Our World
Gardening with Occam …
Pouring cats and dogs today. Great for the Garden! @fancypants_s https://t.co/XgxIOgUSQW
— Occam's Razor (@Occams_Razor_CA) July 21, 2026
Douglas Todd: Faster, higher — kids gain from exciting, risky play
Drownings are in the news in B.C. this year because they’ve increased almost 50 per cent from the same point last year, according to the Lifesaving Society of B.C. So far 32 people have drowned.
The upsetting trend makes it a hard time to extol the virtues of the outdoors, especially when it comes to young people.
The era of ‘civilization-states’ is here. It’s up to the world’s middle powers to respond
Beware when the world’s most powerful leaders talk of “civilization.” Their abuse of the term could spawn a new international order.
Russia is “an original civilization-state,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a prominent annual forum in Sochi in 2023, adding that “the world is on its way to a synergy of civilization-states.” The same year, Xi Jinping called China “the only great, uninterrupted civilization that continues to this day in a state form.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi describes his own state as “the most refined idea of human civilization.”
Kate Marland: Anti-family propaganda has devastated a generation of women
Overwhelmingly, women are increasingly dissatisfied with our modern conditions, to the extent that no Hugo Spritz or pair of Jimmy Choos can cure. A 2023 Cardus study found that over half of Canadian women are having fewer children than they would like. Contrary to what you might assume based on Canadian conservative messaging, the predominant factor here is not affordability or housing costs. This study found that the most influential factors affecting fertility rates relate to the idea that children are burdensome, parenting is time-consuming, and that women want to finish self-development and exploration before starting families. Somewhere between avoiding pregnancy from ages 15-29 and self-actualizing ourselves into six-figure, corner office jobs, it appears we have lost our way. Raised on a heady cocktail of Sex and the City, Girls, Lean In, and She-EOs, it’s no wonder we find ourselves here, in a society that prioritizes material success over family formation. Women who have been incentivized to put off having children to build a career are becoming increasingly aware that their lives are missing something.
The WNBA Is Basically a Hate Group
Nobody is less motivated to watch a WNBA game than I am.
In fact, the only WNBA action that I have ever seen is clips on X that I scroll by, mostly without watching.
But even I know who Caitlin Clark is and why she is so popular among basketball fans. She is the person who put the WNBA on the map, whose jersey sales, along with her now-famous teammate Sophie Cunningham, outsell those of every other WNBA player combined by a whopping 2-1 margin.
The fact that Sophie triggered almost an entire league with just a simple point of a finger is just crazy motion 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/7paK3NxFLC
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) June 27, 2026
Two Americas: Black Rednecks and Karmelo Anthony — and Civilization
When thinking about poor Austin Metcalf, I sometimes wonder about his reactions during those last fatal moments on April 2 of last year. When murderer Karmelo Anthony drew that knife, could he not, being young and athletic, have avoided at least a deadly strike? Perhaps Anthony was just too quick. But then I realize something:
The two boys were from vastly different worlds.
Massive Brawl ERUPTS on Carnival Cruise Customs Line: 16 People Banned https://t.co/R9Z4RuSPSw pic.twitter.com/zsQEGlDeus
— New York Post (@nypost) June 24, 2026
Going and Coming to Mars: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
SpaceX’s IPO was predictably a success, making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. He reiterated his goal of traveling to Mars and settling there.
There have been many instances in the past of an idea which, due to arrogance or optimism, seemed really good on paper but upon execution turned out to be catastrophic, from Napoleon invading Russia, to dumping auto tires in the ocean for the purpose of creating an artificial reef, to creating humanoid robots, to creating welfare, to creating artificial intelligence, to gain of function research, to forming a Children’s Crusade, to doing business in China, to buying stocks on margin, to NYC rent control, or putting tons of orange peels in forests.