MY LAME MAD MEN BLOG

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Bastardette is so distressed about the end, holy moley as it is, of S3 of Mad Men that we simply can’t write tonight. Luckily, we recently purchased S1 on DVD to osmose. Then on to S2. We’ve been knocking around for weeks looking for a discussion about Don Draper’s adoption issues. So far nothing specific. BTW, Basket of Kisses (love the name) is the best site for all things Mad Men, and we should only hope for such intelligent discussion about adoption! Of course, in some ways, Mad Men is ALL about Don’s adoption/identity issues and the whole American ethic of image creation and re-creation (unless it’s Caldecott Farm). But a Bastard Eye analysis just isn’t out there, except from Don himself, when he drifts momentarily back, to Dick Whitman. I miss Don already and am too engrossed in mourning and withdrawal to discuss such esoterica tonight. However… I’d love to hear your take on adpotion themes in Mad Men: Don’s double adoption, Peggy’s secret baby, Pete and Trudy’s aborted adoption. And boy, what will happened when obviously infertile Trudy learns that obviously fertile Pete knocked up Peggy in S1? When I was in college my mother insisted I go Continue Reading →

BASTARD NATION BEST PRACTICE 12 YEARS LATER: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELF-DEFEATISM IN ADOPTION REFORM BY DAMSEL PLUM

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In 1997, Bastard Nation co-founder Damsel Plum wrote an essay, which in my opinion, is one of the foundational documents of the bastard/adoptee rights movement: The Psychology of Self-Defeatism in Adoption Reform. Unfortunately, what was true in 1997 is true today, with mainstream adoption reformists pimping a non-rights paradigm of search, reunion, primal wound, therapy, compliance, apology, disempowerment, compromise, and shame. The National Council for Adoption, the bishops, “right to life,” and the ACLU are a piece of cake next to these people. While bastard rightists promote free un-restricted it’s-none-of-your-business-why-we-want access to state-held records of our birth and adoption, adoption reformers diddle in personal need, therapy, and affairs of the heart.They say a bith certificate will make them “whole.” They suffer a “primal wound.” They demeaningly and futilely make nice with those who hold power and our records. A hat in the hand is worth two in the bush. They reject civil rights strategies that work. For a blatant rejection of civil rights and the bastard voice see my Calitornia Update: CARE’s Problem with History–BastardS Have None. In this entry, I posted a letter from former adoptee right’s activist now reunion shill Jean Strauss in which she not only rejects Continue Reading →

GALLERY OF HEROIC ADOPTEE & BASTARD LEGENDS

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Arg! Bastardette has come down with a second malady (the bronchitis is much better) which is too painful to discuss. So painful, that we’re not getting anything original posted tonight, though we tried. But to keep my vow to post every day this month, here’s a reminder: if you have a Facebook account go on over and join alt.adoption for the best damn discussion I’ve seen in a long time. All the cool bastards are there. And remember, unlike every other adoption board we know of, outside of BN’s BEST members list, it’s NOT moderated. But if you whine, don’t expect to be coddled. As a bonus, Damsel Plum…our very own Damsel, Damzy, Damozon, Damzarella posted this link over there of our heroic role models: Gallery of Heroic Adoptee and Bastard Legends Thanks Damzy-Wamzy! Hopefully, I’ll be better tomorrow.

NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH RESOLUTION: SURPRISE! WE’RE NOT IN IT

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Howdy Doody! Here is Barack Obama’s official National Adoption Awareness Month Resolution. I’m posting the whole thing here so you don’t have to run over to the Federal Register. Bastardette especially likes this part: By continually opening up the doors to adoption, and supporting full equality in adoption laws for all American families, we allow more children to find the permanent homes they yearn for and deserve.Of course, this is a sop to the GLBT community who Obama so unceremoniously dumped in Maine yesterday, and will no doubt continue to dump. It sure ain’t about bastard equality. Even though obc access is not a federal issue, we’re not even on the radar. [Federal Register: November 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 212)][Presidential Documents] [Page 57227-57228]From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov][DOCID:fr04no09-124] Presidential Documents [[Page 57227]] Proclamation 8445 of October 30, 2009 National Adoption Month, 2009 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation All children deserve a safe, loving family to protect and care for them. In America, thousands of young people are waiting for that opportunity. During National Adoption Month, we honor those families that have strengthened America through adoption, and we recommit to reducing Continue Reading →

BASTARDS OF NOTE: ALEXANDER HAMILTON

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Here is a hip-hop summary of Hamilton’s rise from bastardy to Weehauken Heights, written and performed by Tony award winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, It’s taken from his new in-progress Alexander Hamilton concept CD, Mixtape. After all, who embodies hip-hop more than Hamilton? Note the Obamas groovin’ on The Man. Continue Reading →

3RD ANNUAL DEMONS IN ADOPTION AWARD WINNER: BETHANY CHRISTIAN SERVICES

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The votes are in! NCFA super agency Bethany Christian Services, is recipient of the 2009 Demons in Adoption Award! Niels Hoogeveen, keeper of Pound Pup Legacy, connects lots of dots in the adoption industry cobweb in his award announcement. Please read the entire essay for a good explication of the enemy. Here is what he writes specifically about Bethany: Bethany Christian Services is also a prominent member of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, a coalition of Christian adoption agencies, foster care agencies, orphan care organizations and churches, supported by Campus Crusade for Christ and Focus on the Family. The Christian Alliance for Orphans and its programs Hope for orphans, Faces of the Forgotten, Cry of the Orphan and Orphan Sundays, aggressively market adoption through churches. Bethany Christian Services plays a major role in this movement, sponsoring training sessions to further spread the adoption gospel, motivating Christians to not only adopt children, but to adopt as many children as possible. To generate the number of adoptable children for this market expansion, the term “orphan” has undergone serious inflation over the years. Its original meaning related to children whose parents had both died. Under the influence of Christian adoption, the word now Continue Reading →

UPDATE: JEAN PATON BIO

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Jean Paton, the mother of the adoptee rights movement, is the forgotten woman of our movement. Even though Jean was alive, well, and kicking in the 1990s, when Bastard Nation started the Second Wave of the Adoptee Rights , I’d never heard of her until I attended the 1998 Seattle AAC. She was a featured speaker–and what a revelation she was! Who knew that the Bastards are Beautiful slogan we were so clever to invent, was actually coined by Jean 40 years earlier! So much for re-inventing the wheel. Why Jean was excised from our history, I don’t know, other than the history of our movement, even as late as 10 years ago, was as secret as our birth certificates. As bastards, we sprung from the head of Zeus, each generation starting anew. Unless you were an old oldtimer, you didn’t know who Jean Paton was. Much has changed since then, and adoption studies is now cutting edge. Though there is still much to dig out, research, and write, we are no longer a shameful secret except in the eyes of legislatures of 44 states who insist we are. When Jean died in 2002, veteran firstmom/bastard reform activist and writer Continue Reading →

HAPPY NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH: JOIN ALT.ADOPTION ON FACEBOOK!

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Welcome to the 10th annual National Adoption Awareness celebration! The Bad Kitties and I have donned our party hats waiting for the midnight bong–er we mean gong–to start this wonderful month of lollipops and roses, cotton candy and angels wings, and back patting and pious press clips. We note that according to the National Adoption Awareness Month Calendar we are to: get together with a birth mother you know and discuss your stories. ERK! How about a discussion with Nancy Effay! Yes, our favorite adoptress, the legendary Nancy Effay of alt.adoption fame, has returned after a too-long hiatus. For the last several years Mrs Effay has dedicated herself to stay-at-home service, including raising her adoptlings, Nixon and Nelson, and providing the frisky Mr. Effay with wholesome Presbyterian sex the third Thursday of each month. Mrs. Effay returned recently to the public fora via Facebook where her Farm Town friends plow her (except on the third Thursday of each month) and she spreads her wit and good cheer amongst the adopted and their “birth” kin. Things like: If God wanted you to search for your “birth family” – why do you think HE closed adoption records and made your “family” so Continue Reading →

ADOPTION.COM: YOUR UNPLANNED PREGNANCY OPTIONS

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Just got the adoption.com National Adoption Awareness Month newsletter which includes: Your Unplanned Pregnancy: You Have Options. We wonder what those options might be since the article is written under the aegis of National Adoption Awareness Month, is sponsored by Bethany Christian Services, doesn’t mention abortion or keeping, and is followed by a group listing of squeaky smiling multi-cultural paps on the prowl. Thanks to all for the bronchitis tips! I’m feeling much better, and am making a public vow to post a blog each day, no matter how stupid, for our celebratory month.