Russian demonstrators rally in support of U.S. adoption ban

[Brillynt]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/russian-demonstrators-rally-support-u-adoption-ban-144148694.html

It is feeling pretty chilly with Russia again.  Cold war part deux?

[mendeleyev]

(2 March 2013) The Mendeleyev Journal

There were two marches in Moscow Saturday, one put on by a small opposition force and the other by pro-Kremlin activists. Both rallies were planned for 2pm starts but at different locations. Planned for months, the pro-Kremlin "March of the Children", was attended by about 12 thousand participants and began at the metro station "Kropotkin."




At the pro-government rally if you could have heard the interviews with marchers, it was no time to self-identify as an American. The march concluded with a series of speeches in which the audience was told that Americans adopt Russian children for the harvesting and sale of organs and for pedophilia.




One speaker said that American families are not required to give their full names in order to adopt a Russian child, the only requirement being to list themselves as "parent-1" and "parent-2" for legal adoption. That is kind of silly as the adoption process was done in Russia and you can only imagine the stir had an adoptive family tried to list themselves in that fashion. But in the new cold war, facts and common sense are irrelevant.





The march was well organized with marchers bussed in from all over which makes one wonder why they couldn't gather up 12 thousand supporters in Europe's biggest city without having to bus in participants from hours away. Unlike opposition marches which have a "homegrown" feel, these placards were professional and mass produced; marchers were given placards and materials as they entered the staging area. This is eerily similar to the pro-Putin marches prior to the election last March.





There were plenty of police at the pro-government march too, but it looked and acted more like a police escort to protect the participants.

Meanwhile across town there was a much smaller opposition march but this time is was not against the Putin election but rather to protest recent actions taken by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. During his tenure since October 2010 Mayor Sobyanin has removed many street kiosks which not only provided jobs for small businesses but were a lifeline to aged apartment dwellers who don't have the ability or transportation for shopping at large corporate supermarkets further from their homes.

Additionally the mayor has begun to restrict parking and hiked parking fees, angering just about anyone with a car. Many of his actions are aimed at improving Moscow's image in preparation for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

The authorities totally misjudged the small number of marchers for the opposition rally.





Unlike the pro-government rally which was given a permit months ago, the opposition permit was granted just days prior to the event and they were met by buses filled with police, heavy KAMAZ trucks with OMON troops, a line of "paddy wagons", and several military trucks, along with FSB agents in civilian clothes for what some observers have estimated as a total of nearly 2,000 government police to handle and estimated 2,000 opposition marchers.



Police then blocked a part of the march route which had been approved by the city so the event could not continue to it's final destination without breaking up into even smaller groups.

 Meanwhile at the staging point of the pro-government march there were a few opposition members holding signs calling the Duma members who voted for the anti-abortion bill подлецов ("scoundrels"). They were quickly arrested although they were standing to the side and maintaining a silent protest.

!

It is all very ironic as orphan children in Russia are truly castaways as society has chosen dump unwanted children and historically only a small minority of Russians have wanted to adopt a child of someone else.

[calmissile]

(2 March 2013) The Mendeleyev Journal

There were two marches in Moscow Saturday, one put on by a small opposition force and the other by pro-Kremlin activists. Both rallies were planned for 2pm starts but at different locations. Planned for months, the pro-Kremlin "March of the Children", was attended by about 12 thousand participants and began at the metro station "Kropotkin."




At the pro-government rally if you could have heard the interviews with marchers, it was no time to self-identify as an American. The march concluded with a series of speeches in which the audience was told that Americans adopt Russian children for the harvesting and sale of organs and for pedophilia.




One speaker said that American families are not required to give their full names in order to adopt a Russian child, the only requirement being to list themselves as "parent-1" and "parent-2" for legal adoption. That is kind of silly as the adoption process was done in Russia and you can only imagine the stir had an adoptive family tried to list themselves in that fashion. But in the new cold war, facts and common sense are irrelevant.





The march was well organized with marchers bussed in from all over which makes one wonder why they couldn't gather up 12 thousand supporters in Europe's biggest city without having to bus in participants from hours away. Unlike opposition marches which have a "homegrown" feel, these placards were professional and mass produced; marchers were given placards and materials as they entered the staging area. This is eerily similar to the pro-Putin marches prior to the election last March.





There were plenty of police at the pro-government march too, but it looked and acted more like a police escort to protect the participants.

Meanwhile across town there was a much smaller opposition march but this time is was not against the Putin election but rather to protest recent actions taken by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. During his tenure since October 2010 Mayor Sobyanin has removed many street kiosks which not only provided jobs for small businesses but were a lifeline to aged apartment dwellers who don't have the ability or transportation for shopping at large corporate supermarkets further from their homes.

Additionally the mayor has begun to restrict parking and hiked parking fees, angering just about anyone with a car. Many of his actions are aimed at improving Moscow's image in preparation for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

The authorities totally misjudged the small number of marchers for the opposition rally.





Unlike the pro-government rally which was given a permit months ago, the opposition permit was granted just days prior to the event and they were met by buses filled with police, heavy KAMAZ trucks with OMON troops, a line of "paddy wagons", and several military trucks, along with FSB agents in civilian clothes for what some observers have estimated as a total of nearly 2,000 government police to handle and estimated 2,000 opposition marchers.



Police then blocked a part of the march route which had been approved by the city so the event could not continue to it's final destination without breaking up into even smaller groups.

 Meanwhile at the staging point of the pro-government march there were a few opposition members holding signs calling the Duma members who voted for the anti-abortion bill подлецов ("scoundrels"). They were quickly arrested although they were standing to the side and maintaining a silent protest.

!

It is all very ironic as orphan children in Russia are truly castaways as society has chosen dump unwanted children and historically only a small minority of Russians have wanted to adopt a child of someone else.

I wonder how long the free press will exist during the new cold war.  The anti-American propoganda machine seems to be already well underway..........harvesting organs, etc.

[mendeleyev]

Although Russia is listed among the top 3 countries as being extremely dangerous for foreign journalists, I find that to be over-stated and currently undeserved. During the first two Putin terms it was most often Russian national journalists who paid the ultimate price for writing and/or broadcasting stories not to the government's liking. The knocking off journalists for the most part stopped abruptly with the introduction of the Medvedev presidency. Thanks to God it seems that those days may fade into the past.

For the most part things were very quiet until recently when Russian TV host Vladimir Pozner critized the anti-adoption law. The Kremlin and Duma sprang into action and threatened to exclude foreign journalists from working at Russian TV channels. Will that go anywhere? RT for example, would lose a large number of staff were that to happen.

The ironic thing is that Pozner is a Russian citizen. The fact that he also holds US and French citizenship is a burr in the Kremlin's saddle and when being put on notice the Kremlin made it clear that they considered him an American even though he has been a fixture in Russian media for years, including the Soviet period. Most of the TV networks are owned at least in part by the government so of course there is a certain level of "understood" censorship, the type that is "understood" by those employed at those networks.

The current policy is simply not to renew the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs accreditation for foreign journalists they don't like and send them packing quietly at the end of their 2 year posting.

Last summer during the height of the street protests it was required for press members to wear vests with the words "press" with blue for Russian and orange for foreign journalists. We could debate the pros and cons for months on whether marking the press is a good idea for safety or simply painting an easy to hit target on their backs; now in the Duma there is a bill in committee to require all press crews covering outside events to adopt the blue uniform resembling UN peacekeeper uniforms labeled as "press" in Cyrillic for domestic and English for foreign personnel. I find that to be a bit over the top, frankly, but hey, it's Russia.

As of today, Syria holds the top spot for killing foreign journalists with 33 killed in 2012.

[lordtiberius]

Quite frankly I support the Russian ban.  America is not a kid friendly place - jus' sayin'

[Faux Pas]

Quite frankly I support the Russian ban.  America is not a kid friendly place - jus' sayin'

How many orphanages in Russia have you seen?

[lordtiberius]

How many orphanages in Russia have you seen?

We don't orphanages in America.  We do have tax paid for kid kennels whose adult graduates make up the homeless population. 

[Faux Pas]

We don't orphanages in America.  We do have tax paid for kid kennels whose adult graduates make up the homeless population.

Why are you dodging the question? Do you formulate all of your opinions about Russia politics in the same manner?

[Larry1]

How many orphanages in Russia have you seen?

Mr. Pas makes an excellent point.  When I was a kid I had friends who lived in an orphanage here in the US.  It wasn't horrible but it was a far, far inferior place to grow up than with a decent family who cared about you. I haven't been to any orphanages in Russia but I have seen some photos taken in them.  They're not horrible but they seem to be far, far inferior to life with a decent family who cared about the child. 

I've also seen some nice families here who have adopted Russian children.  They clearly cherished those children and the children seemed to thrive here.

No matter what the cause of Russia's unhappiness with US policy, punishing the US by keeping these kids in orphanages instead of family homes is a despicable act. 

We don't orphanages in America.  We do have tax paid for kid kennels whose adult graduates make up the homeless population. 

I'm by no means an expert on this, but I was under the impression that in the US most orphans were placed with foster families.  Some of these families are very good, but some aren't so good, and a few are horrible.  A good friend of mine grew up with more than a dozen siblings.  His mother would sometimes send him to the bar to get his father and since his father didn't want to leave the bar he would stay there for hours.  He later went to a foster home with good foster parents and thrived.  He went to university with me and afterwards established a great career.

[Faux Pas]

No matter what the cause of Russia's unhappiness with US policy, punishing the US by keeping these kids in orphanages instead of family homes is a despicable act. 

It's political posturing by Putin with absolute total disregard for the children. If he were even remotely interested in anything other than the propaganda factor it would be a different story. He is not. The truth is, "most" orphanages in Russia are neglected, under funded and inadequate. Russia's policy will only further neglect already neglected and forgotten children.

American orphanages, despite LT's claims, are no walk in the park for the children but hardly could be compared to Russia's. There is a reason Russia's orphanages have been popular for hopeful adoption couples and much of it has to do with the maltreatment and neglect of the kids in those orphanages.

[mendeleyev]

I've spent time in Russian and Ukrainian orphanages and generally they vary from bad to worse. The good news is that a spotlight is finally being shone on the issue and more Russians are taking notice. Maybe that is the light at the end of the tunnel in this story.

Funding for orphanages is federal but allocated locally so that a local or regional government decides how funds are spent. As you can imagine, there is a lot of corruption by skimming off the top, fraudulent contracts for services and consultants, etc.

If you want to see the Russian view of a Russian orphanage, I'd recommend "The Italian" a movie about a Russian kid slated for adoption by a Russian family. The ending is a tad much of a fairy tale, but the movie right up to the end is sadly what you'd have seen in the early years after the fall of the CCCP.

With English subtitles courtesy of Kyle Keeton, here is the link: http://video.kylekeeton.com/2010/12/russian-movie-the-italian-english-subtitles.html

Kyle by the way has an excellent blog site and is a very professional and informed researcher and writer.


These days there are more groups that try to help and intervene for the children. There are a number of programs where orphanages bring kids for a day to a monastery for example and they spend the day helping care for the animals, learning to make crafts, etc.  I know of several groups of normal folk who make orphanage visits with gifts and food for the children at the holidays.

This next video is in Russian but you'll understand it. A monastery out in the remote village area took over the task of caring for "throwaway" children, those simply not wanted.  Father Michael of Holy Ascension Monastery began to take on responsibility for "throwaway" children, until he reached the 29th foster child; his monastery began to help make these children their focus.  They absorbed another 150 some children from dis-functional state orphanages and the rest is history.

This dedicated group of monks and nuns takes in the terminally ill, the handicapped, the retarded--the kids who never stand a chance of being adopted in Russia. You can watch and see how they developed a school and care for these children in a way that the state could never accomplish.

!

[mendeleyev]

Sorry for the typo: in the first movie the young boy is slated for adoption by an Italian family, hence the movie title. Sorry for any confusion.

[calmissile]

Sorry for the typo: in the first movie the young boy is slated for adoption by an Italian family, hence the movie title. Sorry for any confusion.

Great movie Mendy.  Great acting especially by the young boy.
Somehow I must have lost track of the characters because I did not quite get the final scene.  Might have to watch it again.     

[lordtiberius]

Why are you dodging the question? Do you formulate all of your opinions about Russia politics in the same manner?

You catch more flies with honey Faux Pas.  You want to talk at me instead of to me, that's cool because before you accuse me take look at yourself.  You are saying that the Russian orphanages are more humane than the kid kennels in foster care.  You are saying that the American culture is more kid friendly than Russian culture?  I am sorry, but I respectfully disagree.  The facts are self evident.

[calmissile]

We don't orphanages in America.  We do have tax paid for kid kennels whose adult graduates make up the homeless population.

Your reference to "kid kennels" is a little insulting to all the great foster homes in the US.
To repeat the question of FP...   "How many orphanages have you visited in Russia?"

[Faux Pas]

You catch more flies with honey Faux Pas.  You want to talk at me instead of to me, that's cool because before you accuse me take look at yourself.  You are saying that the Russian orphanages are more humane than the kid kennels in foster care.  You are saying that the American culture is more kid friendly than Russian culture?  I am sorry, but I respectfully disagree.  The facts are self evident.

Wow! Do you do tarot readings and look into crystal balls as well? Go ahead and write my next post for me and let's see how good you are? I asked you a relatively simple question and you in turn talk about kid kennels in America and avoid the question. Good going. Wear that tin foil hat often?

[lordtiberius]

I've spent time in Russian and Ukrainian orphanages and generally they vary from bad to worse. The good news is that a spotlight is finally being shone on the issue and more Russians are taking notice. Maybe that is the light at the end of the tunnel in this story.

Funding for orphanages is federal but allocated locally so that a local or regional government decides how funds are spent. As you can imagine, there is a lot of corruption by skimming off the top, fraudulent contracts for services and consultants, etc.

If you want to see the Russian view of a Russian orphanage, I'd recommend "The Italian" a movie about a Russian kid slated for adoption by a Russian family. The ending is a tad much of a fairy tale, but the movie right up to the end is sadly what you'd have seen in the early years after the fall of the CCCP.

With English subtitles courtesy of Kyle Keeton, here is the link: http://video.kylekeeton.com/2010/12/russian-movie-the-italian-english-subtitles.html

Kyle by the way has an excellent blog site and is a very professional and informed researcher and writer.


These days there are more groups that try to help and intervene for the children. There are a number of programs where orphanages bring kids for a day to a monastery for example and they spend the day helping care for the animals, learning to make crafts, etc.  I know of several groups of normal folk who make orphanage visits with gifts and food for the children at the holidays.

This next video is in Russian but you'll understand it. A monastery out in the remote village area took over the task of caring for "throwaway" children, those simply not wanted.  Father Michael of Holy Ascension Monastery began to take on responsibility for "throwaway" children, until he reached the 29th foster child; his monastery began to help make these children their focus.  They absorbed another 150 some children from dis-functional state orphanages and the rest is history.

This dedicated group of monks and nuns takes in the terminally ill, the handicapped, the retarded--the kids who never stand a chance of being adopted in Russia. You can watch and see how they developed a school and care for these children in a way that the state could never accomplish.

!

Sir, you know I enjoy your articles and your contributions to the community.  However I read your article condemning the Boys scouts recent decision to normalize homo-love.  Our American culture is degenerating into legalizing deviancy.  No doubt our conditions are materially better but it doesn't matter how rich you are when you are dead which is what happened to Max Shatto. 

When Russia banned American adoptions in December, it permitted them to continue in France, Italy and Spain, where the comparable rate of death by injury is between 1 and 2 children in 100,000

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-22/local/37232959_1_russian-children-american-adoptions-russian-citizenship

Or consider the 2010 case of Artyem Saviliev, Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tenn sent him back on a plane with a note attached to his person?

If this is a case of Cold War propaganda, what can really say when the arguments against us, despite their motivations, are true?

[lordtiberius]

Your reference to "kid kennels" is a little insulting to all the great foster homes in the US.
To repeat the question of FP...   "How many orphanages have you visited in Russia?"

Whatever. 

Why are we sending couples to Russia and China when we have kids here in America that need adoption?

Answer: because the government pays foster parents and more importantly the foster care industrial complex money every month to keep these children in a loveless limbo.  These kids then become adults and they don't have the life skills to make it in the real world and they become homeless.

It's sick.

Why are there so much restrictions and paperwork on parents wanting to adopt?  Why is there a financial incentive for foster parents to keep fostering them but NOT ADOPTING them?

I made my point first and instead of responding to the point I made you want play question time on irrelevant legerdemain.  Sell that to the Russians.  I ain't buying it

[calmissile]

Whatever.  Reminds me of what my teenage daughter used to say when she did not have an answer to a question

Why are we sending couples to Russia and China when we have kids here in America that need adoption?

First of all, we are not sending couples to Russia and China.  They are going on their own.  You would have to ask them why.  I don't know of any, so have no personal knowledge.  I suspect it is because the adoption policies in the US are so difficult and cumbersome.

Answer: because the government pays foster parents and more importantly the foster care industrial complex money every month to keep these children in a loveless limbo.

That is pure BS in most cases.  I do know personally two children that are in foster homes and both kids just started college.

These kids then become adults and they don't have the life skills to make it in the real world and they become homeless.

What a gross overstatement!!
Of course there are some cases, but you are condemming the whole lot of foster parents.

It's sick.

Why are there so much restrictions and paperwork on parents wanting to adopt?  Why is there a financial incentive for foster parents to keep fostering them but NOT ADOPTING them?

Because in many cases the kids are not orphans and not available for adoption.  The desire is to eventually reunite the kids with their parents.  Often they are in foster homes because the parents have drug problems and/or are incarcerated.  It is hoped that the parents will clean up their act and become reunited with their kids.  Hence, foster homes are considered a temporary solution.

I made my point first and instead of responding to the point I made you want play question time on irrelevant legerdemain.

OMG, you got me on that one.  I actually had to look up the meaning.  For someone with such poor grammar, you must have had to dig for that word.   

Sell that to the Russians.  I ain't buying it

[Larry1]

Why are we sending couples to Russia and China when we have kids here in America that need adoption?

Answer: because the government pays foster parents and more importantly the foster care industrial complex money every month to keep these children in a loveless limbo.  These kids then become adults and they don't have the life skills to make it in the real world and they become homeless.
 

I don't think this is a big conspiracy by a foster care industrial complex, but rather is a function of adopting couples' desires. To supplement Calmissile's reply just above, I have read that almost all the children available here for adoption are either older than parents want or severely disabled.  Lots of parents here want to adopt young children so they go to countries such as Russia, China, Brazil, and Guatemala.

[lordtiberius]

Well gentlemen, if you want to exchange ideas, we can do that.  If you just want to insult me, you can do it without.  It is fact that

1) it is easier and faster to adopt

(an unbiased article about the myths of domestic adoption)
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=522

2) there is a a strong correlation between homelessness and foster children, (outside the outlier anecdotes submitted by Douglas)

The most authoritative study on homelessness and the foster care system was done in 1995.
http://b.3cdn.net/naeh/0322dc703428f347f3_s3m6iiv34.pdf

3) There is a foster care industrial complex of kid kennels and abuse.

4) We don't even have the moral courage to outlaw gay and lesbian adoption.  Is that not a form of child abuse? 

Consider Professor Irina Shevlenko's adoption of her child with her lesbian partner



5) America is not a family friendly or kid friendly place.  Until we address those problems, I applaud the efforts of men like Vladmir Putin in calling us out.  (Someone has too!) 

[pitbull]

4) We don't even have the moral courage to outlaw gay and lesbian adoption.  Is that not a form of child abuse? 

Consider Professor Irina Shevlenko's adoption of her child with her lesbian partner

I applaud the fact that gay couples can adopt children in the US! How many more children can avoid child abuse and have a happy childhood, loving parents and a good start in life! The video you've quoted just confirms this - what future would that Russian orphan with a disability have in a Russian orphanage? What a lucky little girl being adopted by this great woman! 

It definitely is a form of child abuse to deny a child a loving family to satisfy the convictions of an herd of religious fundamentalists.

[calmissile]

Mendy,

I watched the complete movie 'The Italian' again from start to finish.  What a tearjerker!
After writing all the foreign names down, the ending made sense.   
I have only watched  a few Russian films, this is the best one so far.
The actors were great.
Thanks for posting the link.

 

[knighta]

http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-no-charges-russian-boys-death-203258251.html

 ODESSA, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors will not charge a Texas couple in the death of a 3-year-old boy they adopted from Russia, a case that has become the latest flashpoint in the debate over whether American families should be allowed to adopt Russian children.
Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said his office would not charge Alan and Laura Shatto in the Jan. 21 death of Max Alan Shatto, who was born Maxim Kuzmin.

"The grand jury determined there was insufficient evidence to charge them with anything," Bland said at a news conference.
Laura Shatto told authorities she found Max unresponsive outside their Gardendale, Texas, home while he was playing with his younger brother, Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson has said. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. Preliminary autopsy results indicated Shatto had bruises on several parts of his body, though four doctors reviewing the final autopsy results ruled his death to be accidental.

Bland, the top prosecutor in Ector County, about 350 miles west of Dallas, said the bruises on Max's body appeared to be the result of accidental injuries. The boy died due to an internal laceration of an artery caused by blunt force trauma, authorities have previously said.

"This child did not kill himself," Bland said Monday. "This child hurt himself."

Authorities believe Max hurt himself fatally while Laura Shatto was in the bathroom for about 10 minutes, Bland said. "It would not have taken too much force" for Max's injuries, perhaps from contact with playground equipment, he said. He was also underweight, which may have made him more vulnerable to injury, Bland said.
Grand jurors heard evidence in the case Monday and declined to indict either parent. Bland would not say what potential charges, if any, the grand jury discussed.
The Shattos' attorney, Michael J. Brown, did not immediately return a phone message. The Shattos' voicemail greeting on Monday said the family did not have any comment.

Russian authorities and state-run media have blamed the Shattos for Max's death and used the case as justification for a recently enacted ban on all American adoptions of Russian children. Russia's Investigative Committee has said it has opened its own investigation. It's unclear whether the committee could charge the Shatto family or force their prosecution.
U.S. State Department officials and adoption agency advocates have called for caution.

The Russian government passed the ban in December in retaliation for a new U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators. The ban also reflects lingering resentment over the perceived mistreatment of some of the 60,000 children Americans have adopted over the last two decades. At least 20 of those children have died, and reports of abuse have garnered attention in Russia.
Foreign Ministry official Konstantin Dolgov has called Max's death "yet another case of inhuman treatment of a Russian child adopted by American parents."

Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said Monday that the agency continued to investigate allegations that Max was subject to physical abuse and neglect but had not determined whether those allegations were true. Crimmins said he did not know when that investigation would be complete.

The agency that processed the Shattos' adoption, the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, was cleared in a separate state investigation to find out whether it followed all guidelines.

The Shattos adopted Max and his biological half-brother, 2-year-old Kristopher, from the same orphanage in western Russia. Since Max's death, Kristopher has remained with his adoptive parents.

Russian state media have featured the boys' biological mother, Yulia Kuzmina, who lost custody over negligence and serious drinking problems.

In a tightly choreographed Feb. 21 interview on state television, Kuzmina insisted that Russian custody officials seized her children unfairly and said that she wanted to be reunited with her other son, born Kirill Kuzmin. She said she had given up drinking, found a job and pledged to fight to get the boy back.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said it is necessary "to temper emotions" over the case, and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has called for "sensational exploitations of human tragedy to end and for professional work between our two countries to grow, on this issue and many others."
 

[Boethius]

I don't believe he killed himself, and the mother should lose the other child for leaving children that young unattended for 10 minutes.  Kids that age can get into an awful lot of trouble in 2 minutes, let alone 10.