Benjamin Root
@weathergod.bsky.social
Senior Scientific Programmer at AER. Python guru. Matplotlib developer Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@WeatherGod GitHub: https://github.com/WeatherGod LinkdIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-v-root/ Was weather_god at the bad place. (he/him)
created September 18, 2023
600 followers 265 following 1,752 posts
view profile on Bluesky Posts
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social)
This is just lazy thinking. Yes, in general, the government shouldn't be able to dictate what to put into our bodies. So that's why vaccines are the exception to the rule and are heavily regulated and checked several times over.
Matthew Hay Brown (@matthewhaybrown.bsky.social) reposted
U.S. could have stopped the alleged drug boat, Rubio acknowledges, but Trump chose to destroy it, killing 11: “Instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up — and it’ll happen again” @johnphudson.bsky.social @schmidtsam.bsky.social @alexhorton.bsky.social wapo.st/3JJJiEG
Comfortably Numb (@numb.comfortab.ly) reposted reply parent
Side note: Newsmax is here, block it if you haven't already.
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted
Rep. Andy Ogles: "The president is a true leader ... I think he should be eligible for a third term."
shauna (@goldengateblond.bsky.social) reposted
Mark Ellinwood (@markellinwood.bsky.social) reposted
le test
Sam Bagenstos (@sbagen.bsky.social) reposted
As a lawyer, I'll tell you that there's nobody who knows this law better than Ryan and Brian. Sure looks like murder or war crime to me. But as a human, I'll tell you that the Rubio statement -- we could have stopped the boat but we blew it up to send a message -- is sickening and depraved.
Tube Time (@tubetime.bsky.social) reposted
so Microsoft open-sourced their 6502 BASIC interpreter. i'm reading through the code looking for interesting things, and i've already found a few! 🧵 github.com/microsoft/BA...
Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) reposted
All kidding about this nonsense answer aside: The regime is asserting the power to murder without trial a boat full of people suspected of drug trafficking, who easily could have been intercepted and arrested instead. That is unconscionable and horrifying even assuming everyone aboard was guilty.
gbhnews (@gbhnews.bsky.social) reposted
“With voting rights under attack by the federal government, now is the time for us to pass same-day voter registration in Massachusetts,” said state Rep. Carmine Gentile. "Enabling everyone who has the right to vote to exercise that right on Election Day is long overdue.” https://bit.ly/469UYIr
Senator Peter Welch (@welch.senate.gov) reposted
This is what corruption looks like. If President Trump is making personal profit while in office, he can’t be trusted to make decisions that benefit the American people and not his wallet.
Clara Jeffery (@clarajeffery.bsky.social) reposted
The spray-painted gold ornamentation is spreading like a cancer
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted
Pritzker: "When did we become a country where it's ok for the US president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything? Especially something we don't want. Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?"
SEIU_ORG (@seiu.org) reposted
Trump’s new executive order just wiped out legal union contracts for almost half a million federal workers. This isn’t about making government efficient. It’s about concentrating power by silencing worker voices. This is dangerous. Workers will not be silenced. seiu.co/424kEVw
SEIU_ORG (@seiu.org) reposted
Optalis Health in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan just proposed wage cuts, $10 less per hour for over 100 healthcare workers. Workers have issued a 10-day strike notice. This isn’t just about pay, it’s about quality patient care, safety, respect, and honoring legal union contracts. seiu.co/45KzpiF
Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) reposted
WTF? This is part of the ceremony of citizenship. These people aren’t against illegal immigration, they’re against legal immigration as well, and always have been.
jen 🌻 (@bunnibytz.bsky.social) reposted
KASIE HUNT: Over the summer you said, “There’s no vaccine that’s safe and effective”. Do you still believe that? RFK JR: “I never said that.” KASIE HUNT: “Play the clip.” RFK JR (clip): “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” (March 2024) ht: @cwebbonline.com
Graeme MacGilchrist (@gmacgilchrist.bsky.social) reposted
A real honor to be able to help out with this. An absolute gutter ball that it is required. Kudos to @andrewdessler.com for exemplary leadership, @bobkopp.net for helping pull it together, and to all coauthors for resisting in our own way.
Reuters Legal (@legal.reuters.com) reposted
A U.S. appeals court reversed a first-in-the-nation ruling holding that a federal ban on possessing machine guns was unconstitutional, saying it remained valid even after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 expanded gun rights.
mtsw (@mtsw.bsky.social) reposted
starmer is doing all the anti-immigrant and anti-trans "popularism" stuff the centrists are demanding US dems do and this is the predictable result:
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social)
Oh, gawd, please, no.
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social)
He doesn't know how to shut up, does he? Now I suspect this will become evidence for lawsuits from jilted vendors and such.
Amy McGovern (@profamymcgovern.bsky.social) reposted
This is AI2ES, my AI institute. No way around it other than to say this is really awful. We are doing so many amazing things! We want to keep doing amazing things but without this level of funding, we will not be able to do so.
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted
Trump lives and looks pretty much normal by his standards
'viktor shtrum' (@viktorshtrum.bsky.social) reposted
the sunglasses keep falling off
Jonathan M. Katz (@katz.theracket.news) reposted
Now they're saying 2:45 www.c-span.org/event/white-...
Anil Dash (@anildash.com) reposted
Good news about the cutting-edge AI tools from the $3-trillion-dollar company.
Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) reposted
this now brings us up to six (!) grand jury refusals to charge (that we know about), plus two cases filed as part of the dc surge dismissed on the us attorney's office's request
Coach Finstock (@coachfinstock.bsky.social) reposted
Hey didn't ChatGPT tell that kid who hung himself not to tell his parents he was suicidal? Hm. So we got school districts forcing kids to use AI and local government shutting down suicide prevention lines. If you were actively trying to get more kids to off themselves these are the steps you'd take.
Climatologist49 (@climatologist49.bsky.social) reposted
The numbers are in. August 2025 was the 3rd warmest August on record globally. No, things are not back to normal. 🔥
Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) reposted
Perfect encapsulation of the Trump administration: The guy suing Harvard for alleged antisemitism is a straight-up Hitler-admiring Nazi. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...
History of Hyrule, Zelda Archivist (@historyofhyrule.com) reposted
In my other life I've been deeply involved in environmental activism. tl;dr: logging companies plan out logging roads SPECIFICALLY to cut down the most and most valuable old growth trees. This rollback is literally to destroy the last 2% of our most ancient forests for company profit. You can help-
Matthew Segal (@segalmr.bsky.social) reposted
If you were actually mistreated by federal agents multiple legal hurdles stand between you and compensation, but if you were fake mistreated you can just, like, ask the Trump admin for money. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/u...
Adam Kucharski (@adamjkucharski.bsky.social) reposted
Results so stunningly clear they inspired this classic xkcd (xkcd.com/2400/):
Dr. Jens Foell (@jensfoell.de) reposted
I want to tell you about a friend of mine real quick. I've mentioned her on here before, but you don't know any details yet, and she's about to make history in a very real sense. Meet Michi Benthaus:
Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
The 2024 election was a national referendum on living in factual reality and trying to address challenges responsibly. A plurality said no, even if some didn't consciously grasp that. Another example: Trump & Vance lying so much it hindered FEMA response to NC floods. Then the state voted for them.
Meteorologist Dan Smith (@dansmithweather.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Fw...
Kat Abughazaleh (@katmabu.bsky.social) reposted
Ditto.
Peter Gleick (@petergleick.bsky.social) reposted
Adolf Hitler awarded the War Merit Cross to Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Holocaust. Just saying, awards don't mean sh** if the person awarding them is a fascist. www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...
Ian Livingston (@ianlivingston.bsky.social) reposted
Is his 1789 shirt a shout-out to the constitution he is not following? This guy looks like a J6er.
Dix (@dixonij.bsky.social) reposted
The goddamn Reagan slightly-post-1980 Inflection Point strikes again
The Guardian (@theguardian.com) reposted
Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing
RoseMarie (@rosesbloom24.bsky.social) reposted
Despite his vow to help coal miners, Trump halted enforcement of a regulation that protects miners from a debilitating, often deadly lung disease. He fired the chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)... #WorkersOverBillionaires #LabourDay www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Peter Gleick (@petergleick.bsky.social) reposted
The case brought by South Africa v. Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is “arguably the strongest case of genocide that has ever come before the Court.” www.populismstudies.org/professor-sc...
Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted
The false, explicitly bigoted “great replacement” conspiracy theory has inspired some of the biggest terrorist attacks in recent years, including in Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso, Texas. Transnational white nationalism—oxymoronic, yes, but nevertheless real—is a top terrorist threat today.
NPR (@npr.org) reposted
President Trump has ended collective bargaining rights for more than one million federal workers. Unions have sued to block the move, but agencies are terminating contracts as litigation continues.
Liz Dye (@lizdye.bsky.social) reposted
Let me take a big swig of Diet Coke and crack open Twitter's trollsuit against Apple and OpenAI ... OWWW MY NOSE BURNS storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
TrumpsTaxes (@trumpstaxes.com) reposted
Photo of the Three Stooges promoting the polio vaccine for kids in 1961. You know your country’s in trouble when Moe, Larry and Curly Joe understand more about public health than the Secretary of HHS.
John Scalzi (@scalzi.com) reposted
Because I know actual human artists whose work was appropriated without consent to train these "AI" models (as of course mine was, repeatedly, for LLMs), and using an "AI" to generate pictures is like kicking them in the teeth and then laughing at them whilst they bleed
Star Trek Minus Context (@nocontexttrek1.bsky.social) reposted
Alexander Chee (@alexanderchee.bsky.social) reposted
“A suspected Russian interference attack targeting Ursula von der Leyen disabled GPS navigation services at a Bulgarian airport and forced the European Commission president’s plane to land using paper maps.”
Chris Vagasky (@coweatherman.bsky.social) reposted
GPS jamming and spoofing also have an impact on upper air measurements. Vaisala radiosondes now have multi-GNSS support and message authentication to ensure data doesn’t get lost. www.vaisala.com/en/news/2024...
Khashoggi's Ghost (@urocklive1.bsky.social) reposted
Trump limits National Guard assignments to 29 days at a time to keep the called up service members from getting healthcare and housing benefits while on duty. And the NG troops are catching on. Stereotypical Trump. Don't give those losers and suckers an extra dime. www.rawstory.com/trump-infuri...
Marshall Shepherd (@drshepherd2013.bsky.social) reposted
Many vital federal climate websites and data are increasingly difficult to access. A new nonproft organization called @climate.us seeks to fill the gap. My Labor Day thoughts in Forbes on their emergence. www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24.bsky.social) reposted
big policy win for them. Congratulations. I feel safer already, kidnap all the people taking care of the elderly next
ProPublica (@propublica.org) reposted
Heather Honey, a high-profile denier of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, has been appointed to a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security in which she’ll help oversee election security.
CNN (@cnn.com) reposted
The US State Department has instructed its diplomats to refuse most visas for Palestinian passport holders, whether they live in the West Bank, Gaza, or overseas, according to a cable seen by CNN. https://cnn.it/4n6T0iJ
Coach Finstock (@coachfinstock.bsky.social) reposted
This is why I found it so funny the ivys and snob schools rolled over so fast and got double fucked for doing it. These are the same people getting duped putting 50 grand in a shoebox. Rich and priveleged Americans are the easiest people to scam and bully because they've never deal with it before.
TJ (@tjtjtj.tj) reposted reply parent
I don't think there is a widely-accepted standard for alt text metadata, but it looks like there is some research into this for Bluesky github.com/bluesky-soci...
Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) reposted
The LGML case came very close to being JGG redux. But just before the hearing began, the judge decided not to wait. She entered a TRO barring removal of all the children. That made all the difference: DHS already had the kids loaded on planes. One plane even took off (then turned around).
Mark Copelovitch (@mcopelov.bsky.social) reposted
Whether or not these people are actual foreign agents is almost irrelevant. Their actions are observationally equivalent to & indistinguishable from the actions actual foreign agents would be taking. The consequences of our total Article I constitutional crisis, right here:
Lisa O’Carroll (@lisaocarroll.bsky.social) reposted
The Guardian has today printed the names, and where possible, images, of all the media workers killed in Gaza, as part of an international day of action involving more than 150 media organisations. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Ian Livingston (@ianlivingston.bsky.social) reposted
Trump is the stupidest major power leader that ever did live
Liam @ GamingOnLinux (@gamingonlinux.com) reposted
ScummVM gets support for the survival horror Penumbra Overture from the Amnesia developers #PenumbraOverture #Gaming #PCGaming #OpenSource #Linux #HorrorGames
Mark Chadbourn (@chadbourn.bsky.social) reposted
Musk now supporting the deportation of anyone who isn’t white. *Do not* use the term “remigration”. It’s an attempt to normalise Nazi hate.
ProPublica (@propublica.org) reposted
Current and former federal workers: We understand you may be taking a risk in contacting us, and we take your confidentiality extremely seriously. To collect tips, we use encrypted forms and apps, so messages cannot be read by anybody other than you and ProPublica. Here's how to get in touch.
Zach Rabiroff (@zachrabiroff.com) reposted
For 12 months, America had a limited proof of concept for universal healthcare, and it was so uniformly successful we had no choice but to obliterate our society
Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
BURGUM: “I was shocked to find out, like, ‘oh, [USPP] pull somebody over and they just drive away and you can't pursue them?’ And they said ‘no, we can't.’ We got that rule changed in 24 hours because of President Trump's leadership. The next night they had so much fun. They pulled people over.”
SwiftOnSecurity (@swiftonsecurity.com) reposted
Based on AI, bounty hunters stormed a North Texas home, threw a flash bang and snatched the wrong guy, police say
Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub.bsky.social) reposted
“I just want Virginia Tech to play like Alabama.” The genie cackles deeply and prepares to grant this request.
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
Some curious kid stands half on/half off the door and wonders "what's this on the wall"?
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
You are assuming that this place was permitted and inspected.
airplane ian (he/him) (@airplaneian.com) reposted
trying to imagine firefighters getting dispatched to this house and the absolute nightmare that would be
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
Proposal for next game: Hylian Ice Skates
JustinG (@justingosses.github.io) reposted
It would be so dumb to waste billions of flood prevention funding by giving it to Elon Musk for tiny tunnels that don’t actually reduce much flood risk but do interfere with bridge foundations….but I could sadly see it happening with today’s Texas GOP. Any sort of good governance is gone.
Eric Umansky (@ericumansky.bsky.social) reposted
Federal agents in DC have been starting dangerous car cases for small stuff like tinted windows. The chases violate DC police policy. Out of 10 cases, six ended in a crash. One car had a minor in back. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
I had completely forgotten about this. This disaster was really eye-opening.
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
It is also such simpleton logic. No-one ever claimed that you can't cut down on crime if you have 10 cops on every corner. But it just isn't sustainable. And they'll get bored soon.
Alan Elrod (@aselrod.bsky.social) reposted
This is depraved
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted
Pritzker: "No one in the administration -- the president or anybody under him -- has called anyone in my administration or me. It's clear that in secret they're are planning this invasion with US troops."
Leslie K. Brown (@leslielkb.bsky.social) reposted
Hello, Massachusetts?! Now it's just us & Nevada that cannot vaccinate those even with a prescription. cc @massgovernor.bsky.social @saldidomenico.bsky.social @markey.senate.gov @edmarkey.bsky.social @elizabeth-warren.bsky.social @warren.senate.gov @whipkclark.bsky.social @universalhub.com #mapoli
Just Jami (@justjami.bsky.social) reposted
This arrived in the mail. Gift from a friend. The fine print reads: “The Gulf of Mexico was mapped in 1519 and recorded in history in 1590 - over 200 years before the United States even had its first colony. No rebranding can change centuries of history.” #GulfofMexico #GISchat
Christoph Mergerson (@mergerson.bsky.social) reposted
Ah, so they want … reparations? But January 6 is in the past and we have to look forward as a country. And I didn’t arrest or convict any J6 participant, so why should my tax dollars go to reparations for them? They shouldn’t look to the government for handouts. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/u...
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
Garak doesn't serve Gagh. That's the kiosk across the promenade.
Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) reposted
NEW: Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will hand out $67 BILLION to companies next year to "incentivize" research these companies did YEARS ago. That means next year, the federal government will spend five times more on these handouts than what it spends annually on child care.
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social)
Not a fan of UofMiami, but mad respect for that catch! #NDvsMIA
Benjamin Root (@weathergod.bsky.social) reply parent
What's the difference?
Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) reposted
Anna has had excellent coverage of this developing case in which the Trump administration tried to use the holiday weekend to secretly and illegally deport children.
The War Monitor (@warmonitor.net) reposted
A federal judge blocked WH plan to deport unaccompanied Guatemalan children, calling the move illegal and dangerous. This happened moments before deportation.
Matt Lanza (@mattlanza.bsky.social) reposted
The people in charge of this country are not solving problems. They are being evil. Purely, unadulterated evil.
Daniel A. Horwitz (@danielahorwitz.bsky.social) reposted
Once more for those in back: They were never going to be able to implement a mass deportation program without prioritizing people like this. Criminals and gang members are too hard to find and apprehend. Regular folks who show up to work, church, and their scheduled immigration appointments are not.
Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) reposted
Life for Palestinians in Gaza has gotten worse under Trump, not better. So where are Jill Stein and Cornel West now? They aren’t leading protests in DC outside the White House, no rallies. Almost like the whole 2024 thing was just performative.
Emily Hahn, MD (@ehahnmd.bsky.social) reposted
These are my patients. Kids dying of brain cancer. Kids and families desperate for treatment and hoping to find a cure through experimental therapies. Trump is dismantling science and children with brain tumor are the victims. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
Sickos Committee (@sickoscommittee.org) reposted
If I'm the Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach i'm asking them to declare it a no-contest like that UC Davis game and getting out of here without a loss.
David Ho (@davidho.bsky.social) reposted
Cyclists, don't forget to wear hi viz!
Discontinued Foods! (@discontinuedfoods.bsky.social) reposted
Bob Ross: The Joy of Cereal (2019-2020): Sold exclusively through FYE, this cereal celebrated the calming, public TV painter. A Lucky Charms clone, it featured marshmallows shaped like Almighty Mountains, Lovely Little Bushes, Happy Little Accidents, & more.
ProPublica (@propublica.org) reposted
A federal employee directory helped us figure out just how many workers have left federal health agencies since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Here’s how we crunched the numbers. By @pratheekrebala.bsky.social @anniewaldman.bsky.social @bxroberts.org
Andrew Turley (@aturls.bsky.social) reposted
I lived in San Francisco during Gavin's time as mayor and its kind of funny being reminded of how he was a piece of shit in so many ways that I'd kind of forgotten about
Sarah has a suggestion (@goatsarah.org) reposted reply parent
At every stage I did what the state asked me to, even though it was humiliating, degrading and cruel. And it kept moving the goalposts, and reneging on the agreements it made, whilst continuing to hold me to them even when they are now mutually contradictory. (12/13)
Sarah has a suggestion (@goatsarah.org) reposted reply parent
As it's still valid, presumably if I don't keep following it, I am also breaking the law and subject to arrest. The law of the land simultaneously requires me to be both a man and a woman and if I do either then I am breaking the law and subject to arrest. (11/13)