Mauritanians living in France protest near their embassy in Paris
In Paris, where protests and demonstrations are a daily thing, you often pass by a street demonstration. This was a typical one in that the protestors don't make it easy for you to see what they're protesting about. The marchers are almost always preceded by people with megaphones, walking backwards right in front of their main banner so you can't read it.
But this manif thoughtfully provided flyers for passersby that explained the protest. These expat Mauritanians, living in Paris, want to be counted in their national census back home.
And why not? I thought. I'd love it if we Americans overseas, more of us than in West Virginia but with absolutely no representation (except lost in the mass of our home state where nobody cares about expats) as taxpayers, could also be counted in the U.S. census. In 2004 I did receive and fill out a census report that the U.S. census sent out as a test to three countries, Kuwait, Mexico and France. Here's an explanation of why the Census Bureau does not plan to count us any time soon.
Taxation without representation, anyone?
