Where is it? Irkutsk Oblast is located in southwestern Siberia. It is bordered by the republics of Buryat, Tuva and Sakha, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Chita Oblast. The world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal, is located in the Irkutsk region. Irkutsk is in its own time zone, which is five hours ahead of Moscow.

What's the biggest city? Irkutsk, which accounts for 593,000 of the region's 2.6 million people, according to... more

There might not be a picture frame big enough for the Russian Ministry of Education's decree No. 253: That piece of paper, dated September 12 and posted to the ministry's Web site today, makes Small World Adoption Foundation of Missouri the 13th U.S. adoption agency to be re-accredited to operate in Russia.

Brenda Henn, Small World's director of operations, sounded ecstatic when I got her on the phone a few minutes ago. "I might be headed out to buy champagne this... more

Small World Adoption Foundation of Missouri has been re-accredited! The decree is dated September 12, and was posted to the Ministry of Education's Web site today.

President Vladimir Putin's choice for a new prime minister, Viktor Zubkov, was easily confirmed by Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday. Its approval had been expected. The entire government of former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov ... more

This past Saturday, the second run of "Feasting on Asphalt", came to an end with an episode called the Lutefisk Express. For those of you who are not regular Food Network watchers, "Feasting on Asphalt" was cooked up by Alton Brown, host of Food Network's "Good Eats" show, to highlight the regional food to be found on America's byways. Last year, Alton and his biker buddies--they all ride motorcycles--traveled coast to coast across the South. This year, they started near New... more

Just when everything was beginning to look rosy in Russian adoption comes this: The entire government of President Vladimir Putin resigned today. Yes, that includes Andrei Aleksandrovich Fursenko, the minister of education, and the heads of all the ministries on which we have all been hanging our hopes for a swift resolution of the re-accreditation mess. The move, which came at his request according to news sources, paves the way for a fresh government ahead of the December legislative elections and perhaps an answer to the question of who will succeed Putin in the presidential elections... more

Where is it? The Chuvash Republic is smack in the center of the European side of Russia, about 400 miles east of Moscow. It is bordered by the republics of Mari El and Tatarstan, and the regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Mordovia and Ulyanovsk. It is in the Moscow time zone. It is called a republic and it has its own president, but Chuvashia, as it is also... more

Warning: This is going to be one of those soapbox posts. So if you don't want to read a rant about food that can harm your kids, it's time to click elsewhere.

Whew! I feel better already.

Last week, the eminent British medical journal The Lancet published a study by British researchers that linked a very common food preservative to hyperactivity in children. They found that, when combined with certain common artificial colorings, the preservative, sodium benzoate caused children to lose focus and become hyperactive.

Why am I writing about this... more

Where is it? Kemerovo Oblast is located in the southwestern corner of Siberia. It is bordered by Tomsk oblast, the territories of Krasnoyarsk and Altai, and the republics of Khakassia and Altai. It is in the Krasnoyarsk time zone, which is four hours ahead of Moscow. The region is sometimes known as Kuzbass, after the Kuznetsk coal basin. What's... more

As I noted the other day, the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has declared September 9 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders awareness day. So I suppose that it is entirely fitting that, this past week, Minnesota Public Radio ran a six-part series on FASD, entitled "Fetal alcohol syndrome: The invisible disorder".

The Minnesota Public... more

As I noted the other day, the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has declared September 9 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders awareness day. So I suppose that it is entirely fitting that, this past week, Minnesota Public Radio ran a six-part series on FASD, entitled "Fetal alcohol syndrome: The invisible disorder".

The Minnesota Public... more