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National Security & Foreign Policy

Issues ››› National Security & Foreign Policy
  • Birthers And Fringe Outlets Claim NSA Documents Back Up Trump’s Wiretap Lie

    ››› ››› ALEX KAPLAN

    In order to back President Donald Trump’s false allegation that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, fringe outlets and fake news purveyors -- along with some right-wing media -- are hyping a claim from Infowars’ Jerome Corsi and Alex Jones that supposedly reveals National Security Agency (NSA) documents that show Trump was spied on for years. Corsi and the “sources” he and Jones rely on have been major proponents of the debunked myth that Obama’s birth certificate is fake.

  • FBI Director Puts To Rest Two Weeks Of Fox Lies About Trump's False Wiretap Claim

    Since March 4, President Donald Trump and Fox News have been feeding each other evidence and defenses to back up Trump’s false claim that his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, ordered a “wiretap” at Trump Tower. Fox figures, including Andrew Napolitano, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly, have been backing up Trump’s claim, and Trump and White House press secretary Sean Spicer have in turn recycled their comments in their attempts to substantiate the original claim. On March 20, FBI Director James Comey debunked Trump’s original tweet accusing Obama of wiretapping, unequivocally stating, “I have no information that supports those tweets. … The Department [of Justice] has no information that supports those tweets.”

  • Donald Trump Jr. Liked Alex Jones Tweet Claiming That Obama Used British Intelligence To Spy On President Trump

    Blog ››› ››› ERIC HANANOKI

    Donald Trump Jr. liked a tweet by Alex Jones pushing the baseless claim that President Barack Obama “went outside" the chain of command "to spy on Trump" during the 2016 election with the help of the British government. The Trump administration was heavily criticized after White House press secretary Sean Spicer pushed the same conspiracy at a March 16 press conference.

    On March 15, Alex Jones tweeted:

    Jones’ tweet linked to a March 14 Infowars piece with the headline “Judge Napolitano: Obama Used British Intelligence To Spy On Trump.” The unbylined article highlighted an appearance Napolitano made on Fox & Friends during which he said that “three intelligence sources told him if Obama asked an American agency for a wiretap on Trump, there would be a record of that request, but by using British agency GCHQ Obama avoided leaving any ‘fingerprints.’”

    Trump Jr. subsequently liked Jones’ tweet:

    Alex Jones and Andrew Napolitano are 9/11 conspiracy theorists who are not credible.

    White House press secretary Sean Spicer created an international incident by citing Napolitano’s Fox News report during yesterday’s White House briefing. The British government has strongly denied the spying claims and Trump officials have reportedly attempted to "soothe British officials" over the claim.

    Trump Jr. has repeatedly promoted fringe conspiracy theories that originated with conservative media, including Infowars. He also has frequently tweeted out content from Alex Jones and Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson (@prisonplanet).

    Jones claimed in February that President Donald Trump and his sons watch his videos and show “every night.”

  • Sean Spicer Caused An International Incident By Citing Fox News To Defend Trump

    Blog ››› ››› MATT GERTZ

    The U.S. government has issued a formal apology to the United Kingdom after White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited a Fox News report to accuse a British intelligence service of spying on Trump Tower on behalf of then-President Barack Obama.

    The British newspaper The Telegraph reports that U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster “contacted Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the Prime Minister's National Security adviser, to apologise for the comments. Mr Spicer conveyed his apology through Sir Kim Darroch, Britain's US ambassador.”

    Over the past two weeks, Spicer has issued a series of increasingly frantic statements to support President Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theory that Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 presidential campaign. Yesterday, after the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees said that they have seen no evidence to support Trump’s claim, Spicer read aloud from a series of news articles that he falsely claimed supported Trump’s statement.

    Amid this litany, Spicer cited Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano’s anonymously sourced March 13 statement that Obama had relied on the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to obtain transcripts of “conversations involving President-elect Trump” with “no American fingerprints on this.”

    As I noted yesterday, in making the comments, Spicer imperiled our relations with our closest ally in order to buttress an obviously false Trump statement. Napolitano is a conspiracy theorist who has suggested the government may have been involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His claim about British intelligence appears to have originated with a report on the state-sponsored Russian news network RT, and a British security official denied the claim, telling Reuters it was "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd."

    Spicer’s decision to make the same allegation from the White House podium drew a furious response from GCHQ, as The Telegraph reported:

    In a break from its normal practice of refusing to comment on allegations about its activities, a spokesman for GCHQ said: "Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wiretapping' against the then president elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."

    The increased scrutiny of Fox News in the U.K. comes at an inopportune time for the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, and its CEO, Rupert Murdoch. 21st Century Fox is currently trying to take full control of the United Kingdom satellite broadcasting company Sky, which oversees Sky News. Yesterday, the British culture secretary, Karen Bradley, referred the $14.3 billion bid to British media regulator Ofcom, in part over concerns about whether the company is “whether Fox is committed to the required editorial standards, such as accuracy and impartial news coverage,” according to The Guardian.

    The White House’s open insult to the British government comes after conservatives spent years trumping up baseless claims that Obama was trying to undermine our relationship with the United Kingdom.

    Right-wing media figures for years decried the return to the U.K. of a bust of Winston Churchill that President George W. Bush had kept in the Oval Office when Obama took office, citing the move as evidence that Obama hated the British and had grievously insulted our strongest ally. When Trump had the bust returned to the Oval Office following his inauguration, conservative media outlets swooned.

    Less than two months later, the White House has had to apologize to the British government for baselessly accusing the country of spying on Trump.

    UPDATE: There is now an apparent dispute within the Trump administration over whether the White House actually apologized to the British. "US officials... disputed whether the Trump administration had gone as far as an apology," according to BuzzFeed. But earlier this morning, CNN's White House reporter said that White House sources had told him McMaster and Spicer had apologized.

    UPDATE 2: Asked about Spicer’s comments by a German reporter at today’s joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump said that he and Merkel had “something in common” --suggesting the Obama administration had spied on them both. Trump added: “And just to finish your question, we said nothing. All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn't make an opinion on it. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. And so you shouldn't be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox.”

    UPDATE 3: According to Fox News anchor Shep Smith, “Fox News cannot confirm judge Napolitano's commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way, full stop.”

  • Sean Spicer Cited A 9/11 Truther To Accuse The British Of Spying On Trump For Obama

    Blog ››› ››› MATT GERTZ

    White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano’s claim that the British intelligence service surveilled President Donald Trump on then-President Barack Obama’s behalf. Napolitano has promoted conspiracy theories about the 9/11 terror attacks and other events, and a British security official has denied the “absurd” claim, suggesting that Spicer is willing to imperil the “special relationship” with the United Kingdom to bail out the president.

    Over the past 24 hours, the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have said that they have seen no evidence to support Trump’s claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the presidential election. In an effort to defuse the situation during today’s press briefing, Spicer read aloud from a series of news articles that he falsely claimed supported Trump’s statement. This included Napolitano’s March 13 statement on Fox & Friends that, according to “three intelligence sources,” Obama relied on “GCHQ,” the “British spying agency,” to obtain transcripts of “conversations involving President-elect Trump” with “no American fingerprints on this.”

    Here is Spicer suggesting that our allies in the U.K. spied on the current president on behalf of his predecessor, based on Napolitano’s reporting:

    And here is Napolitano telling Alex Jones, the founder of the 9/11 Truth movement -- which claims the U.S. government carried out the 2001 terror attacks -- that it is "hard for me to believe that" World Trade Center Building 7 "came down by itself," and that "twenty years from now, people will look at 9/11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us":

    Napolitano has pushed a wide array of conspiracy theories over the years, including floating the possibility that Osama bin Laden was still alive and the government was “pulling a fast one to save Obama's lousy presidency."

    The suggestion that Obama asked British intelligence to surveil British intelligence appears to originate in part from conspiracy theorist and former CIA official Larry Johnson, who made the claim during an interview on state-sponsored Russian news network RT. The interview was widely circulated by hyperpartisan and conspiracy theory websites in the days before Napolitano’s appearance.

    A British security official denied the claim on March 14, telling Reuters it was "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd." But now it’s been promoted from the podium by the president’s spokesman.

    Spicer also cited commentary from Fox host Sean Hannity to support Trump’s claim. As he was speaking from the podium, Hannity was on his radio show suggesting that President Obama and U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson, who last night granted a temporary restraining order against Trump’s revised Muslim ban, may have been “best friends in Hawaii” and used drugs together.

  • Fox News Conspiracy Theory That Obama Asked British Intelligence To Wiretap Donald Trump Echoes RT Interview

    Spread By Infowars, Reddit, Breitbart, And Other Conspiracy Sites, The Wiretap Claim Goes Back To The Person Who Said There Was An Obama "Whitey" Tape

    ››› ››› BOBBY LEWIS

    Fox News’ senior judicial analyst, Judge Andrew Napolitano, claimed that former President Barack Obama asked a British intelligence agency to spy on President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign and the transition period and to provide the former president with transcripts of Trump's conversations. Napolitano’s claim can be traced in part back to an interview on the state-sponsored Russian network RT with a former CIA official who has accused John Kerry of war crimes, spread the 2008 rumor about a supposed recording of former first lady Michelle Obama “railing against ‘whitey,’” and now is floating "sedition" charges against former Obama officials.

  • New DHS Senior Adviser Pushed "Mosque Surveillance Program,” Claimed That Muslims "By-And-Large" Want To Subjugate Non-Muslims

    ››› ››› ERIC HANANOKI

    Former Florida radio host and Navy intelligence officer Frank Wuco has been serving as a senior White House adviser for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Wuco suggested in 2014 that banning visas from “Muslim nations” is “one of these sort of great ideas that can never happen”; warned that Muslims “by-and-large” will “subjugate and humiliate non-Muslim members” and enact Sharia law; and claimed that a "mosque surveillance” program is a key anti-terrorism tool.

  • Report: Trump Is Wrong, Media Disproportionately Overreport Terror Attacks By Muslims

    Media’s Unbalanced Coverage Of Terrorism Leaves Americans With “An Exaggerated Sense Of That Threat”

    Blog ››› ››› MEDIA MATTERS STAFF

    The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog published a report that found that news media give “drastically more coverage to attacks by Muslims, particularly foreign-born Muslims -- even though those are far less common” than terror attacks committed by non-Muslims. The finding debunks President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the media underreport terror attacks by Muslim perpetrators.

    On February 6, Trump baselessly claimed that terror attacks are “not even reported, and in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesn't even want to report it." The White House then released a list of “78 major terrorist attacks targeting the West that were executed or inspired by ISIS since September 2014.” The administration primarily listed attacks committed by Muslims, omitted any mention of right-wing terrorism, and included several attacks that were in fact reported extensively. Trump and White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway also both have referenced terror attacks allegedly committed by Muslims that actually never happened.

    Trump’s false claim is just one facet of his ongoing campaign to demonize and fearmonger about Muslims; he has also on several occasions stated his intent to ban Muslims from the United States. But in fact, Muslims (and others mistaken for Muslims) in the United States are often the target of violence from white supremacists, and their voices are underrepresented in the news media, both generally and also in discussions of issues that directly and disproportionately impact them.

    The authors of the report published in the Post on March 13 found that of the 89 terror attacks identified by the Global Terrorism Database between 2011 and 2015 in the U.S., 12.4 percent were committed by Muslims and 88 percent by non-Muslims, but that attacks by Muslims received 44 percent of news coverage about terror attacks. The disparity was even more extreme in cases where the attacker was a foreign-born Muslim. Even after they controlled for a “host of factors,” attacks by Muslims perpetrators received an average of 4 ½ times more coverage. “In other words,” the researchers wrote, “whether intentional or not, U.S. media outlets disproportionately emphasize the smaller number of terrorist attacks by Muslims — leading Americans to have an exaggerated sense of that threat.” From the March 13 report:

    Of the 89 attacks, 24 did not receive any media coverage from the sources we examined. The small proportion of attacks that were by Muslims — remember, only 12 percent — received 44 percent of the news coverage. In only 5 percent of all the terrorist attacks, the perpetrator was both Muslim and foreign-born — but those four attacks got 32 percent of all the media coverage.

    In real numbers, the average attack with a Muslim perpetrator is covered in 90.8 articles. Attacks with a Muslim, foreign-born perpetrator are covered in 192.8 articles on average. Compare this with other attacks, which received an average of 18.1 articles.

    But even controlling for [a host of factors], attacks by a Muslim perpetrator get, on average, about 4½ times more coverage. In other words, whether intentional or not, U.S. media outlets disproportionately emphasize the smaller number of terrorist attacks by Muslims — leading Americans to have an exaggerated sense of that threat.

    Our own research, and that of our colleagues, shows that people are more likely to consider an attack to be terrorism when the perpetrator is Muslim. That’s true, even though the chance of an American being killed by an foreign-born terrorist, measured over the past 40 years, is 1 in 3.6 million each year, as a recent Cato Institute report noted.

    But since the news media focus so disproportionately on attacks by Muslims, particularly foreign-born Muslims, it’s no wonder that so many Americans think that these groups make our country less secure.


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› Browsing Newsroom

Apparel, Accessories at Native Ads with 82pc Growth Year-Over-Year

As consumers tire of banner and pop-up advertisements, native advertising content has provided brands and publishers with less intrusive options to communicate their messages.

Undoubtedly one of the buzziest terms of 2015, native ads saw a 28 percent year-over-year increase in 2015, with nearly 4,000 brands, and a monthly median of 504 new brands, opting to place this type of content. With the Fair Trade Commission’s new guidelines for native ads, announced in December 2015, marketers must be attuned to how to properly present native content as to not mislead or provide false information to consumers.

“Consumer behavior has shifted over the years, leading many to ignore display advertising,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO/co-founder of MediaRadar. “Think banner blindness. This has driven advertisers to look for new ways to reach audiences.

“Native has been popular with advertisers, but with many users too,” he said. “Native advertising, done well, is valuable content. What The Atlantic, Forbes, Buzzfeed and The New York Times provide is often extremely high quality editorial, even though it’s sponsored by the advertiser.

“Brands benefit the most from native ads. Unlike display ads, native ads weave brands directly into the editorial narrative. This brings a brand closer to the audience than ever before. They’re no longer separated to the right navigation space.”

MediaRadar, a multimedia sales enablement platform, prepared a white paper titled “The Impact of the FTC’s Guidelines for Native Ads.” In its paper, MediaRadar offers FTC compliance tips and insights into categories that have nailed native content.

Native awareness
When the FTC’s updated guidelines go into effect, MediaRadar estimates that 70 percent of sites will need to modify their approach to native advertising. While publishers such as Forbes, The Atlantic and Buzzfeed are pegged as frontrunners in the space, the lack of standard native advertising style will present challenges for the industry.

MediaRadar uncovered nearly 40 different native advertising styles, some of which were clearly indicated and others that were difficult to tell if the content was organic or sponsored. It is the latter that the FTC wishes to protect consumers from, in fear of spreading false or misleading advertising.

As native advertising has developed, publishers have sought out innovative and avant-garde techniques to stay ahead of the curve, thus leaving room for consumers to be mislead by the same messaging.

Essentially, the FTC is asking publishers and brand partners to be more transparent with how native content in represented, making sure that if it’s “pay for play” it is shown clearly to consumers. In the thousands of examples MediaRadar reviewed, less than 5 percent of native ads included the word “ad.”

Others are presenting content in a way that aligns with the guidelines. The New York Times, for example, includes “This is a paid post” for its native ads and The Guardian swapped “Brought to you by” for “Paid content.”

Take for instance, French jewelry maison Cartier, who captured the adventurous spirit of its ideal male consumer through a paid post featured on The New York Times’ Web and mobile sites.

For its “Going the Distance” effort, Cartier worked with The New York Times’ commercial content operation T Brand Studio to develop a story that profiled the “active, adventurous” wearers of the Calibre de Cartier Carbon Diver timepiece (see story).

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When phrasing is broken down further, native advertising in 2015 was commonly labeled as sponsored, with 54 percent of publishers doing so. Twelve percent offered no label at all and the same percentage used the word “promoted.” Percentages under 10 opted for phrases such as “presented by,” “provided by,” “brought to you by,” “partner content” and other variations.

With only about 30 percent of sites being compliant with the FTC’s new guidelines, MediaRadar has compiled tips suggesting how to best adapt to the new protocol. The FTC’s guidelines are not meant to be disruptive, but are intended to safeguard the consumer experience.

Firstly, a disclosure is needed to inform consumers if content was paid for or influenced by advertisers. Secondly, the disclosure must use precise language such as “paid” or “sponsored” advertisement, with the word “promoted” being avoided.

Also, the advertiser’s logo must be visible in all native advertising and its placement matters as well to reinforce that it is indeed paid for content. Likewise, an author’s name should be present and the native ad must be clearly separated from editorial content published by staff.

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Ad buyers must also take into consideration if the promoted content unit features video or sound. These ads are more complex, often including a thumbnail preview and a full-size unit.

The FTC does not allow publishers to use “deceptive door openers” to drive clicks. Consumers should be well aware that content is promoted throughout the discovery and interaction phase, with the brand’s logo being visible long enough for the viewer to take notice.

To avoid misleading consumers, a disclosure is needed on both the thumbnail and full version of the ad. This is also true for pop-up advertising and audio ads.

Best in show
Native advertising has opened the door to interesting and dynamic opportunities for brands at a time when many ad units were seen as stagnant.

MediaRadar found that the apparel and accessories category has excelled at adapting native advertising techniques into their marketing efforts. Between the fourth quarter of 2014 and Q4 2015, the apparel and accessories category grew its number of native ads by 82 percent.

Other industry sectors are about 50 percent below apparel and accessories’ adoption rates. For instance, food, retail and travel hover around 33 percent and media and entertainment and technology fall to 19 and 14 percent, respectively.

“The apparel industry has been effective in part because their audiences tend to be younger,” Mr. Krizelman said. “Web sites such as Buzzfeed, which attract a younger audience, helped popularize native advertising from day one.

“There have been almost 400+ apparel, accessories, and beauty brands placing native ads on fashion Web sites in the past year,” he said.

U.S. beauty brand Estée Lauder, for example, relied on its brand ambassadors to bring consumers to its sponsored content.

Estée Lauder’s “Girls’ Night!” post on Vogue’s Web site contained three videos of Kendall Jenner and Joan Smalls, the faces of the brand, preparing for a night out. The enormous popularity of the pair and a sensible placement on Vogue will likely lead to increased awareness of and conversions for the beauty brand (see story).

“Estée Lauder was one of the earliest adopters of native advertising in the beauty market,” Mr. Krizelman said. “They were particularly successful because they were flexible.

“They tested dozens of implementations, revising and iterating their messaging and design quickly,” he said. “This was a good recipe for success.

“This willingness to test is essential, since there is so much learning still happening.”

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Why Virtual Reality will transform Travel.

Virtual Reality will transform travel marketing.

We’re on the brink of an incredible new application of technology. 2016 is the year of Virtual Reality .

Virtual Reality will allow anyone to experience what its like to travel and be immersed into an environment anywhere in the world, with such realism that it will blur the line between reality as we know it and the “virtual world”. It’s not until you place the VR headset over your eyes until you realise this is something truly special. You’re experiencing presence within an experience you’d never thought possible without physically being there.

From riding an Elephant through the Jungles of Vietnam while a local guide talks to you about the history of the land, to walking into the shade of the Eiffel Tower as the sun sets in Paris and even experiencing the soothing waves rolling in as you sit on the shore of a secluded beach, listening to the meditative sounds slowly relax you into feeling like you’re right there in South America.

The entire decision making process (or should I say paralysis) of choosing a destination to visit is set to change with VR. Swipe your hand across the headset or VR App, instantly transporting yourself to yet another beautiful scene of which you could select and book on the spot. Un-sure of which hotel room to stay in? Walk through each, compare the views and room offerings. Not sure between choosing the beaches of Portugal or Spain for your upcoming trip? Experience each in under 60 seconds and immediately know which you’d prefer. Economy or business? Check out an airlines business class right before booking to see if it’s worth the upgrade.

Qantas provides Business/First Class Passengers with a Samsung Gear VR allowing them to truly discover the travel possibilities of their destination… before arriving.

Virtual reality is so accessible to anyone who dares to experience something beyond their wildest imaginations. The $10–$20 flat pack Google Cardboard viewer works with most smartphones and is the most accessible VR headset worldwide. Buy it here. Samsung’s Gear VR headset (pictured above) is a step up, starting at $130 and available here.

Because it’s new, virtual reality can help a brand stand out from the crowd and engage it’s audience like never before.

We’re already seeing innovative utilisation of this technology, especially in marketing, with immersive story telling being a key focus. Tourism Australia’s is using VR and 360 as it’s core focus for the most recent 40 million dollar campaign, showcasing Australia’s immense beauty to the world.

If your travel company is considering taking the leap with a VR marketing strategy I’d highly suggest going for it. Virtual Reality is not without it’s drawbacks. There are many different considerations for a VR strategy including costs, video production , 3D audio , headset choices, distribution channels, market accessibility, consumer education … the list goes on.

But, the payoff of a well executed, stunningly immersive and engaging Virtual Reality strategy for your travel company is immense.

Stay ahead in 2016 and bring realisation to the potential of this amazing technology.


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When it comes to conservation success stories, immediately the National Wild Turkey Foundation pops into my head.  As a young kid growing up in central Minnesota we did not have a plentiful supply of wild turkey.  In fact, I can remember the first time my little brother and I ever saw turkey in the wild.  It was at my great grandfather’s house and they came into his yard.  We thought they were the coolest thing ever, and were mesmerized while watching the birds.  Now…fast-forward 20-years and we have an abundant supply of turkeys right in the backyard we grew up in.  I’ve even had the privilege to hunt with my parents on our property for turkey and will never forget the memories made each spring.

So how did turkeys suddenly re-appear in my neck of the woods and across the country?  One big reason, the National Wild Turkey Federation which was founded in 1973.  At that time there were about 1.5 million wild turkey across North America.  After decades of work, that number has it a historic high, boasting almost 7-million turkeys.  Not only are kids in Central Minnesota now growing up with wild turkeys in their backyard, but kids and people across the country!  The effort has been enhanced by tons of volunteers, professional staff and committed partners that have advanced their mission.  What is that mission? The NWTF is dedicated to the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.

Through all the efforts, the NWTF has facilitated the investment of $488 million in wildlife conservation and the preservation of North America’s hunting heritage.  They have improved more than 17 million acres of wildlife habitat and introduce 100,000 people to the outdoors each year.  Now those are some incredible stats!! Their annual convention in Nashville runs from February 17 through the 19th. The convention has many events for youth, families and those who love to watch world-champion callers call. If you have never attended, you need to put it on your list – it’s a fantastic event!

I’ve been a huge proponent of getting more kids and people involved in the outdoors through my TV show, Winchester Deadly Passion and in everything I do.  There’s nothing that makes me smile more than working with partners like Winchester and the NWTF who really go out of their way to make hunting a reality for so many people each year.  The NWTF success story has impacted not only my life, but so many others as well.  Now each year I get the luxury to go out my parent’s back door and hunt wild turkeys that are in plentiful supply thanks to the efforts of so many people, companies, and organizations. Matter of fact, Winchester has been a long-standing supporter and corporate-partner of NWTF.

This year what has my dad even more excited is the fact that Winchester came out with the Longbeard XR in a 20-gauge! For a couple years my dad has been watching me hunt with the Longbeard XR in a 12-gauge and seeing the staggering results.  After having neck surgery, my dad prefers a 20-gauge with less recoil when he heads out after our Minnesota gobblers.  Finally this spring both him and my mom will get to experience those same results of the Longbeard XR together with me in the field.


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3D InCites In Brief – November 5

Originally posted on the 3d InCites’ blog, by Francoise von Trapp

I spent the better part of this week steeped in the MEMS world at the MEMS Executive Congress in Scottsdale, which, by the way, is definitely THE EVENT for keeping up with what’s happening in the MEMS industry, and for meeting the movers and shakers. I saw alot of familiar faces, since many companies who work in the MEMS space also have a presence in 3D integration technologies. I suspect that as MEMS continue to mature and the focus turns to MEMS systems integration, there’s going to be alot more overlap and collaboration between the two industries, thus our expanded coverage into the MEMS marketplace.

To read more, visit 3D InCites

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Ageing, Technology

January 11, 2012

At work I encounter people who have little to no grasp of technology on a daily basis. This is to be expected. What’s interesting is which metaphors people know and which they don’t. Everyone knows “icon”, “button”, “menu” and so forth. “Start menu” has started to fade from their understanding, now that it doesn’t actually say “Start” on it. You learn not to say “window”; you say “box” about everything (it sounds slightly more reasonable in Swedish). I’ve even learned never to say “at the bottom right corner of your screen, by the clock”, since people can’t grasp the concept of a digital clock.

“Screen”, by the way, is the most baffling/infuriating metaphor of them all. People never, ever understand that the screen is not the active window. If you say “computer screen” the chances improve marginally. I just don’t get it. A screen is a big piece of hardware. How can you not know what it is?

Mac users are funny too. They never know that the menus for the currently active window are always at the top of their screen. They can hardly ever find files on their hard drive. They often don’t know what their file browser is called or that it exists and how to use it. After a few weeks of supporting people with Macs I already had more know-how than the rabid fanboys calling in.

Linux users were horrible at first but now it’s alright. They’re either powerusers or old people who either believe the hype with fervor but without knowledge, or old people whose grandchildren forced Linux upon them after getting tired of ridding their steam-powered Babbage engines of toolbars and malware.

What is the most curious though is the difference between young tech-illiterates and old ones. Even if the young ones have computer knowledge edging towards the negative, they can more often than not see what’s important on a web page; they can discern that buttons and links are where it’s at. Not so with old people. To them every web page is a jumble of colours and shapes. Nothing stands out to them. They have to read every single thing – but only if you’re talking to them.

It got me dreading my ageing. Will I be one of those people hopelessly out of touch with technology, grumbling that in my day, we used the internet and computers like normal people, not this new-fangled neuro-implant-copied-subset-personalities business you kids are using? (Yeah, I kind of forgot that sentence was originally a question too.)

This my fear of slipping in understanding is not shared by anyone at my work. They’re all very convinced that we will never turn out like that since we have grown up with technology. I’m not so sure. I keep coming back to something my father sometimes tells me (he’s a father; he repeats all his stories) that when he was young he had to help his grandmother make long-distance calls, in eerie analogue of how we help our elders now.

When we sit at the retirement home, having LAN parties instead of bridge nights, the orderlies will no doubt roll their eyes and without words say old people, eh? to each other.

It’s thoughts like these that have made me more afraid of ageing than anything before. Even though I understood on an intellectual plane that I would decrepit and die and my mind along with me, I never really knew it. The worst part is that I will probably become like the old people who infuriate me now; thinking I’m still “clear-minded” and “spry” and “alert”, while being gaga and confused. Nothing’s more horrible than thinking you’re sharp while people around you play along out of pity.

Since I’m too lazy to do anything about it, it’s just another scrap on the mounting heap of angst.

I’m a hoarder of sorts.

From → General

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Archiv:Security bei Kerzenschein: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

aus Metalab, dem offenen Zentrum für meta-disziplinäre Magier und technisch-kreative Enthusiasten.
Wechseln zu: Navigation, Suche
(Next Meeting)
Zeile 47: Zeile 47:
|width="25"| # ||width="280"| Date ||  Topic and Host(s)
|width="25"| # ||width="280"| Date ||  Topic and Host(s)
| #14 || [[Security_bei_Kerzenschein/SBC13_TBA|TBA]] || TBA
| #14 || [[Security_bei_Kerzenschein/SBC14_CISSP_CBK_Review_01|2013-02-05 Tue 19:00]] || TBA

Version vom 28. Dezember 2012, 16:05 Uhr

Security by Candlelight

Can I get there by Candlelight?
How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candlelight?
Aye, and back again.
If your feet are nimble and light
You'll get there by candlelight.
-- Nursery Rhyme
Security bei Kerzenschein

Security sometimes seems like a hard and long journey

But properly equipped it will be just like snapping with your fingers. I'm afraid we will not have a "Babylon Candle" to get us there but at least it will be much more fun to travel in a group and talk about the things and wonders we see along the road.

A Meeting Place for Security Enthusiasts at the Metalab in Vienna

  • Open for everyone, no special skills required. Just be curious, playful and interested.
  • Bring your own Ideas, not your own beer - we have plenty of beer/Club Mate in the fridge. We want your input and active participation (not to say your soul) - don't be shy :)
  • Security by Candlelight is not a workshop or a lecture type of event (although it appears to be sometimes) but a discussion and exchange about different aspects of security.
  • We want to cover hacking and defending systems, we want to talk about physical, network and application security. We want to discuss about social hacking and security awareness, we want to do things and try some cool hacks on our own.
  • Our goal is to meet two times a month at the Metalab Library in a relaxed setting with changing hosts and topics, with presentations, workshops or discussion rounds.

The "library" at the Metalab in Vienna: Map

Upcoming Meetings

# Date Topic and Host(s)
#14 2013-02-05 Tue 19:00 TBA

Next Meeting

# Date Topic and Host(s)
#13 2013-01-22 Tue 19:00 Revival of Security by Candlelight:
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)® Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)® Review. Based on a Creative Commons Training by Alfred Ouyang

Hosted by MiKa. Location: The Library. CISSP Portal

Past Meetings

# Date Topic and Host(s)
#12 2010-05-21 Fri 19:30 Security Mechanisms in IPv6: What's new, what' cool and what's annoying

Hosted by Lynx and MiKa and naxxatoe. This time not in the library, because the library is taken.

#11 2010-02-05 Fri 09.00 PM - 2010-02-07 Sun 08.30 PM SecBC Special: ShmooCon2010

Unser außertourlicher 3-Tages-Marathon anlässlich der ShmooCon in Washington D.C. - mit live stream!

#10 2010-01-14 Thu 19:45 c.t. Advanced Network Security

Hosted by Daniel Mende (ERNW Heidelberg)

#9 2009-08-07 Fr 19:30 Security by Candlelight at PlumberCon. Plumbercon is a security mini-con at the werkzeugH in the 5th district of Vienna.

Planned Topics: We would like to continue with our "Seven Layers of Insecurity" focusing on physical security, a topic which is often neglected when IT security is implemented.

#8 2009-07-23 Thu 19:30 We were able to schedule another "Security by Candlelight" before the the PlumberCon. This time we have the following topics: Security Management and Risk Management. Now that we know about our possible enemies we will go the next step and evaluate how security breaches can affect information systems and which steps are apropriate to "mitigate" (dt.: abschwächen, mildern) any risks. Doing too much is expensive, doing too little is dangerous - finding the right balance is an art (and a science).

Hosted again by: Lynx, Naxx and MiKa (as planned, changes possible).

#7 2009-07-01 Mi 19:30 Resurrection of Security by Candlelight: Meet, get to know each other and open discussion with Lynx, Naxx und MiKa.
We will present a little introduction to security based on our "Seven Layers of Insecurity" workshop, presented at the DeepSec 2007 Conference in Vienna and then hope to start to get a little interactive.
#6 2008-04-01 Tue 19:30 Self-Spreading_Linux_Malware
#5 2007-08-16 Thu 19:30
  • Dan Kaminsky (Black Ops 2007 - Billions Of Packets Can't Be Wrong),
  • Bre Pettis (Dangerous hacks from Make magazine)
#4 2007-05-07 Mon 19:30 Consti: Vienna City Terminals
#3 2007-04-16 Mon 19:30
#2 2007-04-02 Mon 19:30 Philip: tcpdump for beginners ;)
#1 2007-03-19 Mon 19:30

Norman Bates' Mother: No! I tell you no! I won't have you bringing some young girl in for supper!
By candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap, erotic fashion of young men with cheap, erotic minds!
Norman: Mother, please...!
Mother: And then what? After supper? Music? Whispers?
-- Psycho (1960 film)

And What's after Security by Candlelight?
After SBC is before SBC


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CCMA to mediate Amplats and union retrenchment discussions

Anglo American Platinum mine strikers. (Gallo)

Anglo American Platinum mine strikers. (Gallo)

"The request comes in the wake of a decision by Amplats to give employees notice that it is contemplating retrenchments and would like to consult over this matter," the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Amplats said it was planning a restructuring which could lead to the retrenchment of 14 000 workers at its operations. About 13 000 of them were from Rustenburg, in North West.

The CCMA said consulting parties had agreed to postpone the retrenchment process for 60 days to enable them to engage with the mineral resources department "with a view to finding appropriate solutions".

Trade union Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) pushed for the government to nationalise Amplats if it continues with the proposed retrenchments.

Three weeks ago, workers embarked on a strike and refused to go underground following the company's retrenchment announcement.

The announcement came after Harmony Gold said it was suspending operations at its Kusasalethu mine in Carletonville to review operations after several illegal strikes.

Amplats miners returned to work and abandoned their illegal strike, the company said. Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa described the situation at Harmony Gold as tense.

He said when workers returned to work on January 3, the gates were closed and they were told the mine was shut down until further notice.

Miners were denied access into the mine hostel and many slept outside the gates, he said.

Amcu took the matter to the High Court in Johannesburg, to obtain an urgent interdict granting access to the hostels. – Sapa

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The view out your eyes is ever-changing, but what about THAT which has viewed every second?? New MJ Awakening Blog

Imagine you were able to take a photograph every second of your life. From the moment you were born until right now. And we went to a park and laid out every photo in front of you as you continue to take pictures in real time, even now.

What we would see is every photo would be different in one way or another. BUT, will YOU, the ever present awareness that has been looking through the viewfinder upon the body’s birth and is still looking through it now as you read these words… has that one ever changed or not been there??

Michael Jeffreys

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Posts tagged ‘legacy giving’

February 7, 2017

Get a FREE Book for Nonprofits by a Noted Researcher

Do you like getting something for free? I do, especially when it can help me be more successful.

Now, thanks to Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP, the Texas Tech University professor and philanthropy researcher, you can download a free, 427 page book that will become an important reference source in your fundraising library.

Whether you call it planned giving, gift planning, legacy planning, philanthropic planning, charitable estate planning, charitable gift planning, or something else, the subject is complex. However, it does not have to be overwhelmingly confusing.

visual-planned-giving-2017-coverTo help you, James has put together the book Visual Planned Giving: Introduction to the Law & Taxation of Charitable Gift Planning, newly revised and updated for 2017. Designed for fundraisers and financial advisors seeking to expand their knowledge about charitable gift planning, this introductory book addresses all of the major topics in planned giving law and taxation.

The gift planning topics you’ll learn about include elements of a gift, documentation requirements, valuation rules, income limitations, bargain sales, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, life insurance, retirement assets, private foundations, and donor advised funds. Over 1,000 full-color illustrations and images will guide you through complex concepts in a visual and intuitive way. James makes planned giving accessible and pain-free for the busy professional.

read more »

October 28, 2016

Get a Free Halloween Treat for Fundraisers

If you’re like most fundraising professionals, you’re not optimally asking donors to include your nonprofit organization in their will.

You’re probably not driving as much traffic to your planned giving webpage as you could.

You’re also probably less successful at closing Charitable Gift Annuities than you could be.

The Lone Ranger and Silver.

I know. You decided to read this post to discover how you can get a free Halloween treat. Instead, you’re probably starting to feel tricked. But, fear not! Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP, the Texas Tech University professor and philanthropy researcher, along with the good folks at MarketSmart, are riding in to save the day.

Last summer, James conducted a webinar hosted by MarketSmart. During his presentation, James unveiled his latest, powerful research findings along with research insights from others. You can learn more about the webinar and get some great tips by clicking here.

Now, for your treat, MarketSmart has distilled James’ webinar into a free, 22-page e-book that will help you raise millions of dollars more. For example, here’s just one simple, yet valuable tip:

When you want to engage people in a conversation about Charitable Gift Annuities, what is the best way to describe this giving vehicle to make folks want to learn more?

James tested five phrases. Among the 2,550 respondents, he discovered the percentage interested in learning more:

read more »

July 28, 2016

Do You Know that “Planned Giving” is Bad for #Fundraising?

That’s right. “Planned Giving” is bad for nonprofit fundraising.

For years, I’ve been writing and talking about the problems with the term “Planned Giving.” Now, new research underscores what I’ve been advising: You should stop using the term!

Sometime ago, The Stelter Company conducted a survey that I cite in my book, Donor-Centered Planned Gift Marketing. Stelter found only 37 percent of Americans over the age of 30 have a familiarity with the term “Planned Giving.” We have no way of knowing what percentage of those claiming familiarity really, in fact, know what the term truly means.

Other terms have become increasingly popular as substitutes for “Planned Giving.” However, none has yet to gain sufficient traction to overtake the use of “Planned Giving.” Consider the results from simple Google searches I conducted for this post:

  • Planned Giving — 14.8 million results
  • Philanthropic Planning — 11.1 million results
  • Gift Planning — 5.7 million results
  • Legacy Giving — 2.1 million results

What we know is that the general public has little understanding of the term “Planned Giving” although it appears to be the best term we have. Unfortunately, popular does not mean effective.

William Shatner in The Grim Reaper by Tom Simpson via FlickrWhile “Planned Giving” is a reasonable, inside-the-development-office catch-all term to describe, well, planned giving, it’s not a particularly good marketing term. That’s according to the findings of philanthropy researcher Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP.

James conducted a study to answer this vitally important marketing question: “What is the best ‘front door’ phrase to make people want to read more Planned Giving information?”

Think of it this way: Will a “Planned Giving” button at your website encourage visitors to click through to learn more or is there a more effective term?

To be a successful term, James believes two objectives must be met:

  1. Individuals have to be interested in finding out more.
  2. Individuals have to expect to see Planned Giving information (i.e., no “bait and switch”).

To find the strongest marketing term, James asked people to imagine they were viewing the website of a charity representing a cause that is important in their lives. In addition to a “Donate Now” button, the following buttons appear on the website:

  • Gift Planning
  • Planned Giving
  • Giving Now & Later
  • Other Ways to Give
  • Other Ways to Give Smarter
  • Other Ways to Give Cheaper, Easier, and Smarter

James asked participants to rate their level of interest in clicking on the button to read the corresponding information. In a follow-up, James asked study participants what kind of information they would expect to see when clicking the buttons mentioned above.

The winning term is:

read more »

June 2, 2016

Avoid a Big Mistake: Stop Asking for Bequest Gifts!

Nonprofit organizations are making a big mistake. Many charities ask individuals to consider making a “Bequest Gift.” Of course, an even bigger mistake is not asking at all. However, there is a better way.

Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP, a leading philanthropy researcher based at Texas Tech University, reports that the latest research shows that asking Words that Work IIpeople to consider “Gifts in your will” generates far more interest. When asking prospects to consider a “Bequest Gift,” 18 percent responded, “I might be/am definitely interested.” By contrast, when prospects were asked to consider “Gifts in your will,” 28 percent expressed interest!

James will offer additional research-based insights in a FREE webinar, Words that Work II: The Phrases that Encourage Planned Giving, hosted by MarketSmart on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 2:00 PM EDT. Registration is required and space is limited so click here now.

During the webinar, you’ll get the following information:

  • How to describe bequest gifts and tax benefits in a way that will increase a person’s desire to learn more;
  • What elements of a charitable gift annuity advertisement make people want to get one;
  • What the latest data patterns say about trends in charitable estate planning;
  • The best “front door” phrase to get people to read about planned giving information;
  • Test results that showcase the responses to different charitable gift annuity advertising messages;
  • And much more of great interest and value!

In short, James’ webinar will provide you with powerful, practical insights that will help you enhance your planned giving results.

So, why is asking for a “Bequest Gift” less effective than asking for “Gifts in your will”?

read more »

April 29, 2016

How Can Nana Murphy Make You a Better #Fundraising Professional?

[Publisher’s Note: This post is part of a series kindly contributed by guest authors who attended the 2016 Association of Fundraising Professionals International Fundraising Conference. These posts share valuable insights from the Conference. This week, I thank Erica Waasdorp, President of A Direct Solution, for highlighting the seminar “From Ireland with Love: A Five-Year Case Study on Donor-Centric Fundraising for Retention, Revenue, and Results.”]

What does Nana Murphy have to do with great fundraising results?

Who is Nana Murphy?

Who is Nana Murphy?

So, who is Nana Murphy? Is she a successful fundraising professional? Is she a leading fundraising consultant? Is she a donor advisor? Is she a fundraising or nonprofit management professor? Is she a philanthropy researcher? Do you give up?

Nana Murphy is your typical donor.

You need to get to know your organization’s Nana Murphys. You need to understand why she supports your organization. You need to give her what she needs from your organization. In short, you need to be donor centered. But how?

The AFP International Fundraising Conference session “From Ireland with Love” not only stressed the need to be donor centric, the presenters shared dozens of practical tips to show you exactly how you can be more donor centered and, therefore, more successful.

The speakers know what they’re talking about; together, they increased the amount of money that one prominent Irish charity raised by 1100 percent in just five years!

Erica Waasdorp, President of A Direct Solution and author of Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant, attended the session and shares some of the tips she thinks you’ll find particularly valuable. At the end of the post, I provide links for you to download two free handouts from the session that are full of dozens of additional tips and real-world examples that you must checkout.

Here are the highlights Erica wants to share with you:

I attended “From Ireland with Love,” presented by Denisa Casement, CFRE, Head of Fundraising, Merchants Quay Ireland, Dublin;  Lisa Sargent, Lisa Sargent Communications, Safford Spring, CT; and Sandra Collette, S. Collette Design, Stafford Spring, CT.

Denisa is American, originally from Arizona, and she moved to Ireland in 2008. Boy, did she make an impact on this Irish homeless charity since then, taking the revenue from 250,000 Euros to 3 Million Euros just five years later.

For me, as a traditional “old school” direct-marketing fundraiser, this was a fabulous session!

It really honed in on those fundamentals we should all know and use in our fundraising every day. Especially now, where we all get so distracted by the next new electronic approach — the next new shiny thing as Tom Ahern calls it — let’s not forget that it’s not about us, it’s all about the donors.

So, the speakers presented a life size Nana Murphy, the typical average donor in your donor base. She still reads direct mail and writes checks. She needs reading glasses and she loves honesty, emotion and authenticity. So, the first thing you need to do when you think of how best to approach donors like her, is forgot about what you think and feel. Instead, consider Nana in everything you do, and you’ll be successful. I promise!

I don’t have space here to provide you with all of the tremendous practical tips and guidelines from the session (see the handout links at the end of this post), but here are 11 that stand out. If you follow these rules, you’ll absolutely be able to raise more money!

Know your metrics. So many fundraisers don’t know their own numbers: response rate, average gift, cost to raise a dollar, lifetime value, and retention rate, to name a few. Managing your fundraising program is considerably more difficult if you don’t know the key metrics.

Use the Casement Quotienttm. I love this. Denisa introduced the Quotient: Annual fundraising income divided by 52 weeks in a year divided by the number of hours in your work week. For example, in 2015, her fundraising team raised $1,627 per hour. So, if someone comes to you to ask you to do something, that’s not going to at least raise that amount of money, you probably shouldn’t be doing it! What a clever way to say no to the next “sit in a booth at a fair for a two day event and you’ll reach 100 people.” Consider finding some volunteers instead and divvy up the time. The Casement Quotienttm is a helpful tool when it comes to setting priorities.

Get rid of silos, both in how you organize your departments and your donors. It all works better if you and your colleagues know what’s going on. There’s no need to “hide” results or think that someone does not need to know about how your fundraising is doing. Remember, the objective is not for one person to do well; instead, the objective is for the organization to do well.

Mail enough! I still see so many organizations leave lots of money on the table. They simply do not ask for gifts often enough. As long as your next mailing generates more money than it costs, you can mail more. MQI mails four appeals a year and four newsletters. Absence does not make donors’ hearts grow fonder!

read more »

April 26, 2016

The World Loses a Passionate Advocate for #Philanthropy

The Philadelphia area has lost a passionate advocate for philanthropy.

R. Andrew Swinney, past President of The Philadelphia Foundation, passed away on Sunday, April 24. He had suffered with ALS for a year.

During his 16 years at the helm, the Foundation grew its asset base from $148 million to $370 million. In addition, the number of component charitable funds at the Foundation quadrupled.

R. Andrew Swinney

R. Andrew Swinney

As the head of a community foundation, Swinney was a strong advocate for collaboration. In 2014, he told

We need to have some form of collective approach — the rising of all boats…. We need the sectors to come together, and the community as a whole, to make a collective impact.”

In that spirit, Swinney and The Philadelphia Foundation worked closely with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Philadelphia Chapter and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Philadelphia. For example, when I was President of PPPGP, Swinney agreed to sponsor a special program involving mega-philanthropist H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest. We designed the program to promote legacy giving to both the philanthropic and nonprofit communities. It was one of our best-attended events.

I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Swinney. And I was honored when Swinney endorsed my book Donor-Centered Planned Gift Marketing:

Never has there been a better time to talk about planned giving. It is an effective tool for developing resources for an organization and it is a meaningful way to truly engage with one’s donors. This book provides a thorough roadmap for both the nonprofit that needs to start and the nonprofit that needs to expand their efforts in developing an effective, well-planned, and successful development effort using planned giving.”

While Swinney believed in the power of current giving, he also valued legacy giving because it allows donors to continue to do good long after they pass.

read more »

March 25, 2016

Do Not Overlook This Gift Opportunity

Many charities have been overlooking an increasingly important potential source of charitable contributions. Many donors have also overlooked this potential philanthropic opportunity.

It’s time to change all of that.

I’m talking about Beneficiary Designations.

While the use of Wills has declined sharply since 1998, individuals are increasingly using Beneficiary Designations to pass on assets to loved ones. Instead of a Will, individuals can use a simple Beneficiary Designation form to distribute assets from IRAs, 401ks, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, brokerage accounts, life insurance policies, and money remaining in Donor Advised Funds. In some jurisdictions, individuals can also use Beneficiary Designations to distribute property such as automobiles and real estate.

If someone does not have a Will, he cannot make a Charitable Bequest commitment. However, he can easily set up a Beneficiary Designation that directs some of his assets to a favorite charity. It’s important to note here that a Beneficiary Designation supersedes any designations made in a Will should a donor have both.

For donors, using a Beneficiary Designation can be easier and less expensive than making a Charitable Bequest commitment through a Will. Beneficiary Designations do not require a lawyer, a complicated estate planning process, or an executor. Donors can use Beneficiary Designations to take care of loved ones and/or their favorite charities. Donors can designate all or a portion of a given asset to specific beneficiaries. Beneficiary Designations also provide flexibility as individuals can easily change beneficiaries at any time.

I Spy by Flood G via FlickrTo acquire more gifts through Beneficiary Designations, nonprofit organizations need to be proactive about promoting this method of giving. As with any other planned gift vehicle, organizations need to educate prospective donors about the opportunity and how it works. Then, fundraising professionals actually need to ask for the gifts.

One way the ASPCA promoted Beneficiary Designation gifts was through an article on its website that you can read by clicking here.

The University of Florida has promoted Charitable Bequests and Beneficiary Designations using a two-page information sheet that explains the options. You can find it by clicking here.

read more »

November 24, 2015

What are Your Favorite LinkedIn Discussion Groups?

John Heywood, the 16th century English writer, once stated:

Many hands make light work.”

While Heywood might not have been the one to coin the phrase, he certainly helped preserve and popularize it. It’s a nice bit of common sense that we all need to be reminded of periodically.

For example, we can’t know everything. We can’t research an answer to every question by ourselves. We can’t read all of the professional publications to determine which items are of greatest importance or value.Spiral of Hands by lostintheredwoods via Flickr

That’s where LinkedIn Discussion Groups can help. By being part of a network of nonprofit managers and fundraising professionals, we can rely on the assistance of colleagues. In turn, we can also be of help.

Through LinkedIn, I’ve developed my professional relationships, broadened my professional network,  made new friends, accessed valuable information I never would have on my own, had some of my questions answered, and much more. I’ve engaged in provocative conversations. I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve been inspired.

While I belong to 45 professional LinkedIn Groups that are excellent, there are only some I engage with regularly. Here are just ten of my favorites:

[Note: You might need to be logged into your LinkedIn account for the above links to work. Even then, if you have any problems with the links, you can simply search on the Group names I’ve listed.]

Now, let me tell you about my absolute favorite Group.

Just days ago, I have created a new LinkedIn Discussion Group:

Blog Posts for Fundraising Pros & Nonprofit Managers

read more »

June 30, 2015

Free Webinar Will Help You Get Great Results

Fundraising can certainly be challenging. Have you ever wondered:

  • How can I raise more money at little or no extra cost?
  • Is my organization ready for a planned giving program?
  • What simple planned giving vehicles should I promote?
  • What is my organization’s Bequest giving potential?
  • Who are my best planned giving prospects?
  • Do I need to be an expert to do planned giving?
  • What motivates planned giving donors?
  • How should I ask for planned gifts?

If you’ve ever asked yourself any of those questions, then I have the perfect free webinar for you.

FreeI’m presenting “Planned Giving: It’s Easier than You Think!” During my free webinar, hosted by Wild Woman Fundraising, you’ll get answers to all of the above questions and more. In short, you’ll learn how to easily launch and grow a successful planned giving program.

For many nonprofit professionals, planned giving sounds complicated, with its CRUTs, CRATs, CLUTs, and CLATs. Admittedly, gift planning can indeed be incredibly complex. However, as this free webinar will demonstrate, it does not have to be. Furthermore, a planned giving program can be enormously worthwhile for virtually any organization, even those with little or no budget for it.

For valuable tips to help you grow your planned giving results, register for my free webinar today, “Planned Giving: It’s Easier than You Think!” [July 17, 2015, 3:00-4:00 PM (EDT)]. To register, CLICK HERE.

As a webinar participant, you will receive a number of bonus handouts including:

read more »

January 23, 2015

Breaking News: Big Planned Giving Myth Busted!

Many nonprofit professionals have long believed that those who make charitable bequest commitments will be less likely to make an annual fund gift. The fear, held by CEOs and CFOs in particular, is that legacy gift donors will feel they have already done their part and, therefore, will no longer be receptive to annual appeals.

Now, new evidence busts that planned giving myth once and for all!

As researcher Russell James, JD, PhD, CFP will explain in an upcoming  free webinar hosted by MarketSmart, not only will legacy donors continue to support their favorite charities on an annual basis, their support will actually increase once they have made their planned gift commitment, as indicated in the following graph:

Current Giving Before and After Adding Charitable Estate Beneficiary

Among those who have added a charitable beneficiary to their estate plan, the average annual charitable giving before making the estate gift commitment was $4,210. After making the estate gift commitment, the average annual charitable giving jumped to $7,381! On the graph, the label “Mixed” means we do not know how much of the giving was before or after the addition of the charitable estate plan given the timing of the survey.

While making a planned gift commitment does not necessarily cause one to increase his or her annual giving to charities, the longitudinal evidence now reveals that it most definitely does not cause donors to decrease their annual charitable support.

Recognizing that the average annual giving amounts for this group are quite large, James notes:

read more »

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Crazy Eyes Uzo Aduba

If you’re like us, you binge-watched the second season of “Orange is the New Black” on Netflix this past weekend. For 13 hours, we fell in and out of love with all the ladies at Litchfield Penitentiary — crying, laughing and discussing OMG moments with friends.

Without a doubt, one of the most entertaining and intriguing characters on the hit series is Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren, played by the beautiful and talented Uzo Aduba. Her talent on-screen is undeniable, but that’s not the only place where she shines. Since her character wears so minimal makeup on the show, Uzo says she likes to make bold statement every time she walks the red carpet.

MUST READ: Which ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Character Are You? [QUIZ]

“I like strong anything: strong choices, strong voices, strong makeup, strong looks, strong women,” she shares during an interview with Refinery 29. “I like strong plus a noun — that’s my thing. Red carpets are an opportunity to really dress up. It’s like being able to go to the prom all over again. I like the collaboration because there are so many different departments [collaborating], making the stuff. That is what theater is. That’s what Orange is.”

Unlike her character, Uzo says she’s a girly girl when it comes to makeup and colors. “I love Make Up For Ever. I love Illamasqua — their foundation. I love colors on the lip; I just started doing red. That is new to me. I love berries and juicy colors.”

Although she lets her hair down on the red carpet, the actress often wears her tresses in bantu knots just like Crazy Eyes. “I used to wear my hair in the bantu knots. I was doing a show right before ‘Orange,’ and I was wearing my hair like that and then I had the idea to wear it to the audition,” she shares. “I thought that since the show is set in prison anyway, the knots work, and I didn’t think anything of it. I used to wear them [in real life], but I had to stop wearing them because that attention as Suzanne made me want to stop.” Now, she says, “I take them out when we finish shooting.”

MUST READ: “Orange Is The New Black” Star Crazy Eyes Opens Up About New Season

And when it comes to beauty icons, the 32-year-old names a “Cosby Show” favorite and Queen Bey as her favorites. “Denise Huxtable [Lisa Bonet] is up there — she’s incredible,” Uzo gushes. “Naomi Campbell is up there, too. She is fierce. Beyoncé, of course. She is slaying it right now; she is slaying the kids. Unbelievable.”

Check out a few of our favorite Instagram looks from the actress below.

The Best Orange Lipstick (EVER) For Your Skin Tone

‘Orange Is The New Black’ Kicks Fan Anticipation Into High Gear With New Season 2 Trailer [VIDEO]

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…….and she’ll never walk down Lime Street any more

Oh, Maggie, Maggie May, they have taken her away
And she’ll never walk down Lime Street any more
Oh, she robbed those lime juice sailors, and the captains of the whalers,
That dirty robbing no-good Maggie May

After the brutal defenestration of Leadsom, which came after a Times reporter managed an interview to literally place words in her mouth which did not represent her actual attitude, we have been presented with the ‘Coup’, the very ‘Coronation’ which the new Prime Minister had stated that she did not want. Fair enough, according to the Party Rules, being the only one left in the race after Andrea stepped down, or was probably pushed after one of the acolytes stamped on the fingers which were clinging to the ledge; she was the one chosen of the Party; but is she the chosen by the Party.

There are some 150,000 Tory Party members who would have liked to hear what she had to say, and would liked to compare her statements with her opponent, before making their minds up on who should lead them: and I reckon that many of those Tory members are, like me, just a teensy-weensy bit miffed at the speed with which we were presented with a ‘fait accompli!

Maggie May might have been transported to Australia, but at least she had the opportunity to speak in her defence!

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second term.

im back ? maybe? but this is my first legitimate update for the start of the new term. i apologize for my lack of updates.. i really think the 52weeks and school drained me but its been a good month since i havent dont anything so here we go.

first of all i do want to say that i have a lot of photos shot but they are on film so it’ll be a while before i can scan since our schools $25k scanners are always being used… but i will try my best. but for right now.. all i can do is post photos of nature shot on medium format. hp5@400iso on rz67.

look forward to the coming weeks and dont stop believing in this nobody.

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Sir Derek Jacobi

  • by Robin Morgan
  • Narrated by Derek Jacobi
  • 0 hrs and 17 mins
  • Speech

Publisher's Summary

Sir Derek Jacobi, one of Britain's most distinguished performers on stage and screen. Primarily known for his work in the theatre, he's also made a number of films and perhaps is best known to television audiences for his iconic portrayal of the titular Roman emperor in I, Claudius. He joins Robin Morgan in the Audible Studios to discuss his illustrious career, including his work in audio on In Another Country and A Christmas Carol.

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  • Release Date: 12-14-2016
  • Publisher: Audible Studios


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The News from Lake Wobegon from A Prairie Home Companion, April 24, 2010

  • by Garrison Keillor
  • Narrated by Garrison Keillor
  • 0 hrs and 9 mins
  • Radio/TV Program

Publisher's Summary

"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown...." Garrison Keillor first did his monologue in 1974 to an audience of 20 in a St. Paul theater. Today, more than 2.2 million people tune in each week to hear the tall tales and sweet stories about the citizens of this small Minnesota town. It's a town where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average". Keillor's monologues capture the nuances of country life and of growing up American with eloquence and subtle humor.

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Book Details

  • Release Date: 04-24-2010
  • Publisher: The News from Lake Wobegon


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Christmas Wishes

  • by Katie Flynn
  • Narrated by Anne Dover
  • 12 hrs and 51 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook

Publisher's Summary

It is the autumn of 1945 and identical twins Joy and Gillian Lawrence are on their way home to Liverpool, having been evacuated to Devonshire five years earlier. Their mother has been killed in the blitz but the girls hope that with their beloved father’s help they will be able to manage. All goes well until there is a terrible accident and Joy loses her sight. At first she is bitter and resentful whilst Gillian is racked with guilt. However, as time passes Joy gains confidence, hopeful that her sight will return.
Then there is a chance meeting on a train and once more the girls lives are in turmoil…

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Book Details

  • Release Date: 12-21-2011
  • Publisher: Soundings


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• by E.J. Swift
  • Narrated by Daniel Weyman, Susannah Harker
  • 15 hrs and 18 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook

Publisher's Summary

Nobody leaves Osiris.
Adelaide Rechnov. Wealthy socialite and granddaughter of the Architect, she spends her time in pointless luxury, rebelling against her family in a series of jaded social extravagances and scandals until her twin brother disappears in mysterious circumstances.
Vikram Bai. He lives in the Western Quarter, home to the poor descendants of storm refugees and effectively quarantined from the wealthy elite. His people live with cold and starvation, but the coming brutal winter promises civil unrest, and a return to the riots of previous years. As tensions rise in the city, can Adelaide and Vikram bridge the divide at the heart of Osiris before conspiracies bring them to the edge of disaster?

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  • Release Date: 07-01-2013
  • Publisher: Random House Audiobooks


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The Last Amazon : John Grimes

  • by A. Bertram Chandler
  • Narrated by Aaron Abano
  • Series: John Grimes
  • 6 hrs and 15 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook

Publisher's Summary

John Grimes' career as a space pirate has ended, he faces his toughest assignment yet. He has been made governor of the anarchist's own planet. His first task is to stay alive with a whole world plotting his murder!

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Not 1, not 2, but 4 old flames together?

After getting booted as Planet Governor Grimes with a newly acquired Masters License leaves to meet his ship, Sister Sue. Guess where, back to Sparta where his old friend Bracacus is married to a power hungry woman. Adm Damien sent him there to team with Maggie Lazanby to straighten things out, but he also meets 3 other women that he's had flings with, Cheryl and Darlene, and Penella Prune. Between the 5 of them they get things straightened out.
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- Richard "rickoic"

Grimes does it Again!

Well written story with good narration. It should go with out saying Grimes winds up with the 2 Amazons...
Read full review

- Dennis

Book Details

  • Release Date: 08-23-2013
  • Publisher: Audible Studios


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ByPri Figueiredo, writer at
Watch, read, write. Repeat. Verified Creator. Tweet me: @prifigueiredobr
Pri Figueiredo

Jack o' lanterns, bobbing for apples, funky or terrifying costumes, trick-or-treating; all of these things conjure up the perfect image Halloween. Second only to Christmas, Halloween is one of the most celebrated festivals around the world. But, do you actually know what Halloween really means, or where the idea came from? With so many movies and TV shows focused on the supernatural side of Halloween, it's a wonder how little people know of the origins of the festival.

With Halloween fast approaching, you may even have a costume at the ready and party plans for the night of October 31st, but it seems appropriate to delve a little deeper into the myths and cultures that made this such a well-celebrated holiday.

The First Ever Halloween

Halloween — as the huge comercial success we all know today — is actually a combination of many elements from different cultures, of which the Irish-Celtic is a huge part. The Celts were a pagan people who lived in ancient Ireland and Scotland, and were keen on the celebration of nature in their festivals. They had four main yearly celebrations: Imbolc, for the spring; Beltrane, for the summer; Lughnasadh, for the autumn; and, Samhain, for the winter. This last one, the Samhain (read 'sah-win'), is where all things Halloween came to life.

Samhain Bonfire by Digimaree (DeviantArt)
Samhain Bonfire by Digimaree (DeviantArt)

The Samhain is a harvest festival, and it represents the end of the reaping for the year. It also stands as a preparation for the darker months ahead, when winter sets in, and it's celebrated from the sunset on October 31 to the evening of November 1. Samhain is the evening before the Christian holiday of All Hallows' Day, which makes it the 'All Hallows' Eve'. It was in Scotland that Samhain changed its name to Halloween, because the word eve was spelled even, and was largely abbreviated 'e'en', in old Scots. Many people still believe Halloween to be a pagan festival, but the truth is that in 6AD Pope Boniface IV de-paganized the holiday by unifying it with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, thus creating the Christian festival of Hallowmas.

What Did Halloween Really Mean?

Samhain is believed to be a time when the veil between the Otherworld and ours is lifted, allowing the spirits free access to roam around their loved ones. That alone would suffice to explain the whole supernatural aura that Halloween has carried through the ages, but in the Celtic Samhain there were even more supernatural rituals. Some have been adapted and are still in used today; others weren't so popular with non-celts and died off.

The Craft (Columbia Pictures)
The Craft (Columbia Pictures)

The first and most important ritual during Samhain was the lighting of the village bonfire. All households within a community would douse their own hearths, so that they could relight it with a torch from the village's bonfire. That not only symbolized a new start (with the old fire dying out and new light coming into the house), but it also created a huge sense of community, as all the houses were linked by the same flame.

The Scottish and Irish Celts believed that the spirits of their loved ones roamed the Earth on Samhain night, but, unfortunately, those weren't the only spirits paying a visit that night. Fairies — called Aos Sí (pronounced 'ees shee') — were also free to cross into our world, and they demanded some sacrifices to be appeased. Irish mythology speaks of human and cattle sacrifice, but the offering of food and drinks — sometimes entire portions of crops — was much more common. The offerings were left outside their homes, so that the fairies could grant their protection to the household or village in the harsh winter to come.

Also called mumming or guising, it's the habit of dressing up as the 'souls of the dead' during Halloween. Over Samhain, people would wear masks, costumes or just simply put ash from a bonfire on their faces to knock door-to-door and offer prayers for the departed - in exchange for soul cakes. In Ireland, some dressed as a hobby horse — called Láir Bhán — with a white sheet over them and a decorative skull at hand. In Scotland, the mummers went as far s threatening mischief on the house that didn't welcome them with food offerings. Trick-or-treating only became a thing in America in the 1920s, but versions of the custom date back to the 16th century.

The Celts believed Samhain to be a great time to predict the future, hence why such a big part of their festival involved divination games. There would be stones cast around a fire and later torched to figure out who would live through the year; apples would be peeled off and their peels would indicate the first letter of the man a woman was to marry; nuts would be roasted and cast as a means to figure out how many children one would have; and even egg whites were dropped in water and letter patterns would be guessed.

wild_cat on Flickr
wild_cat on Flickr

For the people doing the guising and the mumming, it was important to carry a light source with them, for some believed it would help keep evil spirits at bay. Then, turnip and mangrel wurzels began to be carved and hollowed out and used as lanterns. They usually had scary or funny faces carved on them, as to help ward off any bad spirits. It was only in America that the turnip gave way to the now traditional pumpkin jack o'lantern, and in 1866 it was used for the first time as a Halloween decoration.

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Halloween Is Not Alone

Although Halloween is a wide-spread phenomenon in its current form, it's not the only festival still lingering from ancient times around the globe. For example, the Hop-tu-naa festival, which takes place in Manx, has a very Halloween-esque feel to it — with guising, lanterns and divination taking a great part. In Wales, the Calan Gaeaf is a festival that takes place on the first of November, with the divination stones being its most characteristic feature. Even the Romans had a similar festival to pay homage to Pomona, the Goddess of harvest, back in their time.

Regardless of its origins, Halloween has become a pretty profitable holiday since it spread to North America with the Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 1800s. With costumes, candy, decorations and greeting cards, the Halloween industry amasses over seven billion dollars a year; a huge difference from the relatively quiet and community-oriented festival of Samhain in its heyday. And what's best, now you don't have to keep bad spirits away as you trick-or-treat around your neighborhood, so you can concentrate on perfecting that Cheeto costume - it worked for Katy Perry!

What will you be dressing as for Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

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Home Education; making them learn?

A few things have come up recently that leave me wondering about the narrow road we have to walk as home educators when it comes to the discipline in our home and the learning that goes on.

Both Charlotte Mason and Dr. Montessori had a gentle, but firm and consistent approach to discipline, that respected the child but recognised that human nature is fallen.  If education is going to lead a child out – it must offer  system for them to be able to “be out” and among other people. Respecting a child does not mean expecting them to have the same emotional and social maturity of an adult (of a properly formed adult). Part of the process of growing up and being educated is learning the virtues. Then in adulthood the skills in self discipline and self motivation should have been learned so that it won’t take someone else to push them all the time.

But there are fall off cliffs on either side of parenting. On the one side discipline can become bullying and aggressive and on the other side loving the child can become permissiveness and allowing them to do what they like and have what they want, which of course isn’t love.

I’ve spoken with more than one parent who believes that making a child do anything is bad for them. They should decide what they learn and when they learn it, they insist.

I just don’t see how that would work. It certainly wouldn’t work here. As things are now the children each have a learning box with most of their work books and stuff in there. Each learning day I set out the work first thing in the morning. Then the children come to do their work. They can do it in any order they like and take the time they need, but it must be all done. There is plenty of free time in and around the work, but no “privileges” until the day’s work is complete.

There are a number of aspects of the children’s learning that I am “in charge” of. Although we decide together, the children and I, what kind of learning we need to use, I choose and buy the stuff.

The children are part of a family. They can’t just do what they want when they want or have what they want when they want. Life isn’t like that. So, they learn to work and live within the confines of life. That’s not a bad thing really. Sometimes they have to do work they are not that interested in. Sometimes they find the work a bit of a struggle. But they do the work; they learn to ask for help when they need it and to be willing to stretch themselves a little to get to grips with something. (And stretch me a great deal at times!)

We learn together and there are times when they are well ahead of me in some areas.

I’ve decided, in light of how things are, and could be, that I need to plan ahead a bit with their work. This means I set out a minimum requirement for each learning day and try to plan it ahead. This should cover all, or most, eventualities. It does need to be flexible to cover stuff I haven’t thought of. But it also needs to be clear so that they can get on with whatever they need to do, regardless of what’s happening with me.

The knock-on effect is less spontaneity. But I think there’s still some space for that.  It’s a case of making things work for the children, no matter what life throws at us.

4 responses to “Home Education; making them learn?

  1. I, too, believe that children need to be led. They can be offered a certain amount of flexibility, but at the end of the day, they must still be accountable for their efforts (or lack of them on some days).

    I think the word is consistency – in training as well as in learning. As life happens as a lion sometimes, we can easily tend to divert from our plans. This can cause more harm then good at times. But as you note, we must try and do a bit of planning ahead so that we do not lose sight of the big picture while still allowing the children to progress regardless of what life is presently throwing our way.

    I am really consider using your learning box idea. I think that would streamline things a bit and give more independence – plus it would cut down the clutter!! 🙂

  2. I completely agree with you. I don’t see how it’s even possible to never make your child do something they don’t want to . . . seriously? so if they don’t want to buckle their seatbelt? or sit in a car seat? or do math – ever? lol. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve made one of my kids do something they didn’t want to . . . Sounds like you’re doing a wonderful job. Blessings 🙂

  3. Love this! I still remember this one parenting expert who was a guest on one of my favorite blogs who said that praising a child AT ALL is a form of “manipulation” and that if we wouldn’t want to be manipulated as adults, then to do so to our children would be just as degrading. She used the example of stickers for potty training. To put it gently – I don’t exactly subscribe to that theory, lol.

    I am very into child-led education. That said, I have a 12yo and though she is far from perfectly responsible 100% of the time, she is living proof to me that insisting on things my younger kids try every trick in the book to get out of, pays off. My view of child-led education is, for instance, setting them loose with craft supplies and not telling them what to make – just letting them do what they will. If my view of child-led education meant only letting them learn what they wanted to when they felt like it, my oldest daughter would literally never get off of facebook. 😛

    • I think “experts” often go off the deep end and seem to bypass good ol’common sense along the way.
      I do the same as you with craft and art work. In fact I add it in with some of their other work so they can (and do) doodle a lot on their worksheet type work. I used to find that helped me in learning so I’ve encouraged it. I know many a school teacher would be horrified if she saw what my kids did!

      But as you say there’s a dfference between child-led and child-expressed education and just letting them do whatever they want whenever they want.

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Call 1.888.6.MAGNET 1.888.662.4638 or 718 846-8429

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Vitalizer™ being offered by Mundimex and Starfire Water

Starfire Water™ and Mundimex announce availability of Vitalizer™, a Magnetizer™-class water energizer which produces negative (North Pole) charged ions for a healthy alkalizing and oxidizing effect on drinking water.

Los Angeles, California, December 1, 2017 – For the past six years, StarFire Water™ has been successfully utilizing the best-in-class magnetic monopolar water conditioning technology, called Magnetizer™, manufactured by Mundimex.

According to Jeff Carrillo, one of StarFire’s executives: “Magnetizer has played an important role in improving the taste of our water.” Mr. Carrillo has recently implemented a plant expansion program using custom made Magnetizer™ systems to restructure the company’s water and produce negative (North Pole) charge ions, which have a healthy alkalizing and oxidizing effect on drinking water.

Roy Davies, the founder of modern bio-magnetic science, has recommended the use of North Pole magnetized water. “Only water that has been exposed to the North Pole energy should be used for human or animal consumption,” urges Davies. Peter A. Kulish, the inventor of Magnetizer™ and internationally acclaimed father of contemporary biomagnetism, studied with Davies, and explains: “North Pole treatment increases hydrogen ion availability which is important for proper cellular functioning. This increase in cellular transfer efficiency results in greater oxygen/nutrition intake and allows the body to better detoxify.”

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Keep spreading the word for this GLORIOUS technology!!!!.”

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text:
 Repatriation of Iningai remains: Museums Victoria

Repatriation of Iningai remains

27 November, 2009

Brett Ahmat
Brett Ahmat, Repatriation Program Manager, at his desk in the Indigenous Cultures department.
Source: Museum Victoria

Repatriation Program Manager, Brett Ahmat, travelled to Central West Queensland in October 2009 with some very precious cargo.

He accompanied the remains of two Iningai elders – a woman aged about 50 and a man aged 60-70 – from Museum Victoria to a resting place in their home country of Longreach. The Iningai were one of fourteen groups of people, each with their own distinct language, that traditionally inhabited this region.

The ceremony on 17 October 2009 coincided with a Landcare Conference hosted by Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ). This community-based group works with all those concerned with the future of the Lake Eyre Basin region, including residents, farmers, industry, government and Indigenous groups. DCQ helped Iningai custodians construct the Iningai Keeping Place in 2007 to house the remains of 5 repatriated Iningai people.

The repatriation ceremony began with a funeral procession to the Keeping Place. A large number of the wider Longreach community attended the ceremony, however only the Iningai Custodial Family were allowed to enter the Keeping Place, which they prepared to receive the remains with a smoking ceremony. It was the culmination of a repatriation request by Iningai Custodians David Thompson, and his father, David Thomson Senior.

In the past, objects and remains belonging to Indigenous people were collected by museums as curios and for anthropological study. These collections were often unauthorised and disrespectful of the significance of the material to its owners. The Return of Indigenous Cultural Property program (RICP), a commonwealth funded program of the Department of Environment, Water and the Arts, facilitates the return of this material from museum stores to the cultural groups from which it came. “Under Victorian legislation, we are identified as the repository for ancestral remains from other museums, universities and the coroner’s office,” Brett explained. He feels that returning the ancestral remains to the Indigenous people in Longreach was not just fulfilling the requirements of RICP, but it was meaningful and powerfully symbolic.

The museum’s efforts to identify and return Indigenous material are active and ongoing. This year, the Indigenous Cultures department began new consultations with Victorian Indigenous communities about material held in the collection. “It’s about building better relationships with traditional owner groups,” continued Brett. “Communities are always thinking about repatriation, and it’s becoming more of a reality.”

Video, audio and photographs of the repatriation ceremony are online at ABC Western Queenland.

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