Okay ... it's apparently official ... I'm a pariah.

It must come naturally, because this time I've been kicked off an adoption-related Yahoo group without even breaking a sweat.

Really.

I'd actually just joined this bunch called "Adoption Agency Research Group" because it seemed a good place from which to keep a finger on the pulse of a part of the adoption world I don't hear much about otherwise, and had been accepted ... conditional on me not taking what I read there and using it for blog fodder -- fair enough.

I'd been lurking for maybe a week, when Jessica DelBalzo's anti-adoption tirade in a handy money-making paperback format was brought up as a topic.... more

Here we go again ...

Or not.

It's the is she or isn't she tempest in a Quanlong teapot, the cash cow that is the media mania of yet another possible adoption by the mom everyone loves to hate, Madonna.

Yes, rumor is rife that a little girl named "Mercy" ... and boy won't that come in handy as the frenzy hits the fan? ... should be coming home in April.

At least at this point the reports are mentioning that legalities are being adhered to, and a time frame of eighteen... more

Before getting to anything else in today's world o' news I'm posting this link to a BBC piece on booby-trapped links hackers are placing in fake entries on Blogger sites.

Apparently the gang out to make life miserable for millions has already managed to hijack hundreds of thousands of PCs by infecting them through booby-trapped fake links to what look like greeting card sites, YouTube links, and European storm-watch sites.

So, if you have a blog on Blogger, watch out!

My ... more

I so totally loved this article that I had to pass it along.

Written in reaction to the recent recall of toys ... a very serious issue ... it puts a twist into the topic that cracked me up. The title, "Can't they recall a toy because parents hate it?" should give a clue as to why.

I'll admit that many of the toys she talks about might as well be from Marsmart for all I'd know of them ... Polly Pocket Pollywood Limo-Scene, for example, I have no clue about, although I will admit to a slightly queasy feeling over the name... more

The next sound you hear will be that of me tooting my own horn. It will be a short, subdued toot, but a toot nonetheless.

Reason for a tiny toot? This news item on adoption that quotes me.

When contacted by the Agence France-Press for information, my immediate inclination was to ask that any report on the present adoption climate be balanced, and I think including my comments may have added a bit to that.

If you're following the ... more

I wrote yesterday about steps being taken in Kentucky to improve the lot of children in foster care in the state, and added a suggestion for urging your state to follow suit.

Today, it's South Carolina in the spotlilght, as Gov. Mark Sanford appoints people to his Children in Foster Care and Adoption Services Task Force, a group he created to find ways to improve the foster care and adoption systems in the state.

If you're in South Carolina and want to get involved, write... more

In yesterday's news blog I wrote about the many cases in the US where children and families are let down by the agencies set up to serve them. Comments on the post talked about making noise and doing something to change the present mess many conclude is the only accurate assessment possible.

With great timing, I found this opinion piece just published in a Kentucky paper and couldn't be happier to be able to pass on not only a bit of news of progress, but... more

"Family Services", "Human Services", "Protective Services" ... whatever titles agencies may be tagged with ... many reports these days seem to indicate that when it comes to such the emphasis is not anywhere in the general vicinity of "service", and "family", "human" and "protective" are all a bit of a stretch, as well.

Like the well-publisized situation in the UK now where an adoption quota system is said to have inspired almost rampant removals of children from family homes, there appears in the good old USA to be widespread misuses of position and power on the one hand and... more

As always, there are hot-button topics in the adoption world getting a lot of attention, and a couple of them -- completely unrelated on the surface -- are overlapping a bit in a way I find interesting.

One, the case of the Stocklaufer family where the husband was deemed by a judge to be too fat to become father to an adopted child even though he and his wife had been specifically chosen by the mother and are biologically related.

Gary Stocklaufer yesterday underwent... more

Before I get to any other news, I'd like to ask that you take a minute to read Deb's blog from yesterday on the ribbon campaign starting up in support of the Socklaufer family.

Gary and Cynthia Stocklaufer have been denied the adoption of a relative's child ... a relative who chose them in her adoption plan ... because Gary is fat.

If you're interested in getting involved and wearing a baby blue ribbon to show your disapproval of such blatant prejudice, please do.

In a very interesting report a ... more