MY FIRST ADOPTEE: RONNIE BURNS

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Ronnie Burns was the adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen. There had never been any secret about his adoption. He came from The Cradle. Gracie said they chose him because he was the most sickly baby there and needed the most care. Ronnie was always referred to by the press as “the adopted son of.” He was just one of many of those “adopted son/daughter ofs” in the First Golden Age of Hollywood Adoption, but he was the only one, as far as I knew, who was on TV. He was the first visible adopted person I ever “knew.” See, back then, even during that Golden Age, where it seemed half of Hollywood was adopting, adoption in the real world wasn’t discussed in public. I’m not sure that was a bad idea . If the Internet had been around then, and my parents adoptaobsessed like adopters are today, I’d have been mortified. It was bad enough being adopted without having your business spread all over front street. I don’t remember feeling any externalized identification with Ronnie as an adoptee; he just was. I was 9 or 10 years old when he joined the cast of the Burns & Continue Reading →

HAWAI’I: THEY’RE BACK–MORE MORONISY

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Bastardette has gotten nothing done today, so we plan to spend the rest of the evening in bed with James Ellroy and start over tomorrow. We cannot, however, let our NaBloPoMo duties slide. After we finished our second entry this week about the abandonment/dump hoax in Lewis Center, Ohio. I received a electronic hectorette from Mrs. Morrisey. I’m not posting the entire comment, but here’s how it starts: Too Bad Marley, but you are WRONG again! I’ve got better things to do than to post on your ridiculous boring blog! But, not too busy to READ my ridiculous boring blog, huh? Funny how all those snarks are lobbed from Lexington, Mass and are posted with a very specific point-of-origin identification. Perhaps some cranky neighbor is sneaking into the Morrisey home at the crack of dawn and sending comments on their computer into the ether. The Ms should file a police report. But I digress. Mrs. Morrisey goes on to point out how she and the Mr. and their BSh songsperson Renee Maracou, have been way busy, off on another jaunt to Hawai’i to pick up ANOTHER prize for their good work in undermining traditional Hawai’ian culture and sound child welfare Continue Reading →

11-11-11: PVT . FRANK LAWRENCE RIP

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Eleven-Eleven-Eleven On Armistice Day 2009 I want to remember Private Frank Lawrence, 44384, 12th Gloustershire Regiment who died a German POW on October 21, 1918, less than one month before the armistice was signed. Frank was the son of my great grandmother’s brother Walter Lawrence and his wife Sarah. His sisters Beatrice and Winifred and brothers Cebert, Harry, and Walter survived. As did many cousins, including my biological grandfather, Courtnay Granecome. Clevedon Civic Society World War 1 Casualty ListFrank Lawrence, aged 19 of 9 Strode Road, went to France in April 1918, three weeks later he was wounded and captured . He died in the German Hospital, Antwerp as a result of poor medical conditions.St. Andrews Church Honor Roll in Clevedon: 2th (Service) (Bristol) Battalion. Private 44384. Born Clevedon. Enlisted Taunton. Formerly 68185 Devonshire Regiment. Died 21st October 1918.Aged 19. SCHOONSELHOF CEMETERY. Plot IIa, 47. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Certificate: Frank Lawrence

STATE-APPROVED ABANDONMENT HOAXES CANNOT PIMP BABY DUMPING

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Early this morning, Mr. or Mrs. Morrisey (probably Mrs.) hiding under the cloak of “anonymity” attempted to post a comment here regarding yesterday’s entry. The fact that for the last 2 1/2 years the couple has been banned from posting on The Daily Bastardette hasn’t stopped them from sending dozens of traceable comments to me. All their snark-bombs have been archived. I suppose one of these days I should post an anthology, complete with 4-letter explicatives, for reader amusement. But today, I am breaking my own rule and posting this morning’s M comment: The baby has its full medical and familial history due to the SH law, so this is a positive outcome! As usual, the Ms and their ilk miss the point: ODJFS/DJFS is abusing Ohio’s “safe haven” law. The state, in essence from what we can tell, has unilaterally and administratively amended Ohio’s “safe haven” law; created a post facto defense hatch for women who lie to police. The Passewitz abandonment was a hoax. If Ms. Passewitz intended to legally dump her baby via “safe haven,” she made no effort to do so at the time of her 911 call. She did not, in the ill-chosen words of Continue Reading →

OHIO ABANDONED BABY CASE SOLVED: WE KNEW IT! HOAX!

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I‘ve held back on this entry waiting for some follow-up, which hasn’t happened. So, here it is…except for some additions, as I wrote it on October 30. Back in early June, a justborn, umbilical cord still attached, was found by “passing motorist” Allison Passewitz, 24, on a patch of grass near the Meijer (discount store) parking lot in Lewis Center, just north of Columbus, To be specific, at the intersection of Owensfield and Neverland Drive. (Can I make that up?) The discovery received much local press coverage, including the release of the 911 call made by the heroic Ms. Passsewitz (who “did the right thing” by rescuing an infant in distress when she could have just sped right by on her way to the gym) to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department. Ms. Passewitz fortuitously had a bedsheet in the backseat of her car in which to wrap the deserted baby. Bastardette was ready to bet a Hyatt Cap South Sunday Brunch that the quick-witted Ms. Passewitz was the mother. It was a way-too-typical “coincidence” to be anything else. But, I’m not the Sheriff, so we let it play out. (The link to the original June 9 Channel 6 video, which Continue Reading →

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 →