Bill Capehart
@billcapehart.bsky.social
Climate scientist, meteorologist, resiliency, legos, snark, cats, horrible person, South Dakota Mines prof. All opinions are mine, but I'll blame my employers for my typos.
When people insisted that voter ID was free & readily accessible to all citizens was shown to be a lie, it was clear that it was never about proving who you are at the voting box. So how is anyone shocked at how they don’t even want to use to ensure they don’t “accidentally” deport US citizens.
Add to this that HSI just filed a declaration in our case challenging these policies saying they can’t trust REAL IDs as proof of status.
So showing your papers isn’t even enough to end the stop.
So showing your papers isn’t even enough to end the stop.
December 13, 2025 at 6:08 PM
When people insisted that voter ID was free & readily accessible to all citizens was shown to be a lie, it was clear that it was never about proving who you are at the voting box. So how is anyone shocked at how they don’t even want to use to ensure they don’t “accidentally” deport US citizens.
I comply with our university font policy like Veronica Lake surrendered to the Japanese. And then when management complains injustice laugh because they’re cheap and use Palatino. #OpenSans #MatrixIIExrraBold #002554
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
I comply with our university font policy like Veronica Lake surrendered to the Japanese. And then when management complains injustice laugh because they’re cheap and use Palatino. #OpenSans #MatrixIIExrraBold #002554
After @aaas.org’s gross “Citrus Oil” Science cover (seriously. ew.), they have redeemed themselves with a cover with which so many of us can identify!
December 10, 2025 at 12:13 AM
After @aaas.org’s gross “Citrus Oil” Science cover (seriously. ew.), they have redeemed themselves with a cover with which so many of us can identify!
Two survivors. In the water. Trying to flip a boat. That is also loaded with drugs. While flipped over. And still able to continue to the US.
I totally want to see that beautiful bean footage. I bet they also knew how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet with a hangover and a stubbed toe.
I totally want to see that beautiful bean footage. I bet they also knew how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet with a hangover and a stubbed toe.
Q: What did you see in the second strike?
Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat -- loaded with drugs, bound for the United States -- back over, so they could stay in the fight."
Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat -- loaded with drugs, bound for the United States -- back over, so they could stay in the fight."
December 5, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Two survivors. In the water. Trying to flip a boat. That is also loaded with drugs. While flipped over. And still able to continue to the US.
I totally want to see that beautiful bean footage. I bet they also knew how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet with a hangover and a stubbed toe.
I totally want to see that beautiful bean footage. I bet they also knew how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet with a hangover and a stubbed toe.
For those of us facing the challenge of our students being too reliant on ChatGPT, CoPilot, LLMs, Clippy, etc., there's a new interesting paper by engineering creativity expert, David Cropley at Univ South Australia: There's an upper limit to LLM creativity, and it's... mediocre at best.
“The Cat Sat on the …?” Why Generative AI Has Limited Creativity | David Cropley, PhD
Why treating #semantic distance as a proxy for #creativity is not merely misleading but leads to faulty conclusions about human and #LLM creativity.
Since LLMs burst into our collective consciousness...
www.linkedin.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:59 AM
For those of us facing the challenge of our students being too reliant on ChatGPT, CoPilot, LLMs, Clippy, etc., there's a new interesting paper by engineering creativity expert, David Cropley at Univ South Australia: There's an upper limit to LLM creativity, and it's... mediocre at best.
They'll never get rid of the dane.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 2:37 AM
They'll never get rid of the dane.
Can confirm.
At least with asbestos you didn't get constant emails from your university begging you to use it in your classroom.
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Can confirm.
Nice to know that Black Hills Energy has its priorities right. #SouthDakota #PowerOutage #CascadingFailure #StillDark
November 13, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Nice to know that Black Hills Energy has its priorities right. #SouthDakota #PowerOutage #CascadingFailure #StillDark
I’ve tried dealing with with nuclear war anxiety by mainlining the facts since I was a cold war high school kid in the 80s. Threads, Failsafe, War Game, Day After, Dawns Early Light, and the lot, even Special Bulletin. This is probably the most intense of them all. Absolutely gripping and well done!
Today is Netfix premier day for "A House of Dynamite." Here's what I wrote about it (and why you should see it)
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
October 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I’ve tried dealing with with nuclear war anxiety by mainlining the facts since I was a cold war high school kid in the 80s. Threads, Failsafe, War Game, Day After, Dawns Early Light, and the lot, even Special Bulletin. This is probably the most intense of them all. Absolutely gripping and well done!
Lame achievement unlocked.
October 9, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Lame achievement unlocked.
Yup. CJ woulf have said it better, anyway. Jeeze why do people believe everything on the internet.
September 24, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Yup. CJ woulf have said it better, anyway. Jeeze why do people believe everything on the internet.
Samizdat is now available!
🚨 NCA5 is now LIVE! 🚨
They took it down, but we've brought it back at: nca5.climate.us
Bookmark. 👏 this. 👏 page. 👏
This is just our first step in restoring trusted science information that Americans need to understand what's happening with the climate.
They took it down, but we've brought it back at: nca5.climate.us
Bookmark. 👏 this. 👏 page. 👏
This is just our first step in restoring trusted science information that Americans need to understand what's happening with the climate.
September 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Samizdat is now available!
Come and play with us!
South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Envir. Engineering is seeking a tenure-track faculty member for our program’s Environmental Engineering leg. We don't do silos, empires or boundaries; just lots of surprising avenues to collaborate!
yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/45345
South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Envir. Engineering is seeking a tenure-track faculty member for our program’s Environmental Engineering leg. We don't do silos, empires or boundaries; just lots of surprising avenues to collaborate!
yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/45345
Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
The Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SD Mines) seeks exceptional candidates for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Ass...
yourfuture.sdbor.edu
September 21, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Come and play with us!
South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Envir. Engineering is seeking a tenure-track faculty member for our program’s Environmental Engineering leg. We don't do silos, empires or boundaries; just lots of surprising avenues to collaborate!
yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/45345
South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Envir. Engineering is seeking a tenure-track faculty member for our program’s Environmental Engineering leg. We don't do silos, empires or boundaries; just lots of surprising avenues to collaborate!
yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/45345
Reposted by Bill Capehart
That's right. What's more alarming is ~97% of the current highway storm drains in the United States were designed using rainfall information that was published in *1961* using 1930s-1950s data. We're using infrastructure built for the rainfall of nearly a century ago. engrxiv.org/preprint/vie....
September 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
That's right. What's more alarming is ~97% of the current highway storm drains in the United States were designed using rainfall information that was published in *1961* using 1930s-1950s data. We're using infrastructure built for the rainfall of nearly a century ago. engrxiv.org/preprint/vie....
I'm doing the traditional 2-layer Earth's radiation budget model in Stella, for my systems modeling class, where I break out my REAL climate doomer textbook from grad school! Back then, global warming was the BEST-case scenario. And all my students can say is "he hand-drew all these graphs!?"
September 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I'm doing the traditional 2-layer Earth's radiation budget model in Stella, for my systems modeling class, where I break out my REAL climate doomer textbook from grad school! Back then, global warming was the BEST-case scenario. And all my students can say is "he hand-drew all these graphs!?"
Reposted by Bill Capehart
Want to come work for the National Hurricane Center, #NHC? There are two new job postings that were just announced yesterday. The 1st opportunity is a position within the #Hurricane Specialist Unit, #HSU:
GS-13 Hurricane Specialist Position -- www.usajobs.gov/job/845559000
GS-13 Hurricane Specialist Position -- www.usajobs.gov/job/845559000
Meteorologist
This position is located in the National Weather Service (NWS), National Hurricane Center (NHC), with one vacancy in Miami, FL.
www.usajobs.gov
September 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Want to come work for the National Hurricane Center, #NHC? There are two new job postings that were just announced yesterday. The 1st opportunity is a position within the #Hurricane Specialist Unit, #HSU:
GS-13 Hurricane Specialist Position -- www.usajobs.gov/job/845559000
GS-13 Hurricane Specialist Position -- www.usajobs.gov/job/845559000
Climate change is indeed a national security hazard.
Today, 20+ senior national security leaders submitted their critique of the DOE's climate report -- "wholly inadequate" for tackling the security risks posed by climate change. Signees include the former Commandant of the Coast Guard, PACOM commander & AFRICOM commander. Read their comment here:
20+ National Security Leaders and the Center for Climate & Security Critique the US Department of Energy Climate Report - The Council on Strategic Risks
CCS and nearly two dozen senior national security leaders find DOE’s latest climate report to be wholly inadequate in addressing the national security risk posed by climate change.
councilonstrategicrisks.org
September 2, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Climate change is indeed a national security hazard.
Reposted by Bill Capehart
Our 400+ page comment on the DOE climate working group report is now out.
Our conclusion: The merchants of doubt are back, and they're coming for climate science.
Our conclusion: The merchants of doubt are back, and they're coming for climate science.
DOEresponseSite
On July 29, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a report from its Climate Working Group (CWG). This report features prominently in the EPA's reconsideration of its 2009 Endangerment Finding. In response, over 85 scientists have come together to write a comprehensive review, which is
sites.google.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Our 400+ page comment on the DOE climate working group report is now out.
Our conclusion: The merchants of doubt are back, and they're coming for climate science.
Our conclusion: The merchants of doubt are back, and they're coming for climate science.
They’re attacking grants at my own engineering-focused university. It isn’t about “woke”“Humanagonies.” It’s about any method that endeavors to critically sees things as they are and can be.
Dowsing the Comp Lit dept in honey & throwing it to over your shoulder to distract the bear won’t work.
Dowsing the Comp Lit dept in honey & throwing it to over your shoulder to distract the bear won’t work.
I keep seeing this circulating, and I'm disappointed in my colleagues in the natural sciences who think if they can "shed" enough of their humanity they will some how be protected from fascism.
Scientists who are bending to jingoism to try and protect funding aren't asking the right questions.
Scientists who are bending to jingoism to try and protect funding aren't asking the right questions.
In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
August 14, 2025 at 3:16 AM
They’re attacking grants at my own engineering-focused university. It isn’t about “woke”“Humanagonies.” It’s about any method that endeavors to critically sees things as they are and can be.
Dowsing the Comp Lit dept in honey & throwing it to over your shoulder to distract the bear won’t work.
Dowsing the Comp Lit dept in honey & throwing it to over your shoulder to distract the bear won’t work.
Best. Emergency. Management. Film. EVER!!!!
Finally coming to a big screen near me!!
gkids.com/films/shin-g...
Finally coming to a big screen near me!!
gkids.com/films/shin-g...
SHIN GODZILLA - GKIDS Films
gkids.com
August 13, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Best. Emergency. Management. Film. EVER!!!!
Finally coming to a big screen near me!!
gkids.com/films/shin-g...
Finally coming to a big screen near me!!
gkids.com/films/shin-g...
Never say we’re not already paying a Carbon Tax.
"“If this volume just grows even more, we simply have a societal situation that is not bearable anymore because it is just too much risk that is no longer covered,” Thallinger told CNBC..."
whatever politicians pretend to believe about climate, this is what they know
www.cnbc.com/2025/08/08/c...
whatever politicians pretend to believe about climate, this is what they know
www.cnbc.com/2025/08/08/c...
Why insurers worry the world could soon become uninsurable
Günther Thallinger, a board member at Allianz, one of the world's biggest insurers, says the climate crisis could make adaptation economically unviable.
www.cnbc.com
August 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Never say we’re not already paying a Carbon Tax.
About damned time. This is NOT how people should be treated and the correction and build back is long over due.
NEW: The NWS has received permission to hire up to 450 meteorologists/hydrologists/radar technicians after DOGE-related cuts. Agency also given a public safety exemption from federal hiring freeze after losing more than 550 people in those cuts. (1/2)
August 6, 2025 at 2:47 PM
About damned time. This is NOT how people should be treated and the correction and build back is long over due.
Nothing like a big talker talking down to the state he wants to lead.
Toby Doeden struck a chord with a number of leaders in South Dakota yesterday with his comments on how South Dakotans aren't the ones being hired for high tech jobs, so we need to reject those opportunities for our state.
bit.ly/4f9YUNe
bit.ly/4f9YUNe
July 30, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Nothing like a big talker talking down to the state he wants to lead.
A watched sun never sets. (We’re trying to stay up long enough for a nighttime. Beast ride.
July 29, 2025 at 12:56 AM
A watched sun never sets. (We’re trying to stay up long enough for a nighttime. Beast ride.
Consecutive poor harvests in weak states provide opportunities for bad actors to move in. A navigable Arctic means new challenges to maritime law, treaties, and changing battlespace.
But yeah, let's go into this new world blind and without people who can give sound science-driven policy advice.
But yeah, let's go into this new world blind and without people who can give sound science-driven policy advice.
“The State Department on Friday fired the remaining staff working in the office responsible for international climate policy, including annual U.N. negotiations related to climate treaties, according to three people familiar with the matter…” 🌱
wapo.st/4lPbq6Y
wapo.st/4lPbq6Y
The State Department fires remaining employees who worked on climate change
The firings of nearly a dozen people in the State Department’s Office of Global Change include the last U.S. climate negotiators.
wapo.st
July 12, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Consecutive poor harvests in weak states provide opportunities for bad actors to move in. A navigable Arctic means new challenges to maritime law, treaties, and changing battlespace.
But yeah, let's go into this new world blind and without people who can give sound science-driven policy advice.
But yeah, let's go into this new world blind and without people who can give sound science-driven policy advice.