FacePalm Friday
Welcome to this week’s edition of FacePalm Friday.
This is where your hosts will list their top picks for this week’s FacePalm moment—something they learned or read about this week that caused the FacePalm to happen (you know, the expression of embarrassment, frustration, disbelief, shock, disgust or mixed humor as depicted in our Rally FacePalm smiley).
We invite you to add your FacePalm of the week to our comments. Go ahead and add a link, tell a personal story, or share something that triggered the FacePalm on the subject of child welfare or adoption.
Your Host’s Selections:
(1) Virus Trafficking–Chicken Pox Parties still in the news. Parents deliberately expose children to chickenpox to promote immunity [Times Free Press 1/29/12 by Joan Garrett] Now “State public health officials said they also have heard reports of mothers sending spit-filled rags to one another to rub on their children.”
“A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Health said the state has no way of tracking or knowing the number of “pox parties” or parents who expose their children to chicken pox or any other childhood disease.
“We don’t know and cannot offer any scientific proof to whether the program is widespread,” said Connie F. Smith.
Mailing chicken pox is illegal, according to Jerry Martin, U.S. attorney in Nashville. He said his office will start cracking down on the trafficking of viruses such as chicken pox, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.”
Now if authorities would just start cracking down on adoption trafficking, then we could really start to see some accountability! 
(2) Serial Adopter T-Shirts, hattip to a reader
From http://findingrdaughter.blogspot.com/p/serial-adopters.html?m=1
Two phrases to choose from: Serial Adopter, Blessed with Multiple Life Sentences or Accomplice to a Serial Adopter Donating to Life Sentences
Hey, we know some serial adopters who may GET life sentences-their names are Larry and Carri Williams and their Ethiopian-adopted daughter Hana was found dead last May. Maybe they can make a shirt for them too! Immanuel, their adopted son, is still alive. Maybe these APs can ponder the life sentence he has been given.
(3)Bethany Invades the Super Bowl
At first, their campaign, which is called Adoption Journey, was only going to be sent to Christian churches to be played during Church announcements this weekend. It features former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Dungy Church Announcement The main website
http://www.adoptionjourney.com/home/ Scroll down to bottom to see that this IS Bethany Christian Services.
The key blasphemous sentence being, “Adoption is an act of obedience.”
Now, it will be played on the Jumbotron at Lucas Oil Stadium PSA ad to air at Super Bowl .
“This Sunday, February 5th, Super Bowl Winning Coach Tony Dungy and his wife, Lauren, will greet thousands of football fans entering the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN for Super Bowl XLVI. The Dungy’s have recorded a 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA), framing the current orphan crisis and need for broader adoption awareness. The ad will play on the electronic billboard at Lucas Oil Stadium where football fans will enter the stadium for the Big Game. The PSA ad is scheduled to reach Super Bowl attendees over the course of 15 hours on Super Sunday. ”
Over 15 hours! on a Jumbotron! That is a horror show and one loooooong football game. Must be new rules this year. 
(4) Politics and Religion’s unholy adoption alliance
CCAI interns and executive director of CCAI spoke at a Christian Alliance for Orphans webinar on January 31, 2012 http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/resources/webinars/ where they spoke about how individuals and churches can guide foster youth.
According to this video, the interns are supposed to be there to write about foster care reform and learn the political process to advocate for legislation, not to advocate for private religious organizations.
Why are government interns advising religious efforts? Why is CCAI in bed with Christian Alliance for Orphans, run by the former head of Pres. George W. Bush’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, Jedd Medefind? The webinar series’ purpose is to grow orphan ministries in churches. 
(5)Andrea Poe thinks offering CWA a license to place in Kyrgyzstan is a “breakthrough.” See here .
Of course, she downplays the corruption and blames UNICEF, this time thinly disguised as an “aid organization.”
“The program was largely seen — at least on the American side — as a positive one. It was a relatively streamlined process with a waiting time of about one year.
However, there had been mounting unease among aid organizations and some officials inside Kyrgyzstan, who believed that a handful of unscrupulous actors were manipulating the system to gain lucrative payouts.”
Hilariously there is only one comment and it was removed. Any comment that is not in line with saying is removed.
(6)Story on Bac Lieu 16 dubbed “Christmas Miracle”
http://vietnam.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/christmas-miracle
The miracle of trafficking and having the head of an adoption agency go to a village and secure relinquishment. Ah…yes…
(7) Lecturing on how Adoption Disruption “Hurts the Name of Christ” while simultaneously promoting a baby game to win prizes.
A Frightening Trend in Christian Adoptions
And you can get a free e-book on adoption fundraising as she warns you to “count the cost of following Christ.” 
(8) Adoption Tax Credit Awareness Day, Feb. 13th, 2012 that is supposed to be about foster care reimbursement is being advertised on international adoption groups with the same tagline that parents may not know this exists. The foundation’s own ad says that “The adoption tax credit was made refundable in 2010. Before the credit was made refundable IRS data revealed that the vast
majority (82 percent) of adoption tax credit recipients completed private or foreign adoptions rather than adoptions from foster care.”
Pfft! Every international adoption agency talks about the tax credit.
Crabbina says: Guess what happened as soon as the adoption tax credit went into effect: Agencies raised their fees for…the exact same amount! Did they somehow start doing so much extra work from one day to the next to justify this fee hike? Of course not. They just found an easy way to bilk PAPs who they knew would be getting a refund, so the “cost” would be the same.
(9)Blaming everyone under the sun but their agency for Ethiopia delays
Family returns to Louisville after finalizing lengthy adoption from Ethiopia [WHAS11 2/3/12 by Mike Colombo]
“The family thought adopting the Ethiopian child would be a nine month process but instead it took two years! “It turned into a real mess of bureaucracy and funk. It hasn’t been fun” said Aaron Marshall. From the Ethiopian courts to trouble with UNICEF and the US Embassy, the family has been through so much in their effort to give their son a better life. ”
Harvesting and corrupt people involved in adoption are the reason for delays!
Adding to the family: Hastings area family welcomes two children from Uganda [Hastings Star Gazette 2/3/12 by Katrina Styx]
First, they were going to adopt one five-year-old, but when they arrived, miraculously an infant girl became available and they adopted her too….easily…
“A couple weeks after Haege arrived, she got a call from a friend who had been planning to adopt a baby from Uganda, but no longer could. Angellah was just a year and a half old, malnourished and completely unresponsive, Haege said. At first she wasn’t sure if adopting a baby was really what she wanted, yet every time she imagined bringing Primrose back to Hastings, she also envisioned having a baby with her.
As it turned out, Angellah’s adoption proved easier than Primrose’s. Every step fell into place.”
Then they exited the country this way:
“Haege’s trip back to the U.S. was one that could have come from a movie. Charges brought against the orphanage had already delayed the adoption process, but when it came time for Haege and her two daughters to come home, the situation threatened to keep them there even longer. All the paperwork was in order for them to return to the U.S., but they had to leave in the middle of the night to make sure they didn’t get caught up in the orphanage’s legal proceedings. They slept in a car at the border before being able to leave the country and get a flight.
“We didn’t think we were ever going to get on the plane,” Haege said.
“It was definitely rough.”
as fast as you can, you can’t catch me…
Where do you find these smileys? I am falling on the floor laughing.
Too bad all the stuff you find ISN'T FUNNY.