The FRC report, authored by Nick Frase, links to a news report in the Merrillville, Ind.-based Post-Tribune that discusses how the Internet has changed adoptions, but pulls only five paragraphs from an interview with the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gary in which the charity expressed its hope that a legislative effort to defund Planned Parenthood would have brought more birth mothers.

… However, shortly after the state Legislature adjourned, Planned Parenthood of Indiana successfully sought a preliminary injunction barring much of the law from being enforced. The state is appealing.

“We have not seen an increase [in birth mothers] with that yet,” Kavanaugh said. “Hopefully in the near future we will.” …

The FRC blog includes a section in which the Catholic Charities are described as “one of the largest child placing agencies in northwest Indiana,” but cuts the sentence directly below that states “usually, the not-for-profit has placed 10 babies by now, and averages between 10 and 15 placements a year … This year, they’ve had one as of mid-July.”

And, later in the same news report linked by FRCA, Tina Sanchez-Wright, founder and director of Adoptions and Family Support Network, is interviewed and provides a completely different perspective for what is happening with adoptions in Indiana and throughout the nation.

… “What I’m seeing compared to adoption 10 years ago is I don’t know if there’s been a decrease in birth moms so much as they are finding their own families. They aren’t going through agencies anymore,” Sanchez-Wright said. … Before the Internet, Sanchez-Wright believes more birth moms relied on agencies because they didn’t know where to turn. Now some of her families are receiving calls from moms out of state.

“Adoption is more out in the open. People talk about it and know more about it. They know someone who did it or is adopted,” Sanchez-Wright said. “So people, and with the Internet, they are very savvy about getting the help they need or finding a family. We’re seeing more of that.” …

Frase, writing on behalf of FRC Action, paints a horrible picture of a multitude of families “anxiously” waiting to adopt children. The families, he says, are not only “thwarted by Planned Parenthood,” but to “make matters worse, they’re using their tax dollars to do it.”

In a press release distributed by the Indiana Department of Child Services on Aug. 9, the state agency notes that there are no shortages of children waiting on adoptive parents.

… The [photography] exhibit, called the Heart Gallery, is an initiative of the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS). Its mission is to raise awareness about the approximately 250 Hoosier children currently in foster care still in need of a forever home.

… On any given day, over 400,000 children in America live in foster care due to abuse and neglect. Every year, approximately 30,000 young people leave the foster care system without lifelong families-most at age 18. On their own, these young adults must navigate a weakened economy offering fewer jobs and less support for vital services such as housing. They need and deserve caring adults who love and support them. …

In a June report authored by Frase for FRC, he was identified as a research assistant for the organization.

This spring Indiana became the first state to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, abolishing $3 million in public funds used for birth control, prenatal care, cancer screening and tests for sexually transmitted infection. The federal government notified the state that it could not pick and choose which providers of health care services could be the recipient of funding, and the case — along with similar situations in North Carolina, Kansas and other states — continue their way through the courts. Currently, a judge has prevented the state from withholding funding while the case moves forward.

Politically, changing the visa system is far more complicated than industry leaders make it out to be. While proponents of more skilled immigration claim immigrants could become entrepreneurs and create jobs, opponents argue they first take away high-paying jobs from American-born citizens.

Eliminating family reunification visas also has its political downsides: Human rights groups argue the current costs and wait times for legal, family-based immigration are prohibitive and can lead to more illegal entry.

One solution, according to some economists, would be simply to allow more immigration overall. The political appetite for that proposal, though, seems almost nonexistent.

Use of electronic telecommunication equipment by the Taliban has helped security agencies nab wanted men in the past, sources said, adding that “This is what we hope happen.”

Are Taliban fighters really that stupid? Use of those unlimited minutes is probably pretty helpful for CIA officials trying to figure out where to tell their drones to drop their missiles.

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GOP tech guru Patrick Ruffini tried to enter right after giving a presentation on his organization, Rebuild the Party. He tweeted:

Entered RNC meeting then they closed the room to nonmembers. Entering again so on supposedly

Then:

Wow… No quorum and they’re closing the forum to nonmembers = FAIL

Conservative blogger Adam Schmidt:

After losing an election to a candidate running on a platform of transparency the RNC needs to open up the process not bar press

Conservative blogger Jason Tolbert:

Where that welcome mat go?

RNC member Tom Wilson tweeted to cryptically explain that they “opted not to” make the forum public. Saul Anuzis, a candidate for RNC chairman and the party’s tweeter-in-chief, electronically reported on the meeting anyway. Doesn’t seem like the hoi polloi missed much.

The new project, called the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Users’ Group, says they are specifically committed to using biofuels from renewable sources that do not compete with the “agrifood sector,” do not interfere with drinking water and “improve the economic conditions of local populations.” (That means no corn ethanol, for one thing.) And, according to Air France, the airlines will factor in the “full life cycle” of the biofuels to assure that the overall impact of their usage yields fewer CO2 emissions.

Seems like a pretty bold proposition. We already know that aircrafts can fly on non-food-crop biofuels such as algae. But we also know that those green fuels have yet to be produced on a mass scale, largely because there’s a lack of funding for research and development. If the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users’ Group is serious about its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it may have to consider using airline resources to support building up sustainably produced biofuels.