Richard Rathe

My Personal Motto

"Remain calm, be kind, and carry on regardless!"

The first two are from Seneca & the Stoics via Colin Powell.

The last is a British expression that I think is associated with WWII when the bombs were falling all around.

Blog: https://richard.rathe.org/
Wisdom Bot: https://c.im/@wisdom
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Last Notes

2026-09-14 04:01:04 UTC

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If this is #CannonBeach, OR... here is a slide I took in 1976 starting out on the #BikeCentennial ride. Looking north if my memory serves. 🙂
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/117/267/389/667/229/960/original/48ebfb7d66178d16.jpg

2026-07-31 13:05:59 UTC

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No. I don't intend to.

2026-07-30 13:33:00 UTC

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🎶 Don't it always seem to go "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." 🎶
True then, true now.
If we beat-up and abuse smart, caring professionals....They'll move elsewhere, quit, retire... and in the next go round there won't be any smart, caring professionals left in #America!
The public abuse of Dr. #Fauci by #GOP #senators yesterday was appalling and shameful.
I'm sure he's not perfect, but I'm glad he was there for both #HIV and #COVID. We ALL benefit today from his lifetime of service.
#BearWitness #Resist #VoteThemOut

2026-07-15 07:52:10 UTC

Should be widely read!
I heard it on Cory Doctorow's podcast. "Hell Is Other People"
"Not everyone feels this way. A subset of humanity is committed to a world where everyone else takes orders from them. We have different names for these people. We call the majority of them “toddlers,” but we call the others “bosses” or “tyrants.” "
"These latter two groups ... are also among the people most excited about #AI. What’s more, the more powerful these people are, the more credulous and enthusiastic they are about AI."
"Among #bosses, the most enthusiastic boosters are #tech #overlords. These #billionaires will not shut up about AI, and, tellingly, the thing they’re most excited about is the fact that AI might let them fire #programmers and replace them with #chatbots."
https://locusmag.com/feature/commentary-cory-doctorow-hell-is-other-people/

2026-06-29 15:43:34 UTC

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"The Barn Swallow is the most abundant and widely distributed swallow species in the world. It breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere and winters in much of the Southern Hemisphere."
"Although the killing of egrets is often cited for inspiring the U.S. conservation movement, it was the millinery (hat-making) trade’s impact on Barn Swallows that prompted naturalist George Bird Grinnell’s 1886 Forest & Stream editorial decrying the waste of bird life. His essay led to the founding of the first Audubon Society."
In the #Midwest #USA we mostly see them around small bridges over water.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow
#Birds #Swallows #BarnSwallows
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/834/146/008/338/323/original/86be0282542e73dd.png

2026-06-22 23:44:18 UTC

Photo by a friend this morning, me paddling inbound, Petey the dog "Repel all boarders." 😉
#Kayaking #Florida #Sunrise
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/796/412/159/590/310/original/10fe9b6093c56862.jpg

2026-04-03 13:47:50 UTC

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I love it!
Ours have just a hint of iridescence. The "double crest" is rarely seen and unremarkable.
They're still fun to watch!
This chap was part of a gaggle of 5-6 Double-Crested #Cormorants who used our #kayak shadow for fishing one day in #Florida back in 2020.
#Birds #Video #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/341/067/209/678/227/original/9e80497f1593f7bf.mp4

2026-04-03 00:07:07 UTC

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Wow! We have the double-crested cormorant here in #Florida. But I've never seen iridescent (?) bronze wing/back feathers like you captured in this photo. Really stunning! 👍 💕

2026-03-28 00:36:54 UTC

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Pasting it up...
#NoKings
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/303/996/635/659/616/original/1dca8923ca0c7c31.jpeg

2026-03-27 20:50:44 UTC

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I had the same problem and decided to keep it simple...
No War (bold red)
No ICE (bold blue)
No Kings (canonical graphic with red X over crown)
I hope this helps. 🙂

2026-03-22 16:24:42 UTC

I periodically come back to this musical poem...
"It begins with a blessing, it ends with a curse
Making life easy by making it worse..."
Sound familiar?! 🙄
"Why Are We Sleeping?" --Soft Machine (1968)
#Music #Poetry #Philosophy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNu8zpzkeaE

2026-03-02 14:32:15 UTC

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We had them in Wyoming. My understanding is they are best suited to dry environments. If you are already dehumidifying your indoor air--probably not the best choice?!

2026-02-22 13:41:13 UTC

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All of her books look interesting! Thanks.
Susan George Bibliography
How the Other Half Dies: The Real Reasons for World Hunger (Penguin), 1976. Reprinted 1986, 1991, ISBN 0-14-013569-3. (An analysis of the real reasons for world hunger.)
Ill Fares the Land (Penguin), 1984. Revised and expanded 1990 ISBN 0-14-012790-9. (Essays on food, hunger and power.)
A Fate Worse Than Debt (Penguin), 1988, ISBN 0-14-022789-X. (An analysis of the reasons for Third World debt.)
The Debt Boomerang (Pluto Press), 1992, ISBN 0-7453-0594-6. (Continuing the theme of Third World debt and its harmful effects.)
Faith and Credit: The World Bank's Secular Empire (with Fabrizio Sabelli) (Westview Press), 1994, ISBN 978-0-8133-2607-8
The Lugano Report: On Preserving Capitalism in the 21st Century, 1999, ISBN 0-7453-1532-1
Another World Is Possible If (Verso Books), 2004, ISBN 1-84467-510-6
Hijacking America: How the Secular and Religious Right Changed What Americans Think (Polity), 2008, ISBN 978-0-7456-4461-5
We the Peoples of Europe, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7453-2633-7
Whose Crisis? Whose Future?, 2010 (Polity), ISBN 978-0-7456-5138-5
How to Win the Class War – The Lugano Report II, 2013, ISBN 978-90-70563-18-9
Les Usurpateurs (The usurpers, in French), 2014, ISBN 978-2-02-121378-2
Shadow Sovereigns: How Global Corporations Are Seizing Power, 2015 (Polity), ISBN 978-0-7456-9782-6

2026-02-11 10:37:48 UTC

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Also says something about their business model... not enough "perceived value" there by businesses to support their huge, energy-gulping data centers! Just another #Google #Search gone bad.
#AI #LLM #Advertising

2026-02-08 17:02:00 UTC

#SuperbOwl #BarredOwl #Owls #Birds
"Keep looking up!"
I hear these guys/gals every day, often in the late afternoon. 🙂 🦉
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/036/069/003/559/106/original/7f9740de93fb3e94.jpg

2026-01-31 06:39:18 UTC

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For all those wondering what #kicksledding is... (like me!)
"The kicksled or spark is a small sled consisting of a chair mounted on a pair of flexible metal runners that extend backward to about twice the chair's length. The sled is propelled by kicking (sparka or sparke in the Scandinavian languages) the ground by foot."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kicksled
#Kicksled #WinterSports
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2025-11-09 13:26:20 UTC

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Love this! Thanks... 🙂

2025-10-20 12:42:51 UTC

Brilliant #NoKings #WizardOfOz meme!! 👍 👏 (unattributed from FB)
No Courage, No Brain, No Heart... NO KINGS! ✊
#Kakistocracy = "government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people"
We certainly have that with #Trump #GOP, #SCOTUS, and their corporate cronies! 🤮
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/406/518/059/162/284/original/9d39e344d2ed4e66.png

2025-10-19 17:25:36 UTC

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Great photo!
Fun fact: The word "Fritillary" comes from the Latin for "dice-box".
#Word #Etymology

2025-09-15 18:51:37 UTC

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Yes, yes, yes to all of the above.
Specifically I remember the punitive "we'll only give you a 30 day's supply" of a med the patient has been on for 20 years (for say diabetes) in the ED or VA, or sometimes in the same group of docs when one of them is on vacation.

2025-09-15 15:54:43 UTC

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This was the patient instruction card I used for the last five years of my practice. Note the exhortation at the bottom "Bring All Your #Medications..."
I could count on one hand the number of times my patients followed that advice. In #primarycare it is impossible to know what the patient is ACTUALLY taking unless they bring the whole bag of bottles in with them... "#Rx meds from five different #doctors in three different systems, plus over-the-counter #drugs, plus mostly snake-oil #supplements that probably aren't causing harm directly but interfere with at least one of the legit meds I have the patient on..."
A true snapshot of the state of #US #healthcare.
#medicine #patienteducation
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/208/640/185/170/852/original/358f41e4a5ae61b4.png

2025-08-29 10:26:31 UTC

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Two big lies propagated by the #NRA and #GOP ...
1) Citizens with #Guns can stand up to the #Government with bigger guns. Yeah right!
2) The #NRA is all about the #SecondAmendment, when it is in fact just a #Lobby / PR Firm for gun manufacturers. (Modeled after the #Tobacco lobby BTW.)
Those who wrote the #US #Constitution did not want there to be an standing army in peacetime, and therefor they added support for "A well regulated #Militia..." that could be called upon if we were attacked.
Note that they specified: a) "well regulated", b) "a militia" SINGULAR, & c) at that time a "militia" meant able-bodied men keeping their single-shot muskets in their home (which was also what they used to hunt deer).
It is right there in the plain text of the amendment, but the #GunLobby has us so hypnotized we no longer see it. 😠
#Vote for #CommonSense #GunControl !! No more thoughts and prayers from our elected representatives, we want #Action!

2025-08-12 23:48:20 UTC

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You will probably find this of interest... 🙂
"The Secret to Song Sparrows’ Extraordinary Success Lies in Their Genome"
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/secret-song-sparrows-success-genome/
#Birds #Birdsong
(Alt: Many of the 25 subspecies of Song Sparrows have evolved localized adaptations that help them fit into specific conditions where they live. For example: In the rainy Pacific Northwest Song Sparrows have darker plumage, which is thought to protect against moisture-loving microbes in very wet environments. In hot, humid saltmarshes of the Atlantic Coast, slightly larger bills may aid with evaporative heat loss. In the marshes and streams of the Mexican Plateau, darker-plumaged Song Sparrows may get protection from feather-degrading bacteria (as in the Pacific Northwest), and the darker feathers may also provide UV protection. In deserts of the southwestern U.S., Song Sparrows tend to sport pale plumage that my provide camouflage against the brown/beige desert floor.)
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/018/462/213/510/878/original/42cc609179e87b6e.jpg

2025-07-12 14:56:49 UTC

Eleven Swallow-Tailed Kites roosted in a local dead pine tree overnight--and we got to watch them wake-up and get ready for work! 🙂
When they fly they remind me of giant black and white butterflies.
"The lilting Swallow-Tailed Kite has been called 'the coolest bird on the planet.'...”
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swallow-tailed_Kite
#Birds #SwallowTailedKites #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/840/827/979/714/156/original/5f1e29148163f81d.jpg
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2025-06-29 21:03:06 UTC

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Agree!
“People who lose Medicaid can still just go to the ER.”
a) Have you been in an #ER lately, had to wait a long time for care? You ain't seen nothin' yet!
b) There's no "free lunch" in the ER, someone is paying for that extra care. It's probably going to show up in YOUR #insurance premiums.
c) More than a third of Americans have some sort of #chronic_disease (#diabetes, #high_blood_pressure) that requires ongoing medication. ER does nothing for these.
d) Don't even get me started about mental health care. If you aren't about to kill yourself or someone else... no love there either.
No cuts to #Medicaid or #Medicare!
#GOP Stop the #BigBeautifulBetrayal !!

2025-06-07 14:47:54 UTC

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For anyone else who did not understand the above... a friendly link of context...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Beeching
I thought "beeching" had something to do with trees! 😉

2025-05-31 23:13:36 UTC

Ten Warblers in One Hour!
Taken along the outdoor ponds of the historic #Fish_Hatchery near #Bayfield, #Wisconsin in 2019.
How many can you identify?! 🙂
#Birds #Warblers #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/604/975/435/705/606/original/2200d3a8bb3d5d03.jpg

2025-05-30 14:29:10 UTC

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Morning Bird Walk #PikesPeak #StatePark #Iowa
Indigo Bunting - The other blue bird of happiness! 🙂
#Birds #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/597/248/038/670/293/original/9458646d6b8640a8.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/597/251/171/545/797/original/17fce1aa874167f3.jpg

2025-05-29 17:37:49 UTC

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Morning Bird Walk #PikesPeak #StatePark #Iowa
#Catbirds, one eating a flower
I could hear the males singing, but could not find them to take photos. 🙁
#Birds #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/592/327/080/850/402/original/1f807e8844d2cf60.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/592/327/925/148/286/original/765906822cbc96d6.jpg

2025-05-28 18:37:22 UTC

Morning Bird Walk #PikesPeak #StatePark #Iowa
#American #Redstart (female & male)
#Birds #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/586/897/245/613/340/original/b9bf8bd2fb5f3762.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/586/899/727/564/007/original/7374918f64e687a8.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/586/899/976/361/772/original/f8ea5acbfdb7d8f2.jpg

2025-05-08 17:26:29 UTC

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"Well, if Trump thinks #Brexit was a good idea, that confirms it was a terrible idea!"
Trump's Law of Opposites: Take whatever Donald Trump or his proxies say, invert it, and you will be closer to the truth.
#Trump #TrumpLies

2025-04-03 00:00:07 UTC

#Florida Panhandle / #Gulf (of Mexico) Coast #CarnivorousPlants
This is the time of year for these amazing plants to spring forth...
I love this photo because it has three completely unrelated species in one frame!
Yellow Trumpet #PitcherPlants, Godfrey’s #Butterwort, and cute little #Sundews. 🙂
Many more photos in the attached gallery...
https://mdpaths.com/rrr/nature/plants/pitcher_plants/pitcher_plants_2020/index.html
#Botany #Flowers #Plants
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/271/069/804/415/248/original/c769aa1d35346cc9.jpg

2025-03-22 12:52:23 UTC

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Great tip! Thanks... makes me wonder how many more some:thing formatted search filters are available. Is there a list somewhere?
Sorry, just answered my own question... there is a ephemeral list of suggestions that pops up when you click into the search box (using the web). It goes away when you type the first character so I never get to read it. That's on me obviously! 🤷‍♂️

2025-02-18 20:47:06 UTC

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Gumbo Limbo or something similar I think!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursera_simaruba
#Trees #GumboLimbo #Everglades
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/026/844/216/111/272/original/201f639298b5fb2a.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/026/844/521/543/244/original/43b0ec26492290d5.jpg

2025-02-07 22:21:59 UTC

Recently back from my 29th #Everglades #Kayak Trip!
https://mdpaths.com/rrr/everglades/everglades_2025/
First photo is me #sailing in the #GulfofMexico near the #SharkRiver.
I also have a new #shirt design! 🙂
Follow #Everglades2025 for more! #NaturePhotography #Camping
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/964/925/716/531/689/original/8cda70a80fd6fac2.png
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/964/927/399/630/227/original/d079c56ad8e87a88.png

2025-01-25 22:33:33 UTC

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Supreme #GOP/#Trump stupidity on display. Sorry guys, reality is still out there and infectious diseases are on the march!
Support #PublicHealth! #Freedom FROM #Disease, not Freedom to get/spread disease. 🙄
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/891/361/511/551/297/original/cfae82eaf33d7a75.jpg

2025-01-19 18:12:27 UTC

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One page is particularly interesting... describes so much of what happens at institutions and society in general...
#simplesabotage #fieldmanual general #interference with #organizations
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/856/361/536/422/628/original/779c107f9a959e98.png

2025-01-06 19:32:58 UTC

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I have to share my #anting story...
We were #birding at the #Audubon #CorkscrewSwamp in S #Florida. Most of the hike is on a boardwalk so you are up high looking down at #birds on the ground when not over water. We see a #CommonYellowthroat #Warbler on the ground attacking a group of ants. It was odd because he didn't look like he was eating them, just tossing them around like he was mad at them.
Many years later I was reading "The Birder's Handbook" (which has an interesting format, one bird description on each right-hand page, and a more general bird-related essay on the left). I got to the essay on "Anting" and remembered that little bird and the ants! Not mad, not hungry... He just needed a little bug repellent!
Note that elsewhere on a sister site there is an article that seems to contradict all of the above... ?!
https://feederwatch.org/blog/anting-blue-jays-taking-a-bath-or-preparing-dinner/
#Bird #Book
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/782/991/233/298/825/original/ee72d5cf92a51003.jpg

2025-01-05 13:17:14 UTC

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I think the alt text is trying to say "flamingo". This is incorrect. It is an #Ibis based on the curved bill shape. There is such a thing as a Scarlet Ibis, so perhaps that is what it is?
#Birds #BirdIdentification

2025-01-05 13:14:08 UTC

American #Oystercatcher seen last week along #StPeteBeach #Florida
#Birds #Shorebirds #NaturePhotography
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/775/922/874/468/614/original/747e698acebdeb25.png

2024-12-26 19:55:11 UTC

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I wrote this several years ago... [Long Post]
#Insurance is about pooling resources and sharing risk. A simple thought experiment will help illustrate why “health insurance” is a misnomer.
Consider a group of one thousand homeowners who are worried about house fires. They band together and create an insurance pool for protection against such losses. If homes are worth $100,000 and there is one fire per year, annually they would have to chip in $100 each. Fortunately the risky event is rare, so the cost of insurance is low.
Compare this with #HealthInsurance (which is actually insurance against illness). We have the same thousand people, of which half (500) consume an average of $10,000 of healthcare services each year ($5M).
#Illness is NOT a rare event and the annual premium jumps to $5,000 per person! Many of the younger, healthier people ask why they should be paying for somebody else’s infirmity? They withdraw from the pool and premiums skyrocket. Eventually the pool collapses and those who actually need care loose their coverage. In some cases financial ruin ensues. The U.S. is the only major society in the world where Medical Bankruptcy is not only possible, but common!
👉 The key difference is that almost everyone will utilize healthcare services at some point in their lives. The insurance model breaks down under these circumstances. We are no longer sharing #risk but rather #sharing #cost.👈
This is expected—a feature, not a bug. It stems from the #industrialization of #medicine in a #capitalist environment. #Capitalism seeks profit as its major goal, regardless of other outcomes. "Outcomes" that include life, death, and disability! Once the practice of medicine becomes a business, my Father [a radiologist] once opined, "We can #lie, #cheat, and #steal with the rest of them."
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/720/842/390/642/841/original/13b2d0a1a1f458fe.jpg
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2024-12-15 16:53:21 UTC

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Reminds me of this quote...
"Too soon we breast the tape and too late we realize the fun lay in the running. We deny that the end justifies the means without ever stopping to consider that for practical purposes the End and the Means are one and the same thing. If there is to be any satisfaction in life it must come in transit, for who can tell when he will be struck down in mid-method?"
Walt Kelly, Preface to "The Incomplete Pogo" (1954)
#Books #WaltKelly #Pogo #Cartoon #Philosophy

2024-11-10 14:51:38 UTC

Vertical #Panorama of #Florida #Sunrise Yesterday
See my post yesterday for landscape version of same subject.
#Photography #NaturePhotography #SilentSunday #LakeSantaFe
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/459/216/671/030/615/original/f45b507e904458a5.jpg

2024-10-18 11:56:30 UTC

The Dispossessed
"Fifty years later, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Novel about Utopian Anarchists Is as Relevant as Ever"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/book-review-fifty-years-later-ursula-k-le-guins-novel-about-utopian/
#SciFi #Books #Philosophy #Utopias #Dystopias
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/113/328/290/621/506/464/original/fd74678d03b5a1c3.png