RHODE ISLAND H7877: Hen Meet Fox

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The Rhode Island House yesterday passed unanimously (and here) H 7877, a bill that curbs the right of adoptees to receive their own original birth certificates. The bill, framed in deformer NewSpeak as a records access and adoptee rights measure, creates a ” do not release” option (a nice name for disclosure veto) for families of origin–in this case not only a parent, but a parent or sibling of a deceased parent– to keep their Family Bastard de-identied and at bay. The Senate’s close companion SB2759 extends the veto to the parent or sibling of a “permanently disabled ” parent (no mention of proof or definition of “permanenty disabled”) . That is, to people who may have pressured the parent to surrender their shameful secret into the secret adoption mill to start with. Hen meet Fox. Would a Rhode Island legislator tolerate for one moment a law that would predicate release of his or her own own birth certificate on the desire, comfort zone, and permission of his or her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles? Of course not! And certainly the not-adopted wouldn’t. Why should any self-respecting bastard be expected to roll over for this absurd bill? The key word Continue Reading →

LIAM THOMPSON/DMITRY SERGEYVICH ISLANKULOV UPDATE: LIAM’S SISTER

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In October 2003 Liam Thompson born Dmitry Sergeyvich Islankulov,was torture-murdered by his Forever Parents of six months, Gary and Amy Thompson of Galloway, Ohio. He died on his third birthday. Liam had a slightly older sister, adopted at the same time and from the same agency, Tree of Life in Portland, Oregon. We heard little about his sister then, not even her name, only that she had been placed in care and would probably be adopted by a new family. On April 26, the Columbus Dispatch published a story about Liam’s invisible sister, Ira: Russian girl survives awful first adoption to find love in a new home. Once, a long time ago, Ira was Irina Alexandrovna Pavlova. Then she was Irina Thompson, neglected, but not abused, by Gary and Amy Thompson. Now she is Irina Elizabeth Jean Palmer daughter of Don and Nadine Palmer and sister of Jessica and Cache. She lives in Powell, Ohio, just north of Columbus. Ira likes Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, and she’s a gymnast. Pink is her favorite color. She wonders about her family in Russia. She remembers Liam. One of the key tools in the prosecution of Liam’s death was Amy Thompson’s computer Continue Reading →

ISAAC DYKSTRA UPDATE : BRIAN DYKSTRA WAIVES RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL

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Due to my trip to the ASAC conference at MIT, I’ve g0t catching up to do. I’m starting with some Russian follow-ups and then on to ASAC. This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt – Nichto Ne Zabyto blog Please go there for my complete Russian collection. ****** The trial of Brian Dykstra, charged with second degree murder in the death of his adopted sonIsaac Dykstra (original name unknown) has been held off indefinitely. The trial was scheduled to start on May 10. The prosecution and defense filed a joint motion Friday requesting a new trial date due to the complexity of the case. According to their motion more than 130 witnesses may be called. You can read about Isaac on my Summary of Cases page and a little about Brian Dykstra on my Summary of Cases – Killers page. Comments from a member of the Dyskra family are here.

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I’m heading out for Cambridge later this morning for the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture conference at MIT. This theme this year is Adoption: Secret Histories, Public Policies. You can see the program here. I’m delivering a paper on “safe havens.” Here my panel: Secrecy and Openness: Legal Issues Chair: Sara Dillon, Suffolk University School of Law “Preventing Harmful Secrecy: Blood-ties, Best Interests and Veto Victims.”Alice Diver, School of Law, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland Letting the Genes Out of the Bottle: Should New Paradigms in Medicine Lead Us to NewParadigms in Adoption?Martha Satz, Southern Methodist University ‘Safe Haven’ Laws: Promoting the Culture of Secrets and Shame in an Age of Adoption Openness–Ohio Case Study.” Marley Greiner, activist, Bastard Nation, Ohio So, things will be a little quiet here, despite a lot of breaking news in the last few weeks. I’ll try to post about the conference and some pictures.

SARA SPEAKS: SARA FEIGENHOLTZ TELLS US WHAT SHE REALLY THINKS OF US

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Recently adoptee rights activist Lori Jeskie emailed a short note to Sara Feigenholtz at her listed Illinois House address stating her disappointment with the representative’s sponsorship of HB 5428, which under the guise of”records access” has eviscerated adoptee civil rights in the state. We do not know if the reply Jeske received was actually written by Feigenholtz or a staffer or her “assistant” Melisha Mitchell. We have heard stories, however, about Feigenholtz’s personalization of political criticism and attacks on those who disagree with her whom she thinks should be her friends. Until now, we have not had a written document. No matter what the source (in the past Feigenholtz has blamed staffers for SNAFUs that she clearly owns), the email was sent from Feigenholtz’s address. This response, says much about her professional demeanor and respect for the adopted people and our interests she claims to represent. Below is Feigenholtz’s response to Jeske’s email, followed by Jeske’s original email, reposted with Jeske’s permission. —- Original Message —– From: Sara To: Lori Jeske Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 10:00 PM Subject: Re: HB 5428 Lori: Thank you so much for your kind remarks about HB 5428. We will pay for your travel Continue Reading →

CELEBRATING LAURA SILSBY

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This is cross-posted from my End Child Exportation and Trafficking in Haiti blog, a complete collection of my work on Haiti. Laura Silsby neared the three month mark this weekend, and the Central Valley Baptist Church wants to make sure you know it. Saturday afternoon they threw a We-heart-Laura rally at the Idaho Statehouse. About 100 attended, including her local gang of electric Kool-Aid (minus the acid, we think) testers. A Northwest Cable News-KBTV video of the event is posted at the bottom of this entry. Be sure to watch Nichole Lankford prostrate herself in prayer. Fellow pranksters Paul Thompson and Charisa Coulter are seen or interviewed and more TeamSilsbys were spotted. Coulter, ever loyal to her boss, declared: She is always on mind. It’s a roller coaster. You have highs and lows but our hope is not in government and officials. It is in God. But so far, God seems perfectly happy to keep Silsby in her own private Haiti Hilton. “We want people to know that there still is support for her, organizer.’”Randy Jackson said. “If you pay attention to the media, sometimes it seems like there’s a lack of support for her. There’s still la lot of Continue Reading →

PETER MOSE: WHY CANT I GET MY REAL BIRTH RECORD?

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Yesterday, the online (and today’s hardcopy) Chicago-Sun Times published an op-ed piece by Peter Mose, Why can’t I get my real birth certificate? in response to HB 5428. Peter is a member of Bastard Nation’s Executive Commitee. The piece will go into the Sun-Times paid archives soon enough. With Peter’s permission I’m giving it a permanent home here. It is a clear simple statement, written on a very personal level, Aabout why sealed birth certificates and restricted access is wrong. It deserves wide circulation. Thank you Peter! Please go to the link above and post a comment. ****** Why can’t I get my real birth record? April 25, 2010 BY PETER KRISTIAN MOSE On July 15, 1956, I was born in downtown Chicago, at Wesley Hospital, now a part of Northwestern University’s medical complex. I was delivered by a physician named Byford Heskett. It says so on my Illinois birth certificate. It also says my parents were Donald and Ellen Mose of Oak Park. But Ellen never met Dr. Heskett, and indeed she never gave birth to me. Instead, I was adopted by Ellen and Don Mose from an adoption agency in Evanston when I was 2 months old. The Continue Reading →

BASTARD NATION LETTER TO ILLINOIS GOVERNOR PAT QUINN – PLEASE VETO HB 5428

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Dear Governor Quinn: Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization urges you to veto HB 5428, a so-called “adoptee rights” bill promoted as a progressive piece of legislation to correct Illinois’ long-standing Draconian treatment of its adoptees and their families of origin. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The bill’s stated purpose and its final product are diametrically opposed. The introduction to the bill reads: The General Assembly recognizes that it is the basic right of all persons to access their birth records, and, to this end, supports public policy that allows an adult adoptee to access his or her original birth certificate. The rest of the bill guts the “recognition of that “basic right,” putting unreasonable and outrageous restrictions on that “basic right:” HB 5428 separates adoptees into two classes by date of birth and then into numerous subclasses of “access” and “contact” eligibility dependent on parental and state “consent.” HB 5428 “grants” rights to some at the expense of others. HB 5428 criminalizes adoptees that use information from the Illinois Adoption Reunion and Medical Exchange to locate and contact families of origin. HB 5428 dictates relationships between adults. .HB 5428 is a bill that adopted persons and their Continue Reading →

WHAT IF? Illinois HB 5428 and Woman Suffrage

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You can listen to the HB 5428 Senate floor debate at the link at the bottom of this blog. The debate is about 33 minutes long. What I find interesting is that many of the senators theoretically “got” the idea of our “rights”–but failed to grasp that the bill, with its multi-layered “consents,” forms “information exchanges” and liabilities obviated those rights, kept the state in control, and gave adoptees and their families nothing but a big messy pile of obtuse rigmarole that can only be sussed out with a pitchfork. On June 10, 1919, Illinois ratified the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. What if Illinois leggies that day declared: All women have the “basic right” to vote. However, we are concerned about the affect female voters will have on male reputation and status in the community. We need to protect the rights of those husbands who believe that the marriage contract promised them that their wives would never be allowed to vote. To balance the right of women to vote with the right of husbands to protect their reputations and status, we are mandating a mutual consent voter registration law, which authorizes Continue Reading →

RUSSIAN MEMORIAM UPDATE; NATHANIEL CRAVER/IVAN SKOROBOGATOV AND MORE

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I’ve done some long-due updating on my Memoriam page, adding Nathaniel Craver born Ivan Skorobogatov. Vanya died August 25, 2009, the result of a severe beating and malnourishment. After a 6-month investigation, on February 26, 2010, His Forever Parents, Michael and Nanette Craver were arrested and charged with felony homicide, conspiracy, and child endangerment. The Cravers are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 29. I’ve been trying to dig out agency information, but nothing so far. I am posting my entry on Vanya at the bottom of this entry, but for a complete review of deaths, please go to the Memoriam. I have also added the Cravers to my “Killers” page and done a couple updates and clean-ups in other cases. Brian Dykstra, accused of killing Isaac Dykstra (birth name unknown) is finally going to trial. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 29 and trial date set for May 10,2010. See the Memoriam page for details of the case. ****** Nathaniel Michael Craver (birth name: Ivan Skorobogatov), age 7, Dillsburg/Carroll Township, Pennsylvania. Died August 25, 2009 at Penn State Hershey Medical Center after being taken off life support. The autopsy revealed Vanya suffered 80 external injuries, including 20 Continue Reading →