Jake Anderson

A DHL Express customs duty invoice addressed to Adafruit Industries in Brooklyn, NY, showing various charges including a highlighted import export duties fee of $36,126.46.

Tariffs just got real: our first $36K bill with 125% + 20% + 25% markup hits hard 💸. These are upfront costs - due before selling a single unit - causing serious cash flow strain, price increases, read more! 📦 adafruit.com/tariffbill

#tariffs

Xerces has really good plain language explainers.

If I may tl;dr this one — don’t waste your money on those mosquito sprayers. You aren’t hurting mosquitoes but you are hurting the good insects.

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

If you live in AR, ID, IN, KS, ME, NC, OK, SD, or TX: you are represented by a Republican senator on the Intelligence committee. www.intelligence.senate.gov

Home | United States Senate Committee on Armed Services United States Senate Committee on Armed Services

If you live in AK, AL, AR, FL, IA, ID, IN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, OK, or SD: you are represented by a Republican senator on the Armed Services Committee. www.armed-services.senate.gov

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Republicans on relevant committees have the power to investigate the administration's sloppy handling of classified info. Please call them and say that you want their committees to investigate this issue themselves. It's too egregious to just trust the executive branch to investigate themselves.

Rally to keep Idaho's public lands in public hands.

A very early bloomer in the Boise foothills: bulbous woodlandstar.

It's a Tuesday, which means today is a great day to call your senators and representative about issues that matter to you! Especially if they're Republicans. Republican officials won't stand up to the president unless they feel constituent pressure.

A FAQ on federal research cuts ...

I wrote up an FAQ about the recent federal grant cuts. A few points: 🧵

At the Idaho Capitol right now. Bigger turnout than the last protest.

Bonneville Power staff departures under President Trump raise concerns about Northwest electrical grid The Bonneville Power Administration could lose nearly 20% of its workforce because of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, raising concerns about the agency’s ability to ...

Bonneville Power Administration is self-funded and receives no money from taxpayers. It funds all staff and programs with its power and transmission sales.

These staff reductions don’t cut a single cent from the Federal deficit.

www.opb.org/article/2025...

"The recent termination of thousands of federal employees... will undermine the critical scientific expertise required to keep the country safe from natural hazards and provide national security." Full statement by SSA President and President-Elect: buff.ly/4k2Q06a ⚒️🧪

Obviously there are so many huge problems happening now and public lands are just a small sliver of them. But it's an issue where, around here I think, we might be able to get some traction against the attack on federal workers and agencies.

And my call was tailored to issues that are salient here--public lands get bipartisan love in Idaho. If there are other issues that people care about more deeply where you are, talk about those.

This was a two-minute call and it probably took about a minute to look up his office's phone number. Fellow westerners: their local (not DC) offices are on local time and will be open for a while still.

I just called my (Republican) congressman Mike Simpson and told his staff that I support keeping public lands in Idaho public and remaining with their current agencies, and opposing purges or cuts to the federal agencies that help manage Idaho's water and other resources. Will you call your rep too?

REPOST if you support our federal workforce and know how dedicated they are to their jobs. Show them you appreciate them!

Protesters in cities across the US rally against Trump's policies, Project 2025 and Elon Musk Demonstrators have gathered in cities across the U.S. to protest the Trump administration’s early actions.

apnews.com/article/5050...

Boise's MK Nature Center has some cool stuff! 7-foot sturgeon swimming around in a pond next to a boardwalk, and a native plant garden. Definitely coming back in the summer.

It's a cold, dark January for this red-osier dogwood after a busy summer full of growth. Although it's too cold to leaf and photosynthesize, and it looks dormant, notice that it's grown buds even in these bleak conditions. Winter won't last forever, so it rebuilds now to be ready come spring.

Change in Paris air quality between 2007 and 2023 using visuals

Air pollution has dropped significantly in #Paris in the last 15 years. Mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social’s leadership has traded car space for green space, safe bike space, kid space.. and traded pollution for people.

Good trade.

Great blue heron perching near the Boise River greenbelt, between Broadway and Parkcenter bridges.

Boise sees record-high temperature in a century. Another record could be coming We’re also fast approaching the record for latest first snow of the season, the National Weather Service said.

Boise experienced the hottest Dec. 18 in a century. At 59 degrees, it topped a previous record set in 1917. And we are approaching a record for late first snow.

Will we get a white Christmas? Read the rest of Nicole Blanchard's story and find out.

Pollinator-Friendly Native Plant Lists We've prepared the following lists of recommended native plants that are highly attractive to pollinators such as native bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds, and are well-suited for...

Great post!
Check out this amazing link from the Xerces Society @xercessociety.bsky.social if you're looking for which #nativeplants are great for your region AND want to attract our pollinator friends!
xerces.org/pollinator-c...

We’ve reached 5000 followers!

As it’s #followfriday, check out these green building/retrofit-specific starter packs:

Designers
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Heat pumps
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Remember, 10 years ago...

We were told carrot not sticks, and to ensure the scale-up of economic alternatives to coal+gas power plants, petrol cars and home heating?

With all that ticked off, can we NOW talk about a global CO2 price?

A Congestion Pricing Victory Lap for Paul Krugman - Streetsblog New York City It's too bad Paul Krugman has retired at the Times because he deserves to celebrate the start of congestion tolls on Jan. 5, says our columnist.

OK, I'll take it nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/12/16/a...

Yeah, it's easy to scrape food waste into compost or even trash, and plumbers are expensive. On the other hand, some people do use garbage disposals and problems are apparently infrequent enough that they're still popular. Such people might say that my F.U.D. is just garbage to be disposed of.

And when I lurk on plumbing forums, it seems to be a popular opinion among plumbers that garbage disposals aren't worth the trouble they cause (even suggesting getting rid of them) and that food waste doesn't belong in pipes.

If I have dishes with a bit of debris on them after scraping into compost, I wash them on that side. The load on it is small and I don't think I run it more than 1-2 times/month.