natalia rudiak
banner
nataliarudiak.bsky.social
natalia rudiak
@nataliarudiak.bsky.social
+ Radical pragmatist
+ Earnest xennial
+ Climate worker
+ Opinions solely my own
+ Local politics everywhere [Pittsburgh City Councilor fer 8 yrs]

she / her
personal account
🇺🇸 🇪🇺 🇵🇱⚡
Pinned
Hey all, I consider myself an attentive Blueskyer but I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the new Pittsburgh follows, feel free to like and engage with my posts so I'm aware of your existence for a follow back ☺️
Reposted by natalia rudiak
you don't understand. as someone who isn't inherently good at art, stealing paintings from the museum is the *only* way i'm able to express myself creatively. i wouldn't be able to paint beautiful portraits. but by breaking into a museum and stealing the paintings, now i am
August 3, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Going through my annual Paul Simon 'Graceland' phase.

These days are horrifying, but they are also the days of miracle and wonder.

Never forget that.

Don't cry, baby,
don't cry x

youtu.be/Hk7MCvCHNQA?...
Paul Simon - The Boy In The Bubble (from The African Concert, 1987)
YouTube video by PaulSimonVEVO
youtu.be
August 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
The sheer scale of the project — a giant ballroom attached to the East Wing — worries preservationists. “It could do some harm to the property over all,” said a professor at George Washington University. “There aren’t any checks and balances here, unfortunately.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
Experts Raise Concerns Over Trump’s White House Ballroom Renovation Plans
www.nytimes.com
August 3, 2025 at 8:26 PM
No cheating. Your last saved celebrity photo is your therapist. Who is it?

[does this count lol]
August 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Can you imagine how cool the YM magazine podcast would have been
August 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
This interview is so clear & quietly devastating. Public media as we understand it is over.

This is not about the end of NPR & PBS. They might be able to find ways to continue to make programs. Instead of content, this is about the capacity to broadcast at all - antennae, transmitters, licenses. 🧵
Column: The Corporation for Public Broadcast is ‘winding down.’ What does that mean for public radio and TV?

I talk with media studies professor and public media expert Josh Shepperd for an explainer. In short, it's dire

Gift 🔗
Column: The Corporation for Public Broadcast is ‘winding down.’ What does that mean for public radio and TV?
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it is “wind-down” operations. What does this mean for public radio and TV?
www.chicagotribune.com
August 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
August 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I am so dehydrated literally all of the time. Send water intake encouragement plz.
August 2, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
I do NOT blame people for not coming here, but man - our tourism industry is never going to recover
NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care.

“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days: ‘Nobody is safe’
Exclusive: For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation
www.theguardian.com
July 15, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Me, Xennial-splaining Interpol and The Postal Service to my Gen Z work husband:
July 15, 2025 at 8:49 PM
ICYMI. Scab paper, but some pretty wild Fetterman quotes about the Big Ugly Bill:

www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...
July 2, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
Dachau in July 1933... reported in the New York Times

timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine...
July 2, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
i don’t think there’s anything wrong with this coming from columnists or commenters or protestors but it has been a known problem for years that when you describe the most extreme republican policies to the average voter, they just flat don’t believe you
I know that Medicare/ Medicaid is Democrats’ native language & what they’re happiest speaking but I’d love for SOME prominent person to try the line “they increased the debt limit by $5 trillion in order to triple size of ICE & make its detention center bigger than the whole federal prison system.”
July 2, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Murkowski is killing me today.

"Republican Lisa Murkowski Urges House Not to Vote on Bill She Just Approved."

From Newsweek:

share.google/8YTDFVBfBJUb...
Republican Senator tells House not to vote on bill she just voted for
Sen. Lisa Murkowski backs Trump's megabill but urges House to return it for fixes, citing Medicaid cuts and tax impacts on Alaska.
share.google
July 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
This just came across my desk:

"Florida and Texas accounted for more private jet flights and emissions than the entire European Union."

God.

theicct.org/pr-air-and-g...
Private jets emitted more climate pollution than all flights departing Heathrow Airport in 2023 - International Council on Clean Transportation
A groundbreaking new study from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates that private jets produced up to 19.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023, a 25%...
theicct.org
July 1, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
The bastards passed the bill. How is bluesky not exploding with this news?
July 1, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
My work here is done
President Trump is leveraging his role as commander-in-chief in a much clearer and more urgent way than during his first term — whether that’s showing off the military in a parade or using it to quell protests.
From Los Angeles to Washington, Trump leans in as commander in chief
On one coast, military forces are arriving by the thousands to defend federal buildings and agents. On the other, they’re readying a celebration of American military might.
www.politico.com
June 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
"In a new ad campaign launched jointly by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the NRDC Action Fund, union electricians are urging OH Senators to protect clean energy tax credits. "

I'm stunned at how this video has almost 400,000 views.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV5O...
Jobs on the Rise
YouTube video by NRDC Action Fund
www.youtube.com
June 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
It's strange that there were no emails or communication to alumni about Coro's closing, no media, little talk in policy circles. (I have no direct info on what happened.) The lack of transparency is disappointing. Coro was pivotal on my public servant journey & enriched the Pittsburgh community.
Did the Coro Center for Civic Leadership in Pittsburgh just disappear? Did I miss any local media about it?
June 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Did the Coro Center for Civic Leadership in Pittsburgh just disappear? Did I miss any local media about it?
June 5, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
"Brooke Nichols, an associate professor of global health at Boston University, has estimated that these cuts have already resulted in about 300,000 deaths, most of them of children, and will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year."
Opinion | Elon Musk’s Legacy Is Disease, Starvation and Death
www.nytimes.com
May 30, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
May 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
I rant about this constantly, sorry to be boring, but it baffles me that so many stories about how people are buying fewer Teslas fail to mention that he twice did a Nazi salute at the inauguration. That image is indelible.
May 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by natalia rudiak
I heard a statement before, “R’s fall in line, D’s fall in love.”

Sometimes it really does feel like D’s want to be courted by their preferred candidate. Like some sort of knight in shining armor.
May 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM