European tech industry loses $400 billion market value, report says

Story by By Martin Coulter and Supantha Mukherjee •

A smartphone displays a Klarna logo on top of banknotes is in this illustration

© Thomson Reuters

LONDON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The European tech industry saw $400 billion in value wiped out this year and an 18% decline in venture capital funding, according to a report from venture capital firm Atomico.

The combined value of public and private tech firms in Europe fell to $2.7 trillion, down from $3.1 trillion in late 2021. High interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and a shrinking talent pool were among the reasons cited for the drop.

Market pressures forced a number of Europe's best-known companies to raise funds at a discount to their once sky-high valuations. For example, Swedish payments firm Klarna Bank AB raised $800 million at a valuation of $6.7 billion, an 85% drop from its 2021 price tag of $46 billion.

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"The European tech ecosystem is facing the most challenging macroeconomic environment since the global financial crisis," Tom Wehmeier, partner at Atomico, told Reuters.

Venture capital funding in Europe was down to $85 billion for the year, based on data collected across 41 countries, an 18% decline from the $100 billion raised in 2021.

The number of new "unicorns" - firms valued at $1 billion or more - also fell this year, down from 105 to just 31 in 2022.

Despite these challenges, Atomico found industry insiders remain enthusiastic. In a survey of founders and investors on the continent, 77% said they were either as enthusiastic, or more so, about the future of the European tech industry than in 2021.

"This is a new reality," Wehmier added. "The financial markets have changed, and with that, the expectations of everyone working within the European tech industry need to evolve."

(Reporting by Martin Coulter and Supantha Mukherjee;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Controversial Pakistani Film ‘Joyland’ Officially Under Oscar Consideration After Attempted Government Ban

Story by Brent Furdyk • Yesterday 

"Joyland" could be on its way to winning an Oscar.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its list of foreign films under official consideration for Oscar nomination for the 2023 Academy Awards.

Among the many films listed, one that stands out is "Joyland", the acclaimed feature debut from Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq.

What makes the inclusion of "Joyland" so unique is the controversy the film generated in Pakistan, with the government's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting attempting to block the film's release in response to complaints that the film contains “highly objectional material” that doesn't align with the “social values and moral standards of our society.”

While the film was met with scorn from the Pakistani government, “Joyland” had already won acclaim at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, winning the festival’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and the unofficial Queer Palm, while also holding the distinction of becoming the first Pakistani movie ever to screen at Cannes.

At the heart of the controversy is the film's subject matter, surrounding a love story between a cisgender male and a trans woman.


Controversial Pakistani Film ‘Joyland’ Officially Under Oscar Consideration After Attempted Government Ban© Provided by ET Canada

Following international outcry over the government's attempts to ban the film, "Joyland" was subsequently released as scheduled; had it been blocked or delayed, the film would not have been eligible for Oscar consideration, as Academy rules stipulate it needs to run in theatres for a minimum of seven days before Nov. 30 to be in contention for the 2023 Academy Awards.

According to Sadiq, he never intended to make a controversial movie.

“My only interest was cinematic,” he told Deadline. “I wanted to talk about patriarchy and I wanted to talk about sexuality and gender in relation to myself and my family and my surroundings and my city... '[I] never looked at it as ‘Oh it is such a bold or courageous film.’ I made the film that I wanted to make.”

As a first-time filmmaker, Sadiq admitted he's experienced an “eventful journey of learning a lot of things and seeing for the first time, creating something that connects with other people in a way that I of course never experienced not only because I haven’t made a feature film before, but also because I think this film has connected in a way that even in my wildest dreams I didn’t imagine that it would connect with people from various parts of the world.”

The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Jan. 24, 2023.

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(EXCLUSIVE)
Embattled Sundance Doc About Tiananmen Square Leaders Finally Lands Distribution Deal 

Story by Addie Morfoot • Today

Embattled Sundance Doc About Tiananmen Square Leaders Finally Lands Distribution Deal (EXCLUSIVE)© Provided by Variety

Sundance grand jury prize documentary winner “The Exiles” is finally getting a release on video on demand. Gravitas Ventures will release the documentary executive produced by Chris Columbus and Steven Soderbergh on Jan. 10, almost a full year after its Sundance debut.

The documentary, directed by Violet Columbus and Ben Klein, centers on three exiled dissidents and survivors of the Tiananmen Square massacre, incorporating decades-old footage from the Chinese protests. The use of that footage, part of Christine Choy’s unfinished “Tiananmen/China Today” project, drew criticism from those involved in it following its Sundance victory, but those credit issues have since been resolved.

In 1989, Choy, recently Oscar-nominated for her work on “Who Killed Vincent Chin?,” began filming the leaders of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. She reunites with the three dissidents in “The Exiles,” which interweaves Choy’s footage, shelved for 30 years, with newly shot interview segments

“Violet Columbus and Ben Klein intimately capture the passion and strength of Christine Choy and the activists she followed and display how their actions still reverberate to this day,” says Bill Guentzler, Gravitas Ventures’ senior director of acquisitions.

Columbus and Klein add, “In light of the recent protests across China, which echo the pro-Democracy Movement of 1989, our film feels especially timely, and we look forward to sharing it with audiences in the U.S. and Canada.”

Members of Choy’s original filmmaking team protested the lack of credit for them in “The Exiles” following the film’s Sundance debut. Renee Tajima-Peña, Betty Liu and Ted Kwong each sought and received executive producer credits on the documentary, the feature debut of Columbus, daughter of Chris Columbus, and co-director Klein. Todd Phillips, a former student of Choy’s, also appears in the documentary.

In addition to Sundance, “The Exiles” was invited to screen at various film festivals throughout the world, including Full Frame Documentary, Hot Docs, the Hamptons International Film Festival, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

Prior to its VOD debut, “The Exiles” will have a limited theatrical run in San Francisco at The Roxie theater beginning Dec. 9.

U$ EH

Gay Lawmaker Receives Chilling Bomb Threat Accusing Him Of 'Grooming' Kids

Story by Josephine Harvey • HuffPost

The California home of state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) was searched by police on Tuesday after he was targeted with a bomb threat parroting false, right-wing “groomer” rhetoric over his fight for LGBTQ rights.

The threat was emailed to the San Francisco Standard and reported to the San Francisco Police Department, which began searching Wiener’s home at around 6 a.m. Police found no explosives at the property.

The subject line read: “Scott Wiener will die today,” according to the Standard. The author, who used the name Zamina Tataro, called Wiener a pedophile and accused him of grooming children.

The name Zamina Tataro was also used in a different bomb threat last month against a school in Ontario over the attire of a trans teacher.

Wiener, who is gay, said it was one of many death threats he had received this year.

“This latest wave of death threats against me relates to my work to end discrimination against LGBTQ people in the criminal justice system and my work to ensure the safety of transgender children and their families,” Wiener tweeted, noting that extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk had recently tweeted homophobic lies about him.

Greene recently called Wiener a “communist groomer” after he tweeted that her type of rhetoric was inciting violence against LGBTQ people. The exchange took place in the wake of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Last week, Kirk tweeted that Wiener supported “mutilating children” because he sponsored a bill that provides refuge for trans kids and their families, should they flee a state that criminalizes parents for allowing their child to access gender-affirming care.

Wiener pointed to his case as an example of the real-world impact of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online and in the media.

“It leads to harassment, stalking, threats and violence against our community. People are dying as a result. Responsible political leaders on the right must call it out and stop tolerating it,” Wiener wrote.

The term groomer, which refers to adults who develop relationships with children in order to abuse them, has been co-opted by conservatives in recent years to attack LGBTQ people and their allies, trading on an old trope. Proponents of the narrative direct rage at people who advocate for gender-affirming care or even those who simply seek to educate children about the existence of the LGBTQ community.

This rhetoric, promoted by Greene, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and other far-right personalities, has fueled a spike in harassment, threats and violence against the LGBTQ community, and coincides with Republicans’ ongoing push to pass hostile legislation targeting LGBTQ people.


Senator Scott Wiener comes in to talk to the editorial board at the Chronicle on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif. 

(Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Atwood, King commiserate with debut author after only two people attend her book signing

Story by National Post Staff • 

Almost 40 people RSVP’d to Chelsea Banning’s first official book signing for her debut fantasy novel, and she relayed her excitement with exclamation-filled tweets and memes of a cheering SpongeBob.


Chelsea Banning, who said she was 'embarrassed' by the woeful turnout at her book signing, heard from famous authors who shared their own memories of similar no show events© Provided by National Post

That excitement was soon replaced with disappointment, however, as she explains in a tweet:

“Only 2 people came to my author signing yesterday, so I was pretty bummed about it,” Banning wrote the next day.

“Especially as 37 people responded ‘going’ to the event. Kind of upset, honestly, and a little embarrassed.”

Open Book: How Literature Saved My Life, by David Shields

Margaret Atwood: 'If I'm dead I'm not telling'

She wrote the tweet on a whim and considered deleting it a few hours later, she told NPR . Instead, as Banning looked on, her replies started to fill with kind words from a long line of authors with similar no-show stories. Among them were a number of the world’s most celebrated authors, including Jodi Picoult, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman.

“Join the club,” wrote The Handmaid’s Tale author, Margaret Atwood, in response to Banning. “I did a signing to which Nobody came, except a guy who wanted to buy some Scotch tape and thought I was the help.”

Best-selling horror author Stephen King also replied: “At my first SALEM’S LOT signing, I had one customer. A fat kid who said, ‘Hey bud, do you know where there’s some Nazi books?'”

Korean American author Min Jin Lee, who wrote “Pachinko,” added that she had once attended a book reading where only “my husband’s cousin showed up.”

Neil Gaiman shared a memory of a signing in New York with fellow writer Terry Pratchett, “nobody came to at all. So you are two up on us,” he joked.

“One Day” author David Nicholls added his memories: “Ooh, boy, too many to share. The one where the bookshop staff kindly pretended to be customers so I wouldn’t feel too bad, that stays with me,” he tweeted.

Author of “My Sister’s Keeper,” Jodi Picoult, said she had “sat lonely at a signing table many times only to have someone approach . . . and ask me where the bathroom is.”

“We’ve all been there,” said British author Malorie Blackman, offering comfort. “I once did a talk at a library and five people turned up, including a mum who planted her two infant school children in front of me and then strategically ‘withdrew’ to get some peace for a while.”

Banning told The Washington Post her reaction to the global literary support, was “pure shock,” adding, “I’m still trying to process everything.”

“I love the writing community, it is so supportive,” she added.

Actor Henry Winkler also joined the chorus, writing “That is the beginning … then word gets out and they come!”

Word had gotten out. As of Wednesday morning, Banning’s tweet has close to 75,000 likes. And ‘Of Crowns and Legends,’ which Banning worked on for 15 years, now holds the number one and two spot in Amazon’s Arthurian legends category.

The book is the first of a trilogy, was published in August and follows the fate of King Aurthur’s children. It has some fight scenes and “light gore,” she tweeted.

Banning, who works as a librarian in Ohio, said she’s planning another singing as people snapped up her book: “I am working out details!”

“I am working on book 2 and am hoping for a December 2023 release date! MAYBE sooner,” she told her new online fans, with more magic and new characters promised in her follow-up.

Additional reporting from The Washington Post

Tristin Hopper: Canadian pharmacies selling pseudoscientific cold remedies to desperate parents

Opinion by Tristin Hopper • Yesterday 2:59 p.m.

As Canada continues to deal with a critical shortage of children’s cold medicine, major retailers are steering desperate parents towards homeopathic cures — a form of pseudoscientific medicine whose ineffectiveness has been well-known ever since the 19th century.


Not only are homeopathic remedies ubiquitous on Canadian pharmacy shelves, but there are widespread reports of licensed Canadian pharmacists recommending the remedies to parents.© Provided by National Post

“Parent alert. Be aware that homeopathic remedies do not have to demonstrate that they are effective,” reads an online warning issued this week by Stan Kutcher, a veteran medical researcher and senator for Nova Scotia.

Kutcher posted an image of a display stand at a Shopper’s Drug Mart featuring Boiron-brand homeopathic children’s cold medicines. Retailing for between $14.50 and $16.99 per box, the products advertise themselves as treatments for pediatric colds, but contain no proven medicinal ingredients such as acetaminophen or diphenhydramine.

“Your child needs effective treatment, not pseudoscience,” added Kutcher.

Homeopathy is based on the premise that medicines are made more powerful through dilution. Homeopathic treatments will start with a seemingly random natural product (such as red onion or crushed bees ), and then dilute them to such low concentrations that only a few molecules of the initial substance make it into the final mixture.

Pioneered in the late 1700s, homeopathy gained traction in the early 19th century for the simple reason that its “cures” were so benign.

In an era of mercury pills and bloodletting, homeopathic remedies would at least avoid killing the patient through malpractice. But as early as the 1840s, controlled trials began to show that homeopathic remedies were exactly as effective as doing nothing.

One Boiron product advertising itself as a flu remedy, Oscillococcinum, contains duck liver and duck heart as its core ingredient. However, the final product is so highly diluted that it’s debatable whether any duck offal actually makes it into the final solution, which is mostly just sugar.

Unsurprisingly, when oscillococcinum has been subjected to clinical trials , it’s found to be no more effective than a placebo at fighting illness.

And yet, Boiron homeopathic cures can be found sharing the shelves with legitimate cold medicines everywhere from Shopper’s Drug Mart to Rexall to London Drugs.

Shopper’s Drug Mart sells more than a dozen homeopathic medicines, including several marketed specifically at children.

Coryzalia — a product manufactured by Boiron — is a $17.99 box at Shopper’s containing 30 1 ml doses of liquid purportedly for the treatment of “nasal congestion” and “sneezing” in children aged one month to 11 years.

“This claim is based on traditional homeopathic references and not modern scientific evidence,” reads a small disclaimer.

Nevertheless, Coryzalia can also be found in the pharmacy sections of Wal-Mart , Superstore and Rexall. As of press time, London Drugs is running a sale on the product , which is often one of the only items left on shelves that have been diligently picked over for legitimate children’s cold remedies.

Another widely stocked product is Homeocan-brand children’s day syrup, which touts itself as a remedy for “flu-like symptoms,” “mucus build up” and “fever,” in addition to its “great taste.” Consisting almost entirely of citric acid, sugar and purified water, the day syrup’s only medicinal ingredients are a few molecules of flowers, cacti, mosses and deadly nightshade, a plant that would be toxic if included in any measurable quantity. It retails at Rexall for $13.99 for a 100 ml bottle.

Not only are homeopathic remedies ubiquitous on Canadian pharmacy shelves, but there are widespread reports of licensed Canadian pharmacists recommending the remedies to parents.

“Stocking up on some rapid tests and overheard a pharmacist recommending that a dad buy HOMEOPATHIC cough syrup for his kid,” reads a recent Tweet out of British Columbia.

Last November, CBC Marketplace sent hidden cameras into several Toronto-area drugstores and found that a majority of pharmacists questioned would recommend homeopathic products to parents without alerting them that the item was essentially just sugar.

CBC journalists approached pharmacists with a homeopathic product and asked if it would be effective in treating a three-year-old child with cough and cold symptoms. Six out of 10 said “yes.”

HINDUISM IS CASTISM

Brown University bans caste discrimination throughout campus in a first for the Ivy League

Story by Harmeet Kaur • 

Brown University now explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, joining a number of US colleges and universities in shoring up protections against an ill-understood, insidious form of oppression.

The university’s governing body voted this fall to add caste as a protected characteristic to its nondiscrimination policy, alongside categories such as race, religion, sex and gender identity. It’s the first Ivy League institution to add such protections for the wider campus community, including students, faculty and staff, according to the advocacy organization Equality Labs.

“The previous policy would have protected people experiencing caste discrimination,” Sylvia Carey-Butler, the university’s vice president for institutional equity and diversity, said in a news release. “But we felt it was important to lift this up and explicitly express a position on caste equity.”

The caste system, which originated in ancient India, is a social hierarchy that historically assigned people to groups based on occupation and moral obligation. It evolved over time to assign a degree of “spiritual purity” at birth, in turn determining everything from a person’s societal rank and occupation to what they ate and who they married. At the bottom of that social order, considered so low that they fall outside the traditional hierarchy and are relegated to the worst jobs in society, is a group that now calls itself Dalits.

Though the caste system and caste-based discrimination have been legally outlawed in India and other South Asian countries, they continue to manifest in society. Dalits and members of other oppressed castes routinely face challenges both in India and elsewhere. With Indians now comprising one of the largest groups of new US immigrants, caste bias and discrimination stand to become more of a problem stateside.

US tech companies, which employ a high concentration of South Asian workers, have grappled with issues of caste in recent years, and caste-oppressed students at US colleges and universities have previously told CNN that they have faced slurs, microaggressions and social exclusion on campus because of their caste identities.

Those outside South Asian communities often don’t understand how these dynamics operate, given that they unfold within members of the same racial and ethnic group. This has left caste-oppressed people in settings such as college campuses with little recourse.

The recent move by Brown aims to change that. A group of Brown students worked with administrators to bring about specific protections for caste, which they said “legitimizes caste-oppressed experiences and provides a framework for reporting incidents,” according to the university news release.

“Many caste-oppressed people remain ‘closeted’ about their caste identity in fear of experiencing retaliation or discrimination,” the students said in a statement. “The new language of the University’s nondiscrimination policy offers caste-oppressed students who may be hiding their caste identity an option to report and address the harm they experience.”

The California State University system made caste a protected status earlier this year, while schools such as the University of California, Davis; Colby College and Brandeis University have adopted similar measures. Harvard University instituted caste protections for student workers last year as part of its contract with the Harvard Graduate Student Union.

The moves have been heralded by Dalit rights advocates, but they’ve also encountered resistance from some Hindu organizations. After Cal State banned caste discrimination, two professors represented by the Hindu American Foundation filed a lawsuit against the university system alleging that the policy unfairly targets Hindus and mischaracterizes their religion.

Despite its origins in Hinduism, the caste system has since spread to other South Asian religious communities. Similar systems are also found in some other parts of the world.

Nepal’s election results leave a parliament without majorities and a country mired in instability

The results of the November 20 elections in Nepal have left a sharply divided Parliament, after the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) fell two seats short of a majority, while the opposition Communist Party is rushing to forge new alliances with other minority and independent forces to reach the 91 seats needed to take control.

The Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba. - 

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Provided by News 360

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's NC has been the most voted force with 89 of the 275 seats in Parliament, winning almost thirty more than in the last elections. While the two communist forces -- the Unified Marxist-Leninist and the Maoist Center -- have been second and third choice.

The results have shown a surprising rise of the Independent National Party (Swatantra), a new Nepalese political force founded by the former television presenter Rabi Lamichhane, which seems to have been able to take up part of the generalized discontent after winning 20 seats.

The next most voted option is the National Democratic Party (Rastriya Prajatantra), with thirteen seats, a formation which defends the restoration in the country of the Hindu monarchy, abolished in 2008, seven years after the royal massacre carried out by its own members.

These results are likely to further prolong the political instability in this small nation surrounded by the two great giants of the Asian continent, China and India, which has seen a dozen governments since 2008.

The Electoral Commission has taken almost three weeks to finish manually counting the votes due to delays in the transport of ballot boxes, allegations of electoral fraud and repetitions in some constituencies.

SOS SAVE OUR STURGEON
Angler Catches Super-Rare 'Dinosaur' Fish in Kansas River, Throws It Back

Story by Pandora Dewan • Yesterday 

An extremely rare species of fish was recently caught in the Kansas River by an angler. This was only the 16th reported catch of the endangered lake sturgeon in Kansas in over 25 years, the state's Department of Wildlife and Parks said.


Photo of Kevin Zirjacks with the rare lake sturgeon. After taking the photos he returned the endangered animal back to the water.© Kevin Zirjacks/Kansas Wildlife and Parks

THAT IS CLEARLY A JUVENILE

The department shared the news of the catch in a post on Facebook. "I knew I had a special fish once I landed this fish," fisherman Kevin Zirjacks said in response to the post. "Never thought I would ever see one of these dinosaurs, let alone be able to actually hold one. Definitely a catch I will remember for the rest of my life."

After taking photos with the fish, Kirjacks released it back into the water.

Lake sturgeon can be found throughout North America, from Hudson Bay to the Mississippi River. They are the oldest and largest species native to the Great Lakes, first appearing in the fossil record about 135 million years ago, 70 years before the dinosaurs went extinct.

Lake sturgeon themselves can live very long lives, with females reportedly living for as long as 150 years, the National Wildlife Federation said. They are also massive, growing up to 6.5 feet long and weighing up to 200 pounds.


Before the 19th century, lake sturgeon were abundant throughout the Great Lakes. However, overfishing in the 1800s and 1900s dramatically reduced their populations. Today, the species is dwindling in its northern territories, and it is considered endangered in the southern parts of its range.

Efforts to reintroduce this freshwater fish have been slow because of their long life cycle. Females usually do not start producing eggs until they are at least 20 years old.

Zirjacks detailed how he used special equipment to avoid injuring the endangered fish. "The green thing is an unhooking cradle," he said, referring to the green tarpaulin seen in his photograph. "It's a great tool when catch and release fishing. Gives you a padded place to put your fish after landing them.

"It's raised off the ground to keep them nice and clean.... Makes handling the fish way easier and lets you get them back in the water quicker. Really comes in handy when handling bigger fish," he said.

While efforts continue to attempt to revive this population, the lake sturgeon is facing other environmental threats. Water pollution and invasive aquatic species have made their habitats less hospitable, and climate change is expected to decrease the quality and quantity of nursery and spawning sites and exacerbate existing problems.

ADULT STURGEON

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US Senators urge Agriculture secretary to help Western states in ’22-year mega-drought’

Story by Alexander Bolton • Today

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is leading a letter signed by 14 other senators urging Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to help Western states survive what they are calling a “22-year mega-drought” that is threatening farms and ranches across the West.


Senators urge Agriculture secretary to help Western states in ’22-year mega-drought’© Provided by The Hill

“The American West is in crisis. Across the major basins of the American West … farm and ranch families hang in the balance as they grapple with a 22-year mega-drought,” they warned. “The acute shortage of water for Western growers threatens productive farmland across our states, which are both a pillar of our rural economies and drivers of America’s food production.”

The letter is the latest sign of growing economic pressure posed by the changing climate and the competition for federal money to help communities across the country cope with severe weather.

A study by UCLA published in the journal Nature Climate Change earlier this year reported the American West is suffering its most severe drought in 1,200 years.

Two major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at their lowest levels on record.

The senators want the Department of Agriculture to use its authority to help Western farmers and ranchers conserve water, improve their water infrastructure and protect lands plagued by drought.

They say improved water conservation, cover crops that slow erosion and improve soil health, will help farmland store more carbon from the atmosphere, which could help mitigate climate change.

The letter’s signatories include Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash).

The senators argue that many existing Department of Agriculture programs “do not translate well to the needs of Western agriculture” and want the department to promote projects to help basins such as Colorado River Basin, the Rio Grande Basin, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin and the Columbia River Basin.

“As you know, American farmers and ranchers manage over 895 million acres of ground in the United States, giving them a vital role in combating climate change risks while continuing to feed America,” the senators wrote.

They said the $20 billion Congress recently provided for agriculture conservation programs should be allocated “equally across the country to reflect the contribution of every region, including the West.”

They urged Vilsack to address the understaffing of Agriculture Department field offices and to prioritize hiring more staff with expertise in West agricultural production.