Daily Archives: July 5, 2017

This DUP MP is asking if the NHS can fund magnet-fitted metal rings that ‘stop people snoring’ – Mirror.co.uk

Posted: July 5, 2017 at 9:11 am

A DUP MP has asked if magnet-fitted metal rings that supposedly cure chronic snorers can be provided for free on the NHS.

Jim Shannon, whose right-wing party is keeping Theresa May in power in exchange for a 1bn "bung", made his request despite two experts saying they knew of no scientific evidence that the rings work.

Such rings are based on the Chinese tradition of acupressure, which relies on the belief that life energy flows through 'meridian' lines in the body.

They put pressure on a small area of the little finger on one of these lines to supposedly open up the wearer's airways.

Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep researcher with 35 years' experience who worked for the RAF and University of Surrey, told the Mirror: "I am unsure that there is any scientific evidence that copper rings or bracelets have any beneficial effects on snoring.

"As there may be numerous causes of snoring it is unlikely that any 'device' would work in the majority of patients and even the websites promoting these devices admit they work in a limited number of people."

Sleep neuroscientist Professor Jim Horne, a former editor of the Journal of Sleep Research, said he was "very skeptical about this."

He added: "I doubt whether there is solid medical evidence to support it having any effect on obstructive sleep apnoea."

Alternative medicine shop Holland and Barrett sells the rings for 9.99 and says "heavy snorers often find wearing two rings work better than one".

But Holland and Barrett also tells customers not to wear the rings "if snoring is caused by a medical condition eg sleep apnoea".

Nasal and chin strips, implants, mouth guards, diet, exercise and giving up smoking and alcohol are all mentioned as potential snoring cures on the NHS website - copper rings are not.

One study supposedly showing the rings' effect in 2013 was paid for by a copper ring manufacturer and had only 20 subjects.

In a written Parliamentary question, Mr Shannon asked Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt "whether he plans to make magnetic copper rings available on the NHS to alleviate snoring."

Tory health minister Steve Brine replied confirming there are no current plans to introduce the rings on the NHS.

Mr Shannon has long been an advocate of alternative medicine.

In December 2016 he claimed "alternative treatments can be equally effective" in a statement about treating HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

A month earlier he demanded to know if the Department of Health had held talked to experts about using cider vinegar to reduce strokes.

In 2012 he complained a "small but well co-ordinated group with an anti-homeopathy agenda must be resisted" and access to homeopathic medicines "must be retained and enshrined by government".

In March this year he added it was "perhaps now time for the government to look at homeopathy in a new light because of the demand that there is, and also to see what homeopathy can offer."

The Mirror has contacted Mr Shannon for comment.

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This DUP MP is asking if the NHS can fund magnet-fitted metal rings that 'stop people snoring' - Mirror.co.uk

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Harsh winter takes toll on wildlife across western states – The Register-Guard

Posted: at 9:11 am

CHEYENNE, Wyo. Wildlife suffered higher than normal losses this winter in severe weather across the western United States, where the toll included the deaths of all known fawns in one Wyoming deer herd and dozens of endangered bighorn sheep in California.

Wildlife managers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Utah also reported higher losses of animals in the wake of one of the coldest and snowiest winters in decades. Parts of the Rockies saw snowfall as late as mid-June.

This year we kind of had all the factors that we dont want we had deep snow, we had periods of fairly cold weather, subzero, and then we also had some crusting on top of that snow, said Roger Phillips, spokesman for the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

Wildlife managers have been assessing the damage using radio collars and surveys of herds following a winter in which many parts of the West recorded record snowfall, including places where deer, pronghorn antelope and elk migrate each fall to escape the harsher mountain winters. Prolonged snow cover on winter grounds made it difficult for wildlife to find food, and spells of bitter cold made matters worse for the weakened animals by hardening the snow.

Mule deer in several Rocky Mountain states and elk in eastern Washington were hit hard. Wyoming was expecting above-normal losses among antelope, as well, although it didnt have an accurate accounting yet.

Wyoming last saw comparable wildlife deaths more than three decades ago, said Bob Lanka, supervisor of statewide wildlife and habitat management program with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Its been a long, long time since we experienced this kind of loss, he said.

Meteorologist David Lipson of the National Weather Service in Riverton blamed the rough winter on unusually strong rivers of moisture flowing into the West from the Pacific Ocean, where a weak and unusually short-lived La Nia occurred.

In California, the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which is listed as an endangered species, lost an estimated 40 to 60 animals.

Were not including any predation or normal mortality or any other kind of losses; thats just from the snow, from getting trapped up in the snow and not having food, some of them starving and then some of them directly impacted by avalanches, said Jason Holley, supervising wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Montana wildlife were spared the deadly conditions seen in neighboring states, according to Ken McDonald, wildlife division administrator with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department. Nevada saw near average wildlife losses statewide, while a few isolated areas in the northeast part of the state had slightly higher than average mortality, said Tom Donham, a Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist.

Wildlife managers are responding by reducing hunting permits in the hard-hit areas.

There will be less hunting opportunity this coming fall for sure, and the people that do get a license, whether its a general license or a limited quota tag, I dont think theres going to be any doubt theyre going to notice less animals on the landscape, Lanka said.

Mike Clark, owner of Greys River Outfitters in western Wyoming, said the loss of mule deer and antelope tags will be hard on his business, which includes deer, antelope and elk hunts.

Luckily, we can still work with some elk, Clark said.

However, outfitters have to be careful not to overhunt elk and overload their fall hunting camps with too many hunters to make up for the decline in deer hunting, he said.

It just takes away from the quality of the hunt if you got too many hunters in camp, Clark said.

Biologists say the wildlife herds eventually should recover with the help of reduced hunting and a return to at least normal weather conditions next winter. However, forecasters say its too early to predict how next winter will play out.

What happens in the future depends a lot on what kind of winter we see next year, Phillips said. If we have back-to-back hard winters, it could be tough.

Handover book launch relocated after Asia Society says Occupy leader Joshua Wong can come but can’t speak – South China Morning Post

Posted: at 9:10 am

Hong Kong 20/20: Reflections on a borrowed place contains some of the most moving pieces you will read about how Hong Kong has changed in the last 20 years. The launch of the book of essays, fiction, poems and cartoons by PEN Hong Kong also turned out to be a test of this citys tolerance of dissent.

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center was the original venue for the launch and readings by contributors but it had one condition: that Joshua Wong Chi-fung, one of the contributors, did not speak at the event.

The executive committee of PEN Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation supporting literature and freedom of expression, voted to hold the event elsewhere instead of accepting a demand to exclude the Occupy movement student leader. PEN Hong Kong believes building a strong community means generating conversation, not stifling it, said Jason Y. Ng, President of PEN Hong Kong.

In respect to our discussions with PEN Hong Kong, despite earnest efforts to collaborate on a programme design, we were unable to come up with one that would be mutually compelling to our respective target audiences, said the Asia Society press office.

The Foreign Correspondents Club subsequently took over as host. Wong, secretary-general of Demosisto, didnt attend in the end because he was taking part in the Black Bauhinia protest in Wan Chai ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit.

Apart from political celebrities like Wong, veteran journalists such as Stephen Vines, Louisa Lim and Ilaria Maria Sala have turned their pens to more personal pieces and, in Salas case, fiction that still capture the zeitgeist as well as their professional writings.

Award-winning writer Mishi Sarans contribution is a short story called Walking Through Hong Kong. Like most of the pieces collected here, the tone is dark: I understood at that moment that we were all trapped in the same dark cinema. The Exit sign had wavered and then had blinked off. It was too late to leave.

Last year, the Asia Society called off a screening of a documentary about the 2014 Occupy movement at its Hong Kong centre, citing a need for neutrality.

PEN Hong Kong is crowdfunding for a Chinese version of the anthology.

You can order the book here.

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Handover book launch relocated after Asia Society says Occupy leader Joshua Wong can come but can't speak - South China Morning Post

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Shaking Russia’s Weak Economic Hand – Project Syndicate

Posted: at 9:08 am

CAMBRIDGE When Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his American counterpart, Donald Trump, at this weeks G20 summit in Hamburg, he will not be doing so from a position of economic strength. To be sure, despite the steep drop in oil prices that began three years ago, Russia has managed to escape a deep financial crisis. But while the economy is enjoying a modest rebound after two years of deep recession, the future no longer seems as promising as its leadership thought just five years ago. Barring serious economic and political reform, that bodes ill for Putins ability to realize his strategic ambitions for Russia.

Back in 2012, when Putin appeared onstage with the Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman at a Moscow bank conference, Russias 1998 economic crisis seemed a distant memory. With oil prices well over $100 a barrel, the governments coffers were bursting. So Putin could proudly contrast Russias government budget surplus with the large recession-driven deficits across the West. He surely delighted in having Russian audiences hear Krugmans view that Western democracies had come up badly short in handling the global financial crisis.

In a different session, Russian academic economist Sergei Guriev (who later had to flee the country) argued that there was no hope for diversification of Russias resource-based economy as long as institutions such as courts were so weak. Too many key decisions rested with one man. Speaking in the same session, I emphasized that without fundamental reforms, a sharp drop in global energy prices would create profound problems.

Inevitably, that drop came, with prices plummeting from $119 in February 2012 (for Brent crude oil in Europe) to $27 in 2016. Even the current level (under $50 in early July 2017), is less than half the 2011-2012 peak. For a country that depends on oil and natural gas for the lions share of export revenue, the price collapse has been a massive blow, rippling through the economy.

The fact that Russia has avoided a financial crisis is remarkable and largely due to the efforts of the Central Bank of Russia. Indeed, Elvira Nabiullina the CBRs governor, has twice won international central banker of the year awards.

But the burden of adjustment has largely fallen on consumers, owing to a roughly 50% drop in the rubles value relative to the dollar; real wages and consumption both fell sharply. As one Russian put it to me, he used to take 1,000 rubles to the supermarket and come home with two bags; now he comes home with one.

The shock to the real economy has been severe, with Russia suffering a decline in output in 2015 and 2016 comparable to what the United States experienced during its 2008-2009 financial crisis, with the contraction in GDP totaling about 4%. Many firms went bankrupt, and in 2016 the International Monetary Fund estimated that almost 10% of all bank loans were non-performing (a figure that surely understates the severity of the situation).

In many cases, banks chose to relend funds rather than take losses onto their books or force politically connected firms into bankruptcy. At the same time, though, the CBR moved aggressively to force smaller banks to raise capital and write down bad loans (something European policymakers have taken forever to do). And, in the face of intense lobbying by powerful oligarchs, the CBR kept interest rates up to tame inflation, which had reached more than 15% but has since fallen to close to 4%.

Of course, Western sanctions, particularly restrictions on banks, have exacerbated the situation. But the media tend to over-emphasize this aspect of Russias economic woes. All countries that rely heavily on energy exports have suffered, especially those, like Russia, that have failed to diversify their economies.

In a Western democracy, an economic collapse on the scale experienced by Russia would have been extremely difficult to digest politically, as the global surge in populism demonstrates. Yet Putin has been able to remain firmly in control and, in all likelihood, will easily be able to engineer another landslide victory in the presidential election due in March 2018.

Russias state-owned media juggernaut has been able to turn Western sanctions into a scapegoat for the governments own failures, and to whip up support for foreign adventurism including the seizure of the Crimea, military intervention in Syria, and meddling in US elections. Most Russians, constantly manipulated by their countrys schools and media, are convinced that conditions are much worse in the West (a hyperbolic claim even in the era of fake news).

Unfortunately, such disinformation is hardly a recipe for generating reform. And, without reform, there is little reason to be optimistic about Russias long-run growth trend, given its poor demographic profile, weak institutions, and abject failure to diversify its economy, despite having an enormously talented and creative population.

Where will future growth come from? If the world continues to move toward a low-carbon future, Russia will confront an inevitable choice: launch economic and political reforms, or face continuing marginalization, with or without Western sanctions. No meeting between the US and Russian presidents can change that reality.

Shaking Russia's Weak Economic Hand - Project Syndicate

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California’s far north deplores ‘tyranny’ of the urban majority – MyAJC

Posted: at 9:08 am

REDDING, Calif.

The deer heads mounted on the walls of Eric Johnsons church office are testament to his passion for hunting, a lifestyle enjoyed by many in the northernmost reaches of California but one that Johnson says surprises people he meets on his travels around America and abroad.

When people see youre from California, they instantly think of Baywatch,' said Johnson, the associate pastor of Bethel Redding, a megachurch in this small city a 3 1/2-hour drive north of San Francisco. Its very different here from the rest of California.

Johnson lives in what might be described as Californias Great Red North, a bloc of 13 counties that voted for President Donald Trump in November and that make up more than a fifth of the states land mass but only 3 percent of its population.

From Hollywood to Silicon Valley, California projects an image as an economically thriving, politically liberal, sun-kissed El Dorado. It is a multiethnic experiment with a rising population, where the percentage of whites has fallen to 38 percent.

Californias Great Red North is the opposite, a rural, mountainous vast tract of pine forests with a political ethos that bears more of a resemblance to Texas than to Los Angeles. Two-thirds of the north is white, the population is shrinking and the region struggles economically, with median household incomes at $45,000, less than half that of San Francisco.

Jim Cook, former supervisor of Siskiyou County, which includes cattle ranches and the majestic slopes of Mount Shasta, calls it the forgotten part of California.

In the same state that is developing self-driving cars, theres the rugged landscape of Trinity County, where a large share of residents heat their homes with wood, plaques commemorate stagecoach routes and the county seat, Weaverville, is an old gold-mining town with a lone blinking stop-and-go traffic light.

The residents of this region argue that their political voice is drowned out in a system that has only one state senator for every million residents.

This sentiment resonates in other traditionally conservative parts of California, including large swaths of the Central Valley that runs down the state, and it mirrors red and blue tensions felt in areas across the country. But perhaps nowhere else in California is the alienation felt more keenly than in the far north, an arresting panorama of fields filled with wildflowers and depopulated one-street towns that have never recovered from the gold rush.

People up here for a very long time have felt a sense that we dont matter, said James Gallagher, a state assemblyman for the 3rd District, which is a shorter drive from the forests of Mount Hood in Oregon than from the beaches of San Diego. We run this state like its one size fits all. You cant do that.

Many liberals in California describe themselves as the resistance to Trump. Residents of the north say they are the resistance to the resistance, politically invisible to the Democratic governor and Legislature. Californias strict regulations on the environment, gun control and hunting impinge on a rural lifestyle, they say, that urban politicians do not understand.

The states stringent air quality and climate change regulations may be appropriate for technology workers, Gallagher said, but they are onerous for people living in rural areas.

In the rural parts of the state we drive more miles, we drive older cars, our economy is an agriculture- and resource-based economy that relies on tractors and trucks, Gallagher said. You cant move an 80,000-pound load in an electric truck.

A recently passed gas tax, pushed through by the Democratic majority, will disproportionately hurt rural voters, he said.

Taxation and hunting are two issues northerners are quick to seize upon when criticizing laws they feel are unfairly imposed by the state. But there are also more fundamental issues related to incomes and job opportunities that split California into a two-speed economy.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, unemployment rates hover around 3 percent. In the far north, where many timber mills have shut down in recent years, unemployment is as high as 6 percent in Shasta County and 16.2 percent in Colusa County.

Despite a go-it-alone ethos, residents of the 13 counties in the northern bloc are much more likely to receive government medical assistance than those in the Bay Area. In the north, 31 percent take part in Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program, while the Bay Area rate is 19 percent, and Californias overall figure 28 percent.

U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican representing Northern Californias 1st District, blames regulations that have shut down industries for the economic disparities.

Theyve devastated ag jobs, timber jobs, mining jobs with their environmental regulations, so yes we have a harder time sustaining the economy, and therefore theres more people that are in a poorer situation.

Because incomes are significantly lower than the state average and the region is so thinly populated, tax revenues from the far north are a fraction of what urban areas contribute. In 2014, the 13 northern counties had a combined state income tax assessment of $1 billion, compared with $4 billion from San Francisco County.

Resentment toward the rest of California has a long history here there have been numerous efforts to split the state since its founding in 1850. After the presidential election, a proposal to secede from the union, driven by liberals and known as Calexit, gained attention.

Residents here have long backed a different proposal for a separate state, one that would be carved out of Northern California and the southern reaches of Oregon. Flags of the so-called State of Jefferson, which was first proposed in the 19th century, fly on farms and ranches around the region.

Jefferson, named after the former president who once envisioned establishing an independent nation in the western section of North America, is more a state of mind than a practicable proposal. Many see it as unrealistic for a region that has plenty of water and timber but perhaps not enough wealth to wean itself away from engines of the California economy.

However, two recent initiatives have channeled the deep feeling of underrepresentation.

In May, a loose coalition of northern activists and residents, including an Indian tribe and the small northern city of Fort Jones, joined forces to file a federal lawsuit arguing that Californias legislative system is unconstitutional because the Legislature has not expanded with the population.

The suit, filed against the California secretary of state, Alex Padilla, who oversees election laws in California, calls for an increase in the membership of the bicameral Legislature, which since 1862 has capped the number of lawmakers at 120.

The lawsuit argues that California now has the least representative system of any state in the nation, with each state Assembly member representing nearly 500,000 people and each state senator twice that.

This arbitrary cap has created an oligarchy, the lawsuit says.

By contrast, each member of the New York Assembly represents on average 130,000 people; in New Hampshire, its 3,330 people for each representative.

Mark Baird, one of the plaintiffs, says residents of Californias far north feel as if they are being governed by an urbanized elite.

I wake up in the morning and think, What is California going to do to me today?'' said Baird, a former airline pilot who owns a ranch about an hours drive from the Oregon border. In a grass valley framed by low-lying hills, Bairds pastures are filled with his small herd of buffalo and a few pens of horses and donkeys.

Baird complains of restrictions on the types of guns he can own. Its tyranny by the majority, he said. The majority should never be able to deprive the minority of their inalienable rights.

Scott Wiener, a state senator representing San Francisco, says he has sympathy for the concerns of rural voters but rejects the proposal for a larger legislative body.

When you have a state as big and diverse as California, decisions are made that we dont all agree with, he said.

The second initiative is a proposed amendment to Californias Constitution that would change the method for dividing districts of the Legislatures upper house, the Senate. Instead of being based on population as they are now, Senate seats would be tied to regions, giving a larger voice to rural areas in the same way the federal Senate does.

I am asking the people with power to give up some of their power in order to allow all the voices in the state to have a little bit more strength than they do right now, said Gallagher, the assemblyman.

Northern Californians point out that the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are based on the compromise between population and geography.

What I cant get over is that a court can rule that its not good for the state but it stands up at the federal level, said LaMalfa, the congressman. We wouldnt have a union if we hadnt come up with that compromise.

LaMalfa, who lives on a farm, says Californias urban denizens think of the rural areas as their park, and deplores what he describes as trophy legislation to protect animal species.

You have idealists from the cities who say, Wouldnt it be great to reintroduce wolves to rural California?' LaMalfa said. He has a half-serious counterproposal: Lets introduce some wolves into Golden Gate Park and the Santa Monica Pier.

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California's far north deplores 'tyranny' of the urban majority - MyAJC

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Minister backs proposal to list MTN in NSE – Tribune – NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 9:08 am

THE Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the proposal to list the telecommunication giant, MTN in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will foster good business for MTN Nigeria and boost the nations economy.

Ogbonnaya said this, when the delegation from MTN Nigeria communications limited paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.

He said that MTN Nigeria, with 62 million subscribers had played a dominant role in the telecommunication industry in Nigeria and had contributed to her economy.

He said that most developed countries came to source for raw materials in Africa, pointing out that, as at today, 80 per cent of developed countries relied on African raw materials and it would be important for Africa to develop the appropriate technology and utilise it for her common good.

Dr Onu reiterated that the ministry was committed in working to redirect the Nigerian economy from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.

He added that Nigeria should be the leading market because of the population it has and that MTN should tap into the huge human capital that Nigeria was endowed with.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, who is the Deputy Head Mergers Acquisition, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Mr Kholekile Ndamese, informed the minister that MTN was listing the company in the Nigerian capital market, which is one of the largest markets in the continent.

He said the listing would showcase Nigeria in the global spotlight, and MTN group had structured the listing as a give-back project for its teeming customers in Nigeria, which was broad-based and inclusive in nature.

Confront and defeat corruption, dont balkanise Nigeria

Fashola/Senate rancour: Experts say tension may lead to project failure

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Minister backs proposal to list MTN in NSE - Tribune - NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (press release) (blog)

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Salt Marsh Ecology Walk set for July 16 – Tillamook Headlight-Herald

Posted: at 9:08 am

People will have a chance to walk along the salt marsh of Netarts Bay while learning about how plants survive in a salty world on Sunday. The walk will run from noon to 4 p.m.

The Friends of Netarts Bay Watershed, Estuary, Beach, and Sea (WEBS) will have a free guided tour along the salt marsh at the southern end of Netarts Bay.

The tour is designed to give people the opportunity to learn about the plants and animals that live in this unique habitat and the importance of this environment from the forest to the waters edge. The guides will also explain how plants survive in a salty world and explore the succession of vegetation from the bay to the dunes.

The tour includes an easy to moderate walk through muddy areas and trails covered by brush. It is best suited for participates 12 years and older comfortable with walking in these environments. Participants should wear long pants and closed toe shoes for this adventure.

The event is part of the Explore Nature series of hikes, walks, paddles and outdoor adventures. Explore Nature events are hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and non-profit organizations, and are meaningful nature-based experiences highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy.

The size of the even is limited to Class size is limited to 10 participants, so registration is required. There is a link on the Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS Facebook and Eventbrite pages.

Transportation to natural areas provided by WEBS.

Please be prepared for dynamic coastal weather on the Oregon coast and wear sturdy closed toe shoes or boots (no flip flops please and expect your feet to get muddy). At times, the tour areas will have a moderate number of mosquitoes.

For more information, contact jimyoung4990@gmail.com or call 503-842-2153.

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Salt Marsh Ecology Walk set for July 16 - Tillamook Headlight-Herald

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Northern California deplores ‘tyranny’ of the urban majority – Bend Bulletin

Posted: at 9:08 am

A-A+

REDDING, Calif. The deer heads mounted on the walls of Eric Johnsons church office are testament to his passion for hunting, a lifestyle enjoyed by many in the northernmost reaches of California but one that Johnson says surprises people he meets on his travels around America and abroad.

When people see youre from California, they instantly think of Baywatch, said Johnson, the associate pastor of Bethel Redding, a megachurch in this small city a 3-hour drive north of San Francisco. Its very different here from the rest of California.

Resistance to the resistance

Californias Great Red North is the opposite, a rural, mountainous vast tract of pine forests with a political ethos that bears more of a resemblance to Texas than to Los Angeles. Two-thirds of the north is white; the population is shrinking, and the region struggles economically, with median household incomes at $45,000, less than half that of San Francisco.

Jim Cook, former supervisor of Siskiyou County, which includes cattle ranches and the majestic slopes of Mount Shasta, calls it the forgotten part of California.

In the same state that is developing self-driving cars, theres the rugged landscape of Trinity County, where a large share of residents heat their homes with wood; plaques commemorate stagecoach routes, and the county seat, Weaverville, is an old gold-mining town with a lone blinking stop-and-go traffic light.

The residents of this region argue that their political voice is drowned out in a system that has only one state senator for every million residents.

The states stringent air-quality and climate-change regulations may be appropriate for technology workers, Gallagher said, but they are onerous for people living in rural areas.

In the rural parts of the state we drive more miles; we drive older cars; our economy is an agriculture- and resource-based economy that relies on tractors and trucks, Gallagher said. You cant move an 80,000-pound load in an electric truck.

Sticky issues

U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican representing Northern Californias 1st District, blames regulations that have shut down industries for the economic disparities.

Resentment toward the rest of California has a long history here there have been numerous efforts to split the state since its founding in 1850. Residents here have long backed a proposal for a separate state, one that would be carved out of Northern California and the southern reaches of Oregon. Flags of the so-called state of Jefferson, which was first proposed in the 19th century, fly on farms and ranches around the region.

This arbitrary cap has created an oligarchy, the lawsuit says.

By contrast, each member of the New York Assembly represents on average 130,000 people; in New Hampshire, its 3,330 people for each representative.

Mark Baird, one of the plaintiffs, says residents of Californias far north feel as if they are being governed by an urbanized elite.

I wake up in the morning and think, What is California going to do to me today? said Baird, a former airline pilot who owns a ranch about an hours drive from the Oregon border. In a grass valley framed by low-lying hills, Bairds pastures are filled with his small herd of buffalo and a few pens of horses and donkeys. Baird complains of restrictions on the types of guns he can own. Its tyranny by the majority, he said. The majority should never be able to deprive the minority of their inalienable rights.

Scott Wiener, a state senator representing San Francisco, says he has sympathy for the concerns of rural voters but rejects the proposal for a larger legislative body. When you have a state as big and diverse as California, decisions are made that we dont all agree with, he said.

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Northern California deplores 'tyranny' of the urban majority - Bend Bulletin

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Consultants and automation to the rescue: are they enough to save the agency space in 2017? – The Drum

Posted: at 9:07 am

With constant pressure on agency margins, and the uncertain economy affecting clients confidence, theres a noticeable lull in the amount of money available for conventional marketing which inevitably means less money for conventional agencies as well.

But its not all doom and gloom. This just means its time we explored the opportunities available for agencies willing to prove their ROI by adapting to the ever changeable economic landscape.

With the news that theres now an AI-powered social marketing tool, capable of predicting engagement stats and even writing posts, its difficult to see a future for content delivery thats anything but automated. Especially when you consider the time and resource thats currently poured into the creative process.

Brands should be looking at the examples set by companies such as Cosabella to see the benefits of mechanised ad delivery. It was recently reported that the lingerie brand had seen a 30% increase in customer base by replacing multiple e-commerce and digital marketing agencies with artificial intelligence.

While it is just one example that just happens to have been incredibly successful, it proves that if you focus on key KPIs its a viable, cost-effective alternative. It is important to note that the creative, in this instance, was not developed by the AI although that is the next logical step given the aforementioned marketing tool. A tool which is currently petrifying content creators across the globe.

Moreover, its not just the creative process thats embracing automation. At SHARE Creative weve developed a bot, with the specific intention of cutting down resource we spend on internal recruitment. The bot gives applicants the opportunity to find out more about the agency, what jobs are available and if applicants would be a cultural fit at SHARE. However, the predominant purpose of the bot is to keep hours spent sifting through CVs and budgets spent on promoting available jobs as low as possible. Previously, we would spend up to 7,500 per candidate but now, using the SHAREbot, this has reduced massively to just 1,500.

Of course we still have to conduct interviews, but the bot conducts most of the cultural and day-to-day chemistry meetings for us. We also still have to pay for adverts on Facebook and LinkedIn but, if you think that the last time we advertised for the position of Graphic Designer we received over 1,000 applications, the benefits begin to stack up when using the bot to filter through them. This in turn allows us to reallocate this time and money into developing new ways to help our clients. Dubious? Give it a whirl by clicking on the link here.

Of course, if youve had your eye on marketing publications like this one recently, youll know that the word on everyones lips is consultancy. Now, this may scare creative agencies as they dont have the greatest track record for playing well with consultants. However, if you look at the recent launch of new agencies such as Wolfgang, whose specific intention it is to bridge the gap between creative and consultancy, its a clear indicator that theres a gap in the market which is yet to be saturated.

In the coming months, we'll be bombarded with articles expressing how difficult it has become to prove our worth in the creative industry and how our jobs are all going to be taken in-house or stolen by robots.

However, the crux of the issue is that solving brand problems alone wont give clients the confidence or support needed to keep spending money. We have to find creative solutions to inefficiencies across entire organisations in order to adapt to a new era of creativity and the future of marketing.

Harry Wright is a content manager at SHARE Creative, with a penchant for linking psychological theories to modern advertising techniques. Follow him on Twitter @hazmccaz

Consultants and automation to the rescue: are they enough to save the agency space in 2017? - The Drum

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Capgemini may hire over 20000 in India – Economic Times

Posted: at 9:07 am

MUMBAI | BENGALURU: Capgemini is expecting to hire over 20,000 people in India this year and has reskilled 45,000 employees until May as it takes strides towards automation. The French IT services consultant had hired 33,000 last year and re-skilled 51,000.

"There is a lot of training. We are investing a lot of money in the development of training programmes because automation and the integration of automation is leading to a lot of opportunity for our workforce," Christopher Stancombe, head, industrialisation and automation, Capgemini, told ET.

The company has about 100,000 people in its India operations. It did not share its global hiring and training figures, citing a silent period before release of quarterly results on July 27.

"We are seeing an increase in demand and automation is helping our people be more productive," said Stancombe.

Most IT companies are hiring fewer people and reskilling staff in adopting automation and digitisation. Nasscom's annual review said jobs grew only by 5% in FY17 and there may be a 20-25% reduction over the next three years.

However, Stancombe said, "We have been more focused on the positive side. We are seeing that it is releasing people's time to enable them to do other things -a bit more analytics, customer care. We are seeing a positive influence and a great opportunity for us, clients and employees. Automation is actually increasing demand for people."

The gap between revenue and job growth is expected to increase, gi ven the commoditised nature of IT services as robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence become a part of the business model.

TCS, India's largest IT firm, said it offered jobs to close to 20,000 this it offered jobs to close to 20,000 this fiscal and has skilled 200,000 employees across 600,000 competencies. The Mumbai-based company had 3,87,223 employees at March end, against 3,53,843 a year ago -a jump of 9.5%.

Bangalore-based Infosys is going to hire 20,000 in India in FY 2018.Total number of employees in Infosys stood at 2,00,364 as of March 31, 2017 versus 1,94,044 a year ago -a mere 3% increase.

In its annual report, Infosys said automation has helped it eliminate around 11,000 full-time employees worth of effort and repurpose those people into more "valuable and rewarding" tasks.

Excerpt from:

Capgemini may hire over 20000 in India - Economic Times

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