The Boy and The Coconut Tree

We are now in mid March and as I type this it is 3c and falling from the sky is a mix of rain and snow. It is not at all nice. Last week was cold and next week will be too. As Easter approaches I think March will be a month of coughs and sneezes and winter coats. And as all thoughts turn to Spring, in its many guises, here is a photo (and it could be photo-shopped ? ) to warm your hearts!!? March 2013 has been an interesting one, last week (March 14th) the world got a new Pope. I have never seen so much excitement over something so anachronistic.  The BBC was obsessing despite the fact Catholics in the UK are outnumbered by Anglicans, Muslims and Atheists. Maybe the fact the new Pope is an Argentinian and the Argentinians have replaced the Germans as our cultural bogeyman. We no longer poke fun at or fear the Germans, they are now our friends. We now have the Argentinians, a far away place, created by colonialism and its fight over one of our colonies. Another anachronism th

This is a paper I wrote in 2005 for my LLM but never submitted it. Fundamental rights are, arguably, the single most important aspect of a successful democratic society. Without them the general public's freedom would be restricted to such an extent that a peaceful existence would become almost impossible. However, although they are common to all democracies, this certainly does not mean that they are subject to the same treatment the world over. As I will illustrate, the way in which England and the US treat fundamental rights has general similarities but is often vastly different when it comes to specific branches and settling individual cases. To begin with it is vital to point out how each country's code on fundamental rights came about. In America fundamental rights are set out in a written constitution, formed in 1787 after the American revolution. At this time there was a feeling of uncertainty in the air and the American citizens were anxious to see their ri