Sparkling Adventures in Child Neglect - "Gayby" on Board

[August]

Aussie here. We've had a TV show, obviously british, called "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" I believe there was also an American version.

There used to be a restaurant in Adelaide run by people who identified as Roma. They called it a "Gypsy Taverne".

So my experience of the term Gypsy in Australia has been a mainstream TV show and a family self-describing their business as "gypsy".

I don't use the term myself but I think I would be excused for not realizing it is a racist slur.

Yes, of course. If you've never been told, how could you know? But then measure of a person is how you act after you find out.

Shall we go here or not?

http://www.aussiefoodshop.com/i/Main%20 ... edskin.jpg

[Miggy]

As a child I never connected the lolly with a group of people. By the time I was aware of the people I had long forgotten the lolly. Is that the correct answer?

What if only some if a race find a term offensive? May we use the term or not? I live in the heart of Wiradjiri country. My school is around 15% indigenous, most Wiradjiri but some from other tribes (nations). When I started teaching I asked our Aboriginal Education Officer whether I should call students Aboriginal, Indigenous or their tribe name. Her answer? I should call them all "Blackfellas". The kids like it and the indigenous staff members like it so it's what I use. However, I wouldn't walk into another community and use it.

[StellaMarie]

As a child I never connected the lolly with a group of people. By the time I was aware of the people I had long forgotten the lolly. Is that the correct answer?

What if only some if a race find a term offensive? May we use the term or not? I live in the heart of Wiradjiri country. My school is around 15% indigenous, most Wiradjiri but some from other tribes (nations). When I started teaching I asked our Aboriginal Education Officer whether I should call students Aboriginal, Indigenous or their tribe name. Her answer? I should call them all "Blackfellas". The kids like it and the indigenous staff members like it so it's what I use. However, I wouldn't walk into another community and use it.

From the States, and I'd never heard this term before, so it's kind of fascinating for me. Based only on what I found in a Google search, it doesn't seem to be considered a racist term in Australia -- can you shed light on that?

[Miggy]

A lot of Aboriginal Australians call themselves and each other Blackfellas. In the area I grew up in, which had a very small indigenous population, it was offensive for a white person to use the term to describe indigenous people. Where I live now, which has a reasonably high indigenous population, anyone can use the term. I would be hesitant to use it in a new community until I learnt whether it was ok for me to use.

[halcionne]

As a child I never connected the lolly with a group of people. By the time I was aware of the people I had long forgotten the lolly. Is that the correct answer?

What if only some if a race find a term offensive? May we use the term or not? I live in the heart of Wiradjiri country. My school is around 15% indigenous, most Wiradjiri but some from other tribes (nations). When I started teaching I asked our Aboriginal Education Officer whether I should call students Aboriginal, Indigenous or their tribe name. Her answer? I should call them all "Blackfellas". The kids like it and the indigenous staff members like it so it's what I use. However, I wouldn't walk into another community and use it.

I think if you ask members of a particular group how they prefer to be labeled, it's perfectly appropriate to refer to them with the term they indicate. My understanding is that "gypsy" is controversial, even among Roma people, because it has often been used as an ethnic slur over many centuries. "Roma" is the accepted term nowdays in much of the world.

Personally, I don't care how anyone refers to their unconventional, nomadic friends. Using the word "gyp" to mean cheat or steal is much, much worse, and it still happens a lot. What really bothers me in this thread, and in real life, is how quick people are to conflate Roma and thieves, as if they're fucking synonyms. They're not. Roma people have been treated like shit in just about every country in the world, for centuries. If some of them have to steal because local prejudice prevents them from getting work, or even welfare benefits, I don't blame them. And just because a whole goddamn country is systematically racist, that doesn't give individuals the right to be racist, too. This last paragraph isn't directed at you, Miggy.

[Miggy]

Aaa

[julie paradox]

"There's a field down the road that's popular with gypsy groups. I often see them with their colourful caravans."

"There's a field down the road that's used a lot by Roma. We can't leave anything out in the garden."

One speaker is old-fashioned and possibly privileged enough to think that a word can't be a problem. The other has bought into prejudice, and using the preferred term hasn't changed that.

We tend to refer to them as travellers or travelling populations, partly because there are groups that aren't Roma. And yes, there is a "say no more" attitude when you mention that a pupil is a traveller.

[August]

"There's a field down the road that's popular with gypsy groups. I often see them with their colourful caravans."

"There's a field down the road that's used a lot by Roma. We can't leave anything out in the garden."

One speaker is old-fashioned and possibly privileged enough to think that a word can't be a problem. The other has bought into prejudice, and using the preferred term hasn't changed that.

We tend to refer to them as travellers or travelling populations, partly because there are groups that aren't Roma. And yes, there is a "say no more" attitude when you mention that a pupil is a traveller.

Yeah, but langage is not irrelevant. And the step of learning to use words thoughtfully goes along with learning to not use them. Like the transition from how Grandpa would always refer to the Oriental lady newsreader to asian newsreader to newsreader. Yanno?

[BeaSnarky]

I am American by nationality, currently living in France. I don't think there is a group in the United States that as a culture, makes their living off of property crime and begging. Roma in France are wary of the government, do not speak French for the most part, and can't send their kids to school because they have no rights here. In the United States, you can be "illegal" and still enroll in public school. Because Romas have no legal standing in France, they build shanty towns outside of large cities (many of which have been torn down by order of the government, citing the camps are unsanitary and dangerous). I have rarely seen any other groups besides Roma panhandling and scamming tourists in the big cities. I just read an interview done with a Roma family, and they said that rather than go back to eastern Europe where there are no jobs, even if they make 10-20 euro a day by begging, it's enough to feed their kids. The children get wrapped up in the criminal lifestyle, because none of them attend public school. So what you end up with is an entire group of people who are living on the fringes of society and the kids are growing up being criminals. They can't be a part of French society, because they aren't here legally and they don't have any rights here. As a culture, they are anti government and do not want to assimilate into the French culture as well. So there you have it. Sad but true, as Marianne said. There is a time to be PC, but this is just a fact of how things are here.

Actually, there are large populations of Roma in America - The area I lived in in MD had a large population of Roma (they called themselves Travelers), and there are entire towns of them in West Virginia and North Carolina.

[bluehydrangea]

Aisha seems always better groomed, maybe she's self concious of it and does it herself?

In her post about China, she notes that after discovering it, Aisha used the hairdryer "after every shower!" -- I think that's very telling. Poor kid totally craves normalcy.

I will say, though, having just discovered Sparkling Lauren and read her craziest posts, the China installment isn't that weird by her usual measures. If you read that installment only, you almost wouldn't think she's that crazy. Where does she come up with the funds to travel to China, though?

[Mama Mia]

In her post about China, she notes that after discovering it, Aisha used the hairdryer "after every shower!" -- I think that's very telling. Poor kid totally craves normalcy.

I will say, though, having just discovered Sparkling Lauren and read her craziest posts, the China installment isn't that weird by her usual measures. If you read that installment only, you almost wouldn't think she's that crazy. Where does she come up with the funds to travel to China, though?

Lauren is kind of like Zsu in that way. I think that's how they get followings. Many posts are cool adventures and playgrounds ( Lauren) and recipes and crafts ( Zsu) normal day to day life stuff. Then they hit you with the crazy. If it was all crazy all the time people wouldn't like them.

[hoipolloi]

Where does she come up with the funds to travel to China, though?

She alluded to receiving an inheritance of some sort but it seems more likely that the gold star boys in Iceland are underwriting this trip en famille. Whatever, it is NOT cheap!

[bluehydrangea]

Makes sense. She has to fund this lifestyle somehow. And I'm sure she does entice people to read because they go on interesting adventures, and she's not a bad writer.

I found the entry about Aisha getting lost with the random dude -- just, wow. Does anyone else feel like this blog would be sufficient evidence to get this lady in trouble with child services, if she lived in the US? Granted, the US culture in regards to children is pretty hyper-vigilant right now (i.e., parents getting cops called on them for allowing kids to play outside), but still. I know we have some Aussie posters here, I'd be interested to know how it is over there.

Next, to try to find the entry about her husband yelling/getting kicked out of church...anyone remember the timeframe where that happened?

[Miggy]

She was investigated after the death of Elijah. I'm not sure of the exact outcome but she certainly retained custody. DoCS and it's equivalent in other states prefer to keep a family together unless the children are in immediate danger. I don't know whether any of this was offered to or recommended to Lauren. Since then, Lauren's travel makes it basically impossible for these services to investigate her. It takes several weeks for DoCS (in NSW) to complete an investigation and by then Lauren has travelled to a new state and is no longer under their jurisdiction.

I contacted my local office before she left for Iceland. (I'm a foster mum so I have a close relationship with my local DoCS.) I was really concerned about what she was taking the girls into with her history and the fact the surrogacy is illegal in Iceland. I was told they would forward the information to her local office but it was unlikely to be investigated. There are so many kids presenting at schools and hospitals with actual injuries that tracking down this family based on information on a blog that may or may not be true, was pretty low priority.

[flubber]

Has she turned off/removed all comments? I can't see them on any of the latest posts, and can't find them on post I know definitely had comments. Is this something that happened after their stuff was stolen?

[Marianne]

what do we know about the gold star gay ? Are they sparkling ?

[lilith]

what do we know about the gold star gay ? Are they sparkling ?

They just seem to be youngish hipsters with a streak of misogyny. Certainly not members of the Rainbow Family - they both work (for actual euros, in the traditional economy) and they plan to raise the gayby in a quite structured environment.

[Marianne]

They just seem to be youngish hipsters with a streak of misogyny. Certainly not members of the Rainbow Family - they both work (for actual euros, in the traditional economy) and they plan to raise the gayby in a quite structured environment.

So, I hope it's not a girl. Thanks you !

[lilith]

So, I hope it's not a girl. Thanks you !

It's a boy - great for them, potentially disastrous for Lauren.

[August]

Actually, there are large populations of Roma in America - The area I lived in in MD had a large population of Roma (they called themselves Travelers), and there are entire towns of them in West Virginia and North Carolina.

Travellers and Roma are two different groups, aren't they? IIRC My big fat American Gypsy wedding gave you a primer on the difference.

British society and culture for over 500 years, with the first authenticated records of Gypsy presence going back to 1505 in Scotland and 1514 in England. Many of the current Irish Travellers came over from Ireland in the 19th century and after Second World War to work on building and motorway projects. Welsh Gypsies are known as Kale and have been present in the UK since the 16th century, as have Scottish and English Roma, earliest records referring to them as “the Egyptians.†The Roma have a different ethnicity to Travellers, which has recently been traced linguistically and genetically to North India a thousand years ago (though there is still contention about this). The most recent wave of Roma immigration came from post-Communist Eastern Europe in the 1990s and after 2004, when so

[Grimalkin]

August, I was going to mention that too. The Travelers are Irish descent, and different from Roma. I don't know if their is a Roma population in the US, I am sure there is, but Travelers are different, and also known as con men.

For those of you living in France, my mom was robbed last time she was there and my memory is fuzzy but I thought that there were laws about minors not getting jail time so the crime rings used juviniles to do their dirty work. It was highly organized. Also, we were robbed in France when I was a teen. We live in a big city and are not cometely ignorant and were cautious. My mom speaks perfect French because her family is French and lived there for many years, so we did not stick out to horribly.they (the criminals) are just very good at what they do.

[sol]

August, I was going to mention that too. The Travelers are Irish descent, and different from Roma. I don't know if their is a Roma population in the US, I am sure there is, but Travelers are different, and also known as con men.

For those of you living in France, my mom was robbed last time she was there and my memory is fuzzy but I thought that there were laws about minors not getting jail time so the crime rings used juviniles to do their dirty work. It was highly organized. Also, we were robbed in France when I was a teen. We live in a big city and are not cometely ignorant and were cautious. My mom speaks perfect French because her family is French and lived there for many years, so we did not stick out to horribly.they (the criminals) are just very good at what they do.

according to my wife, you're right about the laws. there's a very common scam here in Paris where groups of older teens go around with a petition to sign. they pretend to be deaf (they absolutely are not), and when someone takes the clipboard to sign, others from the group surround the "mark" and pick his/her pockets. i've seen the deaf scam in the Latin Quarter, the areas around Notre Dame and outside the Pompidou. i've never seen them outside of the touristy areas, though. they were targeting (non-Parisian) French people as well as foreigners, and i came very close to being a mark when i first moved here.

there's a BBC documentary called Britain's Child Beggars [bBvideo 560,340:3cfvpbup]

[/bBvideo]that shows just how organized certain groups are. it also shows how the people running the cons on the street live harsh lives and how they are being exploited by the very rich, powerful men at the top of the food chain. the big fish eat the little ones....what else is new?

[church_of_dog]

Next, to try to find the entry about her husband yelling/getting kicked out of church...anyone remember the timeframe where that happened?

I'm not sure when it happened, but she writes about it in these two posts in early September 2010. The posts also contain links to related documents and even a youtube video and an audio file, at least one of which is a recording of David disrupting the church, IIRC (don't want to listen to them again to be sure)

sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=1063

and

sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=1051

[annaconda]

Has she turned off/removed all comments? I can't see them on any of the latest posts, and can't find them on post I know definitely had comments. Is this something that happened after their stuff was stolen?

I noticed a few days ago that her comments had been disabled/deleted also.

She has just posted a photo on Instagram.... She's in Germany...

[ladyaudley]

She was tagged in a photo on FB today with one of the Gold Star Gays "touching the belly for the first time". She has made it to Iceland, as she posts about her first priority being to source some Vegemite, as seven weeks without it are enough! FWIW, her belly looks tiny, particularly if compared to her other pregnancies.

Ben the GSG's FB cover photo is "anything's a dildo if you're brave enough". Yikes.