A couple of stories in the news from Uganda ... one African country that has done relative wonders making inroads into AIDS prevention and stemming the tide of infection ... are worrying. This one illustrates very well where the ABC ... Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom use ... program touted by the US Government falls flat.

Big problems arise when the focus goes toward ABC when it comes to kids. In Uganda, 10% of AIDS patients are under... more

For the rest of this month ... the rest of this year ... on days that don't have me needing to rant, rave, pass on info or otherwise blog from the heart, I'll be posting holiday traditions from around the world and season's greetings in many languages. Taking a look at the way people not only celebrate their festive season, but also the roots of the traditions, can give a peek into the entire culture of a country. Although the methods of celebration can be as different as the comfort food that comes with, there is usually something very... more

Something to think about ...

An article out of Canada is claiming that there's enough pre-natal sex selection going on in that country these days to skew the demographics much like they skew in China and India. Although the initial reaction to such a report may include no little shock that this is happening in a progressive Western country, it's apparently the immigrant population perpetuating discriminatory practices learned in their former... more

Continued from the previous post ...

Half a century before the rest of the world started thinking in such terms, Dr. Korczak was declaring the "Rights of the Child". From the Janusz Korczak Communication Center, here is a partial list:

The child has the right to love. The child has the right to respect. The child... more

Although it's December, today is not for frantic festive prep. It's December 7th, so I write about remembering, and about honor.

A new exhibit opened yesterday at London's Jewish Museum. It honors Dr. Janusz Korczak, the man Betty Jean Lifton's recent book... more

Continued from the previous post ...

Doing this for very long ... ten months, let's say ... can result in a blogger getting the idea that they're the smartest person in any given room. After all, we postulate regularly (Can you take something for that?) in a huge forum, people read what we say and sometimes pat us on the back in the comments sections of our blogs. When it comes to our categories, we know our stuff ... enough. ... more

Those of us hired here as bloggers at the beginning of Adoptionblogs.Com have, as of today, been doing this for ten months. Some post more often than others, but I'll bet even those who get nowhere near the 43 per month per blog some of us aim for are seeing happenings in their world, and the bigger one, as blog fodder. It gets under your skin, this blogging thing, and after almost a year identities are bound to be tied to the work in one way or many. I have no idea what criteria was used when the 26 original bloggers were hired. I know there... more

Excuse me for asking, but what year is it over in the USA right now?

From this report from Colorado, it appears that some sort of time warp thing has sucked at least that part of the country back a few decades.

A homeowners' association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of... more

I'm ranting today.

Over on the Older Parent blog I ranted about book banning, and here I have yet another bee in my burkha. I began to feel the itch of annoyance when I came across this story out of Pakistan.

The National Assembly of Pakistan has passed the... more

I had email from a friend in California today that had attached something that made her very queasy.

This friend is not in any way associated with adoption, other than being my friend, of course, and has never asked anyone for any information about anything adoption related.

Nevertheless, this is what she found in her inbox:

From: "adopting": (email address) To: Subject: Adopting in Russia Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:51:13 +0300 X-Priority: 3

Our company, for a long time, gives qualitative... more