POLL CLOSED: DOES CARE KNOW WHAT IT’S DOING?

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The poll is closed. The vote is in. To no one’s surprise, the majority of Bastardette’s readers who voiced their unscientific opinion on AB 372 believe that the California Adoption Reform Effort has no idea what it’s doing. The Daily Bastardette asked two questions. Below are the results: Why is Asmb. Ma offering insulting compromises to California AGVB 372?: 42 votes She believes California adoptees are dangerous and the state needs protected from them: 9 votes/21% She believes gutting the bill of all meaning is the only way it will pass: 19 votes/45% CARE told her to: 9 votes/21% She wants out from under this mess and gutting it is the only way to escape: 5 votes/11% Will CARE pull Their Own Bill: California AB 372: 34 votes Yes, they have seen the error of their ways and will act ethically: 1 vote/2% No, they only want to get their name on a bill and don’t care how much damage they cause: 9 votes/26% Yes, but only after their raise money for Asmb. Ma on April 27: 2 vote/5% Who knows, they have no idea what they’re doing: 22 votes/64% Not exactly a vote of confidence for the Cali Compromisers. Continue Reading →

A CHILD’S WAITING: STILL WORKING, SUING OHIO

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Isn’t this just peachy! Rick Armon, at the Akron Beacon Journal writes yesterdaythat our favorite Ohio agency, A Child’s Waiting, is not only still IN business but suing the state for $25,000+ in damages claiming Ohio refused to live up to its end of the deal when it booted the Skank Sisters (Jennifer Marando and Crissy Kolarik). I check ACW’s page periodically and saw that it was still in business. You’d never think that they’d been ordered out of the day-to-day operation and to stop taking new cases. Not sure if they got their new board, but I doubt it. Armon says amongst the findings of the Ohio Jobs and Family Services: • The agency took on three additional cases when not permitted. • It failed to submit required monthly reports for children in its custody. • Owners didn’t step away from daily operations as required. ”This case involves an adoption agency that is unwilling or unable to keep track of the children within its care,” state attorneys wrote in response to the injunction. Armon interviewed me a couple weeks ago for an unrelated story that’s not up yet, and told he’d noticed when he drove by, their sign was Continue Reading →

CALIFORNIA CIRCLE JERKING AB 372: A DIALOGUE

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Yesterday morning, Bastardette received a long comment from the ubiquitous Anonymous taking her to task over AB 372 which “with a little more fine tuning, will give access to over 99% of adoptees.” Doncha love hyperbole? It is way too long to respond to as a comment, so I’m putting it up here as a separate entry. It’s like a big circle jerk. I have no idea why I’m doing this other than to show you what we’ve been dealing with over the last few weeks with the CARESTAS. Anonymous’ comments are in bold, mine not. Anything that was quoted from the original post is noted as from me. I had some trouble with cutting and pasting and fonts, but I think it’s OK now. Enjoy! Why do you and all the negative people look at everything as “the glass is half empty”. Is that the way you live your life. It’s sad. This bill is very good and with a little more fine tuning, will give access to over 99% of adoptees. Why do you keep whining about current language when you full well know it will be tweaked ( its only on its 3rd round). Is it because Continue Reading →

VIDEO: GRANDMA IS ADOPTED

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I’m working on something else right now. But for momentary relief from the California Catastrophe try out this video from ProLife Minnesota and that old baybee kollektor Pierceophile herself, Mary Ann Kuharski: Grandma is Adopted. “I’ve got my daddy’s eyes.” Daddy? Since when do adoptees have dads? And do check out her webpage:We were recently forced to re-locate our Annual Culture of Love Banquet scheduled with the Radisson Roseville Hotel for May 6th, after learning that the Radisson, owned by Carlson Hotels Worldwide, offers “pay-per-view” pornography to its patrons. We also learned that Carlson Corporation is a contributor to Planned Parenthood. We were told by the Radisson that we will owe a “$3,000 cancellation fee”, as a result. BTW, this year, Kuharski will be discussing the link between porn and abortion. Who knew?

IS THAT ALL THERE IS? CALIFORNIA AB 372 PASSES OUT OF JUDICIARY

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The testimony is over, the vote is in: Just before 4 PM Pacific Time, AB 372 passed out of Assembly Judiciary Committee. Frankly this doesn’t surprise me much. CARE has made clear that its current strategy is to “fool” certain members of the committee with its laundry list of adoptee insults and lies, and then excise them out later—even on the Floor. Sponsor Asmb. Fiona Ma, in fact, actually admitted during the hearing that she was foolin’ her colleagues, though her confession was framed in the more discreet language of “we’d really like unrestricted access, but we respect the current law too much to ask for it and rock your boat.” Maybe the committee is stupid after all. Maybe it wants Senate Pro Tem President Darrell Steinberg, who never met a bastard who didn’t need locked up in vault, to do its dirty work. Maybe the committee doesn’t want to look like a total Grinch. How CARE intends to fix things is a matter of faith. You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool Mom. (Captain Penny). The testimony was really too short to Continue Reading →

BASTARD NATION TESTIMONY AGAINST CALIFORNIA AB 372: LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!

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Below is Bastard Nation’s testimony in against AB 372. It was submitted last week for today’s haering. You can read the official legislative analysis of the bill here. (It’s not very good.) Note that CARE has no certified proponents except it\self and the bill has no co-sponsors. WRITTEN TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO AB 372 ACCESS TO ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES FOR ADULT ADOPTEES Assembly Judiciary Committee, April 28, 2008 Submitted April 21, 2009 POSITION: OPPOSE Honorable Members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee: Below is our submitted testimony on AB 372: Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization advocates for the full human and civil rights of adult adoptees. We believe people everywhere have a right to their unaltered and unfalsifed birth records. This means opening government documents pertaining to the adoptee’s historical, genetic, and legal identity, including the unaltered original birth certificate (obc) and adoption decree. Our membership includes adopted adults and first and adoptive parents. We have substantial membership in California. BN was behind the 1998 Oregon Ballot Measure 58 which restored the right of the state’s adult adoptees to access their original birth certificates. In 2000 Bastard Nation sponsored legislation in Alabama which restored access there. In 2004 we worked Continue Reading →

LISTEN TO AB 372 HEARING ONLINE

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I’m back from the AAC and catching up. In the meantime… CalOpen reminds us that we can LISTEN LIVE to the Assembly Judiciary Hearing on AB 273 from our computers. You will need Windows Media Player, to listen.http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp Scroll down and click on: “Assembly Audio Session and Committee Hearings”. At the top of the next window, click on: “Committee Room List”. On the side of the chart marked Assembly, click on: “Committee Room 444” CalOpen and other opposition to the bill will be there to support its defeat. Go to CalOpen for more information. Also see BB Church’s Funhouse. ADDENDA: The time of the hearing keeps changing. 11 AM; 12 Noon, “afternoon.” How appropriate! Just keep on checking. AB 372 is one of several bills being heard today. BN’s submitted testimony will be posted here and on the BN page later today. I don’t want to put it up before the hearing for any CARing person to read. It’s obvious what we’ll say, but why let them read it ahead of time?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAC CONFERENCE, CLEVELAND, PART 2

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I’ve been drinking wine tonight with Bad Bastards and Sluts and don’t have any time to post much . I sat out most of the day anyway, working on my presentation–or trying to. Here are a few pictures from the awards lunch and later though. You may recognize some of the names, or know them Margie Perscheid, Third Mom and Anti-Racist blogger BJ Lifton, Margie Persheid, Bastardatte looking awful. Fred Greenman, AAC legal advisor and Barbara Raymond, author The Baby Thief Mirah Riben, author The Dark Side of Adoption and The Stork Market, Karen Lynn, member, Coordinating Commititee for the Coalition for Open Adoption Records (COAR) and founding member Canadian Council of Natural Mothers; Maryanne Cohen long time activist, poet, essayist and Bastardette guest blogger. Michael Grand, member COAR, Professor in Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Guelp; Monica Byrne, Parent Finders of Canada, Karen Lynn. CARE’s Jean Strauss was awarded the Emma Vilardi Humanitarian Award. Here she is below accepting her award flanked by Pam Hasegawa and Penny Partridge. And here is a great nut shop across the street featuring Chief Wahoo.

DOUBLE BLESSING: JOE ESZTERHAS AND SUZANNE PERRYMAN

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Again I’m just sending out a short report. No special insights. Yesterday’s afternoon keynotes were writer Joe Eszterhas and his daughter Suzanne Perryman, an absolutely socko double reading of their “memoir” (so-to-speak) of separation and reunion: Double Blessing. I’ve been a fan of Joe Esterhaz’ since his days as a crime reporter at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and later an editor and writer at Rolling Stone. and I never dreamed I’d ever meet him. OK, I’m talking like a groupie now, I know. Forgive me Dear Reader, for I have sinned. Joe is the author of The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood and Charlie Simpson’s Apocolpyse (nominated for the National Book Award) and the writer of numerous screenplays including Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge and the ever notorious Show Girls. In 1968 his daughter Suzanne Marie was placed for adoption in Cleveland. 30 years later she located him with the help of Adoption Network Cleveland, co-sponsor of this year’s AAC conference. Suzanne is a writer and advocate of special needs children. Her two daughters suffer from the dengenrative mitochondrial disease. Joe and Suzanne took turns reading about their lives pre and post reunion, the support they’ve given each other through Joe’s cancer Continue Reading →