The Voice Box

Democracy and Deportation Recently in the Britain there have been strident calls for foreign would-be terror suspects to be deported. Suddenly, deportation beckoned, or was presented as an answer to deal with many controversial and difficult legal decisions, which have been caused since the government's 'war in terror ' iniative. These situatons arise where authorities are appear unclear about interpreting current laws, and about how to proceed in dealing with some of these new and unusual judicial matters.But is deporting people, without any access to a judicial process, an answer? Or does it simply drive the problem away temporarily? Most enthusiasm for this kind of justice seem to come from the large print media who usually preaches, and expects, quick answers to every problem. I dont't see how deportation of new residents fits in with modern ideas of democracy. To me, once an individual has been given right of residence; they are therefore entitled to all elements o

Frankfurt Just returned from a long weekend in Frankfurt, Germany. It is becoming an annual affair. This time it was five days, and included a visit to Stuttgart. The greatest part of this visit was to collect specimens for my succulent collection. The visit definitely included the wonderful succulent collection of the Palmengarten, where I was kept quite busy with my digital, updating photos of some of their special caudiciforms. I was particularly impressed with their Uncarina collection. These Madagascar plants are truly spectacular. Probably they have the largest of its kind in any botanical garden; certainly among the gardens that I have seen, none have a collection of this size. And engaging the different species was a delight. Stayed at simple, but adequate accommodation close to the River Main, which connected adequately with the rest of the city. Most of the time I lived on the cheaper end of the food market, avoiding fashionable restaurants. I was delighted to find a five eur

When you live in a large city you take most it for granted, the excessive traffic, the crowded streets. You accept as the norm, the constant snarl up of the inadequate transport system; the days when you have to battle for a space on the tube trains; the times when tired of coming home to streets covered rubbish, you once again threaten to leave. And of course, later you calm down and decide things are not so bad after all, and once again decide that you still love the place, in spite of its numerous faults. Let me declare myself. I am talking about my city, London town. After twenty five years of living here, it is the only place that I could live in the UK. That does not mean that there aren't moments when I want out of this city. Of course, there are, and more frequent than I would like to admit. When these times happen, I simply head for the continent. The French Riviera, the Spanish Costa del Sol and the villas of Italy, all take on a new urgency. A quick budget flight, a long