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

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 →

CALIFORNIA CIRCLE JERKING AB 372: A DIALOGUE

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 →

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

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!

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

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?

SOMETIMES WORDS….

…aren’t necessary. This is taken from CARE’s action alert for SB 372. (emphasis mine). AB 372 will give hundreds of thousands of adult citizens adopted in California (who currently have no hope of ever having their own original birth record) an opportunity to know their original identity. Many of these citizens will die out of the system in the coming years. To oppose this legislation is to literally oppose their ability to have this record at any time in the foreseeable future. The opposition to this legislation is coming from many people who have no skin in the game. Adoptees from other states, birthparents from other states, adoptees who already have their records, are not the ones who should be influencing this decision. Does this mean CARE is ready to boot its leaders and out-of-state advisory committee members?

CALIFORNIA: AB 372 HEARING DATE CHANGED

This just in from CalOpen: Leg Counsel announced by e-mail at 4:29 this morning that the hearing date has been moved forward to Monday the 27th. Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Hearing Date Moved forward to Monday, April 27th.http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0351-0400/ab_372_bill_20090420_status.html I telephoned the Judiciary Committee and learned: – Confirmed Hearing date of Monday, April 27th– Commencement of hearing upon adjournment of floor session.(Time to be announced on Thursday the 23rd, at floor session, probably noon)– Confirmed TODAY’s 5 PM deadline for submission of letters into the official analysis still holds, regardless of the premature hearing date.