For the not so illegal 'boat people'

I said I was working on something more serious for you and I am, but in the meantime I wanted to share my brother's response to an email chain going around about the 'boat people' seeking asylum on Aussie shores.  Siblings don't always see eye to eye on every issue but in this case, I would put my name to his words. Hoping there are loads more that share his view. 

 That's the ad campaign by the Australian government...okay first for the email chain and below his response.

Side note: I cringe at how poorly written this email chain is and had to forcibly hold back from correcting it. 

Subject:  Someone, please tell me what the Hell is wrong with all the people that run this country!

Both LABOR & LIBERALS


 We're "broke" and can't help our own


Seniors,


Veterans,


Orphans,


Homeless,


Etc???


In the last years we have provided direct cash aid to:


Congo  - 359 M
Egypt  - 397 M
Ethiopia  - 981 M
Haiti  - 14 B
Hamas  - 351 M
Iraq  - 1.08 B
Jordan  - 463 M
Kazakhstan  - 304 M
Kenya  - 816 M
Libya  1.45 B
Mexico  - 622 M
Mozambique  - 404 M
Nigeria  - 456 M
Pakistan  - 2 B
Russia  - 380 M
Senegal  - 698 M
South  Africa - 566 M
Sudan  - 870 M
Tanzania  - 554 M
Uganda  - 451 M
Zambia  - 331 M,


Indonesia – The mind boggles as to how much they get(they got $650m in 2013!)


And with literally Billions of Dollars and they still hate us!!!

Our retired seniors are living on a 'fixed income'


Do they get any breaks while our government and religious organisations


Pour Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$'s and Tons of Food
To Foreign Countries!

We have hundreds of adoptable children who


Are shoved aside to make room for the adoption of


Foreign orphans.




"AUSTRALIA",


A country where we have


Homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry,


Elderly going without needed medication and mentally ill without treatment...  Etc.


 YET

We still allow illegal "Boat People" & other free loaders on our shores


While we are lining up with food, clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies.

Imagine if the "GOVERNMENT"


Gave 'US' the same support they give to other countries.

Sad isn't it?"

And now for response:

"WOW. That's not a very nice email, yeah the budget is crap and nobody benefits from it except for a few but wow talk about anger directed at the wrong people.

Immigrants and asylum seekers are not "illegal boat people", they are fleeing their country because they are being persecuted for their religious or ideological beliefs, escaping war or maybe just for the colour of their skin. They have the right by international law to seek asylum from horrible conditions that we can't even comprehend. Australia's "policy sovereign borders", works by intercepting boats outside Australia's waters or forcing boats back ILLEGALLY into their own waters so that they have to return to where they set off. The only illegal thing in this whole debacle is what the Australian government is doing while maintaining complete silence for "operational security".
 

I'm really quite shocked you'd send me this email to be honest, there's some pretty disgusting words up there. Those who have the ability to help the less fortunate, should as a matter of principle. Do you realise that in this budget foreign aid was drastically cut to all those in need? I know people who worked for AusAid and lost their long time job because the government decided that we will no longer provide help to those we are able to and instead spend a couple of billion on fighter jets. Millions of dollars were cut from disabled services and elderly services as well but its okay to invest millions more in internet and telephone surveillance?

 I agree that religious organisations shouldn't be given the tax breaks they are given but if you don't like it, get on the line to your local politician and tell them, otherwise it will remain this way for another couple of hundred years if no one says anything! if you want to see the separation of church and state then don't vote for the Christian liberals or the Christian democrats! Keep your religion and politics separate.

 There are people in every single country on earth who go to bed hungry, who don't have a place to sleep and elderly that go without medication. But Australia is one of the highest grossing GDP's in the world, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world (maybe before Abbott starting firing everyone and closing down businesses). We have the ability to help those struggling, why on earth wouldn't we? If the situation was reversed, would you be saying the same thing if you were a "foreign orphan" in need?

This "budget emergency" is a farce from the liberal government as an excuse to cut basically everything. Our country is doing fantastic economically, it is all just a lie to help you accept the budget cuts. Abbott is a far right liberal, what did you expect? That's what they do! And who voted for them?

The problem is not that there are people in need other than in Australia, the problem is who controls how the money is spent. Don't direct your frustration at the situation of these people, but the people who you elect to represent you, create policies that are meant to represent you, and spend to benefit you. Get angry at the politicians and write them an email, don't send these hate emails around that's not helping anyone and just fueling the fire.

Steve."

 

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Little Man, Big Wardrobe: Zara

When the little wolf was three months old I was having difficulty squeezing his sizable behind into trousers. Don't give him too much of a hard time, it's pretty padded back there with a nappy and his culo isn't any bigger than it should be! Why, dear God why, do the children's clothes factories churn out baby trousers without room for the nappy? I mean, isn't that an obvious part of the design?

Then, in a desperate search for leggings which are quite common for little boys to wear in Oz, I popped my head in at Zara kids. And what a wonderful time I had buying up half the store. My favourite purchase was these lighting bolt leggings which are super comfy and just about the cutest thing ever. Last week, I took a chance and went back for more in a larger size and to my delight I got some! So the little wolf will be sporting the bolts for some time yet.

Do yourself a favour and walk straight past those rows of baby jeans and cord trousers which are torture to put on a baby and help your little person slide into a pair of Zara leggings.

 

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Crying High / 5 Weeks / Monarch / 4 Hours in the air

Here it is, the start of my official notes on flying with a baby or small person. Since we are spending maternity leave in Lanzarote but normally live in London with my husband being from Seville and me from Australia but born in New Zealand and with my extreme love for travel you can imagine that we spend quite some time in the air. And now we have a baby to help make those journeys even more special (forced smile). Because what could be more fun than being confined to a tiny chair for 13 or 14 hours with a baby on your lap also?! Not much beats that!

But let's start smaller than such a grand voyage. So far, we've successfully flown twice with the little wolf so here's the first story. I'm including info on the airline and how far we flew etc in case we later find out there are better airlines to fly with or huge differences in how to prepare for the hours you are in the air. Then standby for the next in the series which is when wolf was seven months  and we flew Lanzarote to Seville on the dreaded Ryanair. Gasp - who would do such a thing to themselves?! Well it wasn't all that bad but wait and see.

Okay so the low down.

Checkin and baggage allowance: We had brilliant luck in that the lovely lass behind the counter was a baby person and rather than giving us a hard time about our borderline luggage weight she took some of our hand luggage and processed it as free check-in as well. Tip: take the line with the most likely baby person standing behind the counter and prop your little person up to say hello - works wonders in many things! Monarch gives you 20kg each FREE to checkin and they throw in an extra 10kg FREE for the baby so it's really great for when you need to lug a lot of things around. But don't be trapped, you only get 5kg hand luggage regardless of whether you use the free 20kg...my advice, check in everything you can to free your hands up and wait the extra time at the other end to reclaim your bags. Prams and car seats are totally free but travel cots go as part of the weight allowance. EASY!


Boarding: We were kind of hoping to board early because we had the little wolf in tow but we weren't given that as an option so we staggered on with everyone else. We didn't have a pram with us so can't tell you how they handle that but we did pre-book allocated seats which definitely takes a bit of stress out of the moment. My big fail here was my hand luggage.  Yes, I met the 5kg restriction but I had SO much unnecessary stuff which inevitably was flying out of my bag and falling all over the place; including a sombrero (FAIL) and a coffee in my hand (MEGA FAIL), toys for the wolf...what? He couldn't even hold a toy at that point?! Who knows what I had in my bag but it was too much and I'll never do it again...except I did on the next flight! Fail once more... never again!


The flight: As we boarded the plane we were handed a baby seatbelt - all very easy to manage and no drama there. The wolf was making some whingy noises and I cringed as people glared at us boarding, wishing us and especially our baby away. But, once in our seats, I gave him a little feed and he promptly fell asleep for the rest of the flight, including take off and landing. I was all prepped to feed him during both but there was no need. He fit snugly in the seat with me and I propped a jacket up under my arm for extra support and even got a little shut-eye myself! The only annoyance on that flight was the tiny tots behind us that wouldn't shut up and the older baby a few rows up whose parents decided it would be a good idea not to follow the strict rule of not changing your baby in the seat...the shitty smell wafted towards us but was quickly sorted by a replacement seat by a less than impressed stewardess whose face contorted in a way that suggested she may at a stretch love an animal, but never a child.

The disembark: Nothing to report, very easy. He woke up as we landed, I fed him for a couple of minutes on the plane while waiting for the doors to open. We popped him in his sling with his Papi and wandered off to baggage claim.

So, all in all, a four hour flight with a five week old (mine at least) is not a scary feat. Keeping in mind that I had A with me. Babies that age tend to sleep and eat most of their days away so it's probably the perfect time to board a plane.


Here is a photo of A and my FIL just after arriving in Lanzarote, with the sling we traveled with him in. Which reminds me, putting baby in a sling is great because they generally don't make you take them out to go through security which gives you your hands free and is very helpful at that point!

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Yes, I am rubbish...

Well it has to be explained I suppose, why I have been so absent from the blog of late. Obviously it's not because I'm not doing interesting things - I am! I've been to two more spas and even popped over to Sevilla and Cordova - all MORE than worthy of a post of their own. The problem is I don't have a camera right now and I'm sick of posting dodgy photos which don't do any justice to the thing I'm raving on about. Normally I would steal A's photos...after all he is a much better photographer than me, but he has 'done a Maree' and also broken his phone!! This means until I return to London in August and pick up a new phone contract I am stranded with the most frustrating little annoying phone I have ever had. I can't even get through a full whatsapp message without seeing my favourite 'force close' message!

So, I think the best camera phone at the moment is the iPhone 5? Any thoughts on that?

Rest assured, my posts will be back soon and more wonderful than ever. There's a whole other side of London to explore with tiny feet after all! Also I'm heading back to work so who knows how that is going to go down...let's see if I can even remember how to add!

In the meantime I will try my best to uncover some hidden gems in the form of other people's photos and attempt to get some posts up. If I don't, you must know that both Sevilla and Cordoba are incredible and you should definately put them on your must-do list if you haven't already.

Baby is crying...should probably respond. :) 

From where I sit...

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