L.A. to Frankfurt: August 2010

I may not be the first person to jump wholeheartedly into a Political Discussion. However, things have been happening here in France and I am not sure if the world outside of Europe knows about it.

In France, the Government has decided that they want to break up the Romanian camps (yes, literally camps where Romanian people group together to live-work). There is alot of prostitution going on within the camps and the Government has "had enough" of the Roma´s (shortened word for Romanian people), and want them to go back to their homeland.

Hmmm, sound familiar people??

The French Government has a displacement policy (read: when they force you back to where you came from, a little money to start you on your way again), where every adult receives 300 euros, and every child,100. They chartered a flight and took back about 100 Roma´s. Almost 75% of them interviews said they would be back in France within the week. One man said this was his 7th time making this trip! HOW CAN THAT BE, you ask?? Because legally, France cannot kick them out of France! They are apart of the European Union, which means they have every right to live and work anywhere between those borders! France just seems to be trying to take a shortcut from THE LAW and hoping that they will just peacefully leave on their own.

Now I dont have a problem breaking up these camps where they are all living together. Because there really is prostitution and child prostitution happening there. But the bigger picture is the intolerance for these nomadic people. In Europe, they are called Gypsies. We all know about Gypsies....well,we have seen them on the movies.

But let me tell you. Gypsies stay together, they do not mix with society, they are tight knit and dont want anything to do with immursion. They do, however, beg on the streets. They do send their children up to you to ask, instead of them, for some money. They do keep horribly malnurished animals (on purpose!) to tug at your heartstrings and attempt to get more money from you...these are all things that do not sound appealing...I get it. But to say that you want them TOTALLY out of your country because of that? I dont get it. And what I dont get is the lack of outpour from the European Community. It is barely a blip on the radar here.

Which leads me to SB1070. Otherwise, or more commonly known as, the Arizona Immigration Law. Let me just say...I am 100% in support of this law. I think the way Obama is handling the situation is appauling. Arizona is trying to deal with a major problem in a way that is OK for the Federal Government, but apparently not for the State.

The influx of illegals is DRAINING their resources! Why should they not be allowed to attempt to control this situation? In EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD...when asked to show your papers (passport or visa) by an Official...you must, immediately! If I am stopped by a Police Officer here in Frankfurt for WHATEVER, I am supposed to give him my passport. To prove that I am legally allowed to be here. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?? Am I naive enough to think that there wont be an abuse of this law by some people? No. But with such scrutiny of it, I dont think there will be much. And I am willing to take on that small amount of "abuse" of the law if it will begin to secure our borders.

America needs to stop trying to solve every other country´s problems, and get on with working on their own. We are a melting pot....but our pot will just melt away under all this debt we are accruing through these losses.

OK, my rant is over. Sometimes I just think in America we spend so much time debating because WE CAN. But in reality, we should pick our battles wiser.

Intolerance and Stupidity ARE two seperate things!

In an effort to "get the most out of my vacations", I would always book the return THE DAY BEFORE I had to return to work...thinking that I would enjoy myself on the vacation so much and then plop myself back into work and be reminded of all the fabby memories I just made.

Uh-huh....its not that easy with a baby. We arrived home in the evening on Sunday, and I had to work Monday morning. To top it off THERE WAS NO CREAM OR MILK FOR MY COFFEE! That was true hell.

That being said, we had a really nice time in France. The weather was (mostly) good, and we enjoyed good food, celebrated Christian´s birthday with family, and had some nice finds at the Flea Markets. A few "typical" French dresses for Emma, and a Le Creuset Dutch Oven for 4 Euros for us! It was definitely the find of the year!