PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet

via Fightforthefuture.org

PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting “creativity”. The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites– they just have to convince a judge that the site is “dedicated to copyright infringement.”

The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that’s for a fix that won’t work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.

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Adoptees raise your voices for National Adoption Awareness month

via The Declassified Adoptee

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. The basic history of the month is that it started as a state-based initiative to raise awareness about the issues surrounding children waiting in foster care. It was given its own official month by President Clinton and since then has become everything from an all out celebration of adoption to an opportunity for all things adoption to be advertised and promoted.

If you remember from last year, I have a problem with this. Read my blog throughout this November and you’ll hear more about why.

Not that we shouldn’t make our voices heard the other 11 months out of the year, but I feel especially motivated for the reasons our Declassified Adoptee mentions in her post.  I’ve been a terrible blogger this year, but will try to pick it up again for the month of November.

 

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Jane Jeong Trenka on Land of a Gazillion Adoptees

Jane speaks with Kevin via skype.

Topics covered: Language of Blood, Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK), Adoptee Solidarity Korea (ASK), Convention On the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Hague Adoption Convention, Korea Central Adoption Resources (KCARE), Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS), Social Welfare Society, Inc. (SWS), Holt International, Dillon International, Korean family search, unwarranted post adoption fees charged by Korean and US adoption agencies, new adoption and single parent support legislation in Korea, First Worldwide Adoptee Online Auction.

Listen to the podcast on their website.

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Help the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network (KUMFA) Raise $7,000

via Land of a Gazillion Adoptees

Some Facts About Unwed Mothers in Korea

• Contrary to public perception, 3 in 4 unwed mothers are aged 25 and over and have completed high school or spent some time in college. Their children comprise a mere 1-2 percent of South Korea’s annual live births.
• Maternity facilities operated by adoption agencies have a 37% child-rearing rate compared to 82% for non-agency run facilities. Because most maternity facilities receive government subsidies and are therefore semi-private, they have the authority to refuse or to discontinue services to mothers who are deemed “too troublesome.”
• Although 89% of Korea’s children who are placed for adoption come from unwed mothers, more and more unwed mothers are choosing to rear their children according to recent studies.

The mothers and volunteers of the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network (KUMFA) need your support to raise $7,000 to keep HEATER open. Please consider sending a monetary gift at the $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 level.

The mothers, volunteers, and friends involved with KUMFA, the efforts of which was featured in the New York Times a few years ago, advocate for the rights of unwed pregnant women, unwed mothers and their children in Korea. KUMFA’s goal is to enable Korean women to have sufficient resources and support to keep their babies if they choose, and thrive in Korean society, rather than feel compelled to place their children for adoption.

As a part of its efforts, KUMFA opened HEATER, a facility that provides care for mothers who keep their children. Each year the facility houses and feeds 24 mothers and their children. Two mothers and their children stay at HEATER for two months at a time. It is a unique place in that, unlike other facilities in Korea, HEATER accepts mothers who are older and/or have children. Some of the children need medical attention.

The mothers, volunteers, and friends of KUMFA need your support to keep HEATER open in 2012. The operating costs for HEATER is $7,000, which covers rent, utilities, food and supplies. KUMFA currently doesn’t have $7,000 in its 2012 budget and so HEATER may have to close its doors if the mothers, volunteers, and friends of the organization are not able to raise the money.

Please consider offering your support to keep HEATER open by donating at the $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 level. Giving is easy. You can PayPal your gift to KUMFA’s e-mail (kumfa.volunteer@gmail.com) or PayPal your gift to KUMFA/HEATER volunteer Shannon Heit’s e-mail (shannon.heit@gmail.com).

The mothers, volunteers, and friends of KUMFA are very thankful for your consideration, and hope that you’ll join them as partners in their efforts to sustain and improve HEATER so that they can best serve Korean mothers and children.

Questions? Please contact the following individuals:

Shannon Heit, KUMFA Volunteer, shannon.heit@gmail.com
Dr. Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, jkwondobbs@gmail.com
Kevin Ost-Vollmers/Land of Gazillion Adoptees, kostvollmers@gmail.com

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AdopSource’s MN International Adoptee Needs Assessment online survey

Please participate and help spread the word about AdopSource’s MN International Adoptee Needs Assessment online survey. The survey is open to all International Adoptees and Adoptive Parents of International Adoptees residing in Minnesota. Everyone who submits a completed survey can enter to win a free iPad!

•Adult International Adoptees (ages 18 and over)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AdultAdopteeSurvey

•Teen International Adoptees (ages 13-17)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TeenAdopteeSurvey

•Adoptive Parents/Guardians of International Adoptees

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AdoptiveParentSurvey

 

This one is just for Minnesota residents.  If you live in MN, please participate!

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Parents take DNA tests to find children lost in war

Vietnamese people whose children were evacuated on flights by the US in April 1975 when the Vietnam War was coming to an end had samples taken for DNA tests on Monday with hopes to find their kids.

continued

For more information, please check out Operation Reunite’s website and please consider donating to this worthy cause.

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