Pittsburgh to emulate Silicon Valley?

benfell

Pittsburgh

They speak of being “in the pre-dot-com era when it comes to the life sciences”[1] and, as I read all this, it sounds an awful lot to me like their idea is to make Pittsburgh into something of a Silicon Valley for those sciences.[2] Pittsburgh already has the gentrification.[3] And while I see a lot of California license plates as I drive around Pittsburgh, I would hope that some of those folks would feel at least some trepidation at repeating Silicon Valley’s mistakes here.

Natasha Lindstrom, “Pitt gets $100M infusion to build biomanufacturing hub at Hazelwood Green brownfield site,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pitt-gets-100m-infusion-to-build-biomanufacturing-hub-at-hazelwood-green-brownfield-site/

Donald Trump

Matt Ford argues[4] that the very facts that the Department of Justice had to bring charges against Steve Bannon[5] and that Donald Trump is able to try to run out the clock on the January 6 investigation[6] even on records requests[7] exposes the weakness of Congressional oversight power.[8]

My guess is that even unimpeded, this investigation would be unlikely to reveal anything startlingly new. The real problem isn’t so much that Trump is able to resist this investigation but that the coup attempt even happened.

Matt Ford, “The Dark Side of Steve Bannon’s Contempt Case,” New Republic, November 17, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164444/steve-bannon-contempt-january-6

Abortion

The text called the Eucharist the most profound way God accompanies Catholics and called people back to church, saying “we miss you and we love you.” It also emphasized the “special responsibility” of Catholic public figures to shape their own views based on “the Church’s faith and moral law.” It said bishops are responsible “to work to remedy situations that involve public actions at variance with the visible communion of the Church and the moral law.”

But that’s as close as the document got to [Joe] Biden, who on Wednesday was in Detroit to promote electric vehicles and his infrastructure bill.[9]

It’s oblique but means bishops can be political and call pro-abortion Catholic politicians “irresponsible.”[10] As such, I interpret this a bit more harshly than David Gibson:

I think the bishops pushing this document did not want to be seen as too political. They wanted plausible deniability. They made it so innocuous and generic that to vote against it was to vote against the Eucharist itself. If you want to use the Eucharist in a political way, you can continue to use it in a political way. If you see the Eucharist in a different way, in a more Pope Francis way, then that’s what you’ll do.[11]

Assuming this is indeed what the bishops wanted to do, I think they failed.

Michelle Boorstein, “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approves Communion document without singling out politicians who back abortion rights,” Washington Post, November 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/11/17/catholic-bishops-communion-vote-biden/

Wilkinsburg

Charlie Wolfson, “If Wilkinsburg is annexed into Pittsburgh, what would happen to its residents’ taxes?” Public Source, November 16, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/wilkinsburg-pittsburgh-annexation-merger-property-taxes-school-pennsylvania/

Democrats

There is a new blog post entitled, “Democrats and contradiction.”

Ryan Grim, “It’s Not Just White People: Democrats Are Losing Normal Voters of All Races,” Intercept, November 15, 2021, https://theintercept.com/2021/11/15/democrats-voters-virginia-glenn-youngkin/

Infrastructure

Andrew Duehren and Richard Rubin, “House Set to Pass $2 Trillion Social Spending and Climate Bill,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-closes-in-on-vote-for-2-trillion-bill-11637262546

Pandemic

Elliot Douglas and Rina Goldenberg, “COVID: Germany introduces new measures to curb the pandemic,” Deutschewelle, November 18, 2021, https://www.dw.com/en/covid-germany-introduces-new-measures-to-curb-the-pandemic/a-59852951

Malcolm X

Shayna Jacobs, “They served decades in prison for killing Malcolm X. Now their names are cleared,” Washington Post, November 18, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/malcom-x-aziz-islam-cleared/2021/11/18/479f4b38-47f1-11ec-95dc-5f2a96e00fa3_story.html

  1. [1]Patrick Gallagher, quoted in Natasha Lindstrom, “Pitt gets $100M infusion to build biomanufacturing hub at Hazelwood Green brownfield site,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pitt-gets-100m-infusion-to-build-biomanufacturing-hub-at-hazelwood-green-brownfield-site/↩
  2. [2]Natasha Lindstrom, “Pitt gets $100M infusion to build biomanufacturing hub at Hazelwood Green brownfield site,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pitt-gets-100m-infusion-to-build-biomanufacturing-hub-at-hazelwood-green-brownfield-site/↩
  3. [3]Bob Bauder, “Pittsburgh settles court battle over Penn Plaza Apartments,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 27, 2017, https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-settles-court-battle-over-penn-plaza-apartments/; Tom Davidson, “Is there a crisis of ‘forced mass displacement’ of Black Pittsburghers? Residents, council divided on answer,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 6, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/is-there-a-crisis-of-forced-mass-displacement-of-black-pittsburghers-residents-council-divided-on-answer/; Ryan Deto, “Pittsburgh is one of the most gentrified cities in the U.S.,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 4, 2019, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-is-one-of-the-most-gentrified-cities-in-the-us/Content?oid=14381722; Ryan Deto, “The displacement of Anthony Hardison from his Lawrenceville apartment is a microcosm of a neighborhood epidemic,” Pittsburgh City Paper, January 15, 2020, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/the-displacement-of-anthony-hardison-from-his-lawrenceville-apartment-is-a-microcosm-of-a-neighborhood-epidemic/Content?oid=16556108; Rich Lord, “House hunters: How an anti-blight law has become a tool for ambitious landlords in Allegheny County,” Public Source, November 24, 2020, https://www.publicsource.org/conservatorship-allegheny-county-wilkinsburg-east-liberty-garfield-taiani-chaney-cp-development/; Kimberly Rooney, “How rising rents and renovations have displaced Pittsburghers and added to the city’s ongoing issues with gentrification,” Pittsburgh City Paper, April 28, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/how-rising-rents-and-renovations-have-displaced-pittsburghers-and-added-to-the-citys-ongoing-issues-with-gentrification/Content?oid=19360553↩
  4. [4]Matt Ford, “The Dark Side of Steve Bannon’s Contempt Case,” New Republic, November 17, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164444/steve-bannon-contempt-january-6↩
  5. [5]Kyle Cheney et al., “Steve Bannon indicted for defying Jan. 6 committee investigation,” Politico, November 12, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/12/steve-bannon-indicted-for-defying-jan-6-committee-investigation-521177↩
  6. [6]Matt Ford, “The Dark Side of Steve Bannon’s Contempt Case,” New Republic, November 17, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164444/steve-bannon-contempt-january-6↩
  7. [7]Charlie Savage, “Judge Rejects Trump’s Bid to Keep Papers Secret in Jan. 6 Inquiry,” New York Times, November 9, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/us/politics/trump-january-6-committee.html↩
  8. [8]Matt Ford, “The Dark Side of Steve Bannon’s Contempt Case,” New Republic, November 17, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164444/steve-bannon-contempt-january-6↩
  9. [9]Michelle Boorstein, “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approves Communion document without singling out politicians who back abortion rights,” Washington Post, November 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/11/17/catholic-bishops-communion-vote-biden/↩
  10. [10]Michelle Boorstein, “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approves Communion document without singling out politicians who back abortion rights,” Washington Post, November 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/11/17/catholic-bishops-communion-vote-biden/↩
  11. [11]David Gibson, quoted in Michelle Boorstein, “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approves Communion document without singling out politicians who back abortion rights,” Washington Post, November 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/11/17/catholic-bishops-communion-vote-biden/↩

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