What a bunch of incompetent idiots.

    • WesternInfidels@feddit.online
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      24 days ago

      To be fair to the regime (there’s something I never thought I’d type) the reflecting pool had been kept clean in the past by paying people (National Park Service workers) to wade out into it and clean it on the regular. Then the DOGE crew laid off a ton of Park Service personnel. Then our dear leader began howling about the green water.

      This timeline may imply some details that I’ve got wrong, but it’s hard to be sympathetic to the regime, given the general picture of its priorities it paints, which I believe is generally correct.

    • Alkali@lemmy.ml
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      24 days ago

      I mean, I honestly don’t like Trump. That said, the pool was originally drinking water, and an Obama era revamp switched it to filtered tidal water. The water that fills it now has way more organic molecules, even with the filtering, leading to algae blooms. The blooms can’t really be treated with standard algaecide due to its effect on wild life.

      Trump made the situation worse by painting the bottom of the pool. But the reason is was good for decades prior was due to being drinking water, which has far less capability to host life.

        • Alkali@lemmy.ml
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          24 days ago

          Thanks for the link, but I actually do understand how pools and algae growth functions. I’m a biochemist (or, at least I was), and have been taking care of pools off and on most of my life.

          It would be a fuck ton more difficult to manage a pool with tidal water as a source compared to potable water. Its not the only reason the pool has grown more algae, and its still ultimately due to mismanagement during the Trump administration (i.e. not monitoring/managing the algae level and water source). However, ignoring how the switch to tidal water effected the number and frequency of algae blooms is disingenuous.

          Are we doing a “blame the right for everything and not attempt to be honest” thing because that is their go-to? I mean, I’m down I guess at this point, but can I get a wink or something when we are doing it?

          Anyway, here is an article discussing it: https://cen.acs.org/environment/water/why-the-reflecting-pool-turns-green/104/web/2026/06

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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            23 days ago

            Are we doing a “blame the right for everything and not attempt to be honest” thing because that is their go-to?

            You’re on lemmy. Of course they are.

          • exothermic@lemmy.world
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            23 days ago

            I never asserted to “blame the right,” in my argument, just stated that even under ideal conditions algae happens. Your initial assertion was that the tidal water was to blame. I merely stated that the situation is more complex and other factors could be contributing as well.

            The article you provided states that algal blooms happened prior to the switch to tidal water, which provides evidence against your initial argument, that tidal water is the cause.

            The article you sited is not a scientific evaluation of the reflection pool fails to provide any data on the frequency of algal bloom events, the chemistry of the water, and the impact of the local environment (even if it comes from a reputable source). Scientists are trained in knowing the difference between opinion/hypotheticals and data driven papers.

            You eluded to multiple factors in your follow up comment that I agree with, such as frequency of monitoring and overall management. These factors and other potential unknowns could be contributing to the blooms.

        • Alkali@lemmy.ml
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          24 days ago

          I mean, I agree. The changes during the PBA administration made sense and were better for the environment and Washington DC people.

  • brown567@sh.itjust.works
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    24 days ago

    Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool

    Well no wonder the water ended up green!

  • wagesj45@fedia.io
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    25 days ago

    If I were on that crew, I’d be afraid I would be next on the list to be thrown under the bus. It wouldn’t take much for one of them to be arrested as an Antifa terrorist saboteur when it inevitably goes to shit again.

  • TheFogan@programming.dev
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    25 days ago

    Trump came to Drain the Swamp and end wars. He’s going to keep on doing it!

    And no president has done those things so many times. He should get the nobel peace prize for how many times he’s ended the war in Iran.

    and, he had to create a literal swamp in washington so he could get to work on draining it.

  • Stalinwolf
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    24 days ago

    Can we please get hundreds of people down there to continuously shout “HUUUURRRRRR DUUUURRRRRRRR” until the project is finished?

  • fizzle@quokk.au
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    25 days ago

    Cam I just address the elephant in the room here which has been sitting in the corner of my mind since this whole shitshow started: American flag blue.

    Obviously, everyone knows there’s only one pool lining color: blue.

    Trump, thinking he’s the worlds most epic salesman decided to tell everyone that he’s picked the color and that he’s chosen “American flag blue”.

    I can’t decide whether it’s cringey that he thinks anyone would be fooled by that, or if it’s cringey because a significant portion of the public really is that stupid.

    • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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      24 days ago

      In a chlorinated pool the bottom is often white, and yet it looks blue when filled. The Reflecting Pool isn’t chlorinated, it has a constant flow coming from and draining to the Tidewater basin (I think) but flag-blue paint is stupid because it gets warm for the algae.

      • fizzle@quokk.au
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        24 days ago

        I don’t think it does have a constant flow. If it did probably wouldn’t have the algae problem. Previously they were complaining about the huge cost of keeping it full because it leaks.

      • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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        24 days ago

        Also, it should be a light aquamarine for best effect. Since it reflects the light, it makes the water seem to glow and gives it the reflective quality.

        A darker blue just absorbs that light and makes it look like a pond. Also, as you say, this warms the water and fosters algae growth.