Author: Angel Lopez

Middle Eastern governments’ interest in the so-called “China model” is real, but it is superficial. They admire China’s three-decade record combining an authoritarian system with the use of state capital to achieve profound economic change while tightly managing social and political change. China’s experience challenges Western insistence that only liberal systems can produce economic growth and stability. Still, while Middle Eastern states like the idea of following the Chinese path, they are often indifferent to the details. What governments are paying much closer attention to is the “India model.” That model shows that a country can successfully combine diplomatic nonalignment…

Napa County, Calif. is well known for its pest exclusion efforts. It was through a focused effort several years ago that the European grapevine moth was eradicated after significantly impacting vineyards there. The county’s annual crop report highlights the Napa County Winegrape Pest and Disease Control District’s 20th year, and the work it does to address threats from invasive insects. In late 2001 the county agricultural department and wine grape industry worked with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to address glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) issues starting to be seen across the state. The sharpshooter spreads a deadly disease in grape…

With summer officially here thanks to that long weekend we were all blessed with, it’s only appropriate that Blake Lively welcomed the season with a sizzling, spicy (her word, not ours necessarily) photo of her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Over the weekend, Lively ushered in tank-top weather with a snapshot of Reynolds with his biceps on full display, writing, “Summer in New York makes me sorry for the way I treated winter in New York.” She embellished the photo with several stickers, including a pepper, bottles of Sriracha, and a “caution: extra spicy” gif, though none of them distracted from Reynolds’s arms. Last…

Coordinating the snarl of “alphabet agencies” in the American intelligence community, the “Office of the Director of National Intelligence” instructed the “National Intelligence Council” to prepare “an assessment of the implications of governments’ use of the Internet and other digital technologies to suppress freedom and control public debate”. The (predictable) result was a 31 October 2022 study, some 40%-redacted, entitled “Digital Repression Growing Globally, Threatening Freedoms” which specifically aimed at how “autocrats and personalist leaders in backsliding democracies” have definitely awoken to the potential political power of cyber-technology and invested heavily in controlling the flow of information and shaping public…

“Exciting day in Ypsilanti as we announce the signing of three impactful student athletes to our program. It’s been a pleasure building relationship with Kennedi Myles, Liv Westphal, and Madina Okot during the recruiting process as it was evident quickly that all three would be a great fit here at Eastern Michigan”, said Castro. “All three bring character and work ethic to our program, and each bring a unique skill set to our team on the court. The Ypsilanti community will enjoy getting to know these young women and watching them compete in the George Gervin GameAbove Center during the…

Buns will be softer. Cheese, gooier. Onion will be added to patties right on the grill. And the Big Mac sauce? There will be more of it. “We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever,” said chef Chad Schafer, senior director of culinary innovation of McDonald’s USA, in a statement Monday. The upgrades apply to the Big Mac and the McDouble burger as well as the classic cheeseburger, double cheeseburger and…

Almaty will host the second European Union – Central Asia Economic Forum on May 18-19 to discuss ways forward on policy, programs and investment needed to develop a more integrated and interconnected regional market engagement, according to the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan. Photo credit: asiatv.kg. The forum will focus on three key priority areas – a green and digital transition, a better business environment, and trade and connectivity. The participants will also discuss measures to strengthen sustainable connectivity and promote regulatory approximation in the economic area between the EU and Central Asian countries. The forum will provide recommendations for engagement…

This week, Tesla defeated a lawsuit that blamed the company’s Autopilot for a 2019 crash, reports Reuters. On Friday, a California state court jury found the driver assistance software was not to blame for a Model S crash that left the driver of the vehicle with a fractured jaw, missing teeth and nerve damage. Justine Hsu sued Tesla in 2020 after her EV swerved into a center median on a Los Angeles city street while Autopilot was engaged. She sought more than $3 million in damages, alleging defects in the software and the design of Tesla’s airbags. Tesla denied liability…

There is currently no backchannel between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Amid the simmering standoff over spending with the ticking time bomb of the debt ceiling in the background, the Republican leader and President Joe Biden are negotiating — if you want to call it that — in public. And even though the prospect of default would inflict intense pain on the country, the White House is quite confident at the moment that such a doomsday scenario is avoidable and that, politically, it holds the upper hand. But as the danger of default nears, the politics may…

Virginia is taking a deeper dive into the award-winning SMART SCALE transportation funding process used by multiple jurisdictions, seven years after the program went into effect.  SMART SCALE began distributing awards in 2017 and 2018 as part of a process to determine “the right” transportation projects to prioritize, based on which projects benefit taxpayers the most. Reviews of the operation have occurred after each of the last four rounds of funding. This year’s process is being conducted by a working group made up of Virginia’s Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, which advises transportation leadership on decisions, and several consultants at the…