Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

A Few More Gulls?

Immature Herring.
Great Black-backed Gull with female Red-breasted Merganser in the background.Great Black-backed is the largest gull species in the world. The Herring Gull is pretty good sized, too, and here one dominates the surround Ring-billed Gulls. Ring-billed are the most common gull species here.
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CVE (countering violent extremism) programs have tended to center on the usual suspects, but the majority of terrorists acts committed in the U.S. today are by white supremacists. At best, these forces have been treated with kid gloves by security forces, both local and federal. Indeed, white supremacists actively work with and within domestic police forces. At worst, white supremacists have been actively encouraged by Trump, and played a big role in the attempted Republican putsch of January 6th.

It’s time to turn the CVE focus on to this deadly threat to democracy. Here are six lessons of CVE to think about, from two professionals in the field.

mthew

3 responses to “A Few More Gulls?”

  1. Joan Martorano

    Thank you for bringing CVE to my attention.

    Reply
  2. Pamela P Anderson

    I’ve never been more concerned about foreign terrorism than domestic terrorism committed by the kind of white, church-going, flag-waving, scary AF who surround me here in rural TN. For years, I’ve predicted out-of-control Dominionists/Christian nationalists bringing chaos to our society, but I never expected it to look like what we’re dealing with.

    My nieces (12 and 8) got owl pellets for Christmas – it’s what they wanted. I sent my sis a link to your most recent blog post. They’ll get a kick out of it. Your blog is wonderful. It’s one of the few I read with any regularity.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      I’m so glad you find inspiration in the blog, and hope your kin find things of interest here, too.

      Having neighbors, in the same building no less, whose politics and actions are quite dangerous, I feel for your situation. The red-blue schemata elides an awful lot of purple across the nation.

      On a more optimistic note, I still remember the gigantic beefsteak tomatoes I ate while visiting my grandmother in Camden, TN, as a kid.

      Reply

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