Preston Rudy
@pordy24.bsky.social
Sociologist, retired professor; interests - unions, democracy as action, history as context, Int’l comparisons, languages, multicultural living, a sociological imagination.
Reposted by Preston Rudy
"If Big Tech has the budget to put data centers 400 miles above the Earth’s surface, it absolutely has the budget to adequately compensate its workers on the ground. Big Tech cannot claim to be building the future while exploiting those who keep it running."
theopinionpages.com/2025/11/the-...
theopinionpages.com/2025/11/the-...
The Human Cost of Big Tech’s Cosmic Dreams | The Opinion Pages
Imagine looking up at the night sky and noticing new constellations, only to find out they are made up of data centers. This may sound like science fiction, but Google has announced plans to make this...
theopinionpages.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
"If Big Tech has the budget to put data centers 400 miles above the Earth’s surface, it absolutely has the budget to adequately compensate its workers on the ground. Big Tech cannot claim to be building the future while exploiting those who keep it running."
theopinionpages.com/2025/11/the-...
theopinionpages.com/2025/11/the-...
Reposted by Preston Rudy
This is a great interview with @flyingwithsara.bsky.social
Flight Crews are Understaffed: Flight Attendants Assn.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, says flight crews are understaffed and many are not paid during boarding. She tells Katie Greifeld and Romaine Bostick on “The Close...
www.bloomberg.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:41 AM
This is a great interview with @flyingwithsara.bsky.social
Reposted by Preston Rudy
🚨 MAJOR BREAKING!! 🚨
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
November 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM
🚨 MAJOR BREAKING!! 🚨
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
Thank you @Teamsters for walking the walk and backing our national ULP strike. THIS is what solidarity looks like ✊
🚨 MAJOR BREAKING!! 🚨
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
In a previously unreleased memo, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien throws the FULL WEIGHT of his union behind striking Starbucks workers.
Teamsters drivers have already refused to make hundreds of deliveries to Starbucks stores where baristas are striking.
#NoContractNoCoffee
November 27, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Reposted by Preston Rudy
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Reposted by Preston Rudy
I loved this episode of @thedigradio.bsky.social with @triofrancos.bsky.social so much! Incredibly insightful and intellectually courageous discussion of the geopolitics of the green transition and the tough trade-offs it involves - and an excellent reminder that technology *is* material.
Extraction w/ Thea Riofrancos
Featuring Thea Riofrancos on Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. The green energy transition requires a vast array of inputs: copper, cobalt, rare earth elements, and the focus of this disc...
thedigradio.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I loved this episode of @thedigradio.bsky.social with @triofrancos.bsky.social so much! Incredibly insightful and intellectually courageous discussion of the geopolitics of the green transition and the tough trade-offs it involves - and an excellent reminder that technology *is* material.
Yes, trim the top. They don’t defend the university anyway
November 26, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Yes, trim the top. They don’t defend the university anyway
This is MAGA water
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, keeps shooting out of the ground in Oklahoma.
Experts say it means even more wastewater is spreading underground, poisoning the state’s water supply.
With @readfrontier.bsky.social
Experts say it means even more wastewater is spreading underground, poisoning the state’s water supply.
With @readfrontier.bsky.social
Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.propublica.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:21 AM
This is MAGA water
Reposted by Preston Rudy
The No Kings Alliance stands with the Starbucks baristas on strike. Don’t shop at Starbucks while workers fight for fair pay, better staffing, and an end to union-busting. Power still belongs to the people who make this country run: nocontractnocoffee.org/#pledge
November 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The No Kings Alliance stands with the Starbucks baristas on strike. Don’t shop at Starbucks while workers fight for fair pay, better staffing, and an end to union-busting. Power still belongs to the people who make this country run: nocontractnocoffee.org/#pledge
The old man fading will create more chaos. On the other hand it will disorganize Repugs, and the opposition will need to be organized.
NYT: In 2017, Mr. Trump’s scheduled events started at 10:31 a.m. on average. By contrast, Mr. Trump in his second term has started scheduled events in the afternoon on average, at 12:08 PM
Trump’s total official appearances have decreased by 39%
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Trump’s total official appearances have decreased by 39%
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:53 AM
The old man fading will create more chaos. On the other hand it will disorganize Repugs, and the opposition will need to be organized.
Mario Puzo wrote a better mafia story. This crew is so amateur.
Trump’s FBI Follows Hegseth’s Lead In Seeking Revenge On Dems talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...
Trump’s FBI Follows Hegseth’s Lead In Seeking Revenge On Dems
Retribution Henchmen The Justice Department and the FBI are now conducting their...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Mario Puzo wrote a better mafia story. This crew is so amateur.
Best employment statistics ever. This is egonomics
November 26, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Best employment statistics ever. This is egonomics
Reposted by Preston Rudy
(academia counterpoint: as industry proletarianized, affluent people opted away from the uncertainty including declining to pursue grad school, while less affluent people embraced grad school as one of the only places to get a 6 year job contract w health care; after, contingent employment familiar)
This is one of those things that rarely gets talked about that has had a massive effect.
As fields like journalism, art, and academia were collapsed and living expenses skyrocketed they came to skew increasingly toward people whose families could afford to supplement their income.
As fields like journalism, art, and academia were collapsed and living expenses skyrocketed they came to skew increasingly toward people whose families could afford to supplement their income.
If you're ever wondered why journalists seem so out of touch most of the time it's because in order to establish yourself you need to either come from money, marry into money, or be OK with abject poverty and daily financial panic
That third thing is unsustainable long-term
That third thing is unsustainable long-term
November 26, 2025 at 12:09 AM
(academia counterpoint: as industry proletarianized, affluent people opted away from the uncertainty including declining to pursue grad school, while less affluent people embraced grad school as one of the only places to get a 6 year job contract w health care; after, contingent employment familiar)
Human labor powers the ill gotten wealth of the owners of machined intelligence corporations. Still those 28th century sweatshops in the global south at the source of “first” world fortunes
Stories of data annotators and content moderators in Nairobi, Kenya
Documentary by @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social #AI
peertube.dair-institute.org/w/gRTuLGE6VJ...
Documentary by @dataworkersinquiry.bsky.social #AI
peertube.dair-institute.org/w/gRTuLGE6VJ...
Data Workers Organizing - The African Content Moderators Union
The formation of the African Content Moderators Union in 2023 marked a key step for workers advocating for better conditions. This documentary explores the issues faced by data workers at Sama in N...
peertube.dair-institute.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Human labor powers the ill gotten wealth of the owners of machined intelligence corporations. Still those 28th century sweatshops in the global south at the source of “first” world fortunes
Up for an intellectual challenge? Cooper explains the analysis developed in her book, providing us with a powerful conceptualization of our situation. Tools for change in our social ‘fates’.
New @thedigradio.bsky.social: first of two w @melindacooper.bsky.social on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. How neoliberalism remade US capitalism into an engine for endless asset appreciation, and the attendant reactionary politics www.thedigradio.com/podcast/coun...
Counterrevolution w/ Melinda Cooper
Featuring Melinda Cooper on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Neoliberalism remade the American economy into an engine for the appreciation of assets stretching from the...
www.thedigradio.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Up for an intellectual challenge? Cooper explains the analysis developed in her book, providing us with a powerful conceptualization of our situation. Tools for change in our social ‘fates’.
Mafia gang running US foreign policy
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
bloom.bg
November 25, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Mafia gang running US foreign policy
Jess Calarco has a book on this disguised social policy of unpaid women’s labor promoted as domesticity!
Look, women no longer do shit for free is actually at the root of a lot of social disruption. The question is whether you think the solution is women going back to being unpaid and unprotected by their own labor.
November 25, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Jess Calarco has a book on this disguised social policy of unpaid women’s labor promoted as domesticity!
Reposted by Preston Rudy
THIS IS SO GOOD
November 6, 2025 at 4:42 AM
THIS IS SO GOOD
Reposted by Preston Rudy
Also from that interview w Z Smith:
"Your generation [millennials [added: & Gen Z]] has been so deeply screwed that the kind of sentimental eye roll I might have had for the generation above me isn’t sentimental anymore—it’s a matter of life or death."
Here is the article for others for reference:
"Your generation [millennials [added: & Gen Z]] has been so deeply screwed that the kind of sentimental eye roll I might have had for the generation above me isn’t sentimental anymore—it’s a matter of life or death."
Here is the article for others for reference:
Zadie Smith: "I Say What I See"
A conversation with the acclaimed author about her new essay collection, Dead and Alive.
www.thenation.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Also from that interview w Z Smith:
"Your generation [millennials [added: & Gen Z]] has been so deeply screwed that the kind of sentimental eye roll I might have had for the generation above me isn’t sentimental anymore—it’s a matter of life or death."
Here is the article for others for reference:
"Your generation [millennials [added: & Gen Z]] has been so deeply screwed that the kind of sentimental eye roll I might have had for the generation above me isn’t sentimental anymore—it’s a matter of life or death."
Here is the article for others for reference:
Reposted by Preston Rudy
Solidarity wins!!!
Congrats to the 21,000 @uptecwa.bsky.social health care, research and technical workers at the University of California on voting to ratify their new contract! After 17 months of negotiations, this new contract is a testament to the power of our solidarity.
UC Workers Ratify ‘Best Contract Yet’ After Four Strikes and 17 Months of Negotiations
The union representing 21,000 healthcare, research, and technical professionals celebrates what union leaders are calling a historic win.
www.independent.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Solidarity wins!!!
Time to re-read John Barry’s The Great Influenza to be familiar with incompetent doctors, venal political leaders and the engineered death of millions.
CDC’s new top deputy had ordered his state health department to stop promoting mass vaccinations amid a flu surge www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Louisiana health official who halted state vaccine campaign tapped as CDC’s No. 2
Ralph Abraham, a Louisiana health official who stopped promoting mass vaccination vaccines, has been appointed as the CDC's principal deputy director
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Time to re-read John Barry’s The Great Influenza to be familiar with incompetent doctors, venal political leaders and the engineered death of millions.
Reposted by Preston Rudy
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
A tech critic’s guide to holiday gift-giving
Maybe your grandma doesn’t need that Alexa smart speaker
disconnect.blog
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Christmas is coming, and the Black Friday sales signal we’re in peak gift-buying season.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
When you’re picking out gifts for friends and family this year, there’s a whole slew of tech products that are better to avoid. I put together a guide to help you through it.
All in with the owners of petrochemical corporations. Let’s organize no driving days once a month.
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths
The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer defend Biden-era limits on fine-particle pollution, which causes heart and lung disease.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:43 PM
All in with the owners of petrochemical corporations. Let’s organize no driving days once a month.
Reposted by Preston Rudy
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces transition committees
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people.
www.cbsnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
Solidarity is an obligation!
November 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Solidarity is an obligation!