With today being National Adoption Day, my inner antenna is even more sensitive than usual to signals from the larger world that broadcast a message about children, and today I'm picking up stories from places we don't often hear about. In Belize, for example, where more than 14,000 children are affected or infected by HIV/AIDS, a workshop is going on that hopes to coordinate the various social service organizations working with children there.

The... more

Continued from previous post ...

At the 7th Conference of the Asian Parliaments for Peace, the Iranian delegate "praised the restoration of peace and stability in Cambodia and hoped the country would achieve greater progress and development in the domestic and international arenas. " And while Iran is noticing Cambodia, Italy is ... more

The Japanese have offered more than US $1 million to help Cambodia manage a database for the National Authority of Land Dispute Resolution. A little more than half the money will go toward installing a system. The rest is for building an annex to the Ministry of Justice.

There are presently 1,577 land dispute cases in the works.

Okay ...

And the Angolan National Intersectorial Commission for De-mining and Humanitarian Assistance... more

Gay is not fond of children. She is SO not fond of children that she made a very early and surgical decision not to ever have any. Since that time, she's been completely blissful about her child-free status. For the greatest part, none of her close friends have had children, as being around them quite gives her the willies so she's tended to avoid people who come equipped. For the first eight years of our friendship, Mark and I were virtually kidless, as well ... aside from the years we had T, but he was not a baby ... and she was most pleased that was the case. ... more

The State Department released a statement yesterday on the Hague that says in part:

The United States is in the final stages of implementing new, federal-level standards and protections that greatly will benefit thousands of children from around the world in need of permanent families.

The implementation of these standards and the anticipated U.S. ratification of the Hague Convention... more

The Cricket's Song

Once upon a time, a little yellow cricket lived beneath a tree in a tiny village. Every day, just as the sun began to set, the cricket bounded to the wheat fields at the edge of the village, alighted on a stalk and rubbed his forelegs together, producing what sounded like a song.

The cricket sang different songs on different days. When a storm was brewing, the cricket chirped of the coming storm so that the women knew they ought... more

Continued from here ... Phnom Penh's Chief of Police is speaking out against pedophiles and swears he'll see Cambodia turn in to a "hell" for foreigns coming into the country to have sex with children.

Ten arrests have been made this... more

Continued from here ....

And it's also only part of the picture.

This long and detailed article looks at what may come with an offshore oil discovery in Cambodia.

Impoverished Cambodia is buzzing with excitement about a recent oil discovery by U.S. energy giant Chevron off the southwestern coast, with the government hoping to use oil... more

It's party time in Cambodia!

Water Festival started on Saturday, and was the usual roaring success. This year had some 24,000 racers in 409 boats competing in front of an estimated 1.5 million visitors. A personal report from my friend Shelley's balcony, directly above the river and with a bird's eye view of it all, had it that it was a wonderful, exciting time, and that the crowds were huge, but very pleasant. I SO want my family to be there... more

And to finish up on a more pleasant note ... If you're in or near New York City you may want to attend this event:

A fundraiser to support Phnom Penh's Palm Tree Orphanage will be held in New York City on Tues November 7 at the Rubin Museum from 6-7:45 pm. An invitation can be found here.

Six children from Palm Tree Orphanage... more