Earth Day

 Seems like we are heading toward the 1950s and the disregard of Environmental Awareness.  And all in the name of Gr$$d.

Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  Unlike the time during the birth of Earth Day in 1970, we now have the Internet where you can get instant information. 

Earth Day: The Official Site | EARTHDAY.ORG

But unlike the website above, much of the earth day information is false or highly edited to suit a purpose.

See also this video : 

Finding Harmony: A King's Vision is a 2026 documentary on Prime Video exploring King Charles III's lifelong dedication to environmental sustainability and his philosophy that humanity is a part of nature, not separate from it. 

This spring, like last year, we are planting Pollinator Wild Flowers in the yard.

More pics to share

 Belize and Mayan Heritage

No Kings 3

Hundreds across the USA peacefully rally against Donald Trump.

While organizers report 8.3 MILLION, others believe the number to be a lot fewer.

Here are photos from Carbondale, Illinois.

I count 5 people and one dog. The others across the street are going into the liquor store.

In these panoramic shops these are actually people waiting to cross the street to go to Walgreens.

The pedestrian cross walk was slow, so these people actually had to wait their turn.

The folks were picking up the litter from an earlier protesting against gas prices.  Anyway, maybe 7 people total.

A family picnic drew a crowd since hot dogs were grilling.

Two people are protesting here.

A solitary protester did not which way to go.

 

All told, about 25 people were counted in Carbondale, Illinois. So I don't know where the 8.3 million came from?

Some news sources:

No Kings protests: Thousands across the US rally against Trump

St. Paul No Kings protest had over 100K in attendance | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Millions rally nationwide in ‘No Kings’ protests | LiveNOW from FOX

Republicans mostly silent as millions of Americans protest Trump on No Kings day | Protest (US) | The Guardian

Tri-State Tornado, 101 years ago on 18 March 1925.

 March 18th will go down in history for the Tri-State Tornado of 18 March1925.  This site will take you to a neat GIS Story map.  This is the best source of information out there.  A map from Wikipedia:

For more info see 1925 Tri-State tornado - Wikipedia

and 100 years ago this week, nearly 700 people were killed in the deadliest U.S. tornado | PBS News

Tri-State Tornado

I recently read this book if paper is more to your liking.

Finally, I worked with a student on Storm Chasing and you can read the paper here or here.

I love Terrapin Station (Boston Garden on 1981-03-12)

 Here is a live recording from this date in Boston Massachusetts

dn720308.ca.archive.org/0/items/gd81-03-12.rolfe.weiner.7584.sbeok.shnf/gd81-03-12d2t02.mp3

Dedicated to Bob Weir.

Entire set list: Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, Mama Tried-> Mexicali Blues, Bird Song-> CC Rider, Althea, Let It Grow-> Franklin's Tower Terrapin Station-> Playin' In The Band-> He's Gone-> Drums-> Not Fade Away-> Black Peter-> Around & Around-> Johnny B. Goode, E: U.S. Blues

I was probably working in Maryland.

International Inbound Air Arrivals to the US in the 3rd of 2025

 As expected, tourism to the States continues to decline.  Are we that unlikable? 

From the report (bold mine):

The number of international visitors arriving into the United States decreased 5.7 percent from the third quarter of 2024: arrivals from Mexico increased 1.9 percent, arrivals from overseas decreased 4.4 percent, and arrivals from Canada decreased 15.5 percent. 

Source: National Travel and Tourism Office Publishes 2025 Q3 Results of the Survey of International Air Travelers.  see Visual Data Center.

Overseas Visitation to the United States Down 4.2 % Year Over Year in January 2026

 Overseas Visitation to the United States Down 4.2 % Year Over Year in January 2026

No surprise here.

Non-U.S. citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from foreign countries totaled:

4.6 million in January 2026, down 4.8 percent compared to January 2025.

This represents 87.4 percent of pre-pandemic January 2019 volume.

Hmmm, who was in office pre-pandemic?

Read the facts here.