Savvy Thinker » Travel

Baby selling in China

Karin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:18:36 +0000

What a tragedy for all the babies and their birth families. While I was aware of baby selling in parts of the world when I adopted from China, 10 and 12 years ago, I didn't believe it happened in China at the time I adopted. Who knows how much of it went on in those days.

Where there is money to be made illicitly, there always seems to be some degree of greed/need. But there is no thought given to the innocents in this, to the babies. Will they reunite them with their families? will any families come forward?

Tragic that families feel the need to sell their children or are swindled into doing so.

Every child deserves a loving family, but in this world it doesn't always happen. Let us work and pray for a more equitable world, for the safety and health of children everywhere, so that no child is separated from their family, from necessity or neglect or scandal, and can grow into their selfhood unencumbered and in joy. So let it be.

Karin

Henan police break up alleged baby-trafficking ring

By Chen Qian | 2009-1-8 | ONLINE EDITION

HENAN Province railway police caught 11 suspects of an alleged baby-trafficking ring after finding seven infants less than one month old taken onto a train.

The seven infants were girls. They were saved by police at Zhengzhou Railway Station in Henan. The girls are now at a social welfare home in the city, Xinhua news agency reported today. Two more suspects are still at large, police said.

Police were suspicious of eight women with infants at the railway station on October 21, Xinhua said. Police couldn't understand their dialect so they stopped them for questioning.

They soon confessed the infants were not their babies and they were taking them to Shandong Province for sale. Four of the suspects are Guizhou Province natives and four are from Yunnan Province, the report said.

The alleged leader Long Fang confessed to police that she asked her in-law Liu Yongqiong to buy babies in October. Liu later contacted a man surnamed Huang and three other suspects to purchase infants in Yunnan.

Liu and Huang remain at large.

Long purchased five infants for 14,600 yuan (US$2,147) in mid October and organized five women to transport them to Shandong, where her accomplice Zhang Li was waiting for the babies, the report said.

Six suspects took a train from Guiyang in Guizhou Province and met two other accomplices half way. The pair had two babies they purchased for 8,000 yuan in Guizhou. They arrived at Zhengzhou Railway Station on October 21 and planned to take a bus to Shandong with the others, the report said.

After catching eight women in Zhengzhou, police caught five more suspects in Shandong, Yunnan and Guizhou in the following three weeks. Among them, 11 have been detained and two are still being investigated, according to the report.

Originally posted 2009-03-20 19:11:15.

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Jero singing Enko part 2

Karin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:06:37 +0000

Review The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockman

Karin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:15:51 +0000

Suzanne Brockman writes several series. This book is from her Troubleshooter's series, stories of US Navy Seal Team Sixteen. Each book details the story of another member of the team, as well as intertwines the characters more and more.

I'm not sure if this is the first book, but it's a good place to start. I have liked some of the stories more than others, but I like the concept.

I picked this book up again recently and found myself rereading it, something I rarely do.

From Suzanne Brockman's website:

After a near-fatal head injury, U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the Navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly veterans of the Second World War, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton -- the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman. Once known as the town’s infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day....

HERO: Lt. Tom Paoletti, U.S. Navy SEAL Commander
HEROINE: Dr. Kelly Ashton, pediatrician
LOCATION: Baldwin’s Bridge, Massachusetts

You can call these romance books with a twist. The twist is, of course, saving the day.

In this book, various voices narrate the action. I particularly liked this. It was believable and not just a writing device. It actually allowed the reader to catch glimpses of the inner persons. And woven through the book are the narrations of a romance and heroic actions during WWII in France. These actions have direct bearing on the circumstances in the book.

There is to be a ceremony honoring the hero of Baldwin's Bridge (Tom's uncle -- and until this point in time Tom never knew of the actions of his uncle in OSS) -- and his uncle plans to give an interview to a reporter detailing the real hero (Kelly's father.)

The characters rise to the occasion, get the bad guy(s), save the day, fall in love -- what more could you want from a story.

And the romance develops over a slow pace -- the entire book -- with a lot of stream of consciousness and flirting and some serious, but not crude, sex.

Tom has been told that his kind of head injury may result in paranoia. And he has bad headaches throughout the book.

When he first catches a glimpse of the man he strongly believes is the Merchant, he recognizes the odd way he puts his backpack on his shoulders. He has altered his appearance some, if indeed it is the Merchant. Tom feels it is his duty to report this sighting, but it is not well received. No legitimate source of intel has anything, but the fact that it is believed the Merchant died of his injuries in the last encounter.

Tom continues to catch glimpses of him -- as well as the tattoo that members of the Merchant's team use to identify themselves.

But has he seen him or hasn't he? Does he just imagine there is danger when there is not? Even though paranoia usually means thinking that only oneself is in danger, whereas here he sees the possibility of others' being in danger, he must decide if he should pursue following this lead, even if it means he could be medically discharged from the Seals.

He calls in as many of his trusted team as he can, making them know it is not an order, that they are acting on their own time (vacation.) Good thing he did too.

The action gets very fast paced at the end where they must find the bomb and save the day.

Have you read any of Brockman's books or series?
Which is your favorite? This is one of mine. I kept putting it down so as to savor the finish.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-06-28 10:22:39.

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Respite care

Karin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:42:05 +0000

I think respite care begins with ourselves. We have to know (or seek to know) what we need, then take some steps, even baby steps, to find space in our lives for respite. We need to ask and let others know, if we need it.

Respite care is talked about in the adoption community, for some children have needs (or problems) greater than one or two parents could fulfill or even handle. It can be very tricky finding any kind of care, and it sometimes involves residential care for the child/teen.

Respite care is likely also talked about in other communities of folks dealing with specific health issues or other.

Of course, there are other kinds of caregiving and caregivers, but the bulk of caregiving still falls on a woman's shoulders, whether she is caring for her or her spouse's parents, for a child, a house, or for her husband.

The need to call 911 can be life defining whether it involves something as 'simple' as lift support or as complex as emergency care or transport.

A friend writes:

I guess we don't really understand how much we need people until there's a crisis. Without the health issues [that some face with their husbands], I'm having the same feelings about my husband. I don't think I've ever been so solicitous or considerate of him as I've been these last two months since he took this new job.

Meanwhile, I think that we get caught up in the non-reality of a situation and don't really grok what exactly is going on. That was true on the street in NYC when I almost lost our son while my husband went to get the wheelchair. We didn't seem to have much of a clue. I think that could be said for another friend and her son, that the surreal-ness of the experience at the end there had so overwhelmed them, created a disbelief and an inability to actually SEE what was going on. I think calling 911, for the average person, is an act of huge significance. We are taught to be so polite and to ask for little, not to take up too much space.

I'm currently reading Inner Peace for Busy Women by Joan Borysenko. I'm a little put off by the cutsy green ink, but I like what she writes about, and it is another book that I will own.

I was surprised to find a chapter on caregiving. Again, I borrowed this book from the library, as I'm reading several of her books having just 'found' her as an author.

She writes:

On a trip to India in the 1980s, I spent a few weeks in a small village, where a schizophrenic woman, talking to herself continually with great agitation, lived under a large banyan tree. Different villagers visited her every few hours, brought food, and cared for all her needs. But most of us no longer live in extended families of close-knit communities where such care is common. We live neither in the welcoming shelter of a banyan tree, nor in the warm embrace of one another. Those who do reap significant benefits as far as health and peace of mind are concerned. p 141

I think especially this phrase stood out to me: warm embrace of one another. I suspect many of our homeless have been left to fend for themselves now that they have been de-institutionalized, but there wasn't another embrace for them, nor a way to be sure they were sound enough to care for themselves wisely.

Contrast the scene in the Indian village with a trip my then 11 year old daughter and I took to Paris about 10 years ago. We were surprised to find in the heat of summer, in a new hotel, there was no air conditioning. Our first room was in the back among sheltering trees and whether it was hot or not, the trees made the heat bearable. Through the night there was a woman who yelled continually, but there was no traffic noise. It was impossible to sleep. At some point, a man yelled out the French equivalent of SHUT UP! The next day we moved to the front of the hotel, no trees, with tremendous road noise right up until about 3 am when it quieted down until about 5 am, and not a breath of air, but the sounds of the traffic muffled any noises she was making. I saw her on the street at one point later in the day. I think I prayed for her just about the whole night.

We could learn a lot from societies such as India. How many of us would long for a banyan tree, for the warm embrace of another to help us get through?

Take the time to figure out, if you can, what would nurture you, if you are care giving. Often it comes in unexpected ways, if we are open to it.

Karin

The Lord is my care-giver
written for all those in need of care and for all those who are giving it
Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.
Psalm 23 and Luke 10:25-37

The Lord is my caregiver; I will not fear.
How precious is this thought: that He cares for me!

I love the parable of the Good Samaritan --
its gentle message stands forever,
as the epitome of God's own care:
the wounded left for dead by thieves in certain dread
the passersby who left him for their own chagrin
the neighbor true who bound the wounds, though not a Jew
the hotelier who offered place in which to find embrace
the simple ease with which the wounded had release
the money found to deal with every round
the needs all met by tender ministration in this vignette.

The mercy of the Lord is shown in ever-sweet accord:
whether I am care-giver or care-receiver,
I will not fear that I am alone, or that I will be uncared for.
The presence of the Lord ensures my care.
He enables care to be given that is not a burden.
He brings the care I need so I have intercede.
Both care-giver and care-receiver are in His plan.

O Lord, I give this care to You, for I know
that You are both my care-taker and my care-giver.
With You, I know that my burden is easy, for You are there.
Help me to appreciate my neighbor: each one to know as he is known.
Help me to see myself as You are seeing: forever in the care that You have shown.

Surely care-giving and care-receiving have followed me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in His mercy, well-cared for everyday, forever. (c)

Originally posted 2007-07-02 13:51:20.

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Touched by wild gorillas

Karin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:27:10 +0000

I thought this was especially interesting -- to have this opportunity is like a gift from the universe.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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Paroles,Paroles Alain Delon Dalida

Karin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:27:06 +0000

Take your pick of these. Her voice is so beautiful -- not to mention Alain Delon's voice. Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm.

And if you go here, you can see the words written out in French through the video.

And if you go here, you can see this word on one of my favorite blogs, French Word-A-Day, which gives you three times a week lovely posts about France, including French words and their pronunciation.

Kristin, the blogger behind French Word-A-Day also wrote a book. I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but it looks fascinating and has gotten good reviews.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-02-09 13:00:14.

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Jero singing Enko part 1

Karin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:56:21 +0000

Thanks to my friend Gordon:

Joozu da na, Jerome san. Natsukashii mo.

Umi Yuki - Jiro Music Fair (12 Apr 2008 )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w9t8TuF2Eo&feature=related

Jero - Echigojishino Uta

His story in the news.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/music_enka_star

Japanese enka star to perform at DC festival:
"Enka had an unwavering hook on White, and it has made him a superstar in Japan,
where he's known as Jero. Named best new artist last year by Japan Record Awards
— the Japanese version of the Grammys — White will make his first major U.S.
appearance Saturday during the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom
Festival in Washington.

White has helped reintroduce enka — long a favorite of older generations — to
the Japanese, breathing new life into its melodies by incorporating touches of
pop or rhythm and blues.

Most striking is his wardrobe. Traditional enka crooners perform in a suit or
kimono, but White sings in masterful Japanese while dressed in baggy pants, a
do-rag and a cocked-to-the-side baseball cap.

Seeing an African-American artist sing a "kind of perfect way of enka" in
hip-hop fashion — "that's totally sort of an amazing contrast to us," says Hideo
Fukushima, public affairs minister at the Embassy of Japan, which invited White
to perform at the festival."

Subarashi. Erai na, Jero no styeru. Yoko wakaru yo. Ciao, ato de ne.
--gordon

Originally posted 2009-03-30 15:44:04.

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Crazy Love

Karin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Bob Dylan and Van Morrison in Greece singing Crazy Love...

What a location! One of the most beautiful spots on earth -- especially when it is lit up at night -- we had a view from the top of our hotel in Athens that was breath taking.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-01-15 22:39:02.

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China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

Karin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:01:37 +0000

Rob Gifford writes about his travels across China from Shanghai through the Gobi Desert on Route 312...he was the China correspondent of NPR for the last six years and is now back in Europe. The story takes him across the desert and recounts the people he meets and his views on changing China.

I have not read the book, but it sounds interesting!

China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

Karin

Originally posted 2007-06-17 12:03:24.

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Gorges of the Finger Lakes

Karin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:26:12 +0000

I thought these photos by Joe Braun Photography were outstanding.

I've never been here, but I can see I would love it!

Have you ever visited?

Karin

Originally posted 2010-03-03 16:02:42.

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