I am constantly amazed by the way politics moves through the arena of children's issues and needs, and the craft with which spin tweaks dire circumstances toward a shiny, smiley-face projection of the situation. Case in point, this report from Pakistan titled, "Government planning model orphanages across country."

Sources said the Social Welfare Ministry was planning to introduce model orphanages in almost... more

A quick one here, as I've just come across something I've not noticed before in stories about the change to China's adoption rules.

The Voice of America is reporting that new requirements that will limit adoptions to married couples of a certain age under a certain weight making above a certain amount of money and not depressed about anything may not be engraved in stone.

In fact, the closing paragraph suggests there may be room for negotiation.

The China Adoption Center says before the final version of the rules are set, it will consider any feedback from international adoption... more

The upcoming changes in adoption rules for China have me thinking even more than usual about the world's children, how those who have no one are dealt with, and what perceptions exist these days. Without doubt, 2006 was a year when massive amounts of media coverage about international adoption was churned out ad nauseam, but interestingly enough, the actual numbers of children adopted by Americans went down.

Who would have predicted that?

Some... more

I have no way of knowing how people come to my blog -- by bookmark, direct link or from the "what's new" portal of adoptionblogs.com. This site has expanded a lot recently with the addition of bloggers and new categories. There's so much info there now that I'm having a tough time keeping up, and just keeping track of where my own posts ... both here and on the Older Parent Blog ... sit in relation to other new posts... more

Continuing the week's news from Cambodia ... A 14-year-old Cambodian girl is about to undergo surgery in Hawaii that will allow her to walk for the first time.

Sythan Leam lives in Anglong Thor, a small village about 80 miles northwest of Phnom Penh in Kampong Thom province in Cambodia.

When she was 2 months old, she suffered severe burns on her left leg. There is no doctor or medical care in the village and, when her... more

I'm a day late on my Cambodian news update ... so sue me ... but better late than never.

I am so excited about today's first story! Titled "Rodin's lithe muses go home to Cambodia", it's one of those, 'about time' sort of things.

In July 1906, Auguste Rodin went to the palace of the president of France for a garden party featuring the dancers of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia.

Paris was abuzz. King Sisowath... more

I wrote the other day about adoption in Mongolia, and I often post about issues in China, so this headline,"China's adoption of Genghis Khan infuriates Mongolians" grabbed my attention, and I thought I'd pass along the story even if the use of the word adoption is not in the sense we normally use here. According to the... more

Continued from here, where I've been posting bits and pieces of news that have been cluttering my desktop ... Mel comes into it down the page a bit ...

From Lisa, a report from Guatemala about life there for many children.

Guatemala has the highest rate of malnourished children in the Western Hemisphere, even higher than... more

In an attempt to get my desktop tidy, all odds and ends sorted or tossed, and every bit bitten and each bob bobbed, today I'll share links to various stories of interest I've come across lately but have not yet written about. First, here's something on international adoption from a US Congressman who is an adopted father of two Korean-born kids.

The congressman flatly rejected claims of and concerns about abuse... more

Over on the Older Parent Blog, I've been writing about time passing too quickly and trying to come up with ways of slowing things down a bit. I know I'm not alone in feeling like the world is spinning far too fast, out of control even, and a story from the BBC confirms this.

New Year's Eve in Nantes, France saw hundreds of demonstrators marching against the calendar... more