Premise: Ether is an unparalleled conductor of egocentricity. Premise: The Web is the cheapest showcase available. Conclusion: Vanity rules the blog.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, you know. Millions of people proclaiming and expounding upon their beliefs, telling their stories, strutting their stuff. A vast multitude of hands reaching out across virtual chasms. Look at me! Listen to what I have to say!

The anonymity of our audience encourages our vanity. We can primp and preen, fluff our feathers, crow and screech. We can be first person singular far longer than any parent, friend or English professor would ever allow.

... more

Trends in international adoptions by US citizens and residents are frequently reported but what about the wider world view?

I've been reading about adoption in other countries - what it's like for someone, say, in Norway, to adopt. Do you know that the waiting time can be around 3 to 4 years? That the investigative process (their version of homestudy) can last a year or more? And Norway isn't the only country with much more rigorous and lengthy assessment and adoption processes.

Globally, there are about a half million international adoptees. In the 1980s, annual worldwide international adoptions numbered around 18,000 - and today that has increased to over 40,000.. counting... more

Conference: California: March 16-17, 2006

March 16 & 17, 2006
Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA
(near Los Angeles; fly into Ontario Airport, Ontario, CA)

This conference is co-sponsored by the Kinship Center, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the Berger Institute for Work, Family & Children. For more information on the plenary speakers and 25 workshops, and for registration materials, go to:

http://www.kinshipcenter.org/biology_and_beyond_conference.html

With all the fabulous blogging being done by my colleagues here at AdoptionBlogs.com, I was beginning to wonder how to best use this allotment of space... and it occurred to me that I should do what I've always done with my blogs (which will be imported here from their previous location at a future date)... write about a variety of topics that pique my interest, grab my attention, or hit me like "a bag of nickels," to quote a co-blogger. Which brings to mind free range chickens... ergo, the name of this post.

Watch for more.