Former premier Jason Kenney resigns his seat in Alberta's legislature

Story by CBC/Radio-Canada • Tuesday, 29-11-2022

Jason Kenney, the former leader of the UCP who served as Alberta's 18th premier until last month, has announced he is resigning from his seat as the MLA for Calgary-Lougheed effective immediately.


Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced on Tuesday that he is resigning from his seat effective immediately.© (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

"A different government is in place, and the next election will occur in a few months," Kenney wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.

"So after a great deal of reflection and consultation, I have concluded that now is the best time for me to step aside as MLA."

Kenney said that he was proud to have led a government that delivered on the majority of its election commitments, but said that now is the right time for him to step away from public office after 25 years in elected politics, including as a federal MP.

He also wrote to the speaker of the legislature to inform him of his decision.

In his public statement, Kenney said he believes Canada and Alberta are, in many ways, the envy of the world. But he also expressed his wariness about the current state of politics.

"I am concerned that our democratic life is veering away from ordinary prudential debate towards a polarization that undermines our bedrock institutions and principles," he wrote.

"From the far left we see efforts to cancel our history, delegitimize our historically grounded institutions and customs, and divide society dangerously along identity lines.

Related video: Controversial sovereignty bill introduced in Alberta
Duration 4:04
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Standing up to Ottawa stressed in Alberta throne speech

Global News

"And from the far right we see a vengeful anger and toxic cynicism which often seeks to tear things down, rather than build up and improve our imperfect institutions."

Kenney, 54, was the premier of Alberta and the leader of the UCP from 2019 to 2022. In May, he announced his resignation from the premiership after winning a leadership review narrowly by 51.4 per cent.

In October, UCP voters tapped Danielle Smith to succeed him.

Prior to leading the UCP, Kenney was the last leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party that merged with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP.

Before becoming a figure in Alberta's provincial politics, Kenney had served as an MP and was a cabinet minister when Stephen Harper was prime minister.

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 for the Reform Party.

Timing of resignation

Kenney's decision to resign came on the day that Premier Danielle Smith's government tabled the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act.

One political watcher said Kenney's announcement appears to highlight his disapproval of the current premier's decisions and of the direction that politics are headed in.

"He could've delivered this resignation at any time, the fact that he did it immediately after the unveiling of the sovereignty act, I don't think is coincidental," said Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams.

"He didn't want to be associated with looking as though he wanted to be endorsing any of this … clearly, he has not supported Danielle Smith."

HEALTHCARE VS MISGUIDED MORALITY
Albertans call for urgent action on drug poisoning crisis in 'dying for access' rally

Story by Anna Junker • Tuesday

Harm reduction advocates handed out examples of a safe regulated drug supply at a rally Tuesday afternoon calling for the Alberta government to take urgent action to address the drug poisoning crisis.


People protested at a rally held outside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Tuesday November 29, 2022, calling for the government to take urgent action on the ongoing drug poisoning crisis that continues to kill more Albertans aged 25 to 39 than any other cause of death. They were calling for the removal of barriers to evidence-based services such as supervised consumption, regulated substances and patient-centred treatment.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Coinciding with the start of the legislature session, dozens of people gathered outside the Alberta legislature in the second annual Dying for Access event.

Advocates and loved ones of people who use drugs called for the province to rescind the narcotics transition services program, provide access to regulated substances, expand supervised consumption sites, and provide better data on treatment programs.

“We’re here today because Albertans are still dying for access,” said organizer Petra Schulz, who founded Moms Stop the Harm.

“They’re dying for access to harm reduction, dying for access to a safe regulated supply, and they’re dying for access to evidence-based and accountable treatment.

“About five people a day are dying every day and it’s heartbreaking and needs to change, we need to do something differently.”

Between January and August, there have been 1,030 drug poisoning deaths in Alberta, with 976 of those opioid-related . Over the same time period in 2021, there were 1,111 drug-poisoning deaths and 969 of those were opioid related. Last year was the province’s deadliest year on record for drug poisonings.

New Alberta opioid program could increase barriers and harm, health professionals say

New review reveals potential positives of virtual overdose monitoring systems

In a statement, Colin Aitchison, spokesman for the Mental Health and Addiction M inistry , highlighted the Alberta government’s recovery-orientated system of care, focusing on prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery.

“Services that reduce harm can be part of a comprehensive continuum of care when operated effectively,” he said. “Over the past three years we have taken significant steps to ensure that supervised consumption services and narcotic transition services are only operated in a highly professional manner.”

Schulz said the primary ask of the province is to provide a safe, regulated drug supply.

“Where regulated substances are available, people have had their lives stabilized, we have crime numbers going down because people don’t need to engage in property crime, to find the money to buy the substances, health-care utilization goes down, health-care costs are reduced,” Schulz said.

“There are so many benefits, but for us as families who have lost loved ones, the primary benefits are that people live and as long as they live, there’s hope for the future you can connect them to services, and maybe they can find treatment.”

During the rally, advocates handed out an example of safe supply of a “legal stimulant” — 28.3 milligrams of caffeine. Schulz said it’s an example of what an individual would be able to possess in British Columbia when an exemption goes into effect on Jan. 31 allowing adults to carry a cumulative amount of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.

“Our safe supply is caffeine and it won’t save life, but it might support some critical thinking,” Schulz said. “You just need to do different things differently here in Alberta, because more of the same old is not working.”

But Aitchison said there are health and safety risks such as increasing addiction and overdose rates if opioids are diverted into the community.

“We will continue to support Albertans in their pursuit of recovery while also protecting the public from the risk of drug diversion,” he said.

Largest recorded Alberta earthquake probably natural, scientist says

Yesterday 12:25 p.m.

EDMONTON — The largest earthquake ever recorded in Alberta, which rattled homes and nerves Tuesday, was probably due to natural causes, says a geologist.


Largest recorded Alberta earthquake probably natural, scientist says© Provided by The Canadian Press

Rebecca Salvage of the University of Calgary says the 5.6-magnitude quake that rumbled near Peace River in northwest Alberta originated at least six kilometres underground. That's probably too deep to have been artificially caused, she said.

"The depth infers that it's probably natural. Natural events typically occur at those depths."

The Alberta Geological Survey reported that the series of seismic events near Reno, a tiny rural hamlet about 40 kilometres southeast of Peace River, began late in the afternoon and continued into the early evening.

The survey recorded the main quake at nearly 5.6 on the Richter scale, although other agencies measured it higher. It was preceded by two smaller quakes and followed by several aftershocks.

Carmen Langer, an area landowner, was climbing the stairs of his home when the quakes hit.

Related video: A series of Earthquakes hit Alberta, details HERE
Duration 0:33
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"I had to go right to my knees and grab a rail," he said.

The quakes, which came on with the sound of a freight train, sent his light fixtures swinging, he said. He also saw the glass in the windows of his home flex.

"I guess you're scared," he said. "You don't know what's coming after."

RCMP reported no injuries from the quakes.

Energy extraction processes, such as fracking, have contributed to earthquakes in other parts of the province. But Salvage said those kinds of quakes typically happen in the earth's upper layers.

She said scientists are aware of geologic faults in the area, although it's too soon to know which one was the source.

She said Tuesday's tremblors are rare in Alberta and offer an exciting opportunity to learn more about the province's deep geology. She said they are probably related to seismic events originating from when the Rocky Mountains were created.

"We do still get influences from the Rocky Mountains," she said. "It's feasible that some of the stresses from that are still dissipating across British Columbia and Alberta."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2022.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

SARCOSUCHUS: THE 40-FOOT-LONG PREHISTORIC MONSTER CROCODILE THAT HUNTED DINOSAURS

BY DYLAN HOFER/NOV. 27, 2022

Planet Earth has been home to some of the most beautiful and terrifying creatures that we can think of, some of which are long dead, left for people today to piece together how grandiose they actually were. One of those creatures was the Sarcosuchus, also known as the "super croc." These colossal beasts weighed more than 17,000 pounds and were 40 feet long, primarily preying on dinosaurs, according to 

Most of these fossils have been found in West Africa, and date back 113 million years ago to the Cretaceous period (via Science Focus). This would've predated the dinosaur extinction by roughly 50 million years, and makes the fossils roughly 23 million years older than the infamous tyrannosaurus rex, better known as "T-Rex," according to the American Museum of Natural History. It is believed that these beasts traveled through expansive river deltas that connected Africa and South America when they were one continent. During this time, giant fish that got the size of great white sharks called coelacanths also shared the water with the Sarcosuchus, which might've led to some resource conflict.

SARCOSUCHUS'S DIET

It is believed that Sarcosuchus's diet probably contained a little bit of everything. What made these creatures unique was that when they were younger, their snouts were often elongated and narrower, and as they grew older, the snout became flatter, which might have allowed them to eat bigger prey, such as dinosaurs. Scientists hypothesize that the Sarcosuchus probably ate fish in the rivers when it was younger, and as it got to be an adult, its diet would expand to whatever it could get in its mouth, according to Science Focus.

Scientists struggle with fully understanding the Sarcosuchus due to the fact that there is no living descendant of the beast. No other animal has such a unique snout, and on top of that, there are no ball-and-socket joints in this creature like in other crocodiles. But these aren't the only fundamental differences between the Sarcosuchus and its modern-day cousins; things such as age and growth were also very unique to the "super croc" (via Prehistoric Wildlife).

DIFFERENCES WITH DISTANT RELATIVES

Lillac/Shutterstock

The fossils that have been found of fully grown Sarcosuchus adults have shown that these creatures could very well live up to 40 years old, and it's likely they could be even older than that, according to Prehistoric Wildlife. This contrasts with modern crocodiles today, given that most live to be up to 25 years. Another interesting feature of the Sarcosuchus was that it seemingly never stopped growing, unlike other crocodiles that stop growing once they reach a certain age, similar to humans. Scientists believe that these ancient crocodiles were able to grow to whatever size their food supply allowed, much similar to the Titanoboa, a 2,500-pound snake that roamed the swamps during the time of the dinosaur (via Prehistoric Wildlife).

Clues about their teeth and jaws have also been able to help scientists in understanding how these fearsome creatures caught their prey, since they have thinner teeth, and their upper jaws curve down allowing them to hook onto fish more easily. Scientists will need more time and research to understand the true monstrosity that was the Sarcosuchus.

INJURIES OF CLASS

Ontario apologizes to miners, families for harm caused by McIntyre Powder

Story by Kate Rutherford, Jonathan Migneault • Yesterday 

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton gave a long-awaited apology Wednesday afternoon to mine workers who were exposed to McIntyre Powder for over three decades and their families.

From 1943 to 1979, miners in northern Ontario were forced to breathe in the black ground aluminum dust before they started their shifts.

Their employers told them the powder would protect them from the lung disease silicosis, but many of them developed neurological disorders and lung issues years later.

In 2020, researchers recommended the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) recognize that miners forced to inhale McIntyre Powder were at a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Early in 2022, the province made the changes to allow families and miners who developed Parkinson's tied to McIntyre Powder inhalation to file claims and be compensated for occupational disease.
'Tragedy should not have happened'

"While we know an apology will not bring your loved ones back, it will not ease the pain and sadness so many of you have faced. This tragedy should not have happened to you," McNaughton said in the Legislature, with a group of about 30 people, including former miners exposed to McIntyre Powder and their families, in attendance.

"It should not have happened to your loved ones. And to each and every one of you, on behalf of the people of Ontario, we are truly sorry."

Sudbury MP Jamie West, who has advocated for individuals affected by McIntyre Powder and their families, said, "We are here to tell you we are sorry."

"The use of McIntyre Powder was sanctioned by the government of Ontario. It was not fair for the 25,000 Ontario miners. It was not fair for their friends, for their families."

West said this would be an important day in Ontario mining history.



Janice Martell started the McIntyre Powder Project to prove there was a potential link between inhaling the powder and neurological disease. Her advocacy helped lead to the Ontario government's apology on Wednesday.© Yvon Theriault/Radio-Canada
Family advocacy

Janice Martell started the McIntyre Powder Project to prove there was a potential link between inhaling the powder and neurological disease. Her father, Jim Hobbs, inhaled the powder while working as a miner and died in 2017 of Parkinson's.

Martell has collected the health records of more than 27,000 former miners for the McIntyre Powder Project registry.

Before the apology, former miners who inhaled the powder while on the job, along with their families and supporters, gathered at the United Steelworkers Hall in Sudbury to board a bus headed to Toronto so they could attend in person.

Peter Gary Zarichney was one of them.



Peter Gary Zarichney was exposed to McIntyre Powder when he worked in the at Rio Algom mines in Elliot Lake, Ont.© Kate Rutherford/CBC

He remembered his time working underground in Elliot Lake in the early 1970s for Rio Algom, and how the air would be blackened with McIntyre Powder.

"We would come in at the beginning of the shift, and we would go take our street clothes off and then we would come back into the dry [room] where our clothes would be hanging," he told CBC News.

"And as soon as we got in there, they would set the McIntyre dust canisters off and you couldn't see in the room other than about a couple feet."

Zarichney said he and his friends would try to sneak off before they dusted the room with McIntyre Powder, but they were always caught.

He said he now has early dementia and lung problems. His father also worked in the mines for more than 30 years.

"He had a black lung, and he had dementia, and plus he had cancer," Zarichney said.

His daughter, Rosemarie Zarichney, said she remembered one day, when she was a child, her father told her mom she couldn't wash his work clothes at home anymore.

"So I knew there was something not OK about that," she said.

"Why would my dad all of a sudden not want his clothes, his mining clothes, in the house with us or in the laundry with ours?"

Rosemarie said she only understood much later why her father took that stance.

"They were told to do things that weren't OK and it was so that they could support us," she said.

"They should have known these things. There should have been studies, there should have been an understanding before they made them do this, this kind of thing, just to earn a living, to go home and support their families. And a lot of them are living with the after-effects."


Ken Brezenski was briefly exposed to McIntyre Powder when he worked as an apprentice. His father, in the photo, was exposed for 27 years.© Kate Rutherford/CBC

Ken Brezenski was exposed to McIntyre Powder for two years while working underground as an apprentice in the early 1970s.

"You couldn't take your clothes home to wash them," he said. "Like you wore your clothes until they literally fell off your body."

Brezenski said he now has several health issues, including some damage to his lungs and brain. His father worked as a miner for 27 years, and Brezenski said his life was cut short because of exposure to McIntyre Powder on the job.



Chantal Bryce's father, who was exposed to McIntyre while working as a miner, died in June. Chantal wanted to go to Toronto to hear the apology in person.© Kate Rutherford/CBC

Chantal Bryce was at the Legislature for her father, David St. Georges, who died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) six months ago.

In addition to his lung problems, Bryce said her father also had cancer of the bladder and kidney.

She called him a "gentle giant" who would have made his way to Queen's Park on Wednesday had he lived long enough.

Bryce said her father was in palliative care in April, when Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas pushed the province for an official apology for McIntyre Powder survivors and their families.

At the time, House leader Paul Calandra said the government would need more time to make a proper apology.

"The families do deserve an apology, absolutely," he said. "But we can't do it in less than 24 hours."

Bryce said her father felt some relief that things were moving forward, but was also disappointed an apology didn't happen in April.

SURPRIZE GAY FASCISTS EXIST

A Gay Man Is Behind Tucker Carlson's Hate-Filled Agenda, LGBTQ Journalist Writes

Story by Josephine Harvey • 

The senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, which makes a habit of demonizing and stirring up hate against LGBTQ people, is an out gay man, according to veteran journalist Michelangelo Signorile.

The information is shocking given Carlson’s sentiments toward the community ― and particularly in light of the recent violence in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Last week, days after a gunman killed five people at a gay nightclub there, Carlson hosted a guest who founded the so-called “Gays Against Groomers” hate group. The guest, Jaimee Michell, said the Colorado attack was “expected and predictable” and suggested anti-LGBTQ violence would continue “until we end this evil agenda” of gender-affirming care.

The following day, Carlson attacked Democrat Pete Buttigieg for speaking out about the shooting, claiming the transportation secretary “lied” about his sexuality by not coming out publicly earlier.

In recent years, Carlson has pushed false, fearmongering narratives about “groomers,” trans people and drag queen story hours, supporting an onslaught of hostile legislation and policies targeting LGBTQ people and embracing harmful tropes that have fueled a spike in harassment, threats and violence against their community. And Carlson’s history of homophobia dates back years before that.

Behind Carlson’s promotion of that rhetoric on the nation’s most-watched TV program is Justin Wells, the senior executive producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and vice president of Tucker Carlson Digital Products. According to Wells’ website, he leads the entire Tucker Carlson team across platforms.

“It’s beyond horrific to think a gay man has helped to shape and widely disseminate a message of hate against LGBTQ people,” wrote Signorile, a Sirius XM host, former editor-at-large of HuffPost Gay Voices and inductee to the Association of LGBTQ Journalist’s Hall of Fame.

“This story is not, however, about a warped closet case, tormented by self-loathing, hiding his true self while bashing those like him. And thus, this story is not an outing, which involves exposing someone who covers up their sexual orientation while publicly presenting as heterosexual — though it certainly may be a startling revelation to a great many. It is, rather, about connecting the dots regarding a reality that seems to have been hiding in plain sight.”

According to Signorile, Wells has been married to another man for almost a decade, and they openly celebrated their wedding with family and friends.

On his show, Carlson often hosts members of minority groups he reviles ― such as the “Gays Against Groomers” talking head ― who embrace his agenda against their communities. Wells’ leadership, Signorile argued, serves only to embolden Carlson further, giving him permission and validation for vilifying LGBTQ people.

Wells did not immediately return a request for comment.

Read Signorile’s reporting in his substack newsletter, The Signorile Report.


HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on November 17, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida.

 (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images) (Photo: Jason Koerner via Getty Images)© Provided by HuffPost

https://archive.org/details/pinkswastikahomo0004edlive

Night of the Long Knives - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Night_of_the_Long_K...

The Night of the Long Knives or the Röhm purge (German: Röhm-Putsch), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: Unternehmen Kolibri), was a purge that took ...

Cause: Hitler's desire to consolidate his power ...

Location: Nazi Germany

Date: 30 June to 2 July 1934

Also known as: Operation Hummingbird, Röhm ...

‎Ernst Röhm · ‎Purge · ‎Gustav Ritter von Kahr

• 
  

  Victims of the Night of the Long Knives - Wikipedia

  https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Victims_of_the_Night...

  
  

  The Night of the Long Knives was a purge in which Adolf Hitler and the regime of Nazi Germany targeted members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary ...

The Night of Long Knives - The Holocaust Explained

https://www.theholocaustexplained.org › night-of-long-...

The Night of Long Knives, also known as the Röhm Putsch, was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from 30 June 1934 to 2 July 1934.

The Nazi Party: The Night of the Long Knives

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org › the-night-of-the-l...

The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point in the history of Hitler's Germany. Hitler had made it clear that he was the supreme ruler of Germany who had ...

Röhm Purge - Holocaust Encyclopedia

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org › article › roehm-purge

Jun 28, 2021 — The purge is known as the “Night of the Long Knives” or “Operation Hummingbird.” These murders cemented an agreement between the Nazi Regime and ...

Fox Falsely Claims Majority Of Voters Think Biden Admin ‘Less Ethical’ Than Previous Ones

POSTED BY ELLEN -7841.60PC ON NOVEMBER 27, 2022 · newshounds.us

In reality it is a minority of voters who think that.

A recent Fox News poll found that 42% of voters think the Biden administration is less ethical compared to previous administrations. But 58% found that the Biden administration is either more ethical (36%) or about the same (22%). In other words a majority of voters don’t think the Biden administration is less ethical than previous administrations

Fox News displayed a graphic with the results during last week’s “Big Saturday Show.” Host Nicole Saphier read the results accurately. But someone gave the video the title, “Majority of voters think Biden admin is 'less ethical' compared to previous ones: Fox News poll.”

Whoever posted the same video to YouTube was either smarter or more focused on the Fox propaganda. There, the video was titled, “GOP lays out 'roadmap' to investigate Hunter Biden: Duffy.”

You can watch the YouTube version below, from the November 19, 2022 The Big Saturday Show.

(H/T reader Andrew S.)

Seahorses have one of the coolest origin stories of all life on Earth

One of the ocean's worst swimmers has managed to adventure across the world.

Heather Wake
11.28.22

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

How did seahorses spread across the globe if they can't swim well?

We all know that seahorses are some of the most unique and fascinating creatures that Mother Nature has to offer.

For one thing, they’re gorgeous. Who has ever looked at a seahorse, with all its vivid colors and delicate, otherworldly shapes and gone, meh? No one, I tell you.

Plus they’re basically the mascot for cool, supportive dads everywhere. Not every creature in the animal kingdom can say that.

Yet, for as much as we know about the seahorse, there are even more thrilling stories swimming around—particularly when it comes to how it got here in the first place.

A video published by PBS Eons explains that today, seahorses are found in all of the world's oceans. And yet, they are pretty terrible swimmers. So how on Earth could they have traveled such far distances to spread across the globe?

As it turns out, the answer is possibly hiding even further below the surface.

Throughout at least the last 55 million years, the ocean floor around southeast Asia has been whirling with tectonic plate activity, with the most important shift happening at the end of the Cenozoic era.

As deep channels between continents became more shallow and surfaces were thrust upward toward the sun, more aquatic plant life was able to grow and expand. Experts think that meadows of seagrass in particular helped ancient seahorses travel away from the waters of the Indonesian region (where they likely originated) and across the world. Yep, just like land horses, seahorses wildly gallop into unknown terrain. Actually, they prefer to simply hold onto traveling seaweed and raft into unknown terrain. Still majestic though.

You can watch the full video here:

How Plate Tectonics Gave Us Seahorses

The surge in seagrass might have even caused seahorses to trade in the long, horizontal shape of most traditional fish for their signature upright posture. As the video explains, the grass beds might have supported their ambush hunting technique, allowing them to obtain a longer reach and blend in with the grass blades before striking. Ambush hunting seems OK for a seahorse, but kind of terrifying if you think of land horses doing the same thing. Thank goodness the latter are herbivores.


PBS Eons is a virtual treasure trove of lesser known evolutionary stories. Its YouTube channel covers everything from the domestication history of cats to why we have 10 toes. If you’re looking to go down the coolest educational rabbit hole ever, you can check out its videos here.

The Making of Incels

“These guys didn’t become desirable because only women admire social status and wealth. It’s also men that make those things so important.”

November 28, 2022 by RileyA 


I’ve come across a few incels in real life. Previously I wrote about Themcels, because I really don’t think it’s as gendered as people make out.

But here, I’m going to talk about incels. The cis males who are involuntarily celibate and have formed an ideology about why that might be.

In the Beginning

I’ve known a few incels in my time. Most I’ve known of before we even had a word for it. “Nerds”, or “geeks” if they were smart. The others were just “Losers”. None of these were positive terms.

But at some point, it became clear that the nerdier, geekier guys were actually likely to be a pretty good catch in the grand scale of things. So just being brainy rather than brawny became sexy simply because those guys were ending up pretty powerful in some way.

They were making money, gaining social status, and of course, there was some guarantee that their lack of social skills and frequent experiences of bullying will make him more empathetic (and/or docile). A genuinely nice, successful guy who won’t stray far from home.


Artist Credit: Ben Griffith on Unsplash

So “nerds” and “geeks” became a valid dating choice as it became “hot” to be bookish. But only because these guys started to won the game of capitalism in ways that gave them social power and clout. It gave them something that people wanted.

That’s often why these guys would start to be rewarded with sexual and romantic interest later in life. Their peers needed time to truly appreciate their accolades as they earned them. It’s only when they’re at the top of their field after 40 or 50, they become an aspirational figure to all. Men want to be them and women want to marry them.

To be perfectly clear here, these guys didn’t become desirable because only women admire social status and wealth. It’s also men that make those things so important.

If men respected each other regardless of their social and financial standing, then we wouldn’t have been instrumental in creating the standards so many of us struggle to fulfill. Those of us who can achieve those standards, wouldn’t be so frightened of not being able to sustain their success.

Incel vs Nerd/Geek


Artist Credit: MD Mahdi on Unsplash

As a “nerd” or a “geek”, you still have to have some traits which incels (and Themcels for that matter), lack. For one, you sort of have to be brilliant. You can’t be mediocre and expect to be socially desirable despite your nerd/geek status.

The other thing is that you need the ability to interact with people in a way that promotes attachment and bonding. “Nerds”, “geeks” and, of course, incels, are more likely to lack these skills. Some of that is due to conditions like Autism or ADHD. Some of it is environmental. Sometimes it’s a mixture of both.

The people who are able to overcome these odds and succeed by societal standards, despite being one of these guys, are now the only nerds and geeks. It’s a positive label. It shows you’re not a shallow guy. It shows you’re interesting. It showcases your earning potential.

Those who can’t overcome those odds are now “incels”, characterized by their inability to secure a mate. As much as people like to say it’s only incels that focus on their lack of sexual intimacy, the truth is that lack of sex is commonly used as an presumptive insult against men to emasculate them by everyone.

Society greatly values partnered people and therefore insinuating someone cannot get a partner implies they lack value. Other people find the incel’s lack of sex as pathetic as he does, despite their protests that it’s his personality they find repulsive. We are all conditioned to feel that way about single people.

Family Life


Artist Credit: Gabriel Tovar on Unsplash

All the incels I’ve known have genuinely had unhealthy home lives. Sure, maybe from the outside it may appear like they come from a well-to-do middle-classed white family with two parents in a long term marriage. But people who know them know differently.

They know the father is emotionally if not physically abusive, or that the parents set unrealistic expectations for the children, or otherwise stunt their emotional development. They might be privy to the generational cycle of inequality and the resulting trauma which has led them to where they are now.

A lot of people rebuke when you speak about the mothers’ of incels. Often, the mother becomes the abuse victim of their incel son, in place of the partner they yearn for, but would have no idea how to love. I understand the urge to not focus on the mother. It’s part of incel ideology to blame women for all suffering.

However, most incels I know personally were raised by a single mother. And while incels may think I’m saying that makes it her fault, I’m actually pointing to the absence of a co-parent (usually the father, a cis man) as a reason why the emotional and developmental needs of the that child were not met. The deadbeat dad.

“Their father was never a positive or supportive presence for his children or co-parent”

His absence contributes to the mother’s likelihood of being poor, sick, stressed and abused. It says whether she will have access to the resources in time to steer her son away from Inceldom. They may have their own history of trauma from their younger lives. They may still be experiencing trauma now.

The ones who weren’t raised by single mothers may as well have been. Purely because their father was never a positive or supportive presence for his children or co-parent. So again, the incel was raised in an environment that was not conducive with healthy emotional or social development. It was their father’s presence, rather than absence, that damaged them.


Artist Credit: Jack Sharp on Unsplash

The incels Ive known have had a fairly stable upbringing, in that, nothing sudden and traumatic impacted their lives, in addition to their crappy homelife. They had at least one parent they could rely on for food, shelter and basic safety.

Not all incels are that lucky. Their ability to trust others has been damaged by the people that were meant to care for them. They’ve experienced systemic discrimination. Consequently, they’re even less able to engage with interventions designed to overcome their barriers than the average guy.

Something like trusting a therapist enough to meaningfully engage is an almost impossible feat. Throwing it out there to the incels I know would be futile. It’s essentially goading them about their inability to help themselves. That sits wrong with me.

We don’t approve of mocking people who are compelled to harm themselves, unless they are men and are unable to secure relationships.

The Partnered Incel

One of my friends says that in her country, the incels are married men. It’s never totally clear what she means about anything, but I think she is referring to how culture dictates whether the incel actually gets access to a relationship (read: sex) or not.

Marriage, or at least long term partnership, is a cultural norm where she is from. Thus more of the incels, if not most of them, are indeed partnered.

We don’t have this norm all over the West any more. In small pockets, yes — it’s still normal to settle down with your childhood sweetheart, even outside of religious obligation. So like in her country, the incels in these pockets are often partnered.

They’re incels because still hold the same ideology, just without the yearning for sex. We call them Red Pill Types, MRAs, and sometimes just “local men”. That’s what they are in some places: the majority of men in that area. Usually because one of those factors that create such men is prevalent in that region. Poverty is a common culprit.

Divorce will make them the same as their single incel peers.

Are You Excusing Incels?

No, I just think we should extend our empathy and understanding to everyone. That doesn’t mean condoning harm, but I can see what leads to other groups of people into harmful behavior. I empathize with their plight.

We have compassion for those people, even when we condemn their actions. We show some understanding, on the progressive Left, at least, of why they feel marginalized. We see that their (often extreme) deviance is motivated by survival and fear.

We’re trying to stop seeing them as “thugs”, “criminals” or “vagrants”. We try and see them as people suffering the perils of poverty, racism, ableism and other forms of discrimination. We understand how aspects of their identity leave them vulnerable to exploitation.

It doesn’t mean we allow them to shirk accountability for the harm they cause, but we don’t pretend that their actions occured in a vacuum. Sometimes it feels like men are expected to be more resilient to abuse, mental illness, trauma and exploitation than anyone else. We need to remember that little boys, even little white boys, aren’t more powerful than the adults around them.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

Editorial: Congress can help struggling families by reviving the expanded child tax credit


Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), flanked by 

fellow Democratic senators, speaks during a news conference on the child tax credit 

on July 15, 2021.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

BY THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

NOV. 28, 2022 

For a brief, six-month period last year, something life-changing happened for tens of millions of American families: They started receiving automatic monthly payments of as much as $300 per child to use for whatever they needed.

But Congress allowed the payments to expire in January, ending an expanded child tax credit that slashed child poverty and could have been a source of financial stability as inflation makes almost everything more expensive.

Lawmakers now have the opportunity to correct that mistake, by acting during Congress’ lame-duck session to revive this pro-family policy.

The effects of these benefits, which began in July 2021, were swift and dramatic. The child poverty rate fell nearly in half, from 9.7% in 2020 to 5.2% in 2021, and food insecurity plummeted, as families used the money to cover essentials such as groceries, rent, utility bills and child care.


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But those gains faded quickly once the payments ended and families felt the hit of financial hardship almost immediately. There were 3.7 million more children in poverty in January 2022 than in December 2021. By February, more households with children reported having difficulty covering their expenses. By July, food insecurity had jumped back up too.

Democrats in Congress are pushing to include the enhanced child tax credit in an end-of-the-year package of legislation, and it’s important that they act now, before the GOP takes control of the House. When the child tax credit was expanded in 2021, it was part of the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill that passed without a single Republican vote.

Keeping families with children out of poverty should not be a partisan issue. Republicans have supported expanding the child tax credit in the past, and some, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), have proposed their own plans for monthly payments. The idea should be even easier to sell now because it is no longer theoretical. It’s a proven policy that made life better for more than 60 million children, if only for a few months.


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Democratic lawmakers have proposed pairing the enhanced child tax credit with a corporate tax break that would undo a provision of the 2017 tax law signed by President Trump restricting the use of credits for research and development expenses that has been a focus of complaints from business leaders. One group of Democrats opposes the inclusion of any corporate tax breaks unless the child tax credit is reinstated. This is a righteous demand, and it should be at the top of both parties’ agenda for the lame-duck session.

It’s likely that any bipartisan deal that emerges will include changes to restrict eligibility to target mostly low-income families or add a work requirement. But there is value in keeping the credit as expansive as possible, as a near-universal benefit to families with children. Children shouldn’t be the victims of their families’ financial circumstances that can change overnight with the loss of a job, housing, a caregiver, or any number of other reasons.

There may also be debate over how to offset the roughly $100-billion annual cost of expanding the child tax credit. But it should be stressed that investing in our children pays dividends, generating about eight times as much in benefits to society, through improved health, increased future earnings and reduced reliance on other government benefits such as food stamps.

Predictable monthly payments are so powerful because they leave it to families to decide how the money would best be spent. Families know best and Congress should empower them to make those decisions once again.