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

2026-10-17 07:56:48 UTC

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Nice! Wikipedia has this tidbit... "tiny fungi can then sometimes be seen parachuting from high branches" a bit like maple seeds or cottenwood fluff!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oudemansiella_mucida
I wonder if the blue color in the original photo is mostly reflection from a blue sky?

2026-10-16 15:10:06 UTC

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I can see gills... so a true mushroom. Where was this taken? Any idea as to genus?

2026-10-06 16:49:38 UTC

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"We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this #Trump admin..."
And we (the #US #Government) owe each one of them $1M and an official #apology. There are ample funds in the #ICE budget. 🤑
#ICEout #ImmigrationEnforcement

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
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/988/331/949/105/393/original/1608b9e73cd11382.png

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
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/840/828/253/207/291/original/566ea0c1f2e5dc95.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/840/828/979/377/586/original/fc243191cdd516e2.jpg
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/840/829/191/130/724/original/f558aa0197414523.jpg

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! 😉