Sign in

Tom von Alten

@fortboise.org
1.2K followers 264 following 1.5K posts

I like the e.g.: Artist, dog-lover, and avid reader. I mean, aren't we all? Retired engineer s/w dev, writer, bicyclist, former newspaper boy.

PostsRepliesMedia
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/09/2026
My local PO has this posted. I wish it were so. (Note the copyright: 2024.)
Sign says: 'As in past elections, the United States Postal Service is ready to deliver your ballot on time. But don't delay. If you choose to vote by mail, please mail early.' Copyright says 2024.
032
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 10/09/2026
Accidentally? Or is the plane trying to vomit?
The emergency slide on thenew Air Force One accidentally deployed
040
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 06/09/2026
The goldfinches are visiting, eyes on the catnip prize. The cotoneaster will come along, but for now, just a convenient survey perch.
080
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 28/08/2026
It's still Lake Ontario. And our pathetic thug is a bottomless pit of unsatisfiable narcissism
161
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 15/08/2026
Saw that, yesterday morning from Corrals, down along Crane Cr
View of smoke near the Boise Ridge Rd, seen from Corrals trail along Crane Creek, Thu Aug 13
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 08/08/2026
Heron. Morning
A silhouetted standing Great Blue Heron with a gaggle of ducks, in Boise Cascade Lake
2110
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 08/08/2026
Looking over the remains of the Claremont fire. Furthest ridge is Shaw Mountain (and Lucky Peak), which didn't burn this time. Air quality is from the Big Grass and other fires. #idahofire
180
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 08/07/2026
Inquiring minds wonder how much was made on inside trading this time
Headline: "Oil prices jumped after [thug] said the deal with Iran was 'over'."
040
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 04/05/2026
Hey @developers.google.com (or anyone in the company who cares about customer satisfaction, "no." Just do your job, and stop with the blue banner every bloody time I open gmail or gcal.
Google's blue banner on gmail and Calendar, 'This browser version is no longer supported. Please upgrade to a supported browser.'
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 04/05/2026
Isn't this special? Good lord. I just saved the PDF and opened it with Firefox. @adobe.com don't be so lame.
Adobe Acrobat Reader "Update successful" and now it wants me to interrupt everything I'm doing to [Restart Computer Now]
030
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 30/04/2026
Fatuous, incredible, pathetic
Thug says he believes his life was 'probably' in danger over Comey seashell photo - NBC clip caption
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 16/04/2026
"I guess a little light sedition is ok with the new DOJ..." As long as you're seditting for THUG, obvs, which he made clear from day 2.1. It's so vile. youtu.be/ASZsArDaX-s?...
Stewart Rhodes, convicted insurrectionist
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 15/04/2026
This guy? Disbarred in California? What do you know! www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
John Eastman exhorting the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection warm-up rally
041
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 12/04/2026
Said xc rig, 50y ago June:
June 1976 photo of my Raleigh Grand Prix with camp gear on a Pletscher rack, and a handlebar bag, ready to start across the country on a beautiful morning outside my (im)mobile home at the time.
130
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/04/2026
We cut to the PR guy on the USS John P. Murtha. Go Navy!
100
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/04/2026
Integrity in the Pacific While they figure out their terrestrial comms issues
110
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 03/04/2026
From yesterday's Out Like a Lion / April Fools springtime in the Rockies lollapalooza, view to the SW from Hyatt Hidden Lakes #IdahoEscape
Late afternoon sky full of complex clouds between rain/snow/graupel showers, looking SW at Hyatt Hidden Lakes in Boise
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 27/03/2026
Thuggery
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 12/03/2026
It's a hell of a thing that we have to ask, and the people in charge of war don't have good answers. "We're punching down" isn't enough.
Idaho Press big headline: WHY ARE WE BOMBING?
011
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 03/03/2026
"You won't believe what happens next!" P.394, Larry Craig shows up, on the wrong side of the continental divide
Penciled in the margin: 'again - Larry Craig mindset' (text is about mining)
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 03/03/2026
And then on p.379 comes the epiphany
Hand-written in the margin, inexplicably, "ah ha!"
110
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 01/03/2026
I came around the bend from page 353, and someone's written in semi-classic cursive
'See - I told you' written on the corner of page 354
131
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 26/02/2026
Who's got what now?
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 18/01/2026
I've got another trophy for Thug.
A chrome-plated log nut I found on the street
130
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/01/2026
ICE OUT gathering in Boise Idaho
111
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/01/2026
I'm just here as somebody who worked to create LTO back in the day (starting 30 years ago this year), I love your attitude.
Selfie with my '1 million shipped' Ultrium 1 memento
110
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 11/01/2026
ARREST CRIMINALS, NOT IMMIGRANTS
ARREST CRIMINALS, NOT IMMIGRANTS
with photos of five of them, and (some of) their crimes:
Miller, Rubio, Trump, Noem, Hegseth
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 09/01/2026
Dear Marketing Dept.: Just so you know: this is the Absolutely Least Effective way to try to sell me anything. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"OFFER ENDS IN: 12 hrs  45 min  55 sec" (and counting down)
020
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 08/01/2026
Compare Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) growing on our oak stump
Turkey tail fungus (Trametes versicolor) on an oak stump
050
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 01/01/2026
We're all together on this big, beautiful planet, spinning around our one star. May we recognize our shared humanity. Happy New Year
Our star lit up this weathered end of a wood post in early December, at what we call 'sunrise' but it's  really 'earth spin'
072
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 23/12/2025
Dunno how to tap into the rocket scientists at T-Mobile but this update process "optimize" follow-on where you push a garbage truck full of games at me is just super-annoying, and utterly unwanted
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 21/12/2025
#FIFY
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performance Arts building label, with graffito redacted
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 17/12/2025
Fixed the DOD statement in "Defense reporter at Punchbowl News" Briana Reilly's tweet, I guess it was.
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 04/12/2025
A comment started "With gas prices at an all time high..." Which, ah, they're not. (Nor are they $2/gal) It was $2-ish in 2016. And 2020. The amazing thing: adjusted for inflation, it's been mostly flat for half a century.
Inflation adjusted timeline for gas price in the US 1975-2025, data from BLS
050
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 25/11/2025
That late November feeling
Jack O'Lantern looking a bit mushy on Nov. 25
140
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 23/11/2025
#SilentSunday early
Late season Hollyhock with Valerian flowing in the background
061
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 29/10/2025
On the verge of collecting that foregone hour back to MDT, my annual sunrise graphic (for Boise, ID) shows "the cliff" is near. With more darkness to enjoy the penultimate full moon of 2025.
My local time time series datagraphic of sunrise, sunset, and full moons, for 2025 in Boise, Idaho. Sunrise today 08:17, sunset 18:39. 4 days from returning to MDT.
140
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 17/10/2025
Tidying up images languishing in \temp, I came across this evergreen item from a forgotten NYT news quiz.
Early voting, which was widespread in the 2020 election because of the pandemic, remains popular this year. As of Thursday, about how many early votes had been cast nationwide? Choices are:
* Abortion
* The economy
* Foreign policy
* Immigration
* The state of democracy
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 20/09/2025
That ADL datagraphic! "Right-wing" in 3 of the top 4 categories, with the "other" still larger than "Left wing."
"Ideology and terror" bar chart showing 385 incidents of RW (white supremacist) attacks or plots; 148 RW (anti-govt); 135 Islamist; 64 RW (other); 51 LW; 6 Other; 1 unkown. NBC News analysis of ADL data
020
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 31/08/2025
Kim Jong Don in DC
The Donald Trump banner on a  federal building, with its caption reduced to the essential element: "ME FIRST"
130
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 31/08/2025
Not sure why you'd want to portray yourself this way, but ok
surrealDonaldTrump "truth" showing him in tactical gear with a label TWAT on the chest
7369
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 06/06/2025
Mostly, I'm thinking WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER PSYCHOPATH
Photos of Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, Elon Musk
030
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 04/06/2025
Osprey waiting for breakfast to swim by in the Boise River
040
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 31/05/2025
So say we all
050
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 12/05/2025
Headline says "SLASHES", datagraphic says TARIFFS ARE A TAX, up from zero to THIRTY PERCENT since mad king Donold started his Black Knight trade war.
NYT datagraphic, data from White House and China's Ministry of Finance, showing import tariffs going from 0 to 10 to 20 to 54 to 104 to 145%, now "only" 30% as of May 12. And China's import tariffs for US goods peaking at 125%, down to 10% (where they were raised on Feb. 4).
000
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 03/05/2025
Donald Trump is a failure. As a businessman, president, leader, oath-taker, as a human being. It's becoming obvious to all but the deeply credulous, and complicit. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
160
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 15/04/2025
Fight Oligarchy
010
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 15/04/2025
Nampa, Idaho
Crowd photo at the Fight the Oligarchy rally, Built to Spill playing before the speakers start
3200
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 13/04/2025
On the one hand, a bobble-headed clown laughing as his boss blows up the economy. On the other, we are all Jake Tapper now
Still from CNN clip, Jake Tapper in disgust and disbelief, listing to Kevin Hassett, who seems incapable of containing his laughter at God knows what is so funny.
020
Tom von Alten @fortboise.org · 02/04/2025
Wisconsin really responded to Elon Musk's campaigning. This image from the NYT interactive, www.nytimes.com/interactive/... shows e.v.e.r.y. county shifted blue.
SHIFT IN MARGIN, by county, in Wisconsin for the April 1 Supreme Court Race, compared to the 2024 presidential vote. All the arrows are blue, "more Democratic."
010