Category Archives: Resource Based Economy

It sounded like a big unveil, but Edmontons new slogan is rather simple in the end.

This is it; this is our one-word brand, said Brad Ferguson, posting a slide of the word Edmonton followed by a small Canadian maple leaf for a period.

Its tongue-in-cheek because Edmontons re-branding is more complex than that. Its also critical to its economic future as local corporations struggle to attract the educated talent needed to compete in a technologically based economy, said Ferguson, president of the Edmonton Economic Development Corp.

Our fundamental economic structure is changing, he said, pointing to a shift from a resource-based economy to one based on innovation. That will require an influx of highly-educated 18- to 35-year-olds, in addition to keeping home-grown talent.

Edmontons new brand is more about a story packaged and pitched to different audiences and less about a slogan or logo, Ferguson told councils executive committee Tuesday.

EEDC and city officials believe the words that describe Edmonton are: inventive, open, courageous and co-operative.

Their sentence is: If you have the courage to take an idea to reality, to build, to make something, Edmonton is your city.

Ferguson said for years Edmontons brand or image has been that of an industrial, tough and rough city. Its been discounted on the national and international stage. This re-branding builds on the work of Make Something Edmonton, an online forum where 2,000 local residents posted their own stories about what they are building and making.

A screen-capture from EEDCs Brad Ferguson July 4, 2017.

It seeks to articulate a new vision for something Edmonton already is. Edmonton spends $1.5 million annually on the brand development and associated marketing, targeted campaigns to attract tourists from Nordic countries and to support the KLM direct flight, for example.

Committee endorsed the new brand Tuesday and asked the team to report back in six months on how its being implemented.

Ferguson also evaluated Edmontons cost competitiveness for council, comparing the region to other similar city regions. Edmonton is average when it comes to the cost of setting up a business, he said.

At least were in the game and were average, he said, adding thats not going to be enough for Edmonton to compete if oil is no longer driving a resource-based economy.

Other cities have mountains, sea-side views and direct flights around the world; major employers in Edmonton are struggling to attract the talent they need.

Coun. Michael Walters said Edmonton has the river valley, great festivals and a volunteer community that welcomes and can root newcomers in a supportive community. It needs to proudly share that story, but it also needs to focus on education.

Our big challenge is we dont have a skilled enough workforce (for the emerging economy), said Walters, adding education hasnt been enough of a priority for any level of government. This is starting to ring the alarm bell.

Edmonton also needs to identify exactly where excessively onerous permits and other red tape is causing increased cost for businesses, said Walters. Hes hoping that will come back to committee when EEDC returns in September.

Ferguson and city staff will report back on how to update the citys economic strategy. It has a 10-year plan passed in 2013 thats already starting to feel outdated, said Mayor Don Iveson.

We need a bunch of three-year strategies in rapid succession, said Ferguson. Youll end up being a faster city in the process.

estolte@postmedia.com

twitter.com/estolte

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Edmonton hopes new brand will help shift the base of its economy ... - Edmonton Journal

Vladimir Putin will meet with Donald Trump on Friday.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Project Syndicate) When Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his American counterpart, Donald Trump, at this weeks G-20 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 CLQ7, +0.62% 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 LCOU7, +0.59% (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 USDRUB, -0.0002% ; 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 gross domestic product 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 policy makers 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 overemphasize 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 U.S. 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 U.S. and Russian presidents can change that reality.

This article has been published with the permission of Project Syndicate Shaking Russias Weak Economic Hand.

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Opinion: Why Putin can't make Russia great again - MarketWatch

Walk along the salt marsh of Netarts Bay while learning about how plants survive in a salty world noon- 4 pm Sunday, July 16.

Join Friends of Netarts Bay Watershed, Estuary, Beach, and Sea (WEBS) for a free guided tour along the salt marsh at the southern end of Netarts Bay. 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. Learn about 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.

This 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 nonprofit 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.

If you go:

When: July 16, 2017 from 12pm to 4pm

Where: Netarts Bay area. Register for details.

Cost: There is no cost to attend this program. Tax-exempt donations

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Trod the salt of the earth in Netarts Bay - Oregon Coast Today

Abdullah Ali Ameri, 14, programs a robot at the Higher Colleges of Technology Men's College in Abu Dhabi designed to encourage more youngsters into a career in the sciences. Silvia Razgova / The National

The UAE will never accept being just an observer to development, especially in the fields of science and technology. The country meticulously plans and maps its way.

The UAE is fully aware that to ensure a leading position in the world, it should be more creative, innovative and productive. Such achievements do not come out of the blue, but instead are a result of planning, determination, ambition and willpower, in addition to having highly qualified human capital equipped with skills and capabilities to compete in the field of progress.

When Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, launched the National Innovation Strategy in October 2014 and declared 2015 to be the Year of Innovation, he reflected on the correlation between innovation and the future and existence itself, which characterises the insightful vision of our wise leadership.

Within this context, the National Innovation Strategy has been launched in order to ensure that the UAE ranks among the most innovative countries of the world in the coming years. Hence, a comprehensive strategy in an institutional framework has been adopted to ensure the implementation and the achievement of the countrys goals. Such endeavours are an integral part of UAE Vision 2021.

Innovation and creativity can never be achieved without providing an excellent and modern education system, establishing adequate infrastructure and institutions, encouraging all social sectors to contribute to innovative efforts and promoting creative people and fostering their ideas and skills.

This also requires the transformation of the prevailing national culture. Accordingly, the UAE has taken major steps to improve education, promote scientific research and prioritise innovation at all national institutions.

It is believed that the promotion of education will make it possible to celebrate the moment that the last barrel of oil is exported in 50 years time, as stated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, in a speech he delivered in 2015.

Innovation is the main source of wealth and income in the age of a knowledge-based, rather than a resource-based, economy. A country that possesses creative ideas and is capable of transforming them into reality will retain wealth, strength and influence over its surrounding area and the worldregardless of its size, demography or geography.

Secondly, innovation has no limits. It is actually an endless line stretching towards the horizon. Some countries have made great steps ahead of us along this pathway, yet there is always enough space for those who possess the will to excel and adopt the means to reach the predefined goalbecause progress is not an exclusive preserve of a certain state or a group of states, but is available to whoever conscientiously and knowledgeably works and plans for it.

Thirdly, innovation is not a luxury, but rather it is the backbone of life, and those who are not engaged in the innovation process in the coming years will condemn themselves to obsolescence in the margins of history.

In February 2014, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said that countries are faced with a simple choice: either to innovate, or become irrelevant, adding that 65 per cent of children in primary school will grow up to work in jobs that do not exist today and 47 per cent of job categories are at high risk of ceasing to exist because they can be automated.

The world has already gone through three industrial revolutions. The first was based on the invention of the steam engine in the 18thcentury. The second, which began in the late 19thcentury and continued until the First World War, was related to the development of electricity and manufacturingand the third, which began in the late 20thcentury, was triggered by information technology and computerisation. Nowadays, the world is heading towards the fourth industrial revolution, revolving around artificial intelligence and all the related advancements in the field of robotics, 3D printing and the likes.

The UAE seeks, through its ambitious innovation strategies, to lead the region in the preparation phase to enter this fourth industrial revolution, which is likely to witness major shifts. In this context, during proceedings at Global Future Councilsin November 2016 in Dubai, the UAE declared that the country was about to establish the worlds first council for the fourth industrial revolution. This reflects the leading role the country plays in this regard, as well as the countrys readiness to embrace the new global technological and scientific developments, relying on tangible actions, plans and self-esteemrather than empty slogans.

Many in the Arab world talk about the importance of knowledge and Arab underdevelopment in the field of technology, discussing the reasons behind such a situation and even suggesting solutions for emancipation from the shackles of this abject condition. Few, however, translate words into actions.

In this regard, the region can extract lessons from the UAE, which is strongly committed to fully engaging in the field of innovation and creativity as a source of inspiration for Arab countries.

Many underdeveloped countries have moved up the progress ladder thanks to the special attention accorded to science and knowledge, while Arabs lagged behind because of their neglectof knowledge and scientific research. Now, it is high time Arabs realised that the future path, status and even the existence of their nations essentially depends on science, innovation and creativity, rather than relapsing into the past and identifying with delusional plans propagated by forces of political Islam. The future of the world is exclusively reserved for creative nations.

Dr Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi is the director general of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research

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Why the future of this world is reserved for the UAE - The National

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.

Read more:

Shaking Russia's Weak Economic Hand - Project Syndicate

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sticky issues

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.

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. 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.

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.

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

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.

Excerpt from:

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

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)

MainOne has announced the completion of repair works on its submarine cable with a final splice on Sunday. The company has also conducted subsequent tests to ensure the cable is in good operating condition.

In a statement issued by the company, the Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke expressed the companys appreciation to its customers and partners for the patience and support during the recent outage incident on the MainOne submarine cable which occurred on June 18.

Describing the outage as a Force Majeure, due to movement in the seabed, the Chief Executive Officer highlighted the companys efforts to resolve the outage to its customers.

The submarine cable fault was in a known area of ridges in the seabed, at a location 3400 meters water depth in the international waters outside Senegal. After we discovered the outage and isolated the fault to a location 3000km South of Portugal, our operational processes and disaster recovery plans worked as expected and we deployed a repair vessel from our membership in the Atlantic Cable and Maintenance Agreement which left France by 8am on Monday June 19th. The vessel travelled to Portland, United Kingdom, where it picked up critical spares and then journeyed to the repair location which was further isolated to within a 2 kilometer range while the vessel was in transit. We have concluded a full repair of the submarine cable with a final splice yesterday, Sunday July 2. The cable has been tested to be in good operating condition and we have since restored all our customers services to normal operating conditions, she said.

She continued: During this period, we had some restoration capacity and rerouted internet traffic on our network via alternative routes to minimize the impact of the outage to our customers. However, we were unable to provide enough capacity and interconnection to fully restore our entire network. We realize many of our customers have become solely reliant on MainOne for Internet services and we will continue to secure more restoration capacity in case of any such eventualities in the future.

While thanking its customers and partners for their cooperation and support during this outage, the company reiterated its commitment to transforming West Africa from a resource-based economy to a fully digitized, knowledge-based economy.

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MainOne completes repair of submarine cable - The Nation Nigeria - The Nation Newspaper