Author: Darin

CTC Releases Article on Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Beyond the Headlines

On May 10, the Pentagon will release a report detailing their investigation into the death of four U.S. soldiers who were killed in Niger. The incident happened in October 4, 2017 outside of Tongo Tongo, Niger. The four US solders, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, and Sgt. La David Johnson, were killed along with four Nigerien soldiers and an interpreter. This Tongo Tongo ambush was perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS), an organization supported by Nigeria-based Boko Haram.
The West Point Combating Terrorism Center today released a report on Boko Haram, which focused on the details about this organization. Check it out: https://ctc.usma.edu/boko-haram-beyond-headlines-analyses-africas-enduring-insurgency

Human attraction: What spinal curvature can tell us about potential mates

One of the subs I follow on Reddit had a link to a 2015 study in Evolution and Human Behavior on lumbar curvature. The study results suggested males found females attractive due to their spinal curvature, because it indicated a greater ability to bear children. That’s interesting, eh?

In the past several decades, a new field of research has developed in psychology: Evolutionary psychology. This field focuses on evaluating the evolutionary value of human behavior. For example, obsessive-compulsive hoarding behavior likely is because of our ancestors needing to save food/material for the winter months.

From an evolutionary psychology perspective, mating strategies are usually separated by short- and long-term goals. Long-term mating is generally done for the purposes of choosing a potential mate; whereas, short-term mating is likened to brief sexual encounters (Buss & Schmitt, 1993; Perilloux, Cloud, & Buss, 2012). Buss and Schmitt’s (1993) sexual strategies theory proposed females and males gain different benefits from the different types of mating (e.g., long- vs. short-term).

Instead of devolving into a discussion of mating strategies, I want to point out how this the 2015 study tracks with other research. Males engage in long-term mating strategies focused on reproduction (Strout, Fisher, Kruger, & Steeleworthy, 2010). A female who is more viable—more able to produce children—is considered better than one older. Specifically, Buss (1994) identified several key areas related to reproductive viability. In fact, researchers have found males find youth and fertility-linked traits (e.g., facial symmetry, hip-to-waist ratio, body mass index, etc.) as being desirable.

This also tracks with what we know about historical mating techniques. Our ancestral males typically utilized physical appearance as the primary facet, with social reputation and observable behavior as the two other facets to determine a female’s reproductive success. (Females, on the other hand, focused more on males who were able to protect and provide for them and their offspring.)

Overall, female and male long- and short-term mating strategies are different but follow along a similar focus, at least from the evolutionary perspective. This desire for reproduction often makes men more inclined to engage in multiple short-term mating rituals, contradicting females’ intent to just seek out potential longer-term mates.

So, the next time you think someone is attractive, it might be nice to parse out why that is? Face? Body? Or, some innate evolutionary drive.

Researching history: The secrets surrounding the new church being built in downtown Kansas City

A year ago, I was approached by a minister to conduct some research on a plot of land located between 16th and 17th street, and McGee and Grand Street, in Kansas City, Missouri. My church, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Downtown, had just broken ground on a new building. They were looking for information on the location–historical data–in order to find out neat, interesting details about this plot.

Accompanied by a fellow history-phile, I conducted research at the Kansas City Public Library’s Missouri Valley Room on this location. After hours of digging through archived documents, microfiche, and other sources, we put together a report of this information. Give it a read here.

The photo to the right is a picture of the current location at 1522 McGee.

The most interesting facts were things we didn’t find…what was the Kennedy House? What went on in the

 

 

 

 

Tweet this: Extremists continue utilizing social media

The Parkland, Florida, high school shooting yesterday once again underscores the continual need to prevent these incidents.  Prevention strategies tend to follow along the same path of hardening these soft targets: Metal detectors or increased/more visible security measures.  The main counterbalance to these strategies is, of course, money.

While news regarding this shooting continues to develop, sources are reporting the shooter had a significant online presence.  It appears there were escalating comments and posts.  Was it possible to have previously predicted this shooter’s violent activities?

The Tactical Decision Making Research Group believes it may indeed be possible.  Their research on Identifying Vulnerable Persons (IVP) provides a framework for this approach.  Originally developed for non-intelligence and non-law enforcement professionals to utilize, IVP lays out a outline for evaluating an individual’s social media footprint.

Scot A. Terban recently posted about violent extremist usage of social media.  His article focuses mostly on Daesh (ISIS) and other violent Islamic extremist individuals. The IVP also tends to focus on violent Islamic extremists. However, I would argue there is a need for this same scrutiny to be applied to sovereign citizens, white supremacists, and other domestic terror-based collectives.

Other thoughts?