Richard Rathe's Reflections

Where I've been and what I've learned along the way…

Welcome!

Remain calm, be kind, and carry on regardless!

id photo You've reached the online journal of Richard Rathe — online since 2004! In this iteration I'm trying a few new ideas: minimal markup, working with mostly plain text, and moving beyond the timeline. I call it BLIS (BLog It Simple). Find me online…

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Food for Thought

The obvious is always least understood.
Klemens von Metternich

Featured Photo

Photo by Richard Rathe Panorama, Goblin_Valley, Utah

Panorama, Goblin_Valley, Utah

Social Media (Mastodon)

Richard Rathe (@nickrauchen@c.im)

Jul 12, 2026

See original post on mastodon.

"Forty percent of America's corn crop — 36 million acres — goes to producing ethanol, a fuel that barely breaks even on energy and may be worse for the climate than gasoline. Billions in subsidies keep the machine running." The chart I'm including here is really the take home. At this time, with current tech, 👉️ #Ethanol from #Corn is NOT economically viable. 👈️ So all that Federal money is just more special interests at the public teat. Just a way to let big businesses in non-oil producing states get in on the #FossilFuel gravy train. Ethanol from Sugarcane does make sense, which is why most of the flex-fuel innovations are found in Brazil. #Energy #Renewables #Government #Subsides

Picket Wire Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite

Critters History Travel Video 2019

Picket Wire Canyon

On my trip west this year I made sure I had time to visit this unique area. The Dinosaur Tracks are located within and along side the Purgatoire River within the COmanche National Grassland. It is located 35 miles south of La Junta, CO off the lightly maintained County Road 25 (upper left in the map above). The last few miles are on a primitive forest service road that ends at the Withers Canyon Trailhead and Campground (four sites with fire grates and a pit toilet).

Through the Fray (1886)

Bookhouse Books History Reviews
G. A. Henty (1886)

Ned’s Horror at the Dreadful News

The original Luddites were millworkers who rebelled against factory automation back in the 1800s. They had a lot to lose. In the present time, to call someone a Luddite or Neo-Luddite is to write them off as a kind of techno-hermit, using a non-smartphone and writing in a paper notebook. This is a mischaracterization. The full text is available at Project Gutenberg.

Bridge Hammock (Review)

Camping Hammocks Reviews 2026

Basic Bridge Hammock Setup

I recently bought a Ridgerunner Hammock from Warbonnet Outdoors. These are my first impressions. I'd been aware of this type of hammock for a few years and I was curious about them. Online descriptions and 2D photos don't really help much. This design makes much more sense when you actually lay in one.

Bicentennial Thoughts on the Semiquincentennial

Books Commentary History Music 2026

Preparing to Fly the Flag (July 4, 1976) [source: DC Public Library]

I put out my American Flag today. 🇺🇸 I've decided to only fly the flag on special days and this is one of them. Thinking about what makes this day special is what gives the act meaning. One cannot be patriotic every day, but that's not required. We need days like this to think hard about history (those actions and actors who mattered), the present (our current situation and how it differs from what it should be), and the future (the history we might make during the time remaining to us).

Road Trip West 4, Crane Petroglyph Site

Birds Flowers Galleries History Road_Trip_2026 Travel 2026

The Eponymous Cranes

My target for this segment was inspired by a used book I came across while working at my local Friends of the Library—Sinagua Sunwatchers by Kenneth Zoll. At first I had a bit of trouble finding the site online because the name has been changed very recently to better reflect its Native American origins. [The old name V Bar V referenceed the now defunct ranch on the property.]

Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

Birds Nature 2026

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck

Consider the Black-Bellied Whistling Duck! (One of the better bird names IMO.) Larger than average ducks, longer neck, pink bill & feet, used to be called tree ducks. I see these very early in the morning and occasionally a pair on a nearby dock. Only learned recently that they are mostly active at night, which is why I wasn't aware they were around.

No Kings 2 Anti-Trump Protest

Commentary Protest 2025

No Kings… American as Mom & Apple Pie

This was my fourth protest against Trump—and the second nationwide No Kings Day! This time we rallied in a shady city park and it was even bigger. I estimate at least one thousand participants.

China Trip (2012)

Galleries History Travel 2012

The Terra Cotta Army

A concise collection of photos from our 2012 trip to China. Including the Li River Valley, Terraced Mountain Rice Fields, Many Museums, Taoist Temples, Buddhist Temples, The Terra Cotta Army, Pandas, Shanghai, The Great Wall, and Beijing.

Vermilion Cliffs

Galleries History Panoramas Southwest_2024 Travel 2024

Hiking Above The Colorado River at Lees Ferry

We made several day trips to Lee's Ferry Utah while waiting for our other adventures (Paria Canyon, Coyote Buttes & The Wave) to start.

Okefenokee Canoe Trip 2024

Camping Galleries Hammocks History Okefenokee Travel Video 2024

Starting Out at Kingfisher Landing

After doing the Green Trail to Bluff Lake and Round Top three years ago—this year we set out to retrace My First Trip in 2004 on the Red Trail and cut back via Floyds Island. My old friend Peter from Minnesota and youngest brother Bruce from Wisconsin joined me.

Idiot America (Review)

Books Reviews
Charles Pierce (2009)

Book Cover

This short confection of a book has a serious message… When cranks become mainstream and large segments of the population take them seriously, our entire society is at risk! He's not against people with unconventional ideas, in fact he considers them to be an asset… a sort of check on the status quo. But an increasing number of cranks have won mainstream acceptance, and this is very alarming! Politics and religion are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

In Pursuit of Pitcher Plants 2017

Nature Photography Plants Travel 2017

Finding My Elusive Quarry

We decided to take a week-end trip to the Panhandle to see if we could find Pitcher Plants. We were not disappointed! Here I am standing along Highway 65 in the Apalachicola National Forest

Sandhill Cranes in the Neighborhood

Birds Nature Video 2023

Young Sandhill Resting in Tall Grass

We’ve had a family of four Sandhill Cranes lounging around our neighborhood for the past few weeks. These birds are endemic to Florida and do not migrate. Apparently there are two other non-migratory subspecies found in Mississippi and Cuba.

Thoughts on the Approaching COVID19 Pandemic (2020)

Commentary History Medicine 2020

Disease Transmission vs Fatality (nytimes.com, annotated)

I've annotated this NY Times graphic, rounding the estimates for COVID19 (aka the 2019 novel coronavirus) to 2% mortality and 2 people infected for every one who has the disease. What this suggests is the infection rate will be similar to a bad cold season, but unlike the common cold, a significant number of people will die of the disease.

The March of Folly

Books History Reviews
Barbara Tuchman (1984)

Book Cover 1984

With America “at war” [2006 & 2026] on several fronts, I was stimulated to recall this wonderful and important book by the eminent historian Barbara Tuchman. The first line says it all…

Galápagos Islands

Birds Galleries History Nature Travel Video 2013

Map of the Galápagos Islands (source:wikicommons)

We arrived about noon and proceeded to nearby Black Turtle Bay where we saw Sea Turtles, Sharks, and Golden Rays amongst the mangroves. If you have enough bandwidth you should also view the 12 Minute Video I’ve prepared to see them in motion!

Treehugger Hitch (or Tree-Hook Knot)

Camping How_To Projects 2023

Treehugger Hitch v1

This is an idea I’ve been incubating for some time as a non-destructive “place anywhere” alternative to nails in trees or breaking living branches to hang things on. The knots required are very simple. Shown here is my first successful field test! It is tied using a short stick or similar object found locally.

Lake Powell 2020

Birds Flowers Galleries History Panoramas Travel Video 2020

Our Houseboat Anchored in Iceberg Canyon

It had been ten years since I last visited Lake Powell. This year I went with my college friend Al and his partner Marian. Not having our own boat, we decided to rent a houseboat from the Bullfrog Marina. This turned out to be a great idea! With a few exceptions it was clean and well maintained (certain lights and the gas grill did not work).

Julia Belle Swain & John Hartford

Books History Music 2006

Julia Belle Swain

While vacationing on the Mississippi River we noticed this small steam-powered riverboat called the Julia Belle Swain. That name seemed very familiar. Then I recalled a John Hartford song by the same name (from his 1976 album Mark Twang). Sure enough, this was the very boat he piloted and sang about!

KIST to eBook Conversion Notes

Kist Projects 2024

Alice in Wonderland Chapter 7

There is one caveat when creating the final zip archive. The mimetype file must be uncompressed and positioned first in the archive. This is so reader and other software can confirm the format (application/epub+zip).

Catch-22 of the Digital Age

Commentary Technology 2009

Steal This Comic (source:xkcd.com)

I like to listen to audiobooks on my iPod. I have a subscription to Audible.com and buy one or two books a month. In the beginning things were fine, but about two years ago iTunes stopped remembering my Audible password. I get around this by double-clicking on any Audible file and put in my password when it asks. This fixes the problem long enough to sync. But if I quit iTunes, I start over. If I forget, iTunes automatically deletes the files from my iPod. Needless to say this is a major pain in the butt!

There is No ‘I’ in AI

Commentary Technology 2026

Tales from the Claude Crypt (from original post, uncredited)

My Critique of: Your Voice, Your Choice — A Guest Post by Claude Sonnet 4.5

The ELIZA Effect is a tendency to project human traits—such as experience, semantic comprehension or empathy—onto rudimentary computer programs having a textual interface.

Good Morning Doctor!

Books History Medicine
W.A. Rohlf (1938)

W.A. Rohlf ~1910

This little book was conceived neither as a medical history nor as a technical discussion of surgery. It is instead a story of people, of friends with whom I have shared joy and sorrow, in short, bits of the day-to-day drama which is the life of a country doctor. Many of the incidents are trivial, in one sense of the word, yet each has had in it something which appealed to me enough to make me remember it as a highlight in my forty-five years as a country doctor.

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