Articles Archive - Page 89 of 153 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

In my last post we examined the (pathetic) attempts of Congress to control the tyranny of the experts. Fortunately, Congress isn’t the only weapon in the battle against expert oppression, even at the Federal level. Let’s take a look at the judiciary. But before we do, let’s pause to savor the delicious irony of what …

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Education

3 Not-So-Simple Questions, Part IV

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final part of a feature that began in the pages of the Fall issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly. We invited the heads of the region’s top independent schools to address three important questions, in 200 words or less for each. The final question is below, along with the answers. …

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Events

Reed Smith Celebrates 140 Years

by PQ Staff

Attorneys and staff at global law firm Reed Smith’s Pittsburgh office marked the firm’s 140th anniversary with a cocktail reception September 7th. About 375 leaders and executives from area corporate, nonprofit, government, education and civic organizations attended, including The Heinz Endowments, Hillman Family Foundations, PNC, Allegheny Health Network, Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, U.S. Steel, ATI, Highmark and Richard …

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Sports

Steelers Ready to Go: Breaking Down the 53

by Matthew John Milligan

The Steelers trimmed their roster to 53 by the Saturday deadline, and the acquisitions of cornerback Joe Haden and tight end Vance McDonald signal that this team is built to win now. Ben Roethlisberger has already mulled retirement once, James Harrison can only hold off retirement for so long, and Le’Veon Bell is, for all …

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Creative Capital

Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Experts, Part IX

by Greg Curtis

“The complexity of modern life has steadily whittled away the functions the ordinary citizen can intelligently and comprehendingly perform for himself…When he sits down to breakfast and looks at his morning paper, he reads about a whole range of vital and intricate issues and acknowledges…that he has not acquired the competence to judge most of …

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Nature

Garden Warfare

by Elizabeth Wiethorn

Having a vegetable garden sounds like a gentle, relaxing and easy hobby. Dig a few holes in the dirt, put a few plants in, water, and before you know it—bushels and bushels of pest-free, perfectly ripened vegetables in the summer. Anyone who gardens knows how much a load of hooey that is. Gardening, if done …

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Education

3 Not-So-Simple Questions, Part III

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: This is part three of a feature that began in the pages of the Fall issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly. We invited the heads of the region’s top independent schools to address three important questions, in 200 words or less for each. The second of the questions is below, along with the answers. For …

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Money

Will Someone Please Tell Me What This Bitcoin/Blockchain Thing Is All About?

by Thomas L. Wentling Jr.

Everyone has heard of Bitcoin by now (by convention, it’s capitalized when used as a protocol and lower case when used as a unit of exchange, like a dollar), but very few understand the importance of the “blockchain” technology that underpins it. This article expresses no opinion one way or the other on bitcoin and …

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Creative Capital

Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Experts, Part VIII

by Greg Curtis

Freedom is better, even when it’s worse. We might think about experts the way we think about stop signs (bear with me on this…) To understand the expert-stop sign analogy let’s begin with Arthur C. Brooks, who has written (in “Foreign Affairs” and elsewhere) about what he calls “the dignity deficit,” which he believes cost Mrs. Clinton …

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Education

3 Not-So-Simple Questions, Part II

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: This is part two of a feature that began in the pages of the Fall issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly. We invited the heads of the region’s top independent schools to address three important questions, in 200 words or less for each. The first of the questions is below, along with the answers. For …

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Events

Riverlife Celebrates a Party at the Pier

by PQ Staff

Curious onlookers from inside Rivers Casino couldn’t resist watching the festivities unfolding outside in the amphitheater on the evening of August 25. Of interest? A sold-out crowd of 1,000 that was toasting Riverlife’s Party at the Pier. “What a gorgeous night,” said president Vivien Li. “This is absolutely beautiful. I think every time people come …

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Sports

Steelers Rundown: Progress Report After Two Preseason Games

by Matthew John Milligan

The Steelers are halfway through the preseason, and all signs are pointing to another electric season on both sides of the ball. Here are a few notes from Pittsburgh’s victories over the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants, as well as some training camp observations from Latrobe. Watt Strong through two games It didn’t take …

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Creative Capital

Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Experts, Part VII

by Greg Curtis

Viewed through the lens of “the tyranny of the experts,” it’s easy to see that in the last election Hillary Clinton was the candidate of the experts, while Donald Trump was the candidate of people who were tired of being tyrannized by them. Clinton is an expert herself—she’s a lawyer who practiced with The Rose …

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American Spirit

Thrifty Tom and His Peanut Butter

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

The 52-ounce can of Planter’s Peanuts came from Sam’s Club. Because they’re the best, really. Extra Large Virginia Peanuts. You’ll never find a bad one in the bunch. And the food processor? Well, yeah, originally it rolled off some assembly line at GE with an outrageous price tag, but here’s the secret: buy them at …

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Birds

Give a Little Whistle

by David Liebmann

It’s not until chapter 10 of Harper Lee’s famous novel that we are told of the magic of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, lawyer and father extraordinaire, says, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Benevolent Miss Maudie explains, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing …

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Business

The Union Project

by Lori Jakiela

“Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread.” –Studs Terkel When my friend Sara asks me to work a catering gig, a hipster-ish wedding in a rehabbed church called The Union Project, I say, “I am so in,” and she says, “Really?” as if she expected me to say no. …

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Regional News

Cokeless Steel?

by Mike Wereschagin

Power companies aren’t alone in their shift away from coal. Steelmakers, industry groups and the federal government are spending millions looking for a way to make steel without coke, the carbon-rich form of coal used to fuel blast furnaces. Like coal-fired power generation, coke production is a major source of air pollution, and its processing …

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Regional News

Petrochemical Alley

by Jeffery Fraser

Shell Chemical Appalachia’s petrochemical complex has begun to rise from a dusty Beaver County brownfield that follows a slow bend in the Ohio River near Monaca. It took hefty tax incentives to secure it. The nation’s largest zinc smelter was razed to make room for it. More than 7 million cubic feet of earth were …

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Regional News

Energy’s Big Shift

by Jeffery Fraser

A decade ago, as Consol Energy’s 150th anniversary drew near, top executives began to take stock in where the company stood as a leading producer of coal and where that path would take it. Coal was in what CEO Nicholas DeIuliis called a “supercycle.” It was the workhorse of the national power grid and less …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

The Fate of a Prison

by Charles Rosenblum

For a sprawling building in an ambitious Romanesque style on a conspicuous riverfront site, Western Penitentiary has spent most of its life in architectural obscurity. After an auspicious start, it fell quickly from prominence. Now, it may soon fall to the wrecking ball. Begun in 1879 in Woods Run along the Ohio River and partially …

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Nature

Seeing Autumn Through a Spider’s Web

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

“I had never paid much attention to spiders until a few years ago. Once you begin watching spiders, you haven’t time for much else—the world is really loaded with them. I do not find them repulsive or revolting, any more than I find anything in nature repulsive or revolting, and I think it is too …

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Health

Sepsis Alert

by Keith Gillogly

By the time Nancy Schollaert Nichol arrived to see her family doctor after experiencing abdominal pain for five days, the visit didn’t last long. She was immediately sent to the UPMC Northwest emergency department in Cranberry where she found out she’d need emergency gallbladder surgery. When doctors opened her up, they found gangrene and a …

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