I am going through and deleting my email gmail account. I can't figure out how to change the email address in this blog, as it forced me to associate my gmail with my blog. If anyone knows how to do it... please leave a message.
If I don't figure out how to do it soon... I'm switching over to:
Heather At Wordpress
Edit: Actually, I am finding that I really like wordpress better, and so I am going to be using it primarily. Join me over there!
:)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Freedom
When they have taken everything from us,
And we look around and realize
We have nothing left to lose.
We no longer fear the consequences
Of holding people accountable.
What more, after all, can they do?
This is freedom.
Without fear,
Without chains,
Without guilt.
They break us, They abuse us,
They create systems to destroy our families,
To miseducate us,
To imprison us when we try to fight back.
They try to take our souls.
But They can not.
We are too strong for Them.
So I help, I sacrifice,
materials, time, my self,
For the good of humanity.
For the good of family preservation,
For peace and justice.
And They sit back,
And They watch.
Wondering what I will write next.
Wondering what I will do next.
Wondering when They will be given orders,
To try to break me again.
And how.
And They get cold shivers
Down their back,
As They realize,
I am writing about Them.
And we look around and realize
We have nothing left to lose.
We no longer fear the consequences
Of holding people accountable.
What more, after all, can they do?
This is freedom.
Without fear,
Without chains,
Without guilt.
They break us, They abuse us,
They create systems to destroy our families,
To miseducate us,
To imprison us when we try to fight back.
They try to take our souls.
But They can not.
We are too strong for Them.
So I help, I sacrifice,
materials, time, my self,
For the good of humanity.
For the good of family preservation,
For peace and justice.
And They sit back,
And They watch.
Wondering what I will write next.
Wondering what I will do next.
Wondering when They will be given orders,
To try to break me again.
And how.
And They get cold shivers
Down their back,
As They realize,
I am writing about Them.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Irregularities in Adoptions in Vietnam
Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit
Summary of Irregularities in Adoptions in Vietnam
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/irreg_adoptions042508.html
On October 25, 2007 in response to "growing concerns about
irregularities in the methods used to identify children for adoption
in Vietnam and the resulting difficulties in classifying those
children as orphans," USCIS required that I-600 petitions be filed in
Ho Chi Minh City, with the processing of these petitions to be
completed before prospective adoptive parents travel to Vietnam. These
procedures enable USCIS to determine whether a child qualifies as an
orphan, as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act. In the six
months since this program was instituted, US officials in Vietnam have
investigated over 300 I-600 petitions. This report presents a summary
of our findings.
Summary of Irregularities in Adoptions in Vietnam
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/irreg_adoptions042508.html
On October 25, 2007 in response to "growing concerns about
irregularities in the methods used to identify children for adoption
in Vietnam and the resulting difficulties in classifying those
children as orphans," USCIS required that I-600 petitions be filed in
Ho Chi Minh City, with the processing of these petitions to be
completed before prospective adoptive parents travel to Vietnam. These
procedures enable USCIS to determine whether a child qualifies as an
orphan, as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act. In the six
months since this program was instituted, US officials in Vietnam have
investigated over 300 I-600 petitions. This report presents a summary
of our findings.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
DI WELLFARE, 1950-2008 from Australia
I saw this on Bastardette, for their tribute to Di Wellfare
For all those people who say that first parents aren't parents because we didn't do this and that for our children.
Di Wellfare says:
Don't flatter yourself too much about parenting. It hardly takes intellect, just instinct. Even monkeys do it hanging upside down in a tree, scratching their bums at the same time. In case you still don't get it, which you obviously won't, it means: don't think you're superior because you parent. Even monkeys do it.
...you sure you can't hang upside down in trees?......oh nevermind.
You'd never get it.
Di
For all those people who say that first parents aren't parents because we didn't do this and that for our children.
Di Wellfare says:
Don't flatter yourself too much about parenting. It hardly takes intellect, just instinct. Even monkeys do it hanging upside down in a tree, scratching their bums at the same time. In case you still don't get it, which you obviously won't, it means: don't think you're superior because you parent. Even monkeys do it.
...you sure you can't hang upside down in trees?......oh nevermind.
You'd never get it.
Di
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Statement from Assata Shakur
Learn more of Assata Shakur, aka JoAnne Chesimard at
http://www.assatashakur.org
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
http://www.Freedomarchives.org
Statement from Assata Shakur
3/31/2008 6:29:06 AM by Assata Shakur
First of all, let me say thank you, to the many people who have helped me to celebrate my 60th birthday. Thank you for your beautiful birthday cards and for your warm and eloquent messages. Thank you for your activism, your radiant energy and most of all for your love. I am sincerely grateful for your support and for your commitment to social justice, truth and freedom.
It is somehow surprising for me to realize that I have lived on this planet for 60 years. I never imagined that I would live this long. Some of those years were very hard years, other years were happier, but I have never forgotten who I am or where I came from. For as long as I can remember, I was acutely aware of my oppression and of the oppression of my people.
In some ways it was easier for my generation. Racism was blatant and obvious. The "Whites Only" signs let us know clearly, what we were up against. Not much has changed, but the system of lies and tricknology is much more sophisticated. Today young people have to be highly informed and acutely analytical, or they will be swept up into a whirlpool of lies and deception.
Freedom, justice and liberty are words that are thrown around a lot in the United States, but for most of us, it is empty rhetoric. With each and every passing day the country becomes more repressive, the police more viciously aggressive and the so-called constitutional guarantees obliterated by scare tactics. The so-called ’Conservatives’ are only interested in conserving their privileges and power and helping their rich friends to become richer. Black ’Conservatives’ serve their "masters" and are basically interested in grinning, shuffling and ’Uncle Tomming’ all
the way to the bank. This is the most corrupt administration that has ever existed. They have blatantly stolen not millions, but billions of dollars. They are actively seeking to preserve the old colonial order with a new face, where the oppressed people of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are expected to suffer happily, and sing praises to imperialism to the tune of the star spangled banner.
It is extreme arrogance to attack and occupy a country and expect its people to rejoice and lick your feet. Not even Roman Emperors were involved in such misguided conceit. The U.S. government has no right whatsoever, to force its undemocratic "democracy" on the rest of the world. I am 60 years old and I cannot remember a time when my people ever experienced true democracy. It is still the active policy of the U.S. government to use a wide variety of tactics to prevent poor people and people of color from voting. And when we do get to vote, our votes usually do not count. For the most part, there are no decent candidates to vote for, because the U.S, government is a "dollarocracy" where candidates have to beg and pander to the corporate rich in order to be elected.
I am 60 years old, and I have never in my life seen such widespread violence and cruelty. The U.S. government has more people in prison than any other country in the world, and it is now actively involved in creating prisons all over the world. Abu Gharib is only the tip of the iceberg. People all over the world are being imprisoned in secret prisons, with no formal charges being made against them. They are imprisoned under the most inhumane conditions, and detained for indeterminate periods of time, with no rights, no trials, and no justice whatsoever. In short, the
leaders of this country are war criminals. All the U.S. government has to do is call them terrorists or extremists, enemy combatants or whatever and they can do anything they want to these people. I live in Cuba, and the Cuban people watch horrified, as the U.S. Army illegally occupies their land in Guantanamo and commits unspeakable acts of torture on their soil, in the name of "freedom." The U.S. government not only destroys the lives of people around the world, many mothers have cried because many of our young people have had their lives destroyed as well. I believe that this
earth was meant for tenderness and not terror. The imperialist countries not only implement terrorist policies in the Third World, their actions also provoke terrorist activities and internal disputes between people. I believe that when Western governments learn to respect the sovereignty of Third world governments, and to offer solidarity and support rather that imperialist policies and exploitation, most of the world’s problems will be close to being solved.
Inside the belly of the beast, conditions are also disastrous. Most of the victims of Katrina are still waiting for decent housing and public services. Schools and hospitals around the country are either deteriorating or closing down. Around the country social programs to help poor and working people are mostly a thing of the past. Our young people are being marginalized, criminalized and brutalized. It is often an act of courage to go to school, or simply drive down the street. The U.S.
government’s occupation of Afghanistan has produced a record increase of heroin production, and the "war on drugs" continues to be a war on poor people and people of color. The police brutality in our communities is not a simple matter of randomly "bad" cops. This government is more repressive than ever and more and more of a police state. When you have a trigger happy president, a trigger happy vice-president, a trigger happy office of homeland security, you are bound to have an increase of trigger happy police and many of our young people are bound to end up dead or imprisoned. The social policies of the United States have deteriorated
from so-called benign neglect to malignant hostility or indifference.
The role the press and the media have played in all this has been increasingly malignant. There is no such thing as a free press in the United States. Journalists receive big salaries for telling "official" lies. The media both knowingly and naively became the vehicle for misinforming the people of the United States and convincing the people that it was "necessary" to go to war. Their "reporting" was based on outright lies. Now they "embedded" in the military, continuing to misinform the people, and distort the truth.
I am 60 years old and I am proud to be one of those people who stood up against the ruthless, evil, imperialist policies of the U.S. government. In my lifetime I have opposed the war against the Vietnamese people, the illegal contras – war in Nicaragua, the illegal coup in Chile, the invasion of Haiti and of Grenada, and every other illegal, immoral and genocidal war the U.S. government has ever waged. I have never been a criminal and I never will be one. I am 60 years old and in spite of
government repression, in spite of the media’s lies and distortions, in spite of the U.S, government’s COINTELPRO Program to criminalize and demonize political opponents, I feel proud to count myself as someone who believes in peace and believes in freedom. I am proud to have been a member of the Black Panther Party although the U.S. government continues try to distort history and continues to persecute ex-members of the Black Panther Party. Just recently, the U.S. government has indicted and arrested 8 ex-Black Panthers in a case that was dismissed 30 years ago.
The case was dismissed some 30 years ago when it became obvious that the most vicious forms of extreme torture were used to extract false confessions from some of the so-called defendants.
I am 60 years and it is doubtful that I will ever live to see my people free of oppression and repression. But I am totally convinced that our collective dream of freedom will some day be realized. I sincerely implore young people to develop their minds, to develop their skills, to expand their states of consciousness, and sharpen their abilities to analyze reality. Those Africans who conspired with the European slave trade to sell us into slavery were seduced by trinkets. I hope and pray that our young people will not continue to fall into the same traps. I have always loved my people and always loved our culture. The culture of my people has always been rich and always been filled with the seeds of resistance. I hope that young people hold fast to that tradition. I sincerely hope that all young people will have the courage and the wisdom to hold on tight to their humanity and their historical mission. Most people in the Americas, were either indigenous people whose ancestors were victims of genocide, or brought to this hemisphere as slaves, or came to this continent seeking
freedom. I believe that it is our collective duty to make freedom a reality. I truly believe that it is possible to end oppression and repression on this planet. If we all see ourselves as citizens of this planet, and citizens of the world, it will be easier for us to save this planet and recognize the human rights of human beings around the world.
Much love, Much Solidarity,
May we all make freedom a reality,
Assata Shakur
http://www.assatashakur.org
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
http://www.Freedomarchives.org
Statement from Assata Shakur
3/31/2008 6:29:06 AM by Assata Shakur
First of all, let me say thank you, to the many people who have helped me to celebrate my 60th birthday. Thank you for your beautiful birthday cards and for your warm and eloquent messages. Thank you for your activism, your radiant energy and most of all for your love. I am sincerely grateful for your support and for your commitment to social justice, truth and freedom.
It is somehow surprising for me to realize that I have lived on this planet for 60 years. I never imagined that I would live this long. Some of those years were very hard years, other years were happier, but I have never forgotten who I am or where I came from. For as long as I can remember, I was acutely aware of my oppression and of the oppression of my people.
In some ways it was easier for my generation. Racism was blatant and obvious. The "Whites Only" signs let us know clearly, what we were up against. Not much has changed, but the system of lies and tricknology is much more sophisticated. Today young people have to be highly informed and acutely analytical, or they will be swept up into a whirlpool of lies and deception.
Freedom, justice and liberty are words that are thrown around a lot in the United States, but for most of us, it is empty rhetoric. With each and every passing day the country becomes more repressive, the police more viciously aggressive and the so-called constitutional guarantees obliterated by scare tactics. The so-called ’Conservatives’ are only interested in conserving their privileges and power and helping their rich friends to become richer. Black ’Conservatives’ serve their "masters" and are basically interested in grinning, shuffling and ’Uncle Tomming’ all
the way to the bank. This is the most corrupt administration that has ever existed. They have blatantly stolen not millions, but billions of dollars. They are actively seeking to preserve the old colonial order with a new face, where the oppressed people of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are expected to suffer happily, and sing praises to imperialism to the tune of the star spangled banner.
It is extreme arrogance to attack and occupy a country and expect its people to rejoice and lick your feet. Not even Roman Emperors were involved in such misguided conceit. The U.S. government has no right whatsoever, to force its undemocratic "democracy" on the rest of the world. I am 60 years old and I cannot remember a time when my people ever experienced true democracy. It is still the active policy of the U.S. government to use a wide variety of tactics to prevent poor people and people of color from voting. And when we do get to vote, our votes usually do not count. For the most part, there are no decent candidates to vote for, because the U.S, government is a "dollarocracy" where candidates have to beg and pander to the corporate rich in order to be elected.
I am 60 years old, and I have never in my life seen such widespread violence and cruelty. The U.S. government has more people in prison than any other country in the world, and it is now actively involved in creating prisons all over the world. Abu Gharib is only the tip of the iceberg. People all over the world are being imprisoned in secret prisons, with no formal charges being made against them. They are imprisoned under the most inhumane conditions, and detained for indeterminate periods of time, with no rights, no trials, and no justice whatsoever. In short, the
leaders of this country are war criminals. All the U.S. government has to do is call them terrorists or extremists, enemy combatants or whatever and they can do anything they want to these people. I live in Cuba, and the Cuban people watch horrified, as the U.S. Army illegally occupies their land in Guantanamo and commits unspeakable acts of torture on their soil, in the name of "freedom." The U.S. government not only destroys the lives of people around the world, many mothers have cried because many of our young people have had their lives destroyed as well. I believe that this
earth was meant for tenderness and not terror. The imperialist countries not only implement terrorist policies in the Third World, their actions also provoke terrorist activities and internal disputes between people. I believe that when Western governments learn to respect the sovereignty of Third world governments, and to offer solidarity and support rather that imperialist policies and exploitation, most of the world’s problems will be close to being solved.
Inside the belly of the beast, conditions are also disastrous. Most of the victims of Katrina are still waiting for decent housing and public services. Schools and hospitals around the country are either deteriorating or closing down. Around the country social programs to help poor and working people are mostly a thing of the past. Our young people are being marginalized, criminalized and brutalized. It is often an act of courage to go to school, or simply drive down the street. The U.S.
government’s occupation of Afghanistan has produced a record increase of heroin production, and the "war on drugs" continues to be a war on poor people and people of color. The police brutality in our communities is not a simple matter of randomly "bad" cops. This government is more repressive than ever and more and more of a police state. When you have a trigger happy president, a trigger happy vice-president, a trigger happy office of homeland security, you are bound to have an increase of trigger happy police and many of our young people are bound to end up dead or imprisoned. The social policies of the United States have deteriorated
from so-called benign neglect to malignant hostility or indifference.
The role the press and the media have played in all this has been increasingly malignant. There is no such thing as a free press in the United States. Journalists receive big salaries for telling "official" lies. The media both knowingly and naively became the vehicle for misinforming the people of the United States and convincing the people that it was "necessary" to go to war. Their "reporting" was based on outright lies. Now they "embedded" in the military, continuing to misinform the people, and distort the truth.
I am 60 years old and I am proud to be one of those people who stood up against the ruthless, evil, imperialist policies of the U.S. government. In my lifetime I have opposed the war against the Vietnamese people, the illegal contras – war in Nicaragua, the illegal coup in Chile, the invasion of Haiti and of Grenada, and every other illegal, immoral and genocidal war the U.S. government has ever waged. I have never been a criminal and I never will be one. I am 60 years old and in spite of
government repression, in spite of the media’s lies and distortions, in spite of the U.S, government’s COINTELPRO Program to criminalize and demonize political opponents, I feel proud to count myself as someone who believes in peace and believes in freedom. I am proud to have been a member of the Black Panther Party although the U.S. government continues try to distort history and continues to persecute ex-members of the Black Panther Party. Just recently, the U.S. government has indicted and arrested 8 ex-Black Panthers in a case that was dismissed 30 years ago.
The case was dismissed some 30 years ago when it became obvious that the most vicious forms of extreme torture were used to extract false confessions from some of the so-called defendants.
I am 60 years and it is doubtful that I will ever live to see my people free of oppression and repression. But I am totally convinced that our collective dream of freedom will some day be realized. I sincerely implore young people to develop their minds, to develop their skills, to expand their states of consciousness, and sharpen their abilities to analyze reality. Those Africans who conspired with the European slave trade to sell us into slavery were seduced by trinkets. I hope and pray that our young people will not continue to fall into the same traps. I have always loved my people and always loved our culture. The culture of my people has always been rich and always been filled with the seeds of resistance. I hope that young people hold fast to that tradition. I sincerely hope that all young people will have the courage and the wisdom to hold on tight to their humanity and their historical mission. Most people in the Americas, were either indigenous people whose ancestors were victims of genocide, or brought to this hemisphere as slaves, or came to this continent seeking
freedom. I believe that it is our collective duty to make freedom a reality. I truly believe that it is possible to end oppression and repression on this planet. If we all see ourselves as citizens of this planet, and citizens of the world, it will be easier for us to save this planet and recognize the human rights of human beings around the world.
Much love, Much Solidarity,
May we all make freedom a reality,
Assata Shakur
I feel for you Cindy Jordan
http://remembercindy.com/
I know your pain. The rejection of adoptive parents. To be lied to, and to know that they meant to do so. And while there are so many of us out here, you will not be forgotten.
Neither will any of our children. And one day, they will know. They will know how much we love them.
I know your pain. The rejection of adoptive parents. To be lied to, and to know that they meant to do so. And while there are so many of us out here, you will not be forgotten.
Neither will any of our children. And one day, they will know. They will know how much we love them.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Maria Barragan succeeds in getting adoptive parents jailed
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/15729#comment-3861
In a landmark decision, a court in Buenos Aires sentenced a former military officer and the adoptive parents of one of the country’s many babies “stolen” during the dictatorship to prison for concealing the child’s identity and falsifying adoption documents.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragán, 30, had brought charges against the three after discovering her true identity seven years ago. Ms Sampallo is one of hundreds of people who were snatched from their parents or born in captivity during the country’s dictatorship of 1976-83, but she was the first to face her adoptive parents in court.
Osvaldo Rivas, 65, and MarÍa Cristina Gómez Pinto, 60, her adoptive parents, were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison respectively. Enrique Berthier, a former army captain who handed Ms Sampallo over to the couple when she was a baby, received ten years.
“These are not my parents,” Ms Sampallo said at a press conference on Monday. “They are my kidnappers . . . there is no emotional bond that binds me to them. These are my parents,” she said, picking up photos of her biological parents.
Argentina’s military regime arrested Leonardo Sampallo and Mirta Barragán, suspected leftist dissidents, in December 1977. Soon after Ms Sampallo was born, her parents died in prison and the infant was given to Captain Berthier to pass on to another family, which hid her real identity.
Ms Sampallo learnt about her past from the human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They have found 88 people like Ms Sampallo, children of their own sons and daughters who “disappeared”.
The Argentine military imprisoned tens of thousands of people suspected of being subversives and killed as many as 30,000. The junta also decided to “rehabilitate” its enemies’ children by placing them with families that supported the dictatorship. Many of the children were given to the families of men who may have participated in the torture and deaths of their parents.
The Grandmothers say that up to 500 children were abducted by the military or were born in captivity. During the dictatorship the group kept note of women who suddenly appeared with babies without being pregnant, and began investigations that, with recent advances in DNA technology, have begun to get results. Cases involving abducted children have proved crucial to bringing the dictatorship’s architects and executioners to justice. An amnesty for military and police officers imposed by the first postdictatorship government did not include the theft of babies, jurists contended.
“My hope is that each conviction acts as a step toward building the truth,” said Victoria Donda, an MP and activist who was taken from her biological parents at birth and learnt of her real identity in 2003.
The Dirty War
— Approximately 30,000 Argentinians disappeared during the Dirty War, a campaign of violence and intimidation by a series of governments
— The collapse of the alliance between left and right factions in the Peronist movement is seen as the catalyst of the trouble. A paranoid conservative Argentinian group backed the army in taking extreme action to control the Left
— Most disappearances occurred under the military regimes that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983, after the overthrow of Isabel Perón by Jorge Rafael Videla, then head of Argentina's army
— Democracy was swept away and the military became increasingly violent. It regarded a “cleansing” of Argentine society as necessary to the country’s survival
— Liberals, trade unionists, and others suspected of less than wholehearted support for the regime were rounded up. After their interrogation and murder, their bodies were never returned
Sources: desaparecidos.org ; nuncamas.org; National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons
In a landmark decision, a court in Buenos Aires sentenced a former military officer and the adoptive parents of one of the country’s many babies “stolen” during the dictatorship to prison for concealing the child’s identity and falsifying adoption documents.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragán, 30, had brought charges against the three after discovering her true identity seven years ago. Ms Sampallo is one of hundreds of people who were snatched from their parents or born in captivity during the country’s dictatorship of 1976-83, but she was the first to face her adoptive parents in court.
Osvaldo Rivas, 65, and MarÍa Cristina Gómez Pinto, 60, her adoptive parents, were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison respectively. Enrique Berthier, a former army captain who handed Ms Sampallo over to the couple when she was a baby, received ten years.
“These are not my parents,” Ms Sampallo said at a press conference on Monday. “They are my kidnappers . . . there is no emotional bond that binds me to them. These are my parents,” she said, picking up photos of her biological parents.
Argentina’s military regime arrested Leonardo Sampallo and Mirta Barragán, suspected leftist dissidents, in December 1977. Soon after Ms Sampallo was born, her parents died in prison and the infant was given to Captain Berthier to pass on to another family, which hid her real identity.
Ms Sampallo learnt about her past from the human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They have found 88 people like Ms Sampallo, children of their own sons and daughters who “disappeared”.
The Argentine military imprisoned tens of thousands of people suspected of being subversives and killed as many as 30,000. The junta also decided to “rehabilitate” its enemies’ children by placing them with families that supported the dictatorship. Many of the children were given to the families of men who may have participated in the torture and deaths of their parents.
The Grandmothers say that up to 500 children were abducted by the military or were born in captivity. During the dictatorship the group kept note of women who suddenly appeared with babies without being pregnant, and began investigations that, with recent advances in DNA technology, have begun to get results. Cases involving abducted children have proved crucial to bringing the dictatorship’s architects and executioners to justice. An amnesty for military and police officers imposed by the first postdictatorship government did not include the theft of babies, jurists contended.
“My hope is that each conviction acts as a step toward building the truth,” said Victoria Donda, an MP and activist who was taken from her biological parents at birth and learnt of her real identity in 2003.
The Dirty War
— Approximately 30,000 Argentinians disappeared during the Dirty War, a campaign of violence and intimidation by a series of governments
— The collapse of the alliance between left and right factions in the Peronist movement is seen as the catalyst of the trouble. A paranoid conservative Argentinian group backed the army in taking extreme action to control the Left
— Most disappearances occurred under the military regimes that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983, after the overthrow of Isabel Perón by Jorge Rafael Videla, then head of Argentina's army
— Democracy was swept away and the military became increasingly violent. It regarded a “cleansing” of Argentine society as necessary to the country’s survival
— Liberals, trade unionists, and others suspected of less than wholehearted support for the regime were rounded up. After their interrogation and murder, their bodies were never returned
Sources: desaparecidos.org ; nuncamas.org; National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons
Dead Baby Scam
From Dead Babys Scam
One of the producers of the Fifth Estate, Nicole Brewster, is looking for victims of the "dead" baby scam.
For those who don't know about "dead" baby scams, here is what happened.
Some mothers and fathers were told that their baby had died at or shortly after birth. They were not allowed to see their children's bodies.
Some parents are now finding out that their babies did not die.It seems that some "dead" babies were put up for adoption without the parents knowledge, never mind consent.
A number of these "dead" babies are now very alive adopted adults who are finding their parents and are shocked to find out how they ended up for adoption.
Bribes were taken/paid in a number of cases.
Anyway, if you are a victim of such a scam (whether you are a parent or an adoptee), or have information about this, Nicole would like to hear from you for the Fifth Estate program.
Nicole Brewster-MercuryAssociate
Producer CBC Television-fifth estate
(416) 205-6637
nicole_brewster@cbc.ca
One of the producers of the Fifth Estate, Nicole Brewster, is looking for victims of the "dead" baby scam.
For those who don't know about "dead" baby scams, here is what happened.
Some mothers and fathers were told that their baby had died at or shortly after birth. They were not allowed to see their children's bodies.
Some parents are now finding out that their babies did not die.It seems that some "dead" babies were put up for adoption without the parents knowledge, never mind consent.
A number of these "dead" babies are now very alive adopted adults who are finding their parents and are shocked to find out how they ended up for adoption.
Bribes were taken/paid in a number of cases.
Anyway, if you are a victim of such a scam (whether you are a parent or an adoptee), or have information about this, Nicole would like to hear from you for the Fifth Estate program.
Nicole Brewster-MercuryAssociate
Producer CBC Television-fifth estate
(416) 205-6637
nicole_brewster@cbc.ca
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Infertility after adoption loss
I don't normally put such sensitive and personal information on this blog. But I feel that to put it in my more private blog where people know me IRL would actually be more scary.
The people who do know me here, are other mothers of loss, or other people who know my pain associated with adoption loss, and therefore... I have decided to post it here.
After the loss of my daughter, I wanted to die. I felt inadequate, like, I couldn't defend my daughter against the evil Shorsteins who stole my daughter from me in the hospital room. I couldn't protect my daughter from the stupid doctor who felt entitled to save me in her own reborn catholic way and drugged me up in the hospital.
So, for the past 10 years, I've felt like an inadequate mother, when I feel like a mother at all.
I've always felt, intuitively, that I'd never be able to have children again. I shouldn't have lost my first daughter... who is to say that it won't happen again?
People don't understand the depth of this pain. People don't understand the depth of this loss.
When I went to holistic doctors 4 years ago, they told me my hormones were all fucked up. Yeah, I knew that. At that time, I'd had high prolactin levels since losing my daughter. Never went down. Prolactin is what makes breast milk, so yes, I've had breast milk since the loss of my daughter. I still do. But the doctor told me other things... I can't quite remember all of the hormones that were fucked up... but one I do. It was Luteinizing hormone, which allows the egg to stick to the uterine wall. Which meant, I can "get" pregnant, I just can't stay pregnant. I had the thought that if this was all the farther I would get in being pregnant, then I'd just have to live with being infertile. Infertile, to me, meaning, I can get pregnant, but I can't stay pregnant after the egg is fertilized.
Well, mid February, I was a bit concerned, as I felt the signs of fertility. I got a pregnancy test, and what the fuck? I'm pregnant. It was unexpected, because, well, I'm infertile, but once I realized I was, well, I was happy. And scared. I was had extreme anxiety, I had extreme PTSD, because, well, I still don't know why and how evil people exist to steal babies, and how did I know that it wasn't going to happen again?
My hormones went crazy. I found a midwife. She said I was at least 10 weeks pregnant. 10 weeks? This isn't supposed to be able to happen! But I was so happy. I told both of my partners, and they were super supportive. I really couldn't have had a more supportive community, friends, partners, everything. You'd think that I'd be okay. You'd think that I'd realize that it was 10 years later, and I'd be able to handle it, I'd be able to protect my child, not even by myself, but with my whole community present. And, my wonderful midwife. No hospital for me this time. No fucking stupid dumbass crazy selfish bitch is drugging me up. FUCK NO!
My wonderful midwife, whom, was going to help me have my little one at home.
On easter sunday, that dream burst. I went into labor. Full blown labor. 2 hours, starting at 5:30ish, ending a bit after 7:30ish, pm. Little Luz was born at 7:52pm. It was a little egg, with a little tiny baby in it. After talking to my midwife, she thinks that it was actually about 12 weeks old. 12 weeks....
We had a ceremony for him, and we buried him. Me, and his two daddies. Yes, my baby had two loving, wonderful, supportive daddies. Because, damnit, no one is taking my baby. I'll have an army, a community, three families, and two daddies to help me.
A was concerned because he thought that I was really worried about everything. EVERYTHING. Yes, of course, everything had to be PERFECT!!!! Because, if it wasn't perfect, someone might come and take my baby.
And, me, A and J, all got together, talking about how they could both help me. They were both super super supportive. I'd stop working and take care of the baby after it was born. I started saving up money right away. We went shopping for maternity clothes.
What I now realize, is that I went into some severe PTSD trauma. Which adds a whole new element to my infertility issues. First it was just... oh.... well, it's just a luteinizing hormone. I will just be infertile. But now, it raises whole new issues and questions I have to ask myself.
People don't understand how painful adoption loss is. Not just emotionally, but physically, physiologically, mentally, every way. My anxiety over the loss of my daughter made me have a miscarriage, because I was sooo afraid that if things weren't perfect (or, scarier yet, even if everything WAS perfect) someone was going to come and take my baby from me again... so, because my body decided I could not live through that again, I had a miscarriage, and my little baby died.
And, still... people don't understand. "You are fertile! You can get pregnant!" "All you have to do is get over the loss of your daughter!" and so on and so on... what people don't understand, is that I can't ever get over the loss of my daughter. And, I don't know if I'll EVER be able to carry a baby to term.
The theft of my daughter has affected me sooo much, that my body has killed my baby! That is how harmed I am. And, doctors can't figure it out. No one has any answers as to what to do. Or how it happened. But I know, even if they don't... I know.
The people who do know me here, are other mothers of loss, or other people who know my pain associated with adoption loss, and therefore... I have decided to post it here.
After the loss of my daughter, I wanted to die. I felt inadequate, like, I couldn't defend my daughter against the evil Shorsteins who stole my daughter from me in the hospital room. I couldn't protect my daughter from the stupid doctor who felt entitled to save me in her own reborn catholic way and drugged me up in the hospital.
So, for the past 10 years, I've felt like an inadequate mother, when I feel like a mother at all.
I've always felt, intuitively, that I'd never be able to have children again. I shouldn't have lost my first daughter... who is to say that it won't happen again?
People don't understand the depth of this pain. People don't understand the depth of this loss.
When I went to holistic doctors 4 years ago, they told me my hormones were all fucked up. Yeah, I knew that. At that time, I'd had high prolactin levels since losing my daughter. Never went down. Prolactin is what makes breast milk, so yes, I've had breast milk since the loss of my daughter. I still do. But the doctor told me other things... I can't quite remember all of the hormones that were fucked up... but one I do. It was Luteinizing hormone, which allows the egg to stick to the uterine wall. Which meant, I can "get" pregnant, I just can't stay pregnant. I had the thought that if this was all the farther I would get in being pregnant, then I'd just have to live with being infertile. Infertile, to me, meaning, I can get pregnant, but I can't stay pregnant after the egg is fertilized.
Well, mid February, I was a bit concerned, as I felt the signs of fertility. I got a pregnancy test, and what the fuck? I'm pregnant. It was unexpected, because, well, I'm infertile, but once I realized I was, well, I was happy. And scared. I was had extreme anxiety, I had extreme PTSD, because, well, I still don't know why and how evil people exist to steal babies, and how did I know that it wasn't going to happen again?
My hormones went crazy. I found a midwife. She said I was at least 10 weeks pregnant. 10 weeks? This isn't supposed to be able to happen! But I was so happy. I told both of my partners, and they were super supportive. I really couldn't have had a more supportive community, friends, partners, everything. You'd think that I'd be okay. You'd think that I'd realize that it was 10 years later, and I'd be able to handle it, I'd be able to protect my child, not even by myself, but with my whole community present. And, my wonderful midwife. No hospital for me this time. No fucking stupid dumbass crazy selfish bitch is drugging me up. FUCK NO!
My wonderful midwife, whom, was going to help me have my little one at home.
On easter sunday, that dream burst. I went into labor. Full blown labor. 2 hours, starting at 5:30ish, ending a bit after 7:30ish, pm. Little Luz was born at 7:52pm. It was a little egg, with a little tiny baby in it. After talking to my midwife, she thinks that it was actually about 12 weeks old. 12 weeks....
We had a ceremony for him, and we buried him. Me, and his two daddies. Yes, my baby had two loving, wonderful, supportive daddies. Because, damnit, no one is taking my baby. I'll have an army, a community, three families, and two daddies to help me.
A was concerned because he thought that I was really worried about everything. EVERYTHING. Yes, of course, everything had to be PERFECT!!!! Because, if it wasn't perfect, someone might come and take my baby.
And, me, A and J, all got together, talking about how they could both help me. They were both super super supportive. I'd stop working and take care of the baby after it was born. I started saving up money right away. We went shopping for maternity clothes.
What I now realize, is that I went into some severe PTSD trauma. Which adds a whole new element to my infertility issues. First it was just... oh.... well, it's just a luteinizing hormone. I will just be infertile. But now, it raises whole new issues and questions I have to ask myself.
People don't understand how painful adoption loss is. Not just emotionally, but physically, physiologically, mentally, every way. My anxiety over the loss of my daughter made me have a miscarriage, because I was sooo afraid that if things weren't perfect (or, scarier yet, even if everything WAS perfect) someone was going to come and take my baby from me again... so, because my body decided I could not live through that again, I had a miscarriage, and my little baby died.
And, still... people don't understand. "You are fertile! You can get pregnant!" "All you have to do is get over the loss of your daughter!" and so on and so on... what people don't understand, is that I can't ever get over the loss of my daughter. And, I don't know if I'll EVER be able to carry a baby to term.
The theft of my daughter has affected me sooo much, that my body has killed my baby! That is how harmed I am. And, doctors can't figure it out. No one has any answers as to what to do. Or how it happened. But I know, even if they don't... I know.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Dr. Phil adoption show
From Ungrateful Little Bastard:
If you're so inclined..... Dr. Phil adoption show
Are you involved in a heated custody battle over your adopted child? Have you adopted a child, only to find out their biological parents suddenly want them back? Have you given your child up for adoption, but now what to get him back? Do you just want what's best for your child but are scared you'll be traumatizing them for life? Tell us your story!!
http://drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=12088
If you're so inclined..... Dr. Phil adoption show
Are you involved in a heated custody battle over your adopted child? Have you adopted a child, only to find out their biological parents suddenly want them back? Have you given your child up for adoption, but now what to get him back? Do you just want what's best for your child but are scared you'll be traumatizing them for life? Tell us your story!!
http://drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=12088
Have you seen these people?
(Picture taken from Amy Adoptee and altered)
If you have seen these people, please go to Amy Adoptee's website and leave a comment.
State seeks to close A Child's Waiting, the agency responsible for coercing Stephanie Bennett
State seeks to close adoption agency
(Click link for Full article)
(see link to state letter in full article)
...
Decision in case
Meanwhile, A Child's Waiting won a decision last week in Summit County Probate Court involving a contested adoption, an attorney said.
Teenager Stephanie Bennett of Canton has been trying to regain custody of her daughter, Evelyn, since 2006. She had agreed to the adoption but later regretted the decision. Evelyn a few months old at the time.
Bennett has alleged that she was forced into the adoption by the child's father and that the agency urged her to run away from home to avoid scrutiny from her parents.
A magistrate determined that there was no duress involved, Bennett's attorney, Jennifer Lowry, said. Lowry said she is appealing the decision.
State investigators also have concluded that there was no evidence that Bennett was asked to run away. But the agency was cited for several procedural and paperwork violations related to the adoption.
The state announced last May that it was reviewing the agency's state license because of the Bennett case and a history of similar violations.
...
(Click link for Full article)
(see link to state letter in full article)
...
Decision in case
Meanwhile, A Child's Waiting won a decision last week in Summit County Probate Court involving a contested adoption, an attorney said.
Teenager Stephanie Bennett of Canton has been trying to regain custody of her daughter, Evelyn, since 2006. She had agreed to the adoption but later regretted the decision. Evelyn a few months old at the time.
Bennett has alleged that she was forced into the adoption by the child's father and that the agency urged her to run away from home to avoid scrutiny from her parents.
A magistrate determined that there was no duress involved, Bennett's attorney, Jennifer Lowry, said. Lowry said she is appealing the decision.
State investigators also have concluded that there was no evidence that Bennett was asked to run away. But the agency was cited for several procedural and paperwork violations related to the adoption.
The state announced last May that it was reviewing the agency's state license because of the Bennett case and a history of similar violations.
...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Adoptee Rights Struggle - Texas 2008-2009
March 29, 2008 - Gladney 120 Year Anniversary Celebration and planned picket of Gala at Worthington Hotel.
If you go to http://www.gladney120th.com/ you can see the planned events for the 120 Year Anniversary Celebration for Gladney Adoption Center. Since Gladney has led the effort to deny adoptee rights to their own history a picket is planned of the Gala at the Worthington Hotel the evening of March 29, 2009. At this time the other events are not targeted so we may concentrate on this event.
It is planned to have all volunteers gather at the Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth at 6:00 PM. We will have a minimum of three teams working, one person with a large sign and another with flyers to hand out about the history of the equal access issue for adoptees to their own birth and genetic history. Others are invited to join us in this protest and be present with signs representing their concerns related to being denied their genetic history, or their birth child being denied their genetic history, due to the legal efforts of Gladney Adoption Center.
Adoptees may have signs such as: ""Gladney celebrates their history while denying me mine." Gladney Adoptee."
Another sign to be used will be: "State enforced genetic secrecy kills adoptees!"
The goal is to begin targeting the adoptee struggle for equal rights directly at the adoption agency leading national efforts to deny adoptees their rights. Their efforts are certainly not in keeping with the Edna Gladney portrayed in "Blossoms in the Dust." There she was certainly a supporter of adoptee rights!
The modern equivalent of Edna Gladney can be considered to be Madelyn Freundlich. On the pages at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2007_11_for_records.php you can see the most recent research by Madelyn Freundlich as she clearly documents the truth about the struggle of adult adoptees for their own records.
Volunteers are encourage to contact Bill Betzen (214-957-9739 or bbetzen@aol.com) or the other coordinators working to help bring volunteers together at the Worthington in Fort Worth starting at 6:00 PM on the evening of Saturday, March 29, 2008.
Questions are welcome.
Bill Betzen
If you go to http://www.gladney120th.com/ you can see the planned events for the 120 Year Anniversary Celebration for Gladney Adoption Center. Since Gladney has led the effort to deny adoptee rights to their own history a picket is planned of the Gala at the Worthington Hotel the evening of March 29, 2009. At this time the other events are not targeted so we may concentrate on this event.
It is planned to have all volunteers gather at the Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth at 6:00 PM. We will have a minimum of three teams working, one person with a large sign and another with flyers to hand out about the history of the equal access issue for adoptees to their own birth and genetic history. Others are invited to join us in this protest and be present with signs representing their concerns related to being denied their genetic history, or their birth child being denied their genetic history, due to the legal efforts of Gladney Adoption Center.
Adoptees may have signs such as: ""Gladney celebrates their history while denying me mine." Gladney Adoptee."
Another sign to be used will be: "State enforced genetic secrecy kills adoptees!"
The goal is to begin targeting the adoptee struggle for equal rights directly at the adoption agency leading national efforts to deny adoptees their rights. Their efforts are certainly not in keeping with the Edna Gladney portrayed in "Blossoms in the Dust." There she was certainly a supporter of adoptee rights!
The modern equivalent of Edna Gladney can be considered to be Madelyn Freundlich. On the pages at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2007_11_for_records.php you can see the most recent research by Madelyn Freundlich as she clearly documents the truth about the struggle of adult adoptees for their own records.
Volunteers are encourage to contact Bill Betzen (214-957-9739 or bbetzen@aol.com) or the other coordinators working to help bring volunteers together at the Worthington in Fort Worth starting at 6:00 PM on the evening of Saturday, March 29, 2008.
Questions are welcome.
Bill Betzen
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A win for the Bennett Family
The state of Ohio has revoked the license of A Child's Waiting, the agency that coerced Stephanie, and took her little girl, Evelyn. It has also denied the application to renew the license. A letter was sent March 10, 2008 to the agency. There was a notice for a hearing of many violations of the law.
Dear Evelyn and Stephanie, I hope you are reunited soon.
Dear Evelyn and Stephanie, I hope you are reunited soon.
Family Preservation Festival
"Family Preservation Festival"
CATCH THE MAGIC
IT'S TIME TO REBUILD AMERICA's DREAM
http://www.dcrally2008.com/
AUGUST 15-16-17, 2008
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, WDC
CATCH THE MAGIC
IT'S TIME TO REBUILD AMERICA's DREAM
http://www.dcrally2008.com/
AUGUST 15-16-17, 2008
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, WDC
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Orphan wants adoptive parents jailed
Orphan wants adoptive parents jailed
By DEBORA REY
Associated Press Writer
A 30-year-old woman on Tuesday urged a federal court
to convict and sentence her adoptive parents to 25
years in prison, the maximum allowed on charges they
hid her true identity as a child of dissidents who
disappeared under Argentina's dictatorship.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan accused Osvaldo Rivas
and Maria Cristina Gomez Pinto of falsifying adoption
documents and concealing her identity at the trial
that opened in February.
Thousands of leftists and dissidents vanished after
being abducted by security forces during Argentina's
1976-1983 military regime, and human rights groups say
more than 200 of their children were taken and given
to military or politically connected families to
raise.
Sampallo is the first child born of political
prisoners who went missing in the "Dirty War" to press
such charges at trial against her adoptive parents _
and against a former army captain, Enrique Berthier,
who is a defendant in the same proceeding.
"The charges against them are very serious," said her
lawyer, Tomas Ojea Quintana, speaking outside court
Tuesday. "All deserve the maximum allowed by law _ 25
years."
Sampallo said her decision to press charges against
her adoptive parents was important "for all of
society, and for the rest of the children in my
condition."
Defense lawyers did not respond to calls seeking
comment and the adoptive parents have not commented
publicly on the case.
Sampallo learned in 2001 that she is the daughter of
missing political prisoners Mirta Mable Barragan and
Leonardo Ruben Sampallo.
Sampallo's mother was six months pregnant when she and
her father were abducted on Dec. 6, 1977, said
Sampallo's lawyer. He said Sampallo was born in
February 1978, while her mother was being held at a
clandestine torture center.
There have been at least three earlier trials
involving suspected illegal adoptions dating to the
dictatorship that resulted in convictions _ but the
plaintiffs were not the adopted children.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
By DEBORA REY
Associated Press Writer
A 30-year-old woman on Tuesday urged a federal court
to convict and sentence her adoptive parents to 25
years in prison, the maximum allowed on charges they
hid her true identity as a child of dissidents who
disappeared under Argentina's dictatorship.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan accused Osvaldo Rivas
and Maria Cristina Gomez Pinto of falsifying adoption
documents and concealing her identity at the trial
that opened in February.
Thousands of leftists and dissidents vanished after
being abducted by security forces during Argentina's
1976-1983 military regime, and human rights groups say
more than 200 of their children were taken and given
to military or politically connected families to
raise.
Sampallo is the first child born of political
prisoners who went missing in the "Dirty War" to press
such charges at trial against her adoptive parents _
and against a former army captain, Enrique Berthier,
who is a defendant in the same proceeding.
"The charges against them are very serious," said her
lawyer, Tomas Ojea Quintana, speaking outside court
Tuesday. "All deserve the maximum allowed by law _ 25
years."
Sampallo said her decision to press charges against
her adoptive parents was important "for all of
society, and for the rest of the children in my
condition."
Defense lawyers did not respond to calls seeking
comment and the adoptive parents have not commented
publicly on the case.
Sampallo learned in 2001 that she is the daughter of
missing political prisoners Mirta Mable Barragan and
Leonardo Ruben Sampallo.
Sampallo's mother was six months pregnant when she and
her father were abducted on Dec. 6, 1977, said
Sampallo's lawyer. He said Sampallo was born in
February 1978, while her mother was being held at a
clandestine torture center.
There have been at least three earlier trials
involving suspected illegal adoptions dating to the
dictatorship that resulted in convictions _ but the
plaintiffs were not the adopted children.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Difficulty of Proving Child Trafficking in International Adoption
The Difficulty of Proving Child Trafficking in International Adoption
For immediate release
Contact: Virginia Van Vynckt
Public Relations Officer, Ethica
(931) 840-4565
vvanvynckt@ethicanet.org
The Difficulty of Proving Child Trafficking in International Adoption
COLUMBIA, Tenn.—No adoptive parent wants to explain to an 18-year-old son or
daughter why it was okay to pay the child’s desperate birth mother the equivalent of
$43,000 U.S. in “expenses.”
Yet that is a position some parents of children adopted internationally could face, thanks
to a standard of evidence that makes it very difficult for the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services (BCIS) to prove child trafficking in international adoption, even
when strong circumstantial evidence suggests it occurred.
“It is essential for adoptive parents to understand that the issuance of a visa does not
mean that the Immigration Service found no evidence of child trafficking in their
adoption case,” says Trish Maskew, president of Ethica, an independent adoption
education and advocacy group. Maskew wrote the organization’s new position paper on
the topic, “Child Trafficking: Why Can’t the Immigration Service Prove It?” The paper
points out that the strict standard of evidence, coupled with poorly conducted
investigations, makes it easy for adoption facilitators to skirt the law on child-buying.
International adoption has become an increasingly popular option for building a family.
In 2002, 20,099 children were adopted from overseas, compared with 6,472 children in
1992. Accusations about child trafficking plague international adoptions in Guatemala,
Vietnam, Romania and elsewhere.
In a typical international adoption, the adoptive parents-to-be work with an agency in the
States, which contracts with a facilitator in the child’s home country. The facilitator may
in turn work with various orphanages and hire numerous people to handle such tasks as
processing paperwork. The complexity and informality of the arrangements can make it
difficult to tell who’s working with whom. Under U.S. law, agents working for the
adoptive parents may not give the birth family money, except for reasonable expenses.
Before the child can immigrate to the United States, the U.S. Consulate must issue the
child a visa. In cases where there are allegations of child-buying or other illegalities, the
Consulate may issue a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). The adoptive parents are
allowed to try to rebut the allegations and, if the consular officer still denies the petition,
to take their case to the Immigration Service’s Office of Administrative Appeals.
Page 2
A review of cases available to the public reveals disturbing accounts of birth parents
being paid excessive amounts of money for expenses and making inconsistent statements
to authorities about the sources of the money. And in December of 2001, the United
States placed a moratorium on adoptions from Cambodia because of suspicions of child
trafficking and other illegal activities. Yet a review of hundreds of cases resulted in only
a few being denied. Trish Maskew was a strong advocate for the clearing of the
Cambodian cases. She then learned just how difficult it is for the Immigration Service to
prove child trafficking, leading her to question some current adoption practices and
moving her to establish Ethica.
“It was clear that the adoption community needed an independent voice for ethical
adoption practices—one that is decidedly pro-adoption but has no financial interest in
completing adoption cases,” says Maskew. “There are many good agencies working to
place children honestly and ethically. Unfortunately, those who abuse the system by
exploiting children and taking advantage of destitute birth parents are destroying
adoption as an option for the children of this world who are in need of loving, permanent
families.
“We must all ensure that someone is protecting the children.”
Ethica recommends that BCIS conduct investigations with greater care and that the
agency take a closer look at how narrowly it is interpreting the law regarding standards of
evidence. Adoption agencies and parents must also do their share, says Maskew, by
being willing to “ask the hard questions.”
Ethica has posted a copy of the position paper and information about intercountry
adoption and the statutes governing it on its Web site, www.ethicanet.org
For immediate release
Contact: Virginia Van Vynckt
Public Relations Officer, Ethica
(931) 840-4565
vvanvynckt@ethicanet.org
The Difficulty of Proving Child Trafficking in International Adoption
COLUMBIA, Tenn.—No adoptive parent wants to explain to an 18-year-old son or
daughter why it was okay to pay the child’s desperate birth mother the equivalent of
$43,000 U.S. in “expenses.”
Yet that is a position some parents of children adopted internationally could face, thanks
to a standard of evidence that makes it very difficult for the Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Services (BCIS) to prove child trafficking in international adoption, even
when strong circumstantial evidence suggests it occurred.
“It is essential for adoptive parents to understand that the issuance of a visa does not
mean that the Immigration Service found no evidence of child trafficking in their
adoption case,” says Trish Maskew, president of Ethica, an independent adoption
education and advocacy group. Maskew wrote the organization’s new position paper on
the topic, “Child Trafficking: Why Can’t the Immigration Service Prove It?” The paper
points out that the strict standard of evidence, coupled with poorly conducted
investigations, makes it easy for adoption facilitators to skirt the law on child-buying.
International adoption has become an increasingly popular option for building a family.
In 2002, 20,099 children were adopted from overseas, compared with 6,472 children in
1992. Accusations about child trafficking plague international adoptions in Guatemala,
Vietnam, Romania and elsewhere.
In a typical international adoption, the adoptive parents-to-be work with an agency in the
States, which contracts with a facilitator in the child’s home country. The facilitator may
in turn work with various orphanages and hire numerous people to handle such tasks as
processing paperwork. The complexity and informality of the arrangements can make it
difficult to tell who’s working with whom. Under U.S. law, agents working for the
adoptive parents may not give the birth family money, except for reasonable expenses.
Before the child can immigrate to the United States, the U.S. Consulate must issue the
child a visa. In cases where there are allegations of child-buying or other illegalities, the
Consulate may issue a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). The adoptive parents are
allowed to try to rebut the allegations and, if the consular officer still denies the petition,
to take their case to the Immigration Service’s Office of Administrative Appeals.
Page 2
A review of cases available to the public reveals disturbing accounts of birth parents
being paid excessive amounts of money for expenses and making inconsistent statements
to authorities about the sources of the money. And in December of 2001, the United
States placed a moratorium on adoptions from Cambodia because of suspicions of child
trafficking and other illegal activities. Yet a review of hundreds of cases resulted in only
a few being denied. Trish Maskew was a strong advocate for the clearing of the
Cambodian cases. She then learned just how difficult it is for the Immigration Service to
prove child trafficking, leading her to question some current adoption practices and
moving her to establish Ethica.
“It was clear that the adoption community needed an independent voice for ethical
adoption practices—one that is decidedly pro-adoption but has no financial interest in
completing adoption cases,” says Maskew. “There are many good agencies working to
place children honestly and ethically. Unfortunately, those who abuse the system by
exploiting children and taking advantage of destitute birth parents are destroying
adoption as an option for the children of this world who are in need of loving, permanent
families.
“We must all ensure that someone is protecting the children.”
Ethica recommends that BCIS conduct investigations with greater care and that the
agency take a closer look at how narrowly it is interpreting the law regarding standards of
evidence. Adoption agencies and parents must also do their share, says Maskew, by
being willing to “ask the hard questions.”
Ethica has posted a copy of the position paper and information about intercountry
adoption and the statutes governing it on its Web site, www.ethicanet.org
Child trafficking disguised as adoption
Posted: March 12, 2007
1:00 am Eastern
© 2008
In just the past two weeks, international child trafficking has been the subject of many news stories:
* Recently, a woman in Colorado was charged with selling her 5-month old son to a couple for $1,500, part of which allegedly was used as the down payment on a used car.
* During the president's present swing through Latin America, he will visit Guatemala, one of the top sources for adoptive babies and corruption in baby trafficking.
* The government of Denmark is putting into action a four-year plan to combat trafficking into its country, with children as a focus.
* The minister for justice in Ireland announced that he would close the loopholes in children sexual exploitation and trafficking laws.
* UNICEF and Naif Arab University for Security Sciences hosted a seminar addressing issues regarding child exploitation, near a major trafficking intersection ? the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
* In India, thousands of people started marching to Delhi, calling upon the Indian government to create laws prohibiting child trafficking.
What many people don't know is that it is relatively easy for traffickers to abduct children, as they are often allured from poverty, troubled families or the lack of parental care. Even in cases where parents are present, traffickers often sway them by promising a better life, education and future for their child(ren). Some parents are economically pressured to sell one child just to feed the rest of their family.
Once in a foreign environment, the boys and girls are easily intimidated into an endless cycle of forced labor, begging, servitude, pornography, prostitution, etc.
The progress and pangs of child labor
The good news is, according to the latest report (May 2006) of the International Labor Organization, "the number of child laborers globally fell by 11 percent" between 2000 and 2004. Moreover, the number of children in hazardous work conditions decreased by 26 percent. (If that pace of decline were to continue, the worst forms of child labor could be virtually eliminated by 2016!) The difficult news, however, is that, of the more than 300 million economically active children between the ages 5-17, roughly 50 million of them (ages 5-14) are still working in harmful environments.
Human Rights Watch notes these unsafe labor conditions include dangerous agriculture workplaces, bonded child labor (in which a family receives as little as $15 to hand over a child for forced labor), compulsory recruitment for armed conflict, forced prostitution or pornography, the illegal drug trade or other unlawful activities.
Children not commodities of international trade
Of all the ways children are trafficked, however, one of the most undetected remains through international adoption, which has been on the rise for years, from 6,472 in 1992 to 22,728 in 2005 in the U.S. alone.
While parents around the globe are presented with opportunities to rescue orphans from impoverished backgrounds, many adoptions are inadvertently masking and perpetuating the dark world of child trafficking. Prospective parents must beware that just because visas are issued doesn't mean the child is not a victim of the adoptive market. Child trafficking is not just a sexual and labor trade ? it's pro-adoption, too!
Understanding the challenges and corruption here, the Hague Conference on Private International Law back in 1995 initiated the "Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption," which has been ratified now by over 70 countries, but still has far to go for global acceptance.
Search, rescue and restore
You can help to continue to decrease the numbers of victims of child trafficking. Here are a couple ways you can do something today.
* Raise awareness of child trafficking by e-mailing or encouraging at least one other person to read the information in this article. If it can help save one child, why not send a link to all your e-mail addresses? (Tell them "Chuck told me to!")
* Contact your governmental representatives and encourage them to advocate complete global ratification for international conventions and laws prohibiting child trafficking.
* Be wise about international adoption, using reputable agencies.
* Do not buy goods produced by child labor or from those who violate such labor laws.
* For immediate resources, confidential help or to report a possible victim of child trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which connects victims of trafficking to local non-government organizations who can help, by calling 1-888-3737-888 or e-mailing them.
C. Herbert Woolston (1856-1927) wrote some timeless truths in a classic hymn, which should also be a universal edict and example for us all:
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
And so should we.
Note:Throughout the month of March, Chuck will be addressing different aspects of the modern slave trade in his weekly column, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Great Britain. Stay tuned next week for Part 4!
1:00 am Eastern
© 2008
In just the past two weeks, international child trafficking has been the subject of many news stories:
* Recently, a woman in Colorado was charged with selling her 5-month old son to a couple for $1,500, part of which allegedly was used as the down payment on a used car.
* During the president's present swing through Latin America, he will visit Guatemala, one of the top sources for adoptive babies and corruption in baby trafficking.
* The government of Denmark is putting into action a four-year plan to combat trafficking into its country, with children as a focus.
* The minister for justice in Ireland announced that he would close the loopholes in children sexual exploitation and trafficking laws.
* UNICEF and Naif Arab University for Security Sciences hosted a seminar addressing issues regarding child exploitation, near a major trafficking intersection ? the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
* In India, thousands of people started marching to Delhi, calling upon the Indian government to create laws prohibiting child trafficking.
What many people don't know is that it is relatively easy for traffickers to abduct children, as they are often allured from poverty, troubled families or the lack of parental care. Even in cases where parents are present, traffickers often sway them by promising a better life, education and future for their child(ren). Some parents are economically pressured to sell one child just to feed the rest of their family.
Once in a foreign environment, the boys and girls are easily intimidated into an endless cycle of forced labor, begging, servitude, pornography, prostitution, etc.
The progress and pangs of child labor
The good news is, according to the latest report (May 2006) of the International Labor Organization, "the number of child laborers globally fell by 11 percent" between 2000 and 2004. Moreover, the number of children in hazardous work conditions decreased by 26 percent. (If that pace of decline were to continue, the worst forms of child labor could be virtually eliminated by 2016!) The difficult news, however, is that, of the more than 300 million economically active children between the ages 5-17, roughly 50 million of them (ages 5-14) are still working in harmful environments.
Human Rights Watch notes these unsafe labor conditions include dangerous agriculture workplaces, bonded child labor (in which a family receives as little as $15 to hand over a child for forced labor), compulsory recruitment for armed conflict, forced prostitution or pornography, the illegal drug trade or other unlawful activities.
Children not commodities of international trade
Of all the ways children are trafficked, however, one of the most undetected remains through international adoption, which has been on the rise for years, from 6,472 in 1992 to 22,728 in 2005 in the U.S. alone.
While parents around the globe are presented with opportunities to rescue orphans from impoverished backgrounds, many adoptions are inadvertently masking and perpetuating the dark world of child trafficking. Prospective parents must beware that just because visas are issued doesn't mean the child is not a victim of the adoptive market. Child trafficking is not just a sexual and labor trade ? it's pro-adoption, too!
Understanding the challenges and corruption here, the Hague Conference on Private International Law back in 1995 initiated the "Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption," which has been ratified now by over 70 countries, but still has far to go for global acceptance.
Search, rescue and restore
You can help to continue to decrease the numbers of victims of child trafficking. Here are a couple ways you can do something today.
* Raise awareness of child trafficking by e-mailing or encouraging at least one other person to read the information in this article. If it can help save one child, why not send a link to all your e-mail addresses? (Tell them "Chuck told me to!")
* Contact your governmental representatives and encourage them to advocate complete global ratification for international conventions and laws prohibiting child trafficking.
* Be wise about international adoption, using reputable agencies.
* Do not buy goods produced by child labor or from those who violate such labor laws.
* For immediate resources, confidential help or to report a possible victim of child trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which connects victims of trafficking to local non-government organizations who can help, by calling 1-888-3737-888 or e-mailing them.
C. Herbert Woolston (1856-1927) wrote some timeless truths in a classic hymn, which should also be a universal edict and example for us all:
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
And so should we.
Note:Throughout the month of March, Chuck will be addressing different aspects of the modern slave trade in his weekly column, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Great Britain. Stay tuned next week for Part 4!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
UTAH ADOPTION STOMPS ON FATHER’S RIGHTS
http://www.babyselling.com/
Cody wants nothing more than to be a father. He is currently in a legal battle with the Adoption Center of Choice in Orem Utah to protect that right.
Cody and Ashley conceived a child together in the fall of 2005. When Ashley told him of her pregnancy Cody made it very clear he wanted her to keep the child. (Cody was under the impression Ashley was contemplating abortion.)
Cody said he would take care of her financially and provide her with a place to live if her family kicked her out due to her pregnancy. Ashley had told him her family was going to “disown” her. Cody stressed at the time he was intent on raising the child.
Cody wants nothing more than to be a father. He is currently in a legal battle with the Adoption Center of Choice in Orem Utah to protect that right.
Cody and Ashley conceived a child together in the fall of 2005. When Ashley told him of her pregnancy Cody made it very clear he wanted her to keep the child. (Cody was under the impression Ashley was contemplating abortion.)
Cody said he would take care of her financially and provide her with a place to live if her family kicked her out due to her pregnancy. Ashley had told him her family was going to “disown” her. Cody stressed at the time he was intent on raising the child.
McCain: Drugs and Adoption
Like most people, I had forgotten that McCain had adopted a child. Running for presidency and getting little news... I hadn't thought about it until I happened upon the information by accident at the Resist Racism Blog
I had also forgotten the history. I also had no idea that Cindy McCain had done drugs.
Cindy McCain: Bush Spread Rumors That John Fathered Black Child Out of Wedlock
.... "Leading up to the 2000 South Carolina Republican presidential primary, opponents spread false rumors that John McCain had fathered his then-7-year-old daughter out of wedlock with a black mother. In fact, the McCains adopted Bridget from Bangladesh in 1991."...
Rumor or no, this girl has a right to know her heritage and her family. If John McCain is NOT her father, then perhaps they could take a trip to Bangladesh and let her meet her real family.
Although, I don't know, John, she kinda has your nose and eyes...
2007
Drug addiction?
... "I believe she wore red that day. She granted semi-exclusive interviews to one TV station and three daily newspaper reporters in Arizona, tearfully recalling her addiction, which came about after painful back and knee problems and was exacerbated by the stress of the Keating Five banking scandal that had ensnared her husband. To make matters worse, McCain admitted, she had stolen the drugs from the American Voluntary Medical Team, her own charity, and had been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration."
We'll just lightly dust over the Keating Five banking scandal that John McCain was involved in.
I had also forgotten the history. I also had no idea that Cindy McCain had done drugs.
Cindy McCain: Bush Spread Rumors That John Fathered Black Child Out of Wedlock
.... "Leading up to the 2000 South Carolina Republican presidential primary, opponents spread false rumors that John McCain had fathered his then-7-year-old daughter out of wedlock with a black mother. In fact, the McCains adopted Bridget from Bangladesh in 1991."...
Rumor or no, this girl has a right to know her heritage and her family. If John McCain is NOT her father, then perhaps they could take a trip to Bangladesh and let her meet her real family.
Although, I don't know, John, she kinda has your nose and eyes...
2007
Drug addiction?
... "I believe she wore red that day. She granted semi-exclusive interviews to one TV station and three daily newspaper reporters in Arizona, tearfully recalling her addiction, which came about after painful back and knee problems and was exacerbated by the stress of the Keating Five banking scandal that had ensnared her husband. To make matters worse, McCain admitted, she had stolen the drugs from the American Voluntary Medical Team, her own charity, and had been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration."
We'll just lightly dust over the Keating Five banking scandal that John McCain was involved in.
Adoption Kool-aid? Me??
One of the advantages of short term memory loss, is that I actually don't remember having spewed out the raspberry red kool-aid that had been injected into my IV while in the hospital.
My situation was obviously coercive. Lawyer (Michael Shorstein) and Agency Director (Kathleen Stevens) coming into my room the day after my daughter was born, not leaving until I signed papers, and not taking no for an answer.
"But, I want to keep my daughter"
"I do not know any services available to allow you to do so."
"You need to pick an adoptive family, who are financially and emotionally stable."
Financially, yes. Emotionally stable? FAT CHANCE.
Even so, because I received a picture here and there for three years, I would say that I "chose" adoption. That, really, this was the best for my daughter. Even though there was strong evidence that her adopters were liars and crazy. "Yes, we'll call you from the hospital when we pick her up, and you can say goodbye" - direct lie, no phone call ever.
In 2002, when my baby was just four, I was spewing the kool-aid crap to my current partner. Of course, he even realizes that the reason why... was because I had to believe it. Because I had to think of them in good light, so that I might get another picture. If I showed any sign of being not grateful for adoption, they might stop.
But, like the abusers story, the reason they stopped had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with them. Because, they are liars and abusers.
And, even though I received nothing from them, between 2001 and 2004, still I had hope. And, when the agency found them in 2004, and I received an album from them, in April, my daughter's birthday, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I knew they had never meant to keep the adoption open. They did not respond to any of my questions, they continued to evade the whole, "I want to make you comfortable, how often would you commit to sending me pictures and updates" question. They just paraded about how smart my daughter was, what her favorite color, food, and so on was. I knew it was superficial. But still I tried...
And when I sent them a letter again in the fall of 2004, and Kathleen stated, "I'm sorry, Heather, they moved again. I'm unwilling to search for them again. Dana is obviously insecure, and does not intend to be in an open relationship."
That was when I vomited up all of the kool-aid, and began my crusade against the adoption industry. Starting off, with helping my friend Allison Quets to fight against them to try to get her babies back. Because, Shorstein had coerced her, too.
My situation was obviously coercive. Lawyer (Michael Shorstein) and Agency Director (Kathleen Stevens) coming into my room the day after my daughter was born, not leaving until I signed papers, and not taking no for an answer.
"But, I want to keep my daughter"
"I do not know any services available to allow you to do so."
"You need to pick an adoptive family, who are financially and emotionally stable."
Financially, yes. Emotionally stable? FAT CHANCE.
Even so, because I received a picture here and there for three years, I would say that I "chose" adoption. That, really, this was the best for my daughter. Even though there was strong evidence that her adopters were liars and crazy. "Yes, we'll call you from the hospital when we pick her up, and you can say goodbye" - direct lie, no phone call ever.
In 2002, when my baby was just four, I was spewing the kool-aid crap to my current partner. Of course, he even realizes that the reason why... was because I had to believe it. Because I had to think of them in good light, so that I might get another picture. If I showed any sign of being not grateful for adoption, they might stop.
But, like the abusers story, the reason they stopped had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with them. Because, they are liars and abusers.
And, even though I received nothing from them, between 2001 and 2004, still I had hope. And, when the agency found them in 2004, and I received an album from them, in April, my daughter's birthday, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I knew they had never meant to keep the adoption open. They did not respond to any of my questions, they continued to evade the whole, "I want to make you comfortable, how often would you commit to sending me pictures and updates" question. They just paraded about how smart my daughter was, what her favorite color, food, and so on was. I knew it was superficial. But still I tried...
And when I sent them a letter again in the fall of 2004, and Kathleen stated, "I'm sorry, Heather, they moved again. I'm unwilling to search for them again. Dana is obviously insecure, and does not intend to be in an open relationship."
That was when I vomited up all of the kool-aid, and began my crusade against the adoption industry. Starting off, with helping my friend Allison Quets to fight against them to try to get her babies back. Because, Shorstein had coerced her, too.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Birth parent counseling too rare in real life
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum02junosbmar02,0,717799.story
March 2, 2008
By Eileen McQuade
It's so easy to laugh at the comedy in Juno, as larger and larger audiences are doing.
Juno is clever, sassy, hip, cute and witty. Some of us have a different film experience, though, because we have walked in Juno's shoes. We see the pain behind the smiles.
When I was in high school, we shunned the "unwed mothers" — low class, uneducated and trampy-looking, we assumed. They obviously had to pay for their sins, and thankfully, there was a system of social service agencies available to rescue the babies from girls unfit to mother because they were unmarried. Pregnant girls were banished from home and school, often institutionalized in "maternity homes" and advised to forget the children they bore.
We are more enlightened now, we think. Social mores changed, and so has adoption. Unregulated, for-profit practitioners advertise "adoption planning" on the Web. Cash flows freely, and unenforceable promises are made. Adoption has evolved to a multimillion-dollar industry.
So what has changed? Maybe the process, but not the realities. Even the quick-witted Juno admits, "I'm dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." She has no advocate, no counseling, and the adoption attorney clearly represents the prospective adoptive parents. In a dazzling few minutes, she chooses parents for her child and opts for a closed adoption, and no one blinks an eye.
March 2, 2008
By Eileen McQuade
It's so easy to laugh at the comedy in Juno, as larger and larger audiences are doing.
Juno is clever, sassy, hip, cute and witty. Some of us have a different film experience, though, because we have walked in Juno's shoes. We see the pain behind the smiles.
When I was in high school, we shunned the "unwed mothers" — low class, uneducated and trampy-looking, we assumed. They obviously had to pay for their sins, and thankfully, there was a system of social service agencies available to rescue the babies from girls unfit to mother because they were unmarried. Pregnant girls were banished from home and school, often institutionalized in "maternity homes" and advised to forget the children they bore.
We are more enlightened now, we think. Social mores changed, and so has adoption. Unregulated, for-profit practitioners advertise "adoption planning" on the Web. Cash flows freely, and unenforceable promises are made. Adoption has evolved to a multimillion-dollar industry.
So what has changed? Maybe the process, but not the realities. Even the quick-witted Juno admits, "I'm dealing with things way beyond my maturity level." She has no advocate, no counseling, and the adoption attorney clearly represents the prospective adoptive parents. In a dazzling few minutes, she chooses parents for her child and opts for a closed adoption, and no one blinks an eye.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Privileges
Taken from Convince Me's Blog
From: What Privileges Do You Have? - based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. (If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.)
Directions: Bold the statements that apply to you.
1. Father went to college.
2. Father finished college.
3. Mother went to college.
4. Mother finished college. *
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.**
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 assuming that sport counts.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 assuming that sport counts.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs.
16. Went to a private high school.
17. Went to summer camp.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
25. You had your own room as a child. ***
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family.
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. ****
*My mother went to school to become an RN (4 year degree), but only got her associates, and was thereafter a CNA (Associates Degree)
**I was in remedial reading, so we had to do this project where my mom helped me read over the summer to keep me from failing.
*** I was an only child, so most of my childhood I had my own room. However, in 3rd, 4th, and 1/2 of 8th grade, I shared a room with my mother in a one bedroom apartment.
**** I wasn't aware exactly, of the price of heating bills... however, I remember that in 3rd and 4th grade we lived in an apartment where our heat was paid for. However, the lanlord was a bastard and put the thermostat in a room where no one lived. So, our heat was pretty miniscule, and I would sit on the furnace when it came on because I was so cold. I ended up with a tic tac toe board shape on my stomach because it burned me. Because, it was the only way I could stay warm. My mother called the department of Health and the lanlord was fined and the management switched over after. We then moved out.
Also, my father did buy a house. However, he refused to pay child support for the majority of my elementary and middle school years in order to get it. And, it wasn't anything to brag about. It was a 2 bedroom house, well water, no cable, it did have electricity, and the heating was a wood stove. It was very modest, but I liked it. We lived in the woods.
From: What Privileges Do You Have? - based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. (If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.)
Directions: Bold the statements that apply to you.
1. Father went to college.
2. Father finished college.
3. Mother went to college.
4. Mother finished college. *
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.**
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 assuming that sport counts.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 assuming that sport counts.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs.
16. Went to a private high school.
17. Went to summer camp.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
25. You had your own room as a child. ***
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course.
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family.
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family. ****
*My mother went to school to become an RN (4 year degree), but only got her associates, and was thereafter a CNA (Associates Degree)
**I was in remedial reading, so we had to do this project where my mom helped me read over the summer to keep me from failing.
*** I was an only child, so most of my childhood I had my own room. However, in 3rd, 4th, and 1/2 of 8th grade, I shared a room with my mother in a one bedroom apartment.
**** I wasn't aware exactly, of the price of heating bills... however, I remember that in 3rd and 4th grade we lived in an apartment where our heat was paid for. However, the lanlord was a bastard and put the thermostat in a room where no one lived. So, our heat was pretty miniscule, and I would sit on the furnace when it came on because I was so cold. I ended up with a tic tac toe board shape on my stomach because it burned me. Because, it was the only way I could stay warm. My mother called the department of Health and the lanlord was fined and the management switched over after. We then moved out.
Also, my father did buy a house. However, he refused to pay child support for the majority of my elementary and middle school years in order to get it. And, it wasn't anything to brag about. It was a 2 bedroom house, well water, no cable, it did have electricity, and the heating was a wood stove. It was very modest, but I liked it. We lived in the woods.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Petition By Allison Quets
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Unseal-And-Reveal
Support Accountability & Reveal The TRUTH!
Target:
District Court, State of Florida, USA
Sponsored by:
Allison Quets
I firmly believe in my heart and soul that mothers and children belong together and should not be separated except in rare, extreme circumstances. My precious twins belong with the one mother perfectly chosen by God, and that is the mother who carried these babies in her womb and delivered them. I, my son, and my daughter have a bond that should be honored and preserved, as well as a fundamental constitutional right to be a permanent family.
Conceiving and carrying my children was a monumental effort. At about 14 weeks, I developed complications and suffered everyday with a severe and debilitating illness known as hyperemesis gravidarum. I only gained 10 lbs during the entire twin pregnancy and required an intravenous feeding tube and liquid IV nutrition in order to survive and deliver two term babies. At delivery, I was weak, depleted, exhausted, sleep deprived, traumatized, and very, very ill. Hence, I was neither strong enough nor healthy enough to recognize and oppose the forces seeking to destroy my precious family.
It is my desire that all the records related to this case be opened immediately. The court case consists of expert witness testimony, the testimony of the parties involved, the process used to separate me from my children, and the methods used to obtain my signature. Essentially, it is the conduct of the adults that was investigated during the 9 day trial in Florida, not the best interests of my children; the children were mentioned infrequently.
Additionally, the constitutionality of Florida statutes was argued, and the applicability of federal law was debated. These issues remain unresolved. With sealed records, there is no accountability of the parties involved, and no chance to protect my family's rights, no chance for anyone to protect his/her rights if they are ignored.
Unsealing these records would reveal the truth of this case and ensure justice to all involved. The privacy of the children would not be impacted in any way. Someday, Tyler and Holly will see the record as it is part of their history.
Secrecy breeds deceit and deceit breeds corruption and greed. The result is damage, pain, and hardship. Tyler and Holly should be spared the unnecessary grief and trauma imposed by severing our relationship without cause. Publicizing the truth would force the courts to finally consider the best interests of my children, not that of those profiting from this arrangement.
If you support the unsealing of these records, the accountability of the professionals involved, and the protection of family rights, please sign this petition.
For more information on my case, please visit my Web site:
www.TylerAndHolly.info
Support Accountability & Reveal The TRUTH!
Target:
District Court, State of Florida, USA
Sponsored by:
Allison Quets
I firmly believe in my heart and soul that mothers and children belong together and should not be separated except in rare, extreme circumstances. My precious twins belong with the one mother perfectly chosen by God, and that is the mother who carried these babies in her womb and delivered them. I, my son, and my daughter have a bond that should be honored and preserved, as well as a fundamental constitutional right to be a permanent family.
Conceiving and carrying my children was a monumental effort. At about 14 weeks, I developed complications and suffered everyday with a severe and debilitating illness known as hyperemesis gravidarum. I only gained 10 lbs during the entire twin pregnancy and required an intravenous feeding tube and liquid IV nutrition in order to survive and deliver two term babies. At delivery, I was weak, depleted, exhausted, sleep deprived, traumatized, and very, very ill. Hence, I was neither strong enough nor healthy enough to recognize and oppose the forces seeking to destroy my precious family.
It is my desire that all the records related to this case be opened immediately. The court case consists of expert witness testimony, the testimony of the parties involved, the process used to separate me from my children, and the methods used to obtain my signature. Essentially, it is the conduct of the adults that was investigated during the 9 day trial in Florida, not the best interests of my children; the children were mentioned infrequently.
Additionally, the constitutionality of Florida statutes was argued, and the applicability of federal law was debated. These issues remain unresolved. With sealed records, there is no accountability of the parties involved, and no chance to protect my family's rights, no chance for anyone to protect his/her rights if they are ignored.
Unsealing these records would reveal the truth of this case and ensure justice to all involved. The privacy of the children would not be impacted in any way. Someday, Tyler and Holly will see the record as it is part of their history.
Secrecy breeds deceit and deceit breeds corruption and greed. The result is damage, pain, and hardship. Tyler and Holly should be spared the unnecessary grief and trauma imposed by severing our relationship without cause. Publicizing the truth would force the courts to finally consider the best interests of my children, not that of those profiting from this arrangement.
If you support the unsealing of these records, the accountability of the professionals involved, and the protection of family rights, please sign this petition.
For more information on my case, please visit my Web site:
www.TylerAndHolly.info
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Remember Charlie Crist?
Remember Charlie Crist? He is the current governor of Florida, and was found to be an illegitimate father. He denied that he was the father and signed papers releasing his daughter for adoption.
Well, now apparently he is on the short list for McCain for Vice President, if McCain wins the primaries for the Republican Party. Patriarchy at its best.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/02/27/zarrella.florida.politics.cnn
Well, now apparently he is on the short list for McCain for Vice President, if McCain wins the primaries for the Republican Party. Patriarchy at its best.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/02/27/zarrella.florida.politics.cnn
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Adoptee Sues Parents for Kidnapping
Poll Results
Is Sampallo right to sue her adoptive parents?
Yes
76% 49,162
No
24% 15,691
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/adoptee-sues-parents-for-kidnapping/20080219193809990001
Adoptee Sues Parents for Kidnapping
By MAYRA PERTOSSI,
AP
Posted: 2008-02-20 07:04:04
Filed Under: World News
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Feb. 19) - A 30-year-old woman is suing her adoptive parents for kidnapping in a case that opened in an Argentine court Tuesday, becoming the first child of disappeared political prisoners to press such charges.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan accused her adoptive parents Osvaldo Rivas and Maria Cristina Gomez Pinto of falsifying adoption documents to hide her identity. She made no comments on leaving court Tuesday.
Is Sampallo right to sue her adoptive parents?
Yes
76% 49,162
No
24% 15,691
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/adoptee-sues-parents-for-kidnapping/20080219193809990001
Adoptee Sues Parents for Kidnapping
By MAYRA PERTOSSI,
AP
Posted: 2008-02-20 07:04:04
Filed Under: World News
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Feb. 19) - A 30-year-old woman is suing her adoptive parents for kidnapping in a case that opened in an Argentine court Tuesday, becoming the first child of disappeared political prisoners to press such charges.
Maria Eugenia Sampallo Barragan accused her adoptive parents Osvaldo Rivas and Maria Cristina Gomez Pinto of falsifying adoption documents to hide her identity. She made no comments on leaving court Tuesday.
Update
For those of you who wonder about my personal adoption situation...
I recently attempted to contact the adoptive parents of my daughter. I sent it registered certified, so I have a copy of their signed paper receiving my letter. I also have a copy of the cards I sent, and the letters I sent.
I found out that they changed her name, which I know, is common in broken open adoptions. But, it's weird, because whenever they wrote to me, they referred to my daughter by the name I gave her.
They did not respond to my letter at all. Instead, they moved.
It is very emotionally trying on me. But, I am a survivor. And, one day, if my daughter seeks to know me, I will be here.
Addem:
Okay, I just have to say, that it really makes me angry. I mean, they can't even say to me, write to me, or whatever, and say, You know what, we got your daughter, and we hate you, and we don't need you anymore, and whatever else; They just run. They got my letter and they ran. They sold their house a month and a half after getting my letter. There was no indication prior to them leaving, they just busted out. I just don't understand.
And, I know it is not me. I had a bit of an emotional horrid downward spin when it first happened. But, I can breathe now. And, I had half expected this to happen, but expecting it and having it happen in adoption land, two TOTALLY different experiences. So, I just wanted to say, that, yes, I am angry at them for lying, for running and all without any reason. The letter I sent was very kind, very generous, and I had received much support from adoptees, adoptive parents, and first moms. And still, they were scared. Of me? And, I still don't get it. I mean, I kinda do... but I really don't.
The blogging will continue.
I recently attempted to contact the adoptive parents of my daughter. I sent it registered certified, so I have a copy of their signed paper receiving my letter. I also have a copy of the cards I sent, and the letters I sent.
I found out that they changed her name, which I know, is common in broken open adoptions. But, it's weird, because whenever they wrote to me, they referred to my daughter by the name I gave her.
They did not respond to my letter at all. Instead, they moved.
It is very emotionally trying on me. But, I am a survivor. And, one day, if my daughter seeks to know me, I will be here.
Addem:
Okay, I just have to say, that it really makes me angry. I mean, they can't even say to me, write to me, or whatever, and say, You know what, we got your daughter, and we hate you, and we don't need you anymore, and whatever else; They just run. They got my letter and they ran. They sold their house a month and a half after getting my letter. There was no indication prior to them leaving, they just busted out. I just don't understand.
And, I know it is not me. I had a bit of an emotional horrid downward spin when it first happened. But, I can breathe now. And, I had half expected this to happen, but expecting it and having it happen in adoption land, two TOTALLY different experiences. So, I just wanted to say, that, yes, I am angry at them for lying, for running and all without any reason. The letter I sent was very kind, very generous, and I had received much support from adoptees, adoptive parents, and first moms. And still, they were scared. Of me? And, I still don't get it. I mean, I kinda do... but I really don't.
The blogging will continue.
Save Amber James
Save Amber James
Victim of ACS Brutality
Kidnapped from her Loving Family by a Racist ACS Criminal
All based on Lies and Fabrications
She has been Traumatized & Abused while being Held Captive by her Enslavers
This abuse is done with the Complicity of the profit-driven Foster Care agency St Vincent, the so-called Law Guardian from the Legal Aid Society, and the biased, racist and anti-family Judge Marybeth Richroath. They are a Nest of Anti-Children & Anti-Family Vipers
Foster Care = Slavery
It Violates the 13th Amendment
It Can not be Reformed, It Must be Abolished
There are 17,000 Captives Children in Foster Care:
98% of Them Black & Latino, less than 1% White
Come to Queens Supreme Court in Support of the Freedom of this Innocent 6 years old Black Child
Writ of Habeaus Corpus on Behalf on Amber James
Her Mother Vanessa James will make the Oral Arguments.
Let's Fill the Courtroom, We will have a Rally and Press Conference outside the Court right after the Oral Presentation
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 @ 9:00am
Queens Supreme Court, Judge J. O'Donoghue – Part 13
88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432
(Train E, F to Sutphin Blvd in Queens)
Victim of ACS Brutality
Kidnapped from her Loving Family by a Racist ACS Criminal
All based on Lies and Fabrications
She has been Traumatized & Abused while being Held Captive by her Enslavers
This abuse is done with the Complicity of the profit-driven Foster Care agency St Vincent, the so-called Law Guardian from the Legal Aid Society, and the biased, racist and anti-family Judge Marybeth Richroath. They are a Nest of Anti-Children & Anti-Family Vipers
Foster Care = Slavery
It Violates the 13th Amendment
It Can not be Reformed, It Must be Abolished
There are 17,000 Captives Children in Foster Care:
98% of Them Black & Latino, less than 1% White
Come to Queens Supreme Court in Support of the Freedom of this Innocent 6 years old Black Child
Writ of Habeaus Corpus on Behalf on Amber James
Her Mother Vanessa James will make the Oral Arguments.
Let's Fill the Courtroom, We will have a Rally and Press Conference outside the Court right after the Oral Presentation
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 @ 9:00am
Queens Supreme Court, Judge J. O'Donoghue – Part 13
88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432
(Train E, F to Sutphin Blvd in Queens)
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Judge says adoptive parents hid pregnancy
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/02/16/news/nebraska/c083ed00ab05ad7e862573f10013a2b2.txt
OMAHA (AP) -- A judge has ordered a couple to return a baby boy they were trying to adopt, saying the couple should have revealed that the woman was pregnant during the adoption process.
Judge Patrick Rogers of Knox County District Court said the parents trying to adopt the boy, Jason and Angela Vesely, were not honest with the adoption agency.
And Rogers said the Veselys violated the trust of the 22-year-old biological mother, Megan Lynn Morgan of Sutherland. Morgan stopped supporting the placement because it would have violated conditions she set for the adoption.
"They should have, at the very least, understood that the fact that Angela was pregnant was a fundamental change in their circumstances and that it impacted their relationship with the relator (Nebraska Children's Home) and the birth mother, and they needed to disclose that fact," Rogers wrote.
The ruling was filed Friday morning, but it was actually issued late Thursday.
"It was absolutely the best Valentine present that one could ever hope for," said attorney P. Stephen Potter, who represented the biological mother and her family. "They were just really pleased the system had worked."
The 3-month-old boy's mother has said she wanted her son to be an only child with the adoptive family and that she wanted an open adoption.
Potter said Megan Morgan's mom asked the Veselys whether Angela was pregnant during an adoption interview last fall.
"She was informed, 'Oh no, she's just a little chubby,' when in fact, she was pregnant," Potter said.
Rogers said in his ruling that the Veselys' pregnancy wasn't a surprise, because they used in vitro fertilization to create it, and they knew she was pregnant in July.
The agency confronted the Veselys after finding out that Angela was pregnant in December, and the Veselys were told they had to return the boy.
Instead, the couple turned to the courts, and they were granted emergency guardianship of the baby. Judge Rogers' ruling granted a motion the agency had filed asking the judge to order the Veselys to turn over the baby.
"We're just really devastated," Jason Vesely said to the Norfolk Daily News.
He would not comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
Earlier, Angela Vesely, 32, had said she planned to tell the biological mother, Megan Lynn Morgan of Sutherland, and a caseworker about her pregnancy but was waiting because she had miscarried three children previously.
Jason Vesely has said his wife was more than four months pregnant when the agency assigned the child to them. They applied to adopt in 2005.
Nebraska Children's Home Society executive director Karen Authier praised the judge's ruling.
"We believe the judge showed wisdom and understanding of the adoption process," Authier said in a statement. "His decision reflects careful consideration of the long-term needs of the child and safeguards the adoption process."
Potter said the biological mother and her family don't believe the problems with this adoption were the Nebraska Children's Home's fault.
The agency's eligibility requirements state that couples with children under 18 months cannot apply to adopt children from the agency. And couples must wait until their own children are 2 years old before the agency will place a child with them.
The baby had been living with the Veselys in Verdigre, in northeast Nebraska, since four days after he was born in North Platte.
The agency plans to place the boy with the biological mother's parents. Potter said that should happen sometime Friday afternoon if all goes according to plan.
The boy will be known as Brett Jonathan Morgan, and not Morgan Jason Vesely, once he is placed with the Morgans.
The biological mother had also filed a separate lawsuit in Lincoln County asking a judge to invalidate the original adoption agreement she signed with the Nebraska Children's Home Society and grant her permanent custody. Potter said the Morgans had not decided what to do about that case yet, but it will likely be dropped.
OMAHA (AP) -- A judge has ordered a couple to return a baby boy they were trying to adopt, saying the couple should have revealed that the woman was pregnant during the adoption process.
Judge Patrick Rogers of Knox County District Court said the parents trying to adopt the boy, Jason and Angela Vesely, were not honest with the adoption agency.
And Rogers said the Veselys violated the trust of the 22-year-old biological mother, Megan Lynn Morgan of Sutherland. Morgan stopped supporting the placement because it would have violated conditions she set for the adoption.
"They should have, at the very least, understood that the fact that Angela was pregnant was a fundamental change in their circumstances and that it impacted their relationship with the relator (Nebraska Children's Home) and the birth mother, and they needed to disclose that fact," Rogers wrote.
The ruling was filed Friday morning, but it was actually issued late Thursday.
"It was absolutely the best Valentine present that one could ever hope for," said attorney P. Stephen Potter, who represented the biological mother and her family. "They were just really pleased the system had worked."
The 3-month-old boy's mother has said she wanted her son to be an only child with the adoptive family and that she wanted an open adoption.
Potter said Megan Morgan's mom asked the Veselys whether Angela was pregnant during an adoption interview last fall.
"She was informed, 'Oh no, she's just a little chubby,' when in fact, she was pregnant," Potter said.
Rogers said in his ruling that the Veselys' pregnancy wasn't a surprise, because they used in vitro fertilization to create it, and they knew she was pregnant in July.
The agency confronted the Veselys after finding out that Angela was pregnant in December, and the Veselys were told they had to return the boy.
Instead, the couple turned to the courts, and they were granted emergency guardianship of the baby. Judge Rogers' ruling granted a motion the agency had filed asking the judge to order the Veselys to turn over the baby.
"We're just really devastated," Jason Vesely said to the Norfolk Daily News.
He would not comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
Earlier, Angela Vesely, 32, had said she planned to tell the biological mother, Megan Lynn Morgan of Sutherland, and a caseworker about her pregnancy but was waiting because she had miscarried three children previously.
Jason Vesely has said his wife was more than four months pregnant when the agency assigned the child to them. They applied to adopt in 2005.
Nebraska Children's Home Society executive director Karen Authier praised the judge's ruling.
"We believe the judge showed wisdom and understanding of the adoption process," Authier said in a statement. "His decision reflects careful consideration of the long-term needs of the child and safeguards the adoption process."
Potter said the biological mother and her family don't believe the problems with this adoption were the Nebraska Children's Home's fault.
The agency's eligibility requirements state that couples with children under 18 months cannot apply to adopt children from the agency. And couples must wait until their own children are 2 years old before the agency will place a child with them.
The baby had been living with the Veselys in Verdigre, in northeast Nebraska, since four days after he was born in North Platte.
The agency plans to place the boy with the biological mother's parents. Potter said that should happen sometime Friday afternoon if all goes according to plan.
The boy will be known as Brett Jonathan Morgan, and not Morgan Jason Vesely, once he is placed with the Morgans.
The biological mother had also filed a separate lawsuit in Lincoln County asking a judge to invalidate the original adoption agreement she signed with the Nebraska Children's Home Society and grant her permanent custody. Potter said the Morgans had not decided what to do about that case yet, but it will likely be dropped.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
J.A.I.L. Sues Florida Bar
http://www.jail4judges.org/JNJ_Library/2008/2008-02-10.html
J.A.I.L. Sues Florida Bar
in U.S. Supreme Court
On January 7, 2008, a petition for writ of certiorari was docketed in the United States Supreme Court titled Florida JAIL4Judges, Petitioner v. The Florida Bar, Respondent, prepared and filed by Montgomery Blair Sibley, Attorney for Petitioner, on behalf of Florida JAIL4Judges and Florida JAILer-in-Chief (JIC), Nancy Grant.
The background of this lawsuit is quite interesting and goes back to the South Dakota 2006 ballot. For a history see www.sd-jail4judges.org. Therein we explain the shenanigans that went on in South Dakota to misrepresent the J.A.I.L. Amendment before the electorate. As a result, J.A.I.L. went down allegedly 89% against to 11% in favor. Thereafter Attorney Tom Barnett, the Director of the South Dakota Bar Association and leading the opposition campaign rushed down to Florida to address the Florida Bar, bragging on how they "defeated" JAIL4Judges in South Dakota. This event is documented
at http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNNews01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/7a6a21fb7adc02748525725d0057227d?OpenDocument on the Florida Bar website. See The Foreign Power Planting Seeds of Destruction http://www.jail4judges.org/JNJ_Library/2007/2007-01-19B.html.
South Dakotans were eager to get judicial accountability to the People, and J.A.I.L. held a 3 to 1 lead throughout the campaign for over a year. Below is the article about Tom Barnett, who led the campaign against J.A.I.L. in South Dakota, sowing the seeds of deception in Florida, after his claimed "success" in South Dakota. Read it carefully to see the intentional fraud and deceit, amounting to voter intimidation: (See especially portions marked in red)
The Florida Bar
651 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300
(850) 561-5600
January 15, 2007
Despite SD loss, J.A.I.L.4Judges targets Florida
Attorneys urged to be prepared for the fight
By Gary Blankenship
Senior Editor
(Excerpts):
If backers of an amendment known as J.A.I.L.4Judges succeed in getting their constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot, the state’s lawyers should be ready to lead a campaign to defeat it.
The public face of that campaign should not be judges and lawyers, but rather regular citizens who would be adversely affected by the amendment ... Tom Barnett, executive director of the State Bar of South Dakota, gave that advice to the Bar Board of Governors at its December [2007] meeting. Barnett led the campaign last year that resulted in the defeat of a J.A.I.L.4Judges initiative in South Dakota that wound up failing by an 89-to-11 percent margin.
“When we planned our campaign, we immediately decided that the worst people to talk about attacks on judges were judges and the second worst people were lawyers,” Barnett said. “What we needed were people on the street.” ...
The Florida chapter of the organization (its Web site is
http://floridajail4judges.org ) is already trying to get signatures for an initiative petition. It provides that judges and those who act in a judicial capacity can lose immunity from civil and criminal prosecution in some cases. Under the amendment, the losing party in a case, civil or criminal, can file a petition with a special statewide grand jury once all appeals have been exhausted. The grand jury can ... make the judge subject to civil or criminal liability.
...
Barnett said one poll showed that allowing jurors to be sued was opposed by 86 percent of the voters. “It’s a very, very powerful message,” he said. “That’s why we used that.”
...
[T]he anti-amendment campaign was able to get financial and political support from bankers, insurance companies, car dealers, and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and tort reform groups that recognized the potential mayhem from the amendment, Barnett said.
...
He advised the Bar to begin preparing early for the potential campaign, and outlined how the anti-amendment campaign was waged in South Dakota.
...
Early last year when Barnett geared up the campaign against the amendment, initial polls showed that voters had a favorable impression of the measure by a 3-1 to 4-1 margin.
...
With more money, Barnett was able to begin television and radio ads. Those emphasized that convicted criminals could use the amendment to harass jurors and try to get out of jail, ...
© 2005 The Florida Bar
This rhetoric spewed out by Barnett so enraged Florida Bar member Montgomery Sibley that he brought suit against the Florida Bar for illegal and unlawful use of Bar membership dues. The nature of the lawsuit filed in the Florida Supreme Court, which was three-pronged, alleges that any entity that advocates for or against a State Constitutional Amendment must be registered as a Political Action Committee (PAC). Florida JAIL4Judges, pursuant to this law, is an officially-recognized PAC with a State-assigned number. However, its opposition (The Florida Bar) is not. The lawsuit seeks to compel the Florida Bar to comply with Florida law and register as a PAC, albeit pointing out that the Florida Bar is a duly-recognized official arm of the Florida Supreme Court and the second prong is that the Florida Bar is precluded by Florida law from involving itself in State initiatives.
The third prong asks that the seven justices of the State Supreme Court recuse themselves because their own official arm is the defendant. This of course placed the Florida Supreme Court in a real catch-22 situation which they stalled upon ad infinitum, refusing to make a decision on their own conflict. Finally by compulsion the Florida Supreme Court determined that they were not the proper court to decide the question before them. Another motion followed by Attorney Sibley calling on them to decide the question before them or state why they did not have jurisdiction to make a ruling. The motion was denied and the instant matter is now brought before the United States Supreme Court.
The current petition, assigned Case No. 07-885, may be read at http://www.jail4judges.org/state_chapters/fl/Petition.pdf. What we now know is that the entire State of Florida, including its Supreme Court, is incapable of deciding a matter in which it has a conflict of interest. Left to be decided by the United States Supreme Court is whether Florida JAIL4Judges has a forum available to it for redress of grievance (First Amendment, U.S. Constitution). Maybe even more basic is, do we have a U.S. Constitution? We shall soon find out. If in the negative, J.A.I.L. has made a prima facie case to all Americans as to the universal need for the passage of J.A.I.L. in this country. We ask, without J.A.I.L. does America even have a future?
The national media, to which this is being sent, should be very interested in following this case.
-Ron Branson-
J.A.I.L. Sues Florida Bar
in U.S. Supreme Court
On January 7, 2008, a petition for writ of certiorari was docketed in the United States Supreme Court titled Florida JAIL4Judges, Petitioner v. The Florida Bar, Respondent, prepared and filed by Montgomery Blair Sibley, Attorney for Petitioner, on behalf of Florida JAIL4Judges and Florida JAILer-in-Chief (JIC), Nancy Grant.
The background of this lawsuit is quite interesting and goes back to the South Dakota 2006 ballot. For a history see www.sd-jail4judges.org. Therein we explain the shenanigans that went on in South Dakota to misrepresent the J.A.I.L. Amendment before the electorate. As a result, J.A.I.L. went down allegedly 89% against to 11% in favor. Thereafter Attorney Tom Barnett, the Director of the South Dakota Bar Association and leading the opposition campaign rushed down to Florida to address the Florida Bar, bragging on how they "defeated" JAIL4Judges in South Dakota. This event is documented
at http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNNews01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/7a6a21fb7adc02748525725d0057227d?OpenDocument on the Florida Bar website. See The Foreign Power Planting Seeds of Destruction http://www.jail4judges.org/JNJ_Library/2007/2007-01-19B.html.
South Dakotans were eager to get judicial accountability to the People, and J.A.I.L. held a 3 to 1 lead throughout the campaign for over a year. Below is the article about Tom Barnett, who led the campaign against J.A.I.L. in South Dakota, sowing the seeds of deception in Florida, after his claimed "success" in South Dakota. Read it carefully to see the intentional fraud and deceit, amounting to voter intimidation: (See especially portions marked in red)
The Florida Bar
651 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300
(850) 561-5600
January 15, 2007
Despite SD loss, J.A.I.L.4Judges targets Florida
Attorneys urged to be prepared for the fight
By Gary Blankenship
Senior Editor
(Excerpts):
If backers of an amendment known as J.A.I.L.4Judges succeed in getting their constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot, the state’s lawyers should be ready to lead a campaign to defeat it.
The public face of that campaign should not be judges and lawyers, but rather regular citizens who would be adversely affected by the amendment ... Tom Barnett, executive director of the State Bar of South Dakota, gave that advice to the Bar Board of Governors at its December [2007] meeting. Barnett led the campaign last year that resulted in the defeat of a J.A.I.L.4Judges initiative in South Dakota that wound up failing by an 89-to-11 percent margin.
“When we planned our campaign, we immediately decided that the worst people to talk about attacks on judges were judges and the second worst people were lawyers,” Barnett said. “What we needed were people on the street.” ...
The Florida chapter of the organization (its Web site is
http://floridajail4judges.org ) is already trying to get signatures for an initiative petition. It provides that judges and those who act in a judicial capacity can lose immunity from civil and criminal prosecution in some cases. Under the amendment, the losing party in a case, civil or criminal, can file a petition with a special statewide grand jury once all appeals have been exhausted. The grand jury can ... make the judge subject to civil or criminal liability.
...
Barnett said one poll showed that allowing jurors to be sued was opposed by 86 percent of the voters. “It’s a very, very powerful message,” he said. “That’s why we used that.”
...
[T]he anti-amendment campaign was able to get financial and political support from bankers, insurance companies, car dealers, and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and tort reform groups that recognized the potential mayhem from the amendment, Barnett said.
...
He advised the Bar to begin preparing early for the potential campaign, and outlined how the anti-amendment campaign was waged in South Dakota.
...
Early last year when Barnett geared up the campaign against the amendment, initial polls showed that voters had a favorable impression of the measure by a 3-1 to 4-1 margin.
...
With more money, Barnett was able to begin television and radio ads. Those emphasized that convicted criminals could use the amendment to harass jurors and try to get out of jail, ...
© 2005 The Florida Bar
This rhetoric spewed out by Barnett so enraged Florida Bar member Montgomery Sibley that he brought suit against the Florida Bar for illegal and unlawful use of Bar membership dues. The nature of the lawsuit filed in the Florida Supreme Court, which was three-pronged, alleges that any entity that advocates for or against a State Constitutional Amendment must be registered as a Political Action Committee (PAC). Florida JAIL4Judges, pursuant to this law, is an officially-recognized PAC with a State-assigned number. However, its opposition (The Florida Bar) is not. The lawsuit seeks to compel the Florida Bar to comply with Florida law and register as a PAC, albeit pointing out that the Florida Bar is a duly-recognized official arm of the Florida Supreme Court and the second prong is that the Florida Bar is precluded by Florida law from involving itself in State initiatives.
The third prong asks that the seven justices of the State Supreme Court recuse themselves because their own official arm is the defendant. This of course placed the Florida Supreme Court in a real catch-22 situation which they stalled upon ad infinitum, refusing to make a decision on their own conflict. Finally by compulsion the Florida Supreme Court determined that they were not the proper court to decide the question before them. Another motion followed by Attorney Sibley calling on them to decide the question before them or state why they did not have jurisdiction to make a ruling. The motion was denied and the instant matter is now brought before the United States Supreme Court.
The current petition, assigned Case No. 07-885, may be read at http://www.jail4judges.org/state_chapters/fl/Petition.pdf. What we now know is that the entire State of Florida, including its Supreme Court, is incapable of deciding a matter in which it has a conflict of interest. Left to be decided by the United States Supreme Court is whether Florida JAIL4Judges has a forum available to it for redress of grievance (First Amendment, U.S. Constitution). Maybe even more basic is, do we have a U.S. Constitution? We shall soon find out. If in the negative, J.A.I.L. has made a prima facie case to all Americans as to the universal need for the passage of J.A.I.L. in this country. We ask, without J.A.I.L. does America even have a future?
The national media, to which this is being sent, should be very interested in following this case.
-Ron Branson-
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Hiding Is Over
My Daughter, Your Slave
Bought and sold
though not to work on your farm,
but to fulfill a need
of normalcy.
Ripped from one family,
substituted for another.
There's always been a divide
Between you and I,
Whether mountains or streams,
Or hopes or dreams.
You have your own goals,
But you can't see past your pain,
So you abuse your powers,
Until you're insane.
And you've kidnapped my daughter,
Who knows not her name.
And she carries your history,
Though knows not where she came.
My dreams are her dreams,
You'll see them one day,
When she searches her heart,
And finds her own way.
Another big difference
That sets us apart,
Is that I've always wanted,
What's best for my daughter,
And you just wanted,
A child to call your own.
You own, you control,
My daughter's sense of self,
Her fears, her absent tears
for me,
For you she's a doll, a blank slate,
But your pain you can't ignore.
So you repress,
You digress,
And instill your hate of me,
Because you can't ignore the fact,
That she looks nothing like you,
She looks just like me.
She acts just like those in my family,
And you can't beat it out of her,
So you play emotional games,
With her absent tears,
And bond her to you,
With your endless fears.
The child you will never bare,
You had to settle for her,
You use the language games,
And pretend this is what you wanted.
But she is my daughter,
You stole my daughter,
So you could feel like a mother.
So you ended my Motherhood,
For I'll never have another,
The trauma is life long,
I'm afraid you'll steal all others.
And society plays the word games,
Calling me unfit,
Saying I'm a drunken whore,
An addict, a welfare case,
And so much more from your stance,
but the truth is,
I never had a chance.
Just because I'm not game,
At your institutional fame,
Because I won't marry,
And be forever owned,
Because I try to claim my history,
The one where you have been,
Oppressing me and my family for generations.
And they have become
Alcoholics, poor, abused and abusive.
Because you keep our minds in scrambles,
And keep us forever divided,
And as soon as I tried to claim my power,
That's when you stole my daughter.
You can pretend your ignorance,
And say you didn't know.
That separating my daughter from me,
Wouldn't cause her so much pain.
But the fact that you did this all for you,
Another word game for the child,
Is saving them from the fate you dictate,
And proves how selfishly you acted.
Just because you can't have your own child,
Doesn't mean you're entitled to mine,
It only causes more abuse,
And will come back to you in time.
Own your infertility,
Owning a child won't make you fertile,
And it won't take away your pain,
So own it and meet the challenge
Your God gave to you,
To deal with how your God made you,
And find a way to be empowered,
Where you aren't oppressing others.
And what can you do to make things right?
You can't make up for all the lost time.
Admit that you stole and bought her,
And give me back my daughter.
Bought and sold
though not to work on your farm,
but to fulfill a need
of normalcy.
Ripped from one family,
substituted for another.
There's always been a divide
Between you and I,
Whether mountains or streams,
Or hopes or dreams.
You have your own goals,
But you can't see past your pain,
So you abuse your powers,
Until you're insane.
And you've kidnapped my daughter,
Who knows not her name.
And she carries your history,
Though knows not where she came.
My dreams are her dreams,
You'll see them one day,
When she searches her heart,
And finds her own way.
Another big difference
That sets us apart,
Is that I've always wanted,
What's best for my daughter,
And you just wanted,
A child to call your own.
You own, you control,
My daughter's sense of self,
Her fears, her absent tears
for me,
For you she's a doll, a blank slate,
But your pain you can't ignore.
So you repress,
You digress,
And instill your hate of me,
Because you can't ignore the fact,
That she looks nothing like you,
She looks just like me.
She acts just like those in my family,
And you can't beat it out of her,
So you play emotional games,
With her absent tears,
And bond her to you,
With your endless fears.
The child you will never bare,
You had to settle for her,
You use the language games,
And pretend this is what you wanted.
But she is my daughter,
You stole my daughter,
So you could feel like a mother.
So you ended my Motherhood,
For I'll never have another,
The trauma is life long,
I'm afraid you'll steal all others.
And society plays the word games,
Calling me unfit,
Saying I'm a drunken whore,
An addict, a welfare case,
And so much more from your stance,
but the truth is,
I never had a chance.
Just because I'm not game,
At your institutional fame,
Because I won't marry,
And be forever owned,
Because I try to claim my history,
The one where you have been,
Oppressing me and my family for generations.
And they have become
Alcoholics, poor, abused and abusive.
Because you keep our minds in scrambles,
And keep us forever divided,
And as soon as I tried to claim my power,
That's when you stole my daughter.
You can pretend your ignorance,
And say you didn't know.
That separating my daughter from me,
Wouldn't cause her so much pain.
But the fact that you did this all for you,
Another word game for the child,
Is saving them from the fate you dictate,
And proves how selfishly you acted.
Just because you can't have your own child,
Doesn't mean you're entitled to mine,
It only causes more abuse,
And will come back to you in time.
Own your infertility,
Owning a child won't make you fertile,
And it won't take away your pain,
So own it and meet the challenge
Your God gave to you,
To deal with how your God made you,
And find a way to be empowered,
Where you aren't oppressing others.
And what can you do to make things right?
You can't make up for all the lost time.
Admit that you stole and bought her,
And give me back my daughter.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
WAITING ANGELS LITIGATION
http://fixellawoffices.com/_wsn/page6.html
CURRENT STATUS:
On October 24, 2006, our firm filed a lawsuit against Waiting Angels Adoption Services in Macomb Michigan on behalf of five families. All families were clients of Waiting Angels. The lawsuit was filed in the US Federal District Court - Western District Michigan. The families have all been victims of fraud, misrepresentation and various violations of Federal laws. In March 2007, one additional family joined the lawsuit. After the police raid in April 2007 and while criminal charges were pending, the Plaintiffs in this lawsuit (6 families) were granted a Stay of Proceedings placing the lawsuit on hold until the completion of all criminal proceedings. To read the lawsuit go to the following link: http://www.ethicanet.org/WA_amd_compl.pdf
CURRENT STATUS:
On October 24, 2006, our firm filed a lawsuit against Waiting Angels Adoption Services in Macomb Michigan on behalf of five families. All families were clients of Waiting Angels. The lawsuit was filed in the US Federal District Court - Western District Michigan. The families have all been victims of fraud, misrepresentation and various violations of Federal laws. In March 2007, one additional family joined the lawsuit. After the police raid in April 2007 and while criminal charges were pending, the Plaintiffs in this lawsuit (6 families) were granted a Stay of Proceedings placing the lawsuit on hold until the completion of all criminal proceedings. To read the lawsuit go to the following link: http://www.ethicanet.org/WA_amd_compl.pdf
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Changes...
With lots of changes happening in my life, I feel that I need more security than blogger can currently offer me.
I will be posting still on livejournal, but if you want to read my posts, you will need to post on it for me to add you as a friend.
This post too, will only be up for a limited time.
http://firepoetry.livejournal.com
I will be posting still on livejournal, but if you want to read my posts, you will need to post on it for me to add you as a friend.
This post too, will only be up for a limited time.
http://firepoetry.livejournal.com
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