Magic Statistics

The British tax authority plans to impose higher taxes on homes near bus stops or other amenities and in peaceful locations, according to “secret manuals” obtained by the Conservative Party.

Living near a bus stop or corner shop and even enjoying "peace and quiet" will lead to a hike in council tax for householders, under Government plans.

The tax on "nice neighbourhoods" is being planned as part of the council tax revaluation, with proposals expected within weeks.
. . .
The plan follows revelations in this newspaper [Telegraph] that people who live in areas with good schools, clean streets and low crime rates face big increases in their council tax bills.

Home owners and tenants will be charged hundreds, and possibly thousands, of pounds extra if they live in a locality deemed by ministers and officials to be more desirable than others. The rises could be as great as four times, sending some bills from £1,000 to £4,000.

Even mobile homes located in quiet areas will face higher taxes.

Between shops, public transit, and peace and quiet, the government could concoct an excuse to raise taxes on every dwelling place in the nation.  For good reason, the shadow local government secretary, Caroline Spelman, said the proposal amounts to “a tax on civilised society.”

Too bad George Harrison isn't here to add some new lines to his classic song "Taxman":

(If you drive a car) I'll tax the street
(If you try to sit) I'll tax your seat
(If you get too cold) I'll tax the heat
(If you take a walk) I'll tax your feet
Taxman!
. . .
'Cause I'm the taxman
Yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me.

Of course, if “Taxman” became longer every time government devised a new scheme to extract tax revenue from citizens, the song would be hours long by now.

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A woman named Fatima al-Timani has spent six moths in a Saudi prison for refusing to give up the man she married four years ago and with whom she has borne two children.  Her family turned against her husband after the marriage and obtained a divorce order from an Islamic court.

The plight of 34-year-old Fatima, who was pregnant when court proceedings began in 2005 and is now in prison with her one-year-old son, Suleiman, has drawn widespread public sympathy in the tightly controlled kingdom.

Fatima is forbidden from seeing her husband, Mansour al-Timani. He now looks after their two-year old-son Noha, who has only been allowed occasional visits to his mother. Fatima's relatives have accused Mansour of lying about his tribal background to win their father's approval for the marriage and want it annulled so she can have an arranged marriage to a spouse of their choosing.

She was arrested in October of last year in the city of Jeddah and charged with living illegally with Mansour. The couple's efforts to be reunited suffered a further setback this month when an appeals court in the capital, Riyadh, upheld the original ruling forcing the divorce.

Fatima’s husband Mansour refuses to recognise the divorce.  If the divorce decree is upheld and Fatima is married to another man, she would be forced into adultery, as understood from Christ’s teaching.

It is believed that 19 forced divorces are now before Saudi courts.  Here’s the story of another woman oppressed by this inhuman provision of Islamic law.

The case of Rania Albou-Enin, a 27-year-old Saudi physician has caused particular concern. In her last month of pregnancy, she is anxiously awaiting an appeals court decision in a case of forced divorce brought by he [sic] father.

Her husband, Saud Al-Khaledi, is being held in a police jail in Alkhobar, according to her lawyer Ibrahim Al-Behairi. Rania, who had been paying all her family's bills, has claimed she was beaten by one of her brothers and that the family brought the case to ensure they would not lose their main breadwinner.

A woman pays “all her family’s bills”?  And the men in that Saudi Muslim family would rather beat her up than go out and get their own jobs?   Don’t they have any self-respect at all?  What fine specimens of Saudi manhood!

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France may be eager to shore up relations with African nations but, when it comes to reaching out to African leaders, apparently there are limits.  One African head of state was pointedly denied an invitation to this year’s France-Africa summit, and he is not pleased about that.  Although he attended France-Africa summits in the past, Robert Mugabe has now decided the very idea of ex-colonies being summoned to meet with the leader of a former colonial master is just plain wrong.

"That principle is wrong. It doesn’t matter which country. Kungoti tidaidzwe (for us to be called) the whole African continent kuenda kunyika (to go to one country) one, it’s not right,” he said. "We might be poor, but it is not right to do that. Let there be meetings with our delegations . . . that is better in my view."

France offered the Zimbabwean government an invitation to send a delegation, with one condition: Mugabe could not be one of the delegates.

In the same interview, Mugabe called the British government “queer” and reiterated the fanciful charge that his country’s economic woes are due to sabotage by Britain and the West.  He also expressed the hope that, after Tony Blair’s departure as prime minister, talks will resume between Zimbabwe and Britain.  I wouldn’t count on that.

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Yesterday I blogged Rwanda’s decision to abandon relations with France and apply to join the British Commonwealth.  A story in the Sunday Telegraph shows that Rwanda is only one of several African countries moving away from France.

France is losing its influence in Africa after nearly half a century of battling to keep a hold over its former colonial empire.

A crisis of confidence caused by corruption scandals, French support of dictatorial regimes and a lack of political direction is threatening Paris's special relationship with the continent. It is also being squeezed out by emerging economic powers, such as China and India, which are anxious to forge links with oil-rich African nations.

In an attempt to reverse the waning of French post-colonial influence, Jacques Chirac, the French president, hosted the 24th Franco-African summit in Cannes last week. More than 30 African heads of state attended, many to say farewell to Mr Chirac - known as "Papa Afrique" - who has become a personal friend in his attempt to continue France's self-appointed dual role as protector and policeman in the region.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame boycotted the Cannes meeting, as did President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast and South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki.

Actual African immigrants to France don’t see Jacques Chirac as “Papa Afrique”.

For many French African immigrants scraping a living in Paris, Mr Chirac and the continent's leaders might as well be meeting on a different planet.

"They call him Chirac the African but it's just a joke," said Messan, 25, an engineer and sans papiers (illegal immigrant) from Togo. "France, Britain, Europe, America… none of them give a stuff about Africa except for what they can get. And it's going to get worse for us. France is going to do deals with African leaders to get us sent back."

France’s declining influence in Africa is unlikely to improve after the upcoming presidential elections.  Neither Nicolas Sarkozy nor Ségolène Royal, the two front-runners, has demonstrated much interest in Africa.

In addition to Rwanda, six nations, including two former French colonies, are set to apply for Commonwealth membership this year.  The two former French colonies are Algeria and Cambodia.  The others are Yemen, Sudan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.  The Telegraph, strangely, combines the latter two as a single nation.  Not only are Israel and the Palestinian Territories separate territories, of course, they have been in a state of war for decades.  Hello!

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The parish of Christ Church Cathedral, Whitehorse, held its annual general meeting a few weeks ago.  As he had discussed with me earlier after far too many beers one evening, Dean and Rector Peter Williams told the meeting that he had selected me to be his warden.  Although I think I saw mouths drop open in disbelief, no one called for an exorcism raised any objections, so I’m the guy.

The official investiture of the new vestry and other church officers took place at this morning’s service.  The people’s warden was kind enough to take this photo of Dean Peter and me afterward.  It took her so long to figure out how to use my camera that Peter started talking, hence, his odd expression.  I, on the other hand, played to the camera throughout.

The diocese survived Bishop Stringer eating his boots, so I trust it can survive me serving as rector’s warden.

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The collect for today, Quinquagesima, or the Next Sunday Before Lent, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee; Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
The Gospel: St Luke 18:31-43