In the United States, we spent today remembering the men and women who have served and died in our armed forces. That is about 576,000 combat deaths from the Revolutionary War through the current engagement in Iraq.

That number seems large, and its size is reinforced every day by the casualty reports from Iraq. But I wanted to take a moment to put these deaths in the context of the world I write on here: Russia.

Wars have taken an enormous toll on Russia, both its military and civilian populations. Russia lost 1.8 million soldiers... more

According to the Internet movie database IMDB.com, there hasn't been a filmed version of Anna Karenina since 1997. So I think those of us who are reading Tolstoy's opus to pass the time until re-accreditation (or just because it's a great book) should turn our thoughts to casting a new version.

First up today: Anna.

In the movie that came out a decade ago, which had a largely British cast, Anna was played by Sophie Marceau, a French... more

Where is it? Pskov Oblast, or region, is located in the northwest corner of Russia about 12 miles from the border of Estonia. Latvia and Belarus are also on its borders. It is in the same time zone as Moscow.

What's the biggest city? Pskov, which accounts for 202,000 of the region's 760,810 people. Other major cities are Velikie Luki, Ostrov and Nevel.

Who lives here? Overwhelmingly ethnic Russians. Pskov was an independent republic in the Middle Ages, but it was annexed by Moscow... more

There was, alas, no news on the adoption front in Russia this week. But there was lots of political and business news.

On Tuesday, British prosecutors asked Russia to extradite former KGB agent to face a murder charge. Andrei Lugovoi is the chief suspect in the death of another former KGB operative Alexander Litvinenko, who died in Britain last Nov. 23, after being poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium-210. Litvinenko was a British citizen at his death. Lugovoi has repeatedly... more

It's not often that I get to say nice things about New Jersey politicians. But a group of them did something very smart yesterday and I'd like to bring it to your attention.

The New Jersey Senate's Budget and Appropriations Committee approved, 8-6, a bill that extends the state's Temporary Disability Benefits law to cover those caring for sick family members, newborns or--drumroll please--newly adopted children. If the bill, which grants 10 weeks of partially paid... more

They start music appreciation classes very early in my school district and, as luck would have it (and without any calls or letters on my part), there is always a healthy mix of Russian composers in these classes.

One of the first pieces that the kids get to listen to is Peter and the Wolf, the piece composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936, based on a tale that Prokofiev himself had written. There are many, many recordings that have been made of the piece, and it seems, from the cultural calendars that I do every month, that it is almost... more

Whether you are a prospective adoptive parent needing motivation because Moscow is taking so long to sign off on the re-accreditations or a parent already home needing some inspiration, you'll be in luck this weekend: Dateline NBC is going to re-run a remarkable story on Russian adoption.

Correspondent Keith Morrison's story originally aired last June. It is the story of Lisa and Hythem Salem, "two regular people in an average suburb in America", as Morrison called them. Not... more

The moms in my neighborhood think I'm nuts for giving my kids all the choices I do for breakfast, lunch and snacks. They offer one or two choices for breakfast, they pack their kids' lunches and snacks without consultation.

At my house, the pantry and fridge are wide open for those meals. If my older son, who was adopted from Vladivostok at 18 months more than seven years ago, wants baked beans for breakfast, he can eat baked beans. If my little guy, who has been here less than two years from Sakhalin Island, wants yogurt and a banana, that's what... more

Last month, I told you that officials in Minnesota had pulled the license of Reaching Arms International, an adoption agency that had been working in Russia and Guatemala, among other countries.

This morning, an online news site for Minneapolis that is part of the same media group as New York City's Village Voice and the Seattle Weekly has an extensive report on what went wrong at Reaching Arms.

The 4,390-word... more

Stop me if you have heard this one before.

You tell somebody that you are adopting from Russia, or you are the parent of a child adopted from Russia, and they smile at you and say, "You are a saint."

No, no, no. I am not, I am not, I am not. Can you see me shaking my head? Can you hear me stomping my feet. I am not a saint. I am not remotely qualified for beatification on any score.

Why am I so opposed to sainthood? Because it takes adopting from Russia out of what it should be--one of the many possible, normal choices in life.... more