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Madonna's Malawian Adoption: Appeal to The Supreme Court


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There are a couple of points I take issue with in your argument. For instance, my mum went back to work when I was six weeks old, leaving me with a childminder for around 10 hours per day, I certainly don't feel worse off for it. Was I not her priority? Did she treat me as a novelty? Should she not have bothered having me?

With regard to supporting Malawi, encouraging growth and stability etc. isn't that exactly what she's attempting through Raising Malawi and SFK? I was initially suspicious of the K involvement in Malawi but my opinion has changed somewhat since watching I Am Because We Are. She's certainly doing more for that region than I or anyone else I know (even when taking into account the enormous differential in our personal wealth) and that, to me, is to be applauded.

Obviously my comments were on a pretty particular case; we all don't have the financial freedom as madonna - so your mother having to go back to work is a necessity, and it ultimately benefits you in the end. Most of our parents work to provide the best for us, as well as for their own fulfillment.

The novelty comes into when think how you can reasonably take on the needs of another while still being highly career focused with three children. And not any old career, MADONNA's career!

Granted i haven't seen her documentary, so if she is doing other things there - then that is great.

how are you able to make any of those suggestions without knowing ANYTHING about what happens behind closed doors?

And why should M have to stop working? Other mothers don't. And how can you sit there and tell her not to do what she is doing? What are you doing, besides criticizing, to help with the situation?

Its very arrogant to take the position that i'm from a western country and know what is best for you. The 'developed' world has always taken a very paternalistic view of the 'developing' world with regards to the way they should function - so i find it quite offensive that we feel we are 'saving' children by up rooting them from their culture. Sure there may be good intentions governing her actions, but ultimately you should step outside a worldview that thinks we provide a 'richer' life.

I think it's quite silly not to take a critical perspective on issues... otherwise we just accept the status quo

And i'm not saying madonna should stop working... but i see a conflict between a full throttle career and providing the needs for 3 young children. I know she has help, but is that sufficient or a good replacement? <- i don't know the answer to that, i'm just simply putting it out there as a relevant issue.

No offense because I truly don't mean to attack you in any way, but how is that any of your business? It's the same as if you'd question middle class women who want to adopt, we also don't know their home situation, for all we know those so called "middle class" families have nannies aswell and have already adopted four kids and have two kids of their own, just saying. If that's what those people want, then that's their business. I don't think we have to question someone's motives to adopt unless it's really suspicious.

That people question Madonna for maybe avoiding a few rules, okay, let them question it, but I think her motives are more than obvious, she simply loves kids and because she might be too old to get some of herself, she decided to adopt, not only it gives her a child, it also brings that child out of a devastating situation. It's win win. For example, I don't think she'd adopt a second time after going through the worst publicity she ever went through in the hope to gain "respect" or get positive publicity, because she knows more than anyone else that that isn't going to do her any justice.

I think a very big difference in this adoption to one of a 'middle class' family is that it would most commonly be a child of their own country, not that of a markedly different culture. I explained above my reservation for that.

And the reason i question madonna's motives is because i don't see her as a particularly sincere person - she comes across quite calculated and transparent at times.

I'll probably spend the rest of my life responding to all the people who quote my post...so i'm not going to bother replying after this.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...her-Malawi.html

reunion: Madonna allows adopted son David to meet his real father in Malawi

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:01 PM on 31st March 2009

Comments (13) Add to My Stories

Madonna's adopted son David was reunited with his biological father yesterday for the first time since the toddler left Malawi with the singer in 2006.

Yohane Banda met his child at 7am at the Kumbali Lodge where Madonna and her family are staying.

But the peasant farmer, who gave David up for adoption when his wife died weeks after childbirth, revealed his son did not recognise him.

'He asked me who I was,' Yohane said after the scheduled meeting, which lasted two-and-a-half hours.

Reunion: Yohane Banda (L) holds his biological son David's hand as he is cradled by adoptive mother Madonna on Monday

'When I told him "I am your daddy" he looked surprised.'

Mrs Wilo, an official from Madonna's Raising Malawi charity, acted as a translator between David and Yohane, who does not speak English.

Yohane continued: 'It's amazing how David has grown; I can't believe he is the same small and sickly baby we left at Home of Hope.

'He seems to be a polite boy for he asked if he could sit on my lap. Then he started playing with my nose; I don't know why.

'He is quite chatty and intelligent. He asked me lots of questions about lots of things. He asked me whether I ride horses.

Getting to know you: Yohane smiles as his son plays on Madonna's lap

'I told him horses are for the rich and he asked me why I am poor.

'He told me his mum likes riding horses and that he too rides horses.

'The he told me a story when one day he and his brother, Rocco, rode horses and fell. He told me his mum spanked him because they are not supposed to ride horses on their own.'

More...Madonna the manipulator who'll stop at nothing to adopt a second African child

Madonna takes David to visit orphanage as she's branded a 'bully' over Mercy adoption bid

As Madonna flies to Malawi to adopt Mercy, her family tell of fears they will never see her again

Back to reality: Jesus Luz catches up with friends in Rio as Madonna confirms split on Twitter

Yohane revealed how David spoke warmly of his adoptive parents.

'He told me his mum plays music and asked me what I do for life,' he said.

'I told him I was a farmer. He asked what a farmer does and I explained to him that we use hoes to till the land.

Special visit: Madonna, pictured here with son David and daughter Lourdes, arranged for the toddler to spend time with his biological father

in Malawi yesterday

'He told me his daddy, Mr Ritchie, took him to a farm but it had a tractor. I told him in Africa we use hoes.'

Yohane, who has since married a new wife, Flor, and now has a young son, Dingiswayo, said he was disappointed to learn of Madonna's divorce from Guy Ritchie.

'He seems to like his daddy, Mr Ritchie, so much that I was a little sad Madonna broke up with him.

'I would have loved it if they sorted out whatever problems they had instead of divorcing because divorce is bad for kids.'

Yohane lost two sons prior to David's birth and says he is relieved Madonna is taking care of the toddler.

'I was very happy to meet David again. He reminds me of the two sons I lost in infancy.

Just like mum: David emulated his pop star mother

'I sometimes shudder to think that David could also have met the same fate had Madonna not adopted him. I am really grateful to her for saving David from possible early death.'

Madonna and her two other children Rocco, 8, and Lourdes, 12, also met briefly with Yohane.

'She just greeted me and told me about David's school. She is a sweet lady,' he said.

'She told me David was clever at school. She then told me the children needed to take a bath because they were preparing to go out.'

Later that day, Madonna took her children for a tour of the Mphandula child care centre built by Raising Malawi about 30 miles from the capital of Lilongwe.

On tour: Madonna took her family, including son Rocco who was sporting a new Mohican, to visit a child care centre built by her charity Raising Malawi

The singer and her family arrived in the impoverished African country on Sunday and she is hoping to leave with a new addition to her brood - four-year-old Mercy James.

A judge will rule on Friday whether the 50-year-old should be allowed to adopt a second child from the country.

Mercy was placed in an orphanage after her 18-year-old mother died five days after her birth.

It was reported that her father was a schoolboy and it is not clear whether he is alive.

Madonna's determination to adopt Mercy was said to be a major cause of conflict between her and Guy, who was opposed to the idea.

Last year, he was said to have relented but soon afterwards the couple separated.

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source: foxnews.com

Madonna's Missing Millions

Before Madonna “adopts” another child from Malawi, maybe someone should ask her where the money went from her big star studded 2008 fundraiser for that country.

We tried: this column has tried to ascertain from The Gucci Foundation and from Madonna’s Kabbalah-backed Raising Malawi where the estimated $3.7 million has gone from the February 6, 2008 extravaganza. So far: No answers.

You may recall that Madonna summoned all her celebrity friends, especially the ones involved with Kabbalah like Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, as well those caught up in their own fringe religions like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

The fundraiser had some problems, however. Even though Raising Malawi had been in business for two years, it was still not approved as a sanctioned non profit at the time. Instead, Gucci formed its own Foundation — known as a 501 c3 — to collect the money. They brought UNICEF on board to give the event a feeling of legitimacy. But in the end, the efforts expended were for Raising Malawi, an organization founded by the Kabbalah Center of Los Angeles. Raising Malawi teaches the Kabbalah curriculum, called Spirituality for Kids, to Malawi orphans.

Now, fourteen months after the fundraiser, there’s no accounting for the money that came in. At the time, Gucci claimed that they’d underwritten the entire event, that $3.7 million had been raised and that it had been split between Raising Malawi and UNICEF.

But since then, The Gucci Foundation has still not filed a Form 990 tax statement, and neither has Raising Malawi. Calls to Gucci haven’t provided any information, and calls and emails to Raising Malawi haven’t been returned.

Where the money has gone — and the whole story of Raising Malawi — comes at an inconvenient time for Madonna. She’s currently back in Malawi trying to adopt yet another child, this time a four year girl named Mercy. According to a well reported story in London’s Daily Mail, the controversial pop star is getting a lot of criticism for trying to take Mercy away from her family. Madonna appeared at a hearing yesterday in Malawi to plead her case.

Mercy’s parents are dead, but her extended family — grandmother, uncle, cousins, etc — are said to be opposed to the plan. So too is Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee. According to the Daily Mail, the HRCC’s executive director, Mabvuto Bamusi, called Madonna “a child kidnapper.”

"We feel Madonna is behaving like a bully," Undule Mwakasungula, HRCC’s national co-ordinator, told the Daily Mail after last Friday’s court hearing. “She has money, she has status, she is using her profile to manipulate the procedures.”

What the Mail and other sources have pointed out is that Madonna has changed her entire persona for this process. She’s dropped the 20 year old Brazilian boy toy she’d been parading around New York, and gotten away from the scandal of her relationship with ball player Alex Rodriguez and the consequent break up of his marriage. In Malawi she dresses conservatively, as if in a movie role, and not at all as she lives in the U.S. or U.K. It’s doubtful that the Malawi HRCC has ever seen her “Sex” book, for example.

Meantime — call it a coincidence, but day after tomorrow — Thursday, April 2nd — Madonna is suddenly launching a charity auction on ebay for Raising Malawi. The auction is so last minute that there are no details. It’s supposedly timed to the publication of a book tied in to I Am Because We Are, her self-serving and unsuccessful documentary about Madonna discovering poverty and hunger in Africa. (The film, which was never picked up by a distributor, is often called “We Are Because I Am.”)

Apparently on April 2nd an auction will take place at some place called the Power House Arena in Brooklyn, home to the small indie publisher PowerHouse Books. Like most Madonna events “for the people,” this will be by invitation only according to a press release buried on the internet. It’s unclear whether Madonna and her sizeable staff — all of whom she took to Malawi for the adoption hearing as well as gym equipment and nannies — will be back for the big event.

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Granted i haven't seen her documentary, so if she is doing other things there - then that is great.

Fair enough, put aside an hour and a half and take a look (i'm guessing by your turn of phrase that you're from the UK so here's a UK based link):

.

I'd like to discuss some of your points further, for instance going back to work wasn't a financial necessity for my mother and I'm sure Madonna has more free time in her day than the average working mother and so on. However, having shouted your own view from the rooftop, you've retreated, slammed shut the doors and nipped any opportunity for healthy debate in the bud which is slightly unfair.

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Guest BytheBay
Its very arrogant to take the position that i'm from a western country and know what is best for you. The 'developed' world has always taken a very paternalistic view of the 'developing' world with regards to the way they should function - so i find it quite offensive that we feel we are 'saving' children by up rooting them from their culture. Sure there may be good intentions governing her actions, but ultimately you should step outside a worldview that thinks we provide a 'richer' life.

I think it's quite silly not to take a critical perspective on issues... otherwise we just accept the status quo

And i'm not saying madonna should stop working... but i see a conflict between a full throttle career and providing the needs for 3 young children. I know she has help, but is that sufficient or a good replacement? <- i don't know the answer to that, i'm just simply putting it out there as a relevant issue.

I think a very big difference in this adoption to one of a 'middle class' family is that it would most commonly be a child of their own country, not that of a markedly different culture. I explained above my reservation for that.

And the reason i question madonna's motives is because i don't see her as a particularly sincere person - she comes across quite calculated and transparent at times.

I'll probably spend the rest of my life responding to all the people who quote my post...so i'm not going to bother replying after this.

Why would you bother respoding? I mean you can come in here make a bunch of unfair generalizations and when people call you on it, then you retreat back into hiding.

The point about western civilization overtaking Malawian is a fair one. Except it wasn't what you were talking about in your original post. You were commenting on how Madonna shouldn't bother adopting another child because she doesn't have time for the three she already has. And my point was...how do you know that?

You have no idea what her personal life is or how much time she spends with her kids.

You criticize her ability to provide for her childs emotional development and yet have no valid information to do so. Then when confronted you start blaming it on a culture war. Then you say her motives are questionable because you dont' find her sincere yet I doubt you've ever met her, discussed it with her or for that matter received any other information than what the Sun/Post/Times offers.

You claim its best to take a critical perspective on an issue like this and you are correct. Except that the position you offer isn't critical. You've made your decision based on absolutely no knowledge of anything but what tabloids offer and when questioned on it, clam up and run back into the hills.

I think one of three things is going on here...

You're argument isn't very strong and all over the map so therefore you are either a)bored and tryign to rile people up b) upset about how little you have accomplished in your own life so therefore critique those who are doing something with theirs or c) both a and b.

Questioning the situation is one thing. But questioning is not damning the entire process based on NO INFORMATION.

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Why would you bother respoding? I mean you can come in here make a bunch of unfair generalizations and when people call you on it, then you retreat back into hiding.

The point about western civilization overtaking Malawian is a fair one. Except it wasn't what you were talking about in your original post. You were commenting on how Madonna shouldn't bother adopting another child because she doesn't have time for the three she already has. And my point was...how do you know that?

You have no idea what her personal life is or how much time she spends with her kids.

You criticize her ability to provide for her childs emotional development and yet have no valid information to do so. Then when confronted you start blaming it on a culture war. Then you say her motives are questionable because you dont' find her sincere yet I doubt you've ever met her, discussed it with her or for that matter received any other information than what the Sun/Post/Times offers.

You claim its best to take a critical perspective on an issue like this and you are correct. Except that the position you offer isn't critical. You've made your decision based on absolutely no knowledge of anything but what tabloids offer and when questioned on it, clam up and run back into the hills.

I think one of three things is going on here...

You're argument isn't very str

ong and all over the map so therefore you

are either a)bored and t

ryign to rile peop

le up b) upset about how little you have accomplished in your own life so therefore critique those who are doing something

with theirs or c) both a and b.

Very well said!!! Brilliant!

Questioning the situation is one thing. But questioning is not damning the entire process based on NO INFORMATION.

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Wow NYPost really trashed Madonna, this article is so full of hate. The woman has to be jealous.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/...es_a_162178.htm

THE baby monster must be stopped! Stuck in a midlife crisis, Madonna is hoping to soothe the pain of being 50, manless and well past her freshness-expiration date by taking home a Third World daughter to match the last baby she bought like a human trinket.

PHOTOS: Madonna Visits Malawi

Recently divorced for the second time, and accompanied by three children who should be in school -- and not advancing Madonna's pathetic cry for help -- she has traveled to the African nation of Malawi.

There, she's desperately seeking new ways to find attention and affection not seen since the time she simulated intercourse onstage and publicly tongue-kissed a young Britney Spears -- in front of her daughter, Lourdes. Which just goes to show that when you're rich and famous, you have nothing to fear from the child-welfare apparatus.

Madonna has her sights set on scooping up innocent, precious Mercy James, a 4-year-old girl who has no living mother, but a devoted granny and a breathing father. One must assume that Madonna, who ensured that her last Malawian tot, David Banda, was perfectly healthy in a nation decimated by AIDS, has her hopes set on a good one.

Poor little Mercy. She doesn't stand a chance.

In choosing poor Mercy, Madonna not only plans to, once again, circumvent Malawian law, which prohibits foreigners from adopting, but she ignores a significant and needy orphan population right here in the United States. Mixed-race children cry at night, waiting for parents.

But for Madonna, Americans are not good enough. Saving the planet is her fixation. And Malawi's curse.

The pop slut's first foray into baby-snatching was so easy it's become an addiction. Madonna and her entourage whirled into Malawi, dazzling locals and confusing David's father, who did not seem to understand that he was signing away his flesh and blood forever to a woman with the morals of an alley cat and the depravity of a vulture. Nothing against cats and vultures.

The dad, Yohane Banda, could not even read the document he signed.

Madonna proceeded to patronize Yohane, whom she rolled over like a tractor, telling Oprah Winfrey he was a "simple" man.

This time, it is as if the entire African continent is ready to revolt against the singer, who believes she has the authority to purchase human beings like so much matched furniture.

"We feel Madonna is behaving like a bully," said Undule Mwakusungula, chairman of the Human Rights Consultative Committee. "She has the money and the status to use her profile to manipulate, to fast-track the process."

Little Mercy's grandmother, meanwhile, said taking the girl was "stealing."

Once again, Madonna has chosen a child who is not an orphan.

Mercy is being groomed to join a brood that, Madonna has boasted, is denied the pleasures of eating ice cream, because of Madonna's aversion to dairy products.

Other questionable practices include unhealthy doses of Madge's pet belief system, kabbalah. In order to buy David, she set up a school in Malawi, where kabbalah is preached.

Why can't Madonna just write a check and go home? Madonna ought to find a new hobby. Or a young man. Or an old one.

The children of the world are not safe, as long as her midlife crisis rages unchecked.

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Ok honestly. Are you three years old?

are you going to start following me around now and replying to all of my comments?

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Wow NYPost really trashed Madonna, this article is so full of hate. The woman has to be jealous.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/...es_a_162178.htm

THE baby monster must be stopped! Stuck in a midlife crisis, Madonna is hoping to soothe the pain of being 50, manless and well past her freshness-expiration date by taking home a Third World daughter to match the last baby she bought like a human trinket.

PHOTOS: Madonna Visits Malawi

Recently divorced for the second time, and accompanied by three children who should be in school -- and not advancing Madonna's pathetic cry for help -- she has traveled to the African nation of Malawi.

There, she's desperately seeking new ways to find attention and affection not seen since the time she simulated intercourse onstage and publicly tongue-kissed a young Britney Spears -- in front of her daughter, Lourdes. Which just goes to show that when you're rich and famous, you have nothing to fear from the child-welfare apparatus.

Madonna has her sights set on scooping up innocent, precious Mercy James, a 4-year-old girl who has no living mother, but a devoted granny and a breathing father. One must assume that Madonna, who ensured that her last Malawian tot, David Banda, was perfectly healthy in a nation decimated by AIDS, has her hopes set on a good one.

Poor little Mercy. She doesn't stand a chance.

In choosing poor Mercy, Madonna not only plans to, once again, circumvent Malawian law, which prohibits foreigners from adopting, but she ignores a significant and needy orphan population right here in the United States. Mixed-race children cry at night, waiting for parents.

But for Madonna, Americans are not good enough. Saving the planet is her fixation. And Malawi's curse.

The pop slut's first foray into baby-snatching was so easy it's become an addiction. Madonna and her entourage whirled into Malawi, dazzling locals and confusing David's father, who did not seem to understand that he was signing away his flesh and blood forever to a woman with the morals of an alley cat and the depravity of a vulture. Nothing against cats and vultures.

The dad, Yohane Banda, could not even read the document he signed.

Madonna proceeded to patronize Yohane, whom she rolled over like a tractor, telling Oprah Winfrey he was a "simple" man.

This time, it is as if the entire African continent is ready to revolt against the singer, who believes she has the authority to purchase human beings like so much matched furniture.

"We feel Madonna is behaving like a bully," said Undule Mwakusungula, chairman of the Human Rights Consultative Committee. "She has the money and the status to use her profile to manipulate, to fast-track the process."

Little Mercy's grandmother, meanwhile, said taking the girl was "stealing."

Once again, Madonna has chosen a child who is not an orphan.

Mercy is being groomed to join a brood that, Madonna has boasted, is denied the pleasures of eating ice cream, because of Madonna's aversion to dairy products.

Other questionable practices include unhealthy doses of Madge's pet belief system, kabbalah. In order to buy David, she set up a school in Malawi, where kabbalah is preached.

Why can't Madonna just write a check and go home? Madonna ought to find a new hobby. Or a young man. Or an old one.

The children of the world are not safe, as long as her midlife crisis rages unchecked.

That bitch's email: andrea.peyser@nypost.com

Her homepage is full of nothing but bitterness + jealousy. Link

andreapeyser040419_175.jpg

...Andrea Peyser is the local Madame Defarge, shaking her fist as the tumbrels roll by, the Post’s class warrior, channeling populist rage and unleashing it on the likes of Donna Hanover, Hillary Clinton, and those who would countenance the idea of gay marriage...

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/features/n_10218/

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Wow NYPost really trashed Madonna, this article is so full of hate. The woman has to be jealous.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/...es_a_162178.htm

Stuck in a midlife crisis...

manless and well past her freshness-expiration date...

Recently divorced for the second time...

desperately seeking new ways to find affection...

Mixed-race children cry at night, waiting for parents...

But for Madonna, Americans are not good enough...

The pop slut...

a woman with the morals of an alley cat and the depravity of a vulture...

questionable...unhealthy doses of Madge's...belief system...

as long as her midlife crisis rages unchecked...

How a woman can write such thinly veiled misogynist, ageist crap is beyond me. Let's not even mention the barely concealed racism evident in the "article". Would she be so damning of the belief system if M was a born again Christian?

Hateful.

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How a woman can write such thinly veiled misogynist, ageist crap is beyond me. Let's not even mention the barely concealed racism evident in the "article". Would she be so damning of the belief system if M was a born again Christian?

Hateful.

This Peyser bitch is one major sick woman. I don't know if she's a Christian or not--- and likely NOT as real Christians don't behave the way she does.. At any rate, though, I wish that Christianity is not tossed about blithely in discussions like this.

Can liberals, conservatives, pro- or anti-Madonna forumers just please leave it out? Respect.

Thanks.

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Women are always the most evil to other women.

Especially female journalists with a poisoned pen in hand and column inches to fill (see the whole of the fucking Daily Mail, Sue Carroll, Amanda Platell, Carol Malone etc. ad nauseum). They may as well be mud fighting in bikinis for all the damage they're doing to their fellow women.

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This Peyser bitch is one major sick woman. I don't know if she's a Christian or not--- and likely NOT as real Christians don't behave the way she does.. At any rate, though, I wish that Christianity is not tossed about blithely in discussions like this.

Can liberals, conservatives, pro- or anti-Madonna forumers just please leave it out? Respect.

Thanks.

I read in her bio that shes Jewish.

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At any rate, though, I wish that Christianity is not tossed about blithely in discussions like this.

Can liberals, conservatives, pro- or anti-Madonna forumers just please leave it out?

Touchy much? I didn't cast any judgement on Christianity, I was simply asking if she would have raised the same objection if M was worshipping the majority religion, a fair comparison I think. Don't take it so personally.

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In Madonna's corner...

As the NY Post, Sun, and other papers and "news" outfits like Fox are seemingly overrun by malicious lunatics...

it's nice to know that there are a few out there who really know what they talk about:

Madonna Deserves Cheers Not Jeers for Casting Light on Africa´s Orphan Misery

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

March 31, 2009

First an outfit called Save the Children UK butted in and denounced Madonna for adopting Malawi orphan David Banda in 2006. Now another bunch has jumped into the adoption fray and branded her a"bully" for her plans to adopt another Malawi orphan. The Human Rights Consultative Committee pretty much rehashed the same tired complaint as Save the Children UK did three years back and that´s that Madonna is using her wealth and star power to end around Malawi´s adoption procedures.

Madonna ignored Save the Children UK in 2006 with their silly bellyache and she´ll likely do the same with the Consultative Committee. The figures tell the grim tale of why she should. According to UN estimates half of the 1 million Malawian children with one or no parents are orphaned by AIDS. More than 13 percent of Malawi´s 13 million are poor, dirt poor, and not surprisingly the majority of them are women.

Malawi is hardly an aberration. More than 12 million children have lost one parent or are orphans in African nations. And given the still rampant disease, warfare and poverty that plague many of these countries, the number of orphans or near-orphans will soar to nearly 20 million next year. Apart from a string of cramped, desperately under-funded and in many cases unsafe orphanages in sub-Saharan Africa, many of these children are doomed to live out their childhood years in a caretaker existence.

That´s only the start of Africa´s orphan misery. Africa's orphans are still mostly unwanted anywhere else in the world, and that includes the United States. In 2005, more than 20,000 immigrant visas were issued to orphan children whom Americans adopted from other nations. Ethiopia, with a paltry 441 orphans taken in by Americans, was the only African country that cracked the top-10 list. Liberia and Nigeria were the only other African nations among the top-20 nations, with 182 and 82 orphans taken in by Americans.

Madonna has raised millions through her Raise Malawi Organization to fight poverty and disease in the country. She´s made plans to build a school for young women there, and done more than any other celebrity too raise attention to the plight of Malawian orphans and women. Madonna could easily have been like the legion of air head stars whose idea of helping the poor is an annual photo-op mug shoot at a high profile, star studded, red carpet gala. Instead she put her money and name behind tackling one of the world´s toughest problems and that´s providing a better life for Africa´s dispossessed children. For that she´s piteously ragged on, sniped at, and backbitten, by every media chasing hound, and a handful of sanctimonious orphan relief groups. Why?

One reason for that is loudly and publicly stated. The other is unstated, and more contemptible.

Human rights and child protection groups claim that Madonna tossed her money and celebrity weight around to bend Malawi's adoption laws and fast-track the adoption, and that the adoption is another celebrity publicity stunt. Both are falsehoods. She observed the rules in 2006 with the adoption of Banda, and Malawi's courts have granted her an interim adoption order. She also kicked in a lot of dollars to boost orphanage services in the country. As one of the world's best-known superstars, with legions of paparazzi jumping at the chance to record her every cough, Madonna hardly needs to snatch an African child to grab some camera action.

The unstated, and more contemptible, reason that certain groups and individuals are upset about the adoption is the archaic notion that a white person, especially a wealthy white celebrity, is culturally clueless when it comes to raising a black child. Or worse, that they'll whitewash the child's black identity and tout white values (whatever they are).

What makes this notion even more dumb is that the crisis is not just one in which African babies are shunned in America -- African-American orphans are too. There are more than a half-million children in foster care homes in America. Nearly 40 percent of them are African-Americans. They stay in foster care homes on average a year longer than white children.

There is absolutely no hard evidence that the race of the adopting parent has much to do with whether an adopted child matures into a healthy, emotionally secure adult. The key is that the home must be loving, nurturing and financially stable. There is also little evidence that black children raised by white parents suffer permanent racial or cultural identity amnesia. Race and racism are still alive enough and in enough places in American society to insure that black children can't and won't forget that they're black. We need look no further than the man who sits behind the desk in the Oval office for proof of that.

Madonna did a huge service by using her star power not to exploit but to cast light on Malawi and Africa's orphan misery. You go Madonna. :thumbsup:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/96570

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Touchy much? I didn't cast any judgement on Christianity, I was simply asking if she would have raised the same objection if M was worshipping the majority religion, a fair comparison I think. Don't take it so personally.

I never said you did, but bringing it on the table can lead or descend to some unfortunate projections of some prejudices, and long-winded off tangent discussions.. (a few of you might know that I WILL defend it :p ).. Anyways...

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Jeesh- that Peyser woman really is full of anomisty, isn't she? Have there been negative letters to her, calling her out, that have been published?

How can she not be that, her endorsers are Anne Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and... Donald Trump! :lmao:

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Madonna's adopted son David was reunited with his biological father yesterday for the first time since the toddler left Malawi with the singer in 2006.

Yohane Banda met his child at 7am at the Kumbali Lodge where Madonna and her family are staying. But the peasant farmer, who gave David up for adoption when his wife died weeks after childbirth, revealed his son did not recognise him.

'He asked me who I was,' Yohane said after the scheduled meeting, which lasted two-and-a-half hours.

'When I told him "I am your daddy" he looked surprised.'

Mrs Wilo, an official from Madonna's Raising Malawi charity, acted as a translator between David and Yohane, who does not speak English.

Yohane continued: 'It's amazing how David has grown; I can't believe he is the same small and sickly baby we left at Home of Hope. 'He seems to be a polite boy for he asked if he could sit on my lap. Then he started playing with my nose; I don't know why.

'He is quite chatty and intelligent. He asked me lots of questions about lots of things. He asked me whether I ride horses. ‘I told him horses are for the rich and he asked me why I am poor.

'He told me his mum likes riding horses and that he too rides horses.

'The he told me a story when one day he and his brother, Rocco, rode horses and fell. He told me his mum spanked him because they are not supposed to ride horses on their own.' Yohane revealed how David spoke warmly of his adoptive parents.

'He told me his mum plays music and asked me what I do for life,' he said.

'I told him I was a farmer. He asked what a farmer does and I explained to him that we use hoes to till the land. 'He told me his daddy, Mr Ritchie, took him to a farm but it had a tractor. I told him in Africa we use hoes.'

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Yohane, who has since married a new wife, Flor, and now has a young son, Dingiswayo, said he was disappointed to learn of Madonna's divorce from Guy Ritchie. 'He seems to like his daddy, Mr Ritchie, so much that I was a little sad Madonna broke up with him. 'I would have loved it if they sorted out whatever problems they had instead of divorcing because divorce is bad for kids.'

Yohane lost two sons prior to David's birth and says he is relieved Madonna is taking care of the toddler. 'I was very happy to meet David again. He reminds me of the two sons I lost in infancy.

'I sometimes shudder to think that David could also have met the same fate had Madonna not adopted him. I am really grateful to her for saving David from possible early death.'

Madonna and her two other children Rocco, 8, and Lourdes, 12, also met briefly with Yohane. 'She just greeted me and told me about David's school. She is a sweet lady,' he said. 'She told me David was clever at school. She then told me the children needed to take a bath because they were preparing to go out.'

Later that day, Madonna took her children for a tour of the Mphandula child care centre built by Raising Malawi about 30 miles from the capital of Lilongwe. The singer and her family arrived in the impoverished African country on Sunday and she is hoping to leave with a new addition to her brood - four-year-old Mercy James. A judge will rule on Friday whether the 50-year-old should be allowed to adopt a second child from the country.

Mercy was placed in an orphanage after her 18-year-old mother died five days after her birth. It was reported that her father was a schoolboy and it is not clear whether he is alive. Madonna's determination to adopt Mercy was said to be a major cause of conflict between her and Guy, who was opposed to the idea.

Last year, he was said to have relented but soon afterwards the couple separated.

Source: Daily Mail

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Like i said, i doutbt Madonna gives a shit what these old bags say about her, and all these do gooders say, its just jealousy

How come Brangelina never get this shit ?

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Well having seen the Malawi pics and looked at the newspaper links, I'm now converted after initially being dubious to this whole thing.

I think that for all of Madonna's extreme careerism, machine-like work ethic and the materialism that has seemingly become what has defined her this decade, that at heart she gets the most joy out of her family. You can tell that Lourdes is her best friend and her inspiration.

And the thing is, for all the nannies she has and all the hours she's away on tour, you hardly ever see Madonna out and about the majority of the time in the evenings - she's a real homebody, and surely a good proportion of her time is with the kids in some capacity. Why would she put herself through all this for?

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Like i said, i doutbt Madonna gives a shit what these old bags say about her, and all these do gooders say, its just jealousy

How come Brangelina never get this shit ?

Simple. Because its Madonna.

No matter how good or bad she does, people will always talk.

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