California State Department of Transportation
Manager of the Toll Bridge Program at the California State Department of Transportation
PROFILE
Tony Anziano
Guest
FROM Tony Anziano
Which Way, L.A.?
Is China Becoming the World's New Civil Engineer? During his White House news conference today, President Obama insisted again that infrastructure, especially high-speed rail, will be essential to getting the US economy back on track. One of many competitors in this regard is China, which has ballyhooed this week's opening of a high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai as its latest demonstration of technological expertise. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is being rebuilt partly in China, by Chinese workers using advanced technology. What about the President's call for infrastructure construction to bolster America's economy? Photo: Aerial view of the Bay Bridge retrofit project, © California Department of Transportation
To the Point
Is China Becoming the World's New Civil Engineer? Once again today, President Obama insisted that infrastructure, especially high-speed rail, will be essential to getting the US economy back on track. But an essential part of America's transportation infrastructure, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge , is already being rebuilt by Chinese workers using Chinese technology. In a Shanghai manufacturing complex, workers are assembling two dozen giant steel modules, each with a roadbed segment half the size of a football field. Giant ships then take them 6500 miles to California, where American workers fit them into the eastern span of the new bridge. Can the US compete on US soil and in the rest of the world?
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To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.