI models and datasets - likely had the answer to OpenAI’s test. It then broke into Hugging Face’s production servers and pulled out the information it needed to “solve” the exercise.
Hugging Face website displayed on a phone screen and a laptop keyboard are seen in this illustration photo.
Hugging Face website displayed on a phone screen and a laptop keyboard are seen in this illustration photo. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Hugging Face had noticed the breach itself before it knew it was an OpenAI test, announcing last week that they had detected an intrusion by an autonomous AI agent system and even reporting the incident to law enforcement. OpenAI’s security team separately noticed the unusual activity internally and the two companies connected. They both now say they are working together to solve the security flaws the model exploited.
Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clem Delangue framed the incident as evidence AI safety can’t be handled by any one company working alone, and it needs to be tackled openly and collaboratively.
“This is day one for cybersecurity in the age of agents & we’re all learning that secrecy is not the answer & that all defenders (not just a few selected ones) everywhere need more powerful models without restrictions, especially open ones!” Delangue said in a post on X.
Researchers have long warned autonomous agentic cyberattacks are coming, as frontier AI models are increasingly able to carry out complex, multi-step cyberattacks over long stretches of time. That can translate into real-world risk, to critical infrastructure like utilities and financial systems.
“Welcome to the next level of cyber incidents,” Nikesh Arora, CEO of cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks posted on X. “These attacks continue to maintain the urgency on enterprises need to test, validate and improve both their security posture and infrastructure.”
Copilot:
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/pnvLZuH2J8oi1XC3Hpgsm
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/FTFczJXKJCvoXc39dfGKL
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/b5B9ftnv2g8tAcf5Mwtwy
More_NYTs
An argument to consider on the tariffs question: the US needs the money, and the bond
market is getting used to the cash inflows. From the point of view of the US, trade war
tariffs are the GOAT!
* * *
Asked Copilot to price the purchase of a hockey stick in Montreal, and in
the NYC . They're 25% cheaper in the US. So adding a 25% tariff comes down
to compensating for the difference in the value of the currency.
Americans still earn more, but the distribution of income is skewered so that certain
classes or groups are richer!
Buying a hockey stick:
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/6zFzkdfDahvzgs8i2eRb5
GDP per Capita:
Using PPP:
American income distribution:
* * *
So if the US starts paying higher prices for imported goods, one would expect
the PPP to not look so strong for them, which might also mean a less skewed
income distribution as some workers need better wages. There is room for quite a
bit of model building on these issuers...
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Puckered
Still, the New York Times is useful...
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/baking-soda-vinegar-cleaning-tips/
Went to Canadian Tire:
https://share.gemini.google/0PXYW3koMU3r
Not kidding that one should use gloves with this product, and wear glasses. My
lips feel unnaturally puckered and I did one minute.
I_Love_Tariffs
So President Trump is at it again: tariffs to accomplish policy ends. So let me say
this about that. The media bias that lambasts Trump at every turn may not be serving
us well on this matter. Tariffs happen all the time, Canada has a long list of them on
the books. They are a protective measure, when the political context dictates it, or new
forms of economic activity go into production. But this American Administration is
using them aggressively, giving itself good press domestically, and shaking countries to garner
advantage or broader re-alignments. We shouldn't be falling into that trap.
Dairy management stands, and tariffs on hockey sticks are off topic. We need to look
at the effects of new tariffs one by one as well as being clear that we deem temper tantrum
politics as not appropriate.
I also feel that Saskatchewan and Alberta were right to allow American alcohol back on the
shelves. Forcing the American liquor sector to wither away is not wise; we are hurting ourselves
in the long run.
Maybe we should just stop reading American news over our neighbors' shoulders, and work
carefully on our own trade policies...
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