Remain calm, be kind, and carry on regardless!
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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Nature has beneficently provided that throughout the world you may find something to imitate.
HDR, Sierra, Mountains, California, Fused
Sep 18, 2026
Just learned about this from a podcast interview... Phoebus (Lightbulb) Cartel "The Phoebus cartel was an international #cartel that controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent #lightbulbs in much of Europe and North America between 1925 and 1939. The cartel took over market territories and 👉 lowered the useful life of such bulbs👈 , which is commonly cited as an example of #plannedObsolescence." Good to know corporate greed hasn't changed in 100 years! #SSDD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel #Corporations #Collusion
Birds Camping Everglades Galleries Nature Travel 2026
This was my 30th trip to the Everglades—different from all the others in several respects. First I was trying out new equipment (a sit-inside folding kayak). Second, I planned to just camp on a desert island, read, and take it easy. Third, I left from the Smallwood Store on Chokoloskee Island because the actual Ranger Station was closed for long-awaited hurricane repairs. I was also alone as there were no takers to join me this year.
Commentary Protest 2026
Visiting the Iowa branch of my family for the fourth No Kings Protest against Trump and his Lickspittle Poltroons in the GOP. The Orange Man is more unpopular than ever. It is very important that we get out the Vote!
Commentary
Frank Wilhoit (2018)
There is a quote from a few years ago that adds political framing I find useful. I propose using it as a test or razor
(à la Occam) when evaluating political actions and legislation:
Books Commentary History 2026
I've reworked these extended quotations from The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman (1986) for today's wannabe King
Trump. In a few pages she describes the bad policies and attitudes of the French King Louis XIV. I was struck by the deep parallels with the policies and attitudes of the current administration and the flock of Lickspittle Poltroons that compose the current GOP. Tuchman's words speak to greater truths. My words are my own and speak for more immediate truths in desperate times.
Birds Flowers Galleries Iowa Travel 2026
Late Fall excursion to Pikes Peak (the original!) for a bit of color and a long walk in the woods. In the panorama below, the city of Prairie du Chien is in the upper left, north of the Wisconsin River outlet near the center. Wyalusing State Park is on the opposite bluff. The sumac in the foreground is near its peak. There were White Pelicans down on the river (too small to see here).
Commentary Science Technology 2026
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.
Books History Technology
Thomas F. McGilvray (1905)
The northern city of Duluth Minnesota is famous for its Lift Bridge connecting the Canal Park area with the long sandy beach of Minnesota Point. However, the current bridge was not the first. The original structure was a more exotic Ferry Bridge. There are only a few examples left in the world. I found these images in a digitised book from that time.
Projects 2023
No regrets! Mastodon has been so much better! I decided to try my hand at creating an automated robot
to post quotations alongside some of my photographs. And this is the result…
Commentary Protest 2018
I participated in the March For Our Lives & common-sense gun laws event in Gainesville today. This was in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Mass Shooting on February 14 of that year. There were about 400 people there for the speakers swelling to as many as a 1000 during the march itself.
Galleries History Medicine 1930
![The Tilden Company circa 1930 [source:NLHS]](medicine/patent_medicines/images/tilden-company-from-above.jpg)
My Wife's Grandfather worked as a chemist for The Tilden Company in Upstate New York during the early 1900s. As a result we came into possession of his Recipe Book
for the plethora of nostrums and remedies he helped create. Some of the ingredients are still sold today under various brand names. Some are humorous, others are forgotten, while still others are downright dangerous. The following installments are my exploration of this unique window into the medical past. [Note: We donated the actual book to the historical section of the National Library of Medicine.]
Medicine Medinfo 2025
QuickHPI is a tool for recording the History of Present Illness in a concise, easy to read format. Simply fill out the form, click a button and your note is ready. Make changes and update it as many times as necessary. When you are satisfied with your work, paste the text into your favorite EMR, database, or word processor. Enjoy! RR
Camping Commentary Reviews Technology 2025
I hadn't used a headlamp in five years until this one caught my eye. Mostly because of configurability and the price ($9.99). (The price suddenly jumped to $24.99 after I bought mine. (Tariffs kicking in perhaps? It's Nov 2025)
Birds Galleries Hdr Travel Video 2017
I had the opportunity to travel through Southern Illinois on my way back from Iowa in June. I large part of this hilly country is contained within the Shawnee National Forest There are miles of trails, several wilderness areas, and many points of interest. I stopped for the night at The Garden of the Gods (not to be confused with the area in Colorado by the same name!).
History Medicine Science
Willett & Stampfer (2003)
For more than ten years the U.S. Department of Agriculture has promoted its food pyramid as a guide to proper nutrition. The only problem is that it isn't very good advice! The authors of this January 2003 article in Scientific American provide much better guidance. But first a little history…
Commentary 2011
While walking in my old Moline Illinois neighborhood, I came across this chalk slogan… When I grow up I want to be a Vet, Artist, or a WWE Star.
I think we have a sidewalk philosopher. Kids these days! (April 2011)
Galleries History Technology Video 1870
The Town of Motor with a large gristmill took shape in the 1870s along the Turkey River in Clayton County Iowa. Nothing remains of the town itself, but the mill and associated buildings survive. The Mill is situated at a narrow bend in the river. It was built of limestone quarried from the nearby cliff top, and oak from the surrounding forest.
Books Reviews
Edward Abbey (1968)
I had the good fortune to pick up this paperback copy of Desert Solitaire
by Edward Abbey for reading material on my Recent Everglades Trip. It is an excellent book for both the stories and the perspective on our National Park System (of which the Everglades is a part). With all the tent time I read most of it by the end of the trip.
Birds Nature 2026
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.
Bookhouse Books History Reviews Technology 1916
I rescued this thick, encyclopedic volume from the trash. (Notice the page numbers are up to the 2800s!) These pages are from the chapter on Electric Vehicles. This illustration is so similar to a modern garage I was intrigued to consider what opportunities had been missed as we progressed to our petro-industry fueled present?
Camping Everglades Galleries Travel 2004
This is the classic trip described online and in all the books—The Complete Wilderness Waterway (nominally 99 miles). It is a powerboat trail first (deep water with markers along the route), and a canoe trail second. We deviated from the powerboat trail in many places. I estimate we traveled more than 120 miles total. We cached my car at Everglades City and my Father provided the shuttle service down to Flamingo.
Critters Galleries Nature Travel 2016
I was itching to go kayaking somewhere new, so I headed over to the Santa Fe River. There was a little park and boat launch near the highway 47 bridge. While getting ready to go I spotted what looked like green leaves stuck on the sides of two trees. They turned out to be Luna Moths, which I think were newly emerged. Beautiful!
Commentary Technology 2026
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.
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.
