"Less than a month after reopening, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation of the famous site.""This is a direct consequence of the fact that this is a green project,” said spokeswoman Carol Johnson. “The conditions are pretty good for algae, once it gets in there.”Visitors to the pool described it as similar to “split pea soup,” “muddy,” like the “surface of the moon” and “icky-looking.”
“It doesn’t look like a $34 million circulation job,” Jim Carroll, 85, of Wisconsin said as he looked out over the pool....
“It doesn’t reflect well on the city at all,” Carolyn Rossinsky, 49, of Miami said as she sat near the pool.
“It looks like green fluff,” she added.You wanted green... and you got it.
7 જૂન, 2026
Live feed of the filling of the Reflecting Pool.
AND: I just made a tag for "Reflecting Pool" and added it to old posts in the archive. The oldest post is striking. It dates back to the Obama administration, September 26, 2012:
પોસ્ટ્સ
167 ટિપ્પણીઓ:
The colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" is attested by 1937.
- etymonline.com
Emphasis on pathetic.
Blue sheen.
If being empathetic means having the ability to understand, share, and resonate with another person's emotions from their point of view, that's beyond difficult, at least for me. Too much water under the bridge.
Why the rush to judgement? The pertinent question is: what will it look like in a year or so? Will the sealant stop the leaks or not, and for how long?
The fact remains that a no-bid contract was awarded on dubious, if not outright fraudulent, grounds. There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process. You all used to be so concerned about corruption, yet you are letting Trump and his family get away with massive corruption.
…demanding the universe and expecting compromise will get you the world is no way to negotiate..
Looks great, and the price was great. People complaining about the price are mad because they can’t grift off the American people.
The internet informs me that there is no official rule or restriction against skipping stones in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. The pool is a public water feature, and visitors are generally free to play in it, including skipping stones, as long as they follow basic safety and etiquette rules.
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process.
Based on what we've learned in recent years, normal contracting processes in the government would have delivered a Quality Learing Reflecting Pool.
I honestly did not expect this much presidential focus on the reflecting pool.
Trump spends a lot more time talking about the things he's "fixing," like the reflecting pool and the ballroom, than the critical things he has broken, like the flow of petroleum products to the world.
No Freder, it's not the "rush to judgment" that bothers you and your team, it's the rush to completion for a reasonable price that used to be how this country was run before your team took over. If your team was still in charge, it would be 2029 before they even got around to the bidding process and the concocted conditions that would only award to a firm majority owned by albino Muslim wymyn.
They like 'rage and ruin" murders and rapes, is what they crave
"Why the rush to judgement? The pertinent question is: what will it look like in a year or so? Will the sealant stop the leaks or not, and for how long?"
Read the September 25, 2012 Washington post article linked in the updated post. The Obama administration spent $34 million to deal with the ugly green algae and the refurbished pool had just reopened on August 31st, and "Visitors to the pool described it as similar to “split pea soup,” “muddy,” like the “surface of the moon” and “icky-looking.”"
That sets a low bar! But Trump must do far more than just do better than Obama before you will ever approve of anything he does.
You're stressing the leakage, which has been a problem for the entire 100 years of the pool's existence. That's so you can distract from the improvement in the look of the water, which was the focus of this cheap fix and was also Obama's focus.
Albinos are rainbow equivalent but coherent.
That pool needs some sort of sprinkler/aeration system -- maybe one that runs at night so that the pool remains calm/reflecting during the day.
A Reflecting Pool. Some see how beautifully it reflects the sky and the historic monuments. Some see their own reflected fear and anger.
Abort! Abort! Wait, it's a viable and beautiful feature with that newborn blue sheen.
See, Trump is not Hitler. At heart he's Napoleon III, a builder and improver. Now he even has his own war debacle that should end his reign.
Obama was our first green precedent.
So we sailed up to the sun,
Till we found the sea of green,
And we live off all the grift
In Obama’s submarine.
CC, JSM
From the 2012 WaPo article: "Less than a month after reopening, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation of the famous site.... Officials are working to remove the algae by increasing the level of ozone in the water to treat what is there and prevent more from growing. The agency plans a one-time removal of the algae, but first the ozone level needs to be fine-tuned...."
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process.
I would be interested to know what constitutes a reflecting pool emergency.
I'd say the 250th anniversary of our nation constitutes a matter of some urgency, even though, no, nobody would have been in danger from a gross reflecting pool. And remember the cost estimates given by the Proper Authorities? Were the Properly Vetted Reflecting Pool Contractors going to beat the cost for which this project has actually been done?
"... full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation..."
As we live a life of ease (a life of ease)
Every one of us (every one of us)
Has all we need (has all we need)
Sky of blue (sky of blue)
And sea of green (sea of green)
In our yellow (in our yellow)
Submarine (submarine, aha)
Empathetic to those with TDS?
NEVER.
That's so you can distract from the improvement in the look of the water, which was the focus of this cheap fix and was also Obama's focus.
I forget where I said that Obama's project was successful and a wise use of government funds. Can you provide a link where I lauded Obama's renovations?
I'm glad you think $13 million (seven times the price Trump claimed when the project started) is a "cheap fix". You are using a pretty scene to cover up the administration's corruption in awarding these contracts.
Obama never built a in his life before becoming President. He was all talk.
But FF see every reason to doubt the builder president. “ The fact remains that a no-bid contract was awarded on dubious, if not outright fraudulent, grounds…”.
It’s a fact, says FF. A fact. A FACT!
Were the Properly Vetted Reflecting Pool Contractors going to beat the cost for which this project has actually been done?
Which is the whole point of having a public, open, bidding process? Not the president calling some pool contractors in Florida.
I still wish they had cleaned it up, painted the bottom, treated the water, installed lane lines, and let visitors buy a daily swim pass to swim laps outdoors, weathe r permitting... MAHA.
It’s a fact, says FF. A fact. A FACT!
Rather than just whinge, why don't you explain what is untrue about my statement?
I flew home from DC on Thursday morning. We just missed the completion of the Reflecting Pool project.
I guess the blue (rather than black) base still makes the pool reflecting. Democrats are still upset, of course.
So even by the standards you arbitrarily set for Obama, we should wait a month before lauding Trump.
Wage growth is at 3.4%, while last month’s inflation came in at 3.8%—with next month’s figure expected to rise to 4.2%.
This is what ultimately killed support for Biden: a sustained net loss in living standards. Even though inflation has eased over the past year and a half, slightly reversing some of the damage, voters never forgave the earlier erosion of their purchasing power.
Trump is unlikely to gain popularity from the current situation either. Meanwhile, JD Vance is intervening in British politics—presumably because he’d rather not focus on U.S. domestic issues or the foreign policy problems in the Middle East created by the Trump administration.
I wonder how high inflation must rise to change this. If a short military excursion can be extended to four months, why not even longer?
It could have been worse. It could have been contracted with dark reasons and DEIst (e.g. racist, sexist, etc) provisions.
Curious why a well-executed repair garners so much angst by some while they are silent on the massive Medicaid and Medicare fraud going on all across the country.
If the Belagio in Las Vegas can manage to have their reflecting pool look beautiful indefinitely AND also put on spectacular water-spraying shows that not only aerate the water but also attract people from all over the world to come and watch, why can't the national reflecting pool? President Trump, please call your buds in Vegas and make it so. And keep Freder whining.
Obama was a community organizer, not builder.
If the Belagio in Las Vegas can manage to have their reflecting pool look beautiful indefinitely AND also put on spectacular water-spraying shows that not only aerate the water but also attract people from all over the world to come and watch, why can't the national reflecting pool?
Because the reflecting pool is 2000X200 feet and only 18 to 30 inches deep. It is practically begging for algae blooms.
"So even by the standards you arbitrarily set for Obama, we should wait a month before lauding Trump."
Your question contains an assumption: I did not laud Trump. I only asked a question: "Can we all just say it looks beautiful?" You tell me: Here it is, in the present, can you not say it looks beautiful? It's a question about how it looks now. It doesn't presume that it won't go bad soon (or later). It doesn't mention Trump. It's a test of your level of Trump derangement.
How did you vote on the poll?
Medicaid and Medicare fraud
40 trillion dollars in indefinite extractions.
Freder Frederson said...
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process. "
He wanted it done before the 250th Anniversary so it would look nice for the celebration. You know the same actions reserved for Chicomms by the left.
Its a rorschach test and freder losf
Never mind, Trump still has the FIFA World Peace Prize.
Freder Frederson said...
I forget where I said that Obama's project was successful and a wise use of government funds. Can you provide a link where I lauded Obama's renovations?
Democrats are just dishonest pieces of shit and they can do nothing in good faith.
I thought that #2 was just snarky, until Freder showed up. Get help, man.
Sometimes I think Althouse is conducting an anthropological field study when she offers one of her multiple choice polls.
We math majors used to sit around in what we deemed was our "student lounge" playing bridge or D&D or just killing time, which made us a convenient stationary target for roving psych majors armed with their obnoxious questionnaires. One or two would breeze in every day using copious flattery to get several of us to agree to take a questionnaire and return it completed in a few days. The psychs had their fun by getting us to supply them with data to plot on a graph, and we had ours by answering the questions in the persona of some odious figure from history or legend to skew the psychs' analytics strongly toward one end of the curve or the other. Shits and giggles all 'round.
So what are Althouse's shits and giggles? To shoehorn her respondents into categories occupied by psychotics on the one hand and imbeciles on the other?
Billions spent in California for a couple of miles of train track completed over a decade, but they complain about a few million spent on a beautification project that was identified and completed within a year. This isn’t a case of sweating the small stuff to avoid big problems. It is about who benefits, and it isn’t Democrats; therefore they hate it.
Spiffing up the capital for the 250th, while not an emergency, is a significant event that justifies such high-impact projects.
The last administration should have had all of this in place…but didn’t.
Trump spends a lot more time talking about the things he's "fixing," like the reflecting pool and the ballroom, than the critical things he has broken, like the flow of petroleum products to the world.
Remember a month ago when you were absolutely certain that Trump had fucked up the reflecting pool and it was going to look like a giant swimming pool?
Does it ever occur to you that there may be things going on that you neither know nor understand?
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...
Wage growth is at 3.4%, while last month’s inflation came in at 3.8%—with next month’s figure expected to rise to 4.2%.
I love the "expected to rise" stuff.
You are a retarded clown who hasn't been right about anything.
You are just here to use numbers that don't exist and pretend we aren't laughing at you.
Freder is incapable of saying it looks good.
His hallucinations grow more vivid
…since the fuel at the pump price is falling…quickly and deeply, they can’t use the ‘gas prices are bankrupting families’ bludgeon anymore…
Prior to Trump's intervention, the Park Service was considering spending in the range of "over $100 million" to "over $300 million" dollars to do a renovation that was expected to take years.
Trump's project include specific measures for mitigating algae growth including upgraded filtration and ozone treatment.
Seems like it's worth a try to do it Trump's way.
Achilles, we are overdue the starvation riots in China you so confidently predicted would be happening by now.
Perhaps you should pay attention to your own clear predictions before throwing shade at others.
Some people are immune to reflection.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having thought it was Trump's fault.
Is it productive to try empathizing with someone who is proudly irrational? There is nothing to be gained by someone with a train of logic like:
(I hate Hitler) + (Hitler loved dogs) = I hate dogs.
The reflecting pool needed work, so President Trump went to a company that uses sophisticated materials and techniques to renovate the reflecting pool. The project was quick and inexpensive. None of that is crazy.
A wait-and-see attitude is sensible. A let's-not-maintain-our-stuff attitude is not.
Seems like it's worth a try to do it Trump's way.
They can’t. Even the dumbest businessman in the world is a threat to expose their incompetence and to their phony baloney jobs…
It doesn't mention Trump. It's a test of your level of Trump derangement.
And yet you have two Trump tags on this post.
How did you vote on the poll?
I didn't. I don't participate in any of your surveys.
I'm glad you think $13 million (seven times the price Trump claimed when the project started) is a "cheap fix"
…to these people billions to stop government from cutting off trillions in corruption? a-okay!! $13 million to renovate an historic American landmark? Waste! Corruption!
I don't know the details, but a salt-water chlorinating recirculation system with skimmers at reasonable intervals would take care of the algae concerns. I suspect that Trump and the pool contractor know that and have installed something like that.
Ah ha!
Google AI tells me that Green Water Solutions was awarded a $1.7 million contract to install a "recirculating system" using "nano-bubble" technology.
Google AI also says of "nano-bubbles" that:
Aquaculture & Ponds: They are heavily utilized to maintain high dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in aquaculture tanks and natural water bodies, reducing harmful algal blooms and preventing the buildup of bottom muck.
This is not rocket science. Even WaPo reporters can find this information quite easily.
It's very pretty. I reserve "beautiful" only because I haven't seen it in the flesh.
I do have concerns about no-bid contracts (if indeed this is one) and I do think they should be absolutely transparent and easily accessible to the public, on general principle. And I do think that President Trump spend sa bit too much public time talking about non-core responsibilities such as this. I'd like him to focus a bit more. I am a bit concerned about that, though decidedly not obsessed or all het up about it.
If something, at least in a video or picture, looks pretty and appropriate to its setting and purpose, why not just be able to say so? Not everything has to be a stepping stone to political commentary or grievances.
And it's great that a fix has been applied to deal with the blooming algae and whatever other issues. Overdue, in fact. I say let's be patient and see how it goes. Give credit where credit is due, and if something changes, deal with it then.
Just my several cents.
"How did you vote on the poll?"
"I didn't."
Told ya. He can't do it.
A leftist goes to a retired law professor’s blog. The professor thinks xir might be obsessed with Trump. She posts a picture of the Reflecting Pool during renovation and asks “What do you see?”
“I see Trump destroying the Reflecting Pool.”
“And this” she asks as she posts a photo of the completed Pool.
“I see Trump corruption.”
“And finally this one” she says posting a third.
“I see Trump. Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump!”
“I think you might be obsessed with Trump,” the professor says calmly.
“Why?” Xir asks. “You’re the one who keeps posting pictures of Trump!”
"Prior to Trump's intervention, the Park Service was considering spending in the range of "over $100 million" to "over $300 million" dollars to do a renovation that was expected to take years."
$13M is a bargin.
Told ya. He can't do it.
"Can't" and "didn't" are two different things. "Won't" would be closer, but still inaccurate.
Mark said...
Achilles, we are overdue the starvation riots in China you so confidently predicted would be happening by now.
Perhaps you should pay attention to your own clear predictions before throwing shade at others.
China already surrendered retard. Trump is letting them play in their lane.
Russia is consolidating in Ukraine and hasn't lifted a finger in Iran.
Everything happened just as I said it would.
The only holdouts are in Britain France and Germany. And that isn't looking good for your globalist masters is it?
You are just too stupid to understand what is going on.
Historians will say it was a reflection unlike any other reflection.
The project does not address the failing underground pipes that supply and circulate water to/from the treatment system. These pipes frequently crack, forcing disconnections from the filtration plant for weeks at a time. This leaves the root causes of poor water quality and algae largely unresolved, potentially limiting the long-term effectiveness of the new waterproofing and coatings.
Reports (including a detailed NYT overview) note that broader plans to replace the pipes exist and were hoped to start in fall 2026, but they were not part of this urgent renovation. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/31/us/trump-reflecting-pool-problems.html
The current work targets visible leaks and appearance but leaves the plumbing issues unaddressed, which will likely allow ongoing water quality problems.
I have a 2000 gallon pond in my back yard with live plants, fish, turtles frogs, etc. It's fully exposed to the Las Vegas sun, and in summer the water is about 90 degrees. Unaddressed it would, in just a few days, turn into one large green blob of death. I have no filtration other than a screen to protect the fountain pump from debris. The pump runs 24/7 and the bucket where the pump sits has a 36 watt UV light on continuously. I have no algae problem year round. Cost = about $14/ month. This includes having a contiguous 1800 gal/hr fountain of water. They should install UV lights. It would look cool at night too.
Freder Frederson said...
Told ya. He can't do it.
"Can't" and "didn't" are two different things. "Won't" would be closer, but still inaccurate.
Freder is just a dishonest piece of shit. He builds a completely delusional view of the world because at his core he knows he is no better than any fascist foot soldier in any of the regimes of leftist murder muppets that parade through history.
Freder dances when Charlie Kirk is killed.
Freder celebrates when Trump is removed from social media.
Freder cheers when peaceful J6 protestors are jailed and persecuted.
Freder nods in approval when BLM thugs rape inner cities and burn down small businesses.
Freder silently shuffles to the back when Trump gets shot and curses his bad fortune that Trump survived.
Put Freder in China and he is a red guard. He is a black shirt in italy. He is a brown shirt in germany.
He can't be honest about anything because the truth is so ugly.
China surrendered, Achilles?
And your proof of this is what?
The line of coke you just did? Your overinflated ego?
What do you think the vote would be among Democrats if on a secret ballot they could remove Trump, but only by agreeing to it being illegal vote fraud? How many would vote for assignation? That's why our elections are not secure. That's also why I'm no longer a Democrat, and still embarrassed that I was.
Bureaucrats love the process. The process exists for their sake. They exist for the sake of the process.
That the process results in spending 10 to 30 times as much tax money and taking 10 to 30 times longer is completely irrelevant.
The process is the most important thing. Whether the pool got fixed or not is a minor matter because either way they have a process that must now be followed.
This link says it all
this link says it all
test
Trump might be wrong on tariffs, and the roulette ball is still spinning in Iran. There are lots of places where Trump's judgement does not inspire absolute confidence. One area where he is obviously and definitely better than his predecessors is building and construction. That's his wheelhouse. You can win a debate on quantum physics at Cambridge with Mike Tyson but not a boxing match inside a ring at MSG.
Mark said...
China surrendered, Achilles?
And your proof of this is what?
The line of coke you just did? Your overinflated ego?
Are there any Chinese missiles going to Iran?
Are there any Chinese ships in the Strait of Hormuz?
Has China shipped any support to the Mullahs over land routes?
Did China buy planes from Boeing or Airbus?
You are a retard. You listen to the leftist media propaganda and have no ability to think for yourself.
You are constantly shocked when everything turns out just as I said it would.
Gas fell 20 cents a gallon out here this week. Every year after the first week of September the driving season ends. Can you people even think a day in the future?
You can't even remember what happened yesterday. You are the demonstration of how stupid you have to be to support the Democrat party.
which will likely allow ongoing water quality problems.
Hope springs eternal.
Someone above mentioned Napoleon III. He's now an obscure figure, but Paris remains the City of Light and that's mostly because of him. In other areas, he was more a monumental failure than a monument builder, but his vision of Paris endures...... I think Trump should be given a free hand with his construction projects. He knows what he's doing.
How much water does your pond lose to evaporation oh bag oh water?
Stupid that that Trump's opponents have decided to this hill to die on. There are so many other targets that would resonate with the voting public.
"Wait, you can fix things without a $452m study to determine if we should perform a $36m environmental impact study before awarding a $875m contract to do what some pool guys did for $3m?"
Dems live and breathe to waste our money.
There are so many other targets that would resonate with the voting public.
Agree with you 100%. However, Althouse gets quite upset if you go off topic, and she tends to only write posts that make Trump look good.
"How much water does your pond lose to evaporation..."
All of it, eventually. Seriously though, I did track it once and it was about 100 gallons a day. Theoretically it could be as high as 200 on a hot windy day or less than 20 in the winter. I have an automatic filler. I also have a huge pool that loses way more, and and outside jacuzzi. If it was easy or free, I would scrap the pool, which we really enjoy in summer, but is just too much work and expense year round. I do use too much water this way, but I try to make up for it. I removed 100% of my grass, and 15 trees. I only have a few trees and cactus now all on drip irrigation.
I noticed FF doesn’t describe the letting, bidding and contracting process for the last cleaning. He simply assigns ill motives to Trump without evidence. Oh well that’s. He’s the same fool that insists all wars are illegal.
I noticed FF doesn’t describe the letting, bidding and contracting process for the last cleaning.
Apparently, When Althouse posted about the problems with the 2012 cleaning, I did indeed defend Obama. She has a much better memory than me.
Take all the “deeply troubled” by the rancid scruff of their scrawny pencil necks and hold their misshapen melons under the cool waters until they find the peace that has escaped them for their entire, miserable lives.
Poor Freder - how dare anyone try to make Trump look good.
Must stay Religiously loyal to Trump-hate - 100% of the time.
The democrat party is the slime that lines the bottom of the old reflecting pool.
Corrupt money grubbing money wasting liars - all.
Will we soon see a “Rush to Begrudgement”?
Still not seeing the “corruption” part Freder. Spell it out. Atlantic Industrial Coatings has no other Federal contracts and no verified prior association with Trump other than he consulted ALL the pool contractors he’s worked with and Atlantic might have done work on a Virginia property Trump developed. “Might” being the operative word that the famous NYT lawyers settled on. The NYT can’t verify it but the tenuous association is enough for FF with NO EVIDENCE to accuse Trump (again) of corruption.
The Nazi bragging on tape about his totemkopf tattoo is not enough to verify the Maine Phony is a Nazi but any rumors at all are always enough to condemn Trump. How fair!
Tiresome isn't it? When the project started, I was reading that there were official historic preservationist pearl-clutchers objecting on the basis that applying the Rhino coating to the reflecting pool was a desecration to the original granite cladding that had been artfully chosen by renowned architectural geniuses etc etc.
Then a few weeks later, as the project progressed, I read that the original granite had been ripped out and replaced with large concrete slabs during the Obama restoration. Then, I saw an interview of one of the Pool Guys on site, as they were packing sealer into the expansion joints, saying 'yeah, these slabs have an overlap joint, but they weren't sealed, so now we're sealing them before applying the coatings.
It shouldn't be so hard to find these things out, but misdirection and outright lying in the modern media environment means that all conversations must first be checked for bad faith, because that has become the currency of political advantage - and political advantage is everything to some. Maybe it was always so.
If algae is a problem, just toss in some zebra mussels. Worked for the Great Lakes, plus it really freaks out the Greenies. (Invasive species!)
"How much water does your pond lose to evaporation..."
"All of it, eventually."
There's a line in a WW2 movie I love.
Nervous Army Commando: "How deep will your submarine go, Captain?"
Submarine Captain: "Oh, she'll go all the way to the bottom if we don't stop her."
The videos don't get much traction, but there have been a few of them, praising the crime-free environment that now reigns in D.C., thanks to the short-term deployment of the Guard. Who then were demobilized after the work was done. Now we have praise videos of ordinary citizens awestruck at how beautiful the Union train station is, now that the homeless have been moved and the graffiti blasted off, and the fountains restored to their original splendor. Same for the Malcolm X park. They can't get over it, but they've managed to grudgingly admit the improvements. Neo Neo ran one yesterday.
It should be an apolitical thing to clean up the national capitol for the sesquicentennial, and it should be something that anyone can endorse, in the spirit of the celebration.
Granting credit is the problem, when the credit indisputably rests with the one person who decided to act without seeking permission from the professional rent-seekers.
"Peachy said...
"Wait, you can fix things without a $452m study to determine if we should perform a $36m environmental impact study before awarding a $875m contract to do what some pool guys did for $3m?"
Dems live and breathe to waste our money."
It's not a waste; it supports their ecosystem.
"Apparently, When Althouse posted about the problems with the 2012 cleaning, I did indeed defend Obama. She has a much better memory than me."
It doesn't require a memory.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings has no other Federal contracts and no verified prior association with Trump other than he consulted ALL the pool contractors he’s worked with and Atlantic might have done work on a Virginia property Trump developed.
The "emergency" that allowed Trump to circumvent the normal bidding process simply did not exist.
To get Washington DC spiffy for 250, Trump is pulling this shit all over town. Of course, the repairs and clean ups come out of the budget of the NPS, which Trump has already gutted.
Yes, it is beautiful. But I’m still a bit disappointed Trump didn’t have it painted the Democrat Blue he promised he would.
"To get Washington DC spiffy for 250, Trump is pulling this shit all over town."
Incredible. You're outdoing yourself on this one.
It doesn't require a memory.
So, because you believe Trump can do no wrong, you (and Althouse) just assume that I agreed and applauded every single thing Obama did. His suppression of the report on Bush's torture program was particularly irksome.
Good points Aggie. It’s amazing how some people take articles lacking the necessary information to make informed opinions and just run with “corruption” because that’s the preprogrammed narrative inside their dome.
Says who? What exactly are the criteria for calling an emergency, Mr. Expert?
Incredible. You're outdoing yourself on this one.
Trump is boasting all over about all the clean up and repairs that are going on all over D.C. Who do you think is paying for what is certainly deferred maintenance? Fixing fountains in D.C. means that higher priority repairs elsewhere in the National Park system are falling further behind.
So you’re going to write about repairing fountains and statuary and your pea brain presents two immediate options: “restoring broken monuments” or “pulling this shit all over town” and only a leftist retard will choose “shit” over “restoration” which not only explains Freder in full but also the state of blue zones like LA San Fran and Chicago.
Shit or restoration? Decline is a choice. The choice of leftists.
Why was maintenance “deferred” in the wealthiest county in America, Freder?
It's fun how the assumption is always that a "competitive bidding" process will result in a corruption-free award to a contractor.
Let's take two easy examples: this contractor is "minority woman-owned," meaning that the wife of the guy actually doing the work is on the business license. The other is not. Which one gets the job, even if the first bid comes in higher than the second?
My mother-in-law was theoretically the owner of my father-in-law's mechanic shop so that he could get a U-Haul contract and the only AAA contract in their town. These aren't government, of course, but they did advantage woman-owned businesses.
Or how about this? Obviously in a bidding process, if you want it to be a real representation of what people think it will cost them to do the job, you can't let anyone know your budget or what anyone else's bid is. Otherwise, if you let them know how much you have to spend, they will all just cluster around that number - and if one finds out that the others are at or a little above that number, all this one has to do is come up with a number just below it - unless of course this one is minority woman-owned. But have you ever heard of a government contracted job that didn't involve change orders, which suggests that they weren't bidding the job on the basis of what they thought it would cost them to do it, but rather on what they knew the government was willing to pay (or able to justify)? Change orders never get the scrutiny from the public that bids do.
And can you not envision the person letting out the bid getting together at the bar with a contracting buddy and slipping him a few hints about how his bid should go? After all, government jobs don't last forever. That person letting out the bid is going to be eligible for retirement at 45 or 50, able to receive a GS-11 level pension from the government, and then double dip by getting a job in the private sector based on his "familiarity with the government contracting process."
Says who? What exactly are the criteria for calling an emergency, Mr. Expert?
I couldn't find the rules for Interior, but here is the policy for Federal Highway Administration:
"Emergency repairs must meet any one of the following three criteria in accordance with the definition in 23 U.S.C. 120(e) (and codified in 23 CFR 668.103):
Minimizing the extent of the damage;
Protecting remaining facilities; or
Restoring essential traffic."
“ How much water does your pond lose to evaporation oh bag oh water?”
My thoughts exactly. That’s CO River water. The River has long not made it to the Pacific. But recently, NV won back water that CA had been taking from them, for years. Forcing the termination of a lot of CA agriculture. In the end, in competition for water, drinking water for millions is going to take precedence over growing lettuce, fruit trees, etc.
That CO River water is the #1 factor limiting growth in the entire region. It was divvied up between the 5 states that the River ran through, better than a century ago. Even Denver, on the Eastern Slope of the Rockies is affected. But also LA, LV, PHX (and Tucson).
A lot of the fountain water there is gray water. Pragmatic for those huge hotels. Maybe not for everyone else.
Mentioning the Bellagio fountains reminded me that my partner’s first husband had, in his adventuresome youth, helped put soap in the Caesar’s fountain. Hilarity ensued, dominating the local news, with the suds running down the Strip, on all the evening news. Then, he ended up at Caesar’s as a very high paid employee, that they hired away from MGM, for almost double what MGM had been paying him.
That person letting out the bid is going to be eligible for retirement at 45 or 50, able to receive a GS-11 level pension from the government, and then double dip by getting a job in the private sector based on his "familiarity with the government contracting process."
GS-11s are not approving contracts. GS15 maybe, more likely an SES.
By all accounts this repair “limited the extent of damage.” Have fun arguing with yourself FF.
Maintenance deferred. That’s the motto of the Democrat party.
"Fixing fountains in D.C. means that higher priority repairs elsewhere in the National Park system are falling further behind."
It's the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, so by all means, let's fix the outhouses in Yosemite.
Think of how much maintenance we could do if we shut down the hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.
Think of how much maintenance we could do if we shut down the hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.
I thought that was what DOGE was supposed to do.
Freeder said "So, because you believe Trump can do no wrong, you (and Althouse) just assume that I agreed and applauded every single thing Obama did."
I assumed he was saying that you could simply look at the old thread for yourself, but maybe you are right...
Hey, Idiot IEE: Stay on Topic. Must you intrude your TDS posts on every blog post with inane chatter that has nothing to do with the subject? Of course you must. Asshat.
“But have you ever heard of a government contracted job that didn't involve change orders, which suggests that they weren't bidding the job on the basis of what they thought it would cost them to do it, but rather on what they knew the government was willing to pay (or able to justify)? Change orders never get the scrutiny from the public that bids do.”
We have that even in our small town in rural MT. Guy who did the excavation for our subdivision, got a couple lots for it, right across the street from us. Neighbor a block away did the books for her brother, who was in the same line of work. I was looking to get Phase III put in, and the first guy gave me an informal bid (we were both on the HOA Board). The woman down the block explained the scam. The first guy was always the low bidder, but more than made up for it with change orders. His total costs were always higher. He always got the city jobs. But the county wouldn’t play that game, so her brother and another excavator got all their jobs. Tens, probably hundreds, of $Billion$ Are spent on Change Orders by the federal govt every year. It’s how you can make the most money with Low Bid contracting.
Watch the video made by the men who did the pool. It explains the contracting. Not "no-bid"
Biden — $100 million-plus estimate — National Park Service
Trump — $301 million estimate — National Park Service
Trump — $14.8 million final actual cost
Contractors actually used:
$13.1 million — Atlantic Industrial Coatings
$1.74 million — Greenwater Services
Freder writes, "Agree with you 100%. However, Althouse gets quite upset if you go off topic, and she tends to only write posts that make Trump look good."
if that's a complaint against Althouse, it's a monumentally stupid one, given your one-track mentality.
Orange man always bad. Pool looks terrible.
Juanita Broadderick posts on X side by side photos of the Biden Pool and the Trump Pool. It is a metaphoric depiction of the US under each leader. Guess which one is filled with scum.
The Reflecting Pool was losing 16,000 gallons of water per day to leaks prior to the repair, about 16 million gallons per year. Should that have been allowed to go on for years for the sake of a process that would only drive up the cost substantially?
Does the process eliminate opportunities for graft and corruption or simply disguise them, obscure them and give them cover?
"The Reflecting Pool was losing 16,000 gallons of water per day to leaks prior to the repair, about 16 million gallons per year."
The project does not address the failing underground pipes that supply and circulate water to/from the treatment system.
"• It was a sole-source contract — the government specifically chose polyurea and Rhino Linings.
• Not over budget: Still the original $13.1M proposal. Extra ~$1M for added granite work brought it under $15M total.
• 20% buffer is standard for this industry.
• They’ve never worked for Trump, his companies, or anyone connected."
Contractors speak on video here:
https://x.com/CreasonJana/status/2063578132175556678
“ The project does not address the failing underground pipes that supply and circulate water to/from the treatment system”
AND????
The point is it looks good for the 250th, as well as address some immediate needs. Digging up the mall to replace pipe can happen after this summer.
• Not over budget: Still the original $13.1M proposal. Extra ~$1M for added granite work brought it under $15M total.
• 20% buffer is standard for this industry.
When Trump announced it, he claimed it was going to cost $1.8 million. So he was bullshitting then?
The project does not address the failing underground pipes that supply and circulate water to/from the treatment system.
You're kind of nuts. You know that, right?
I assumed he was saying that you could simply look at the old thread for yourself, but maybe you are right...
I was being sarcastic. I don't recall that Althouse has ever commented on the reflecting pool prior to Trump's current project.
So he was bullshitting then?
Trump would never do that.
Leland, you are WRONG about the billions spent to lay "just a few miles of track". Billions, many Billions, were spent to lay NO miles of track, other than temporary rails for hauling construction materials.
I thought that was what DOGE was supposed to do.
I don't remember any of our lefties even applauding the intention* while decrying the process, much less supporting DOGE. But as we've just established herein, my memory is far from perfect, so I'm open to critique on this point.
* This is actually a response - to DOGE, to deportation of illegal immigrants, to the reflecting pool refurb that I could have believed from our lefties. Good intentions always seem to carry much more weight than (inevitably at least subpar, and frequently opposite) results on the Democrat side. But the hatred of Trump is just too overwhelming for them even to acknowledge good intentions.
Not only is it beautiful, but he is changing the face of Washington DC. All around town, things have been getting cleaned up. Fountains that have not worked in years, are working now. Parks are cleaned up, with running fountains and statues that are cleaned up.
Safety is far better than in recent times.
The press really should be lauding him for how he has cleaned up the mess that is our nation's capital. Instead, they're still wringing their hands over the started new event hall on the East Wing. Started and stopped by yet another frivolous judge. Based on how he's cleaning up the place, they should let him proceed. I'm sure it'll look better than before.
Freder Frederson said...
Think of how much maintenance we could do if we shut down the hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.
I thought that was what DOGE was supposed to do.
It would have been a lot more successful without democrat traitors and thieves like you trying to stop them.
"Freder Frederson said...
Trump is boasting all over about all the clean up and repairs that are going on all over D.C. Who do you think is paying for what is certainly deferred maintenance? Fixing fountains in D.C. means that higher priority repairs elsewhere in the National Park system are falling further behind."
WHat are those? Name the top 5.
I thought that was what DOGE was supposed to do.
Doge is but a shallow reflecting pool of Democrat fraud. Entitlements are the bottomless ocean…
Freder's arguments about bidding and contracting and emergencies etc. are entirely irrelevant for me. Its been well-established for decades that DC, state governments, and Democrats in particular, don't really give a damn about fiscal "waste". ALL I care about these days is results.
Sent from California, land of the infinite cost-per-mile high speed railroad.
If the pool becomes infested with piranha we should check Feder's aquarium.
Indeed Fred Drinkwater; I think the most they accomplished is a bridge to nowhere.
"Instead, they're still wringing their hands over the started new event hall on the East Wing. Started and stopped by yet another frivolous judge."
Trump abiding by a judicial decision? Worst. Dictator. Ever.
"Trump is boasting all over about all the clean up and repairs that are going on all over D.C. Who do you think is paying for what is certainly deferred maintenance? Fixing fountains in D.C. means that higher priority repairs elsewhere in the National Park system are falling further behind."
JFC. You should take this show on the road to the Laugh Factory or Comedy Cellar.
WHat are those? Name the top 5.
Pick whichever ones you like. The NPS has a $23.2 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repair.
How about Zipline from top of monument to lap of Lincoln to generate pool maintenance fee
"The National Park Service develops a budget each February for the next fiscal year (FY), which starts October 1. Our budget—published in what we call the Green Book—defines our goals and objectives and the funding necessary to accomplish them. The National Park Service budget is rolled up into the budget for the Department of the Interior and then with the rest of the Executive Branch and submitted to Congress for its review and approval."
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/budget.htm
That NPS "budget" is a wish list, not a budget.
I picked the second option because it’s delightfully insulting to Progtards. Well done, Althouse!
Freder Frederson said...
WHat are those? Name the top 5.
Pick whichever ones you like. The NPS has a $23.2 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repair.
LOL!
That's about as much as it costs for a Learning Center or two and some SNAP cards for illegal democrat voters.
Democrats are still canvassing LA for mail in votes 5 days after the election.
Trump just blew up Welker to her face on the obvious democrat vote fraud.
These operations are going to be harder to pull off without the medicare money for illegals and hospice money though.
"That NPS "budget" is a wish list, not a budget."
Whatever you call it, congress is responsible for approving the spending, not the president.
Two Iranian ballistic missiles shot down, in first attack since April 8 ceasefire ~ The Times of Israel
But I thought Trump said Iran was obliterated, he had a peace deal secured and the Straits were about to re-open?
I guess Trump isn’t bored anymore.
"That's about as much as it costs for a Learning Center or two and some SNAP cards for illegal democrat voters."
You misspelled Learing.
That algae was such a problem shows that the earlier "restoration" was poorly done. Algae is really easy to handle unless you WANT aquatic life in the pool (then the problem is that what kills the algae can kill the things you do want living in the water).
You can easily keep algae out of ponds with low levels of dissolved copper or with UV as part of the filtration flow. Ozone by itself seems to me* like the wrong approach, because it breaks down complex organic molecules like nobody's business, but it doesn't do much against the simple nitrate that is the key food source for algae. I can see having ozone generators in the filtration system because O3 is amazing at making water clear, but just ozone without any other chemical filtration seems insufficient.
My guess is that the earlier restoration used some at-the-time hyped new "green" technology that, like most hyped "green" things, didn't work as well as and required much more maintenance than the vendor claimed.
*With the caveat that I stopped following developments in aquarium and pond filtration around 1995, so there may be new approaches. But back when I was managing the largest pet store in central Missouri (talk about a credential!) we did algae mitigation on many backyard ponds.
Sky of blue and pool of green
It's Obama's National Mall scene.
About the planned Triumphal Arch: it just occurred to me that you can't spell "triumph" without "Trump."
"Preventing the buildup of bottom muck" would be a great masthead motto. CC, JSM
Nevada, while doubling in population has actually reduced it's consumption of Colorado river water by 20%, an amazing accomplishment. Personally, I have reduced the water usage on my property by 50% since I bough it, and probably 80% from what it was before I bought it, when it had half an acre of irrigated turf. It now has zero. I love the Colorado River. I boat, fish, and swim it on a weekly basis. We all make some selfish choices, and I could reduce my usage more. I could only take showers once a week or wait for the brown to flush it down, but I'm not going to do everything I could, and I'm not going to feel bad about it either.
Every dollar Trump spends to fix things is a dollar not wasted, a dollar used the way taxpayers expect, a dollar that very likely would have been wasted or stolen. For some reason, that really pisses off Freder, and he really wishes it wasn't happening. That's a soul-sucking level of self-owning that makes me feel pity more than anything. I pity that such a mentality will likely cancel out all my votes, but only mine, so go vote, you guys. I got this.
I have been reliably informed that here in Las Vegas the water which goes down the drain, or the toilet, is treated and returned to Lake Mead. It's the water that goes to landscaping which is used up.
" It's the water that goes to landscaping,which is used up."
Absolutely. It's only evaporation (surface or through plants) that is lost water. 58.7% of all the Colorado water goes to California, and 70% of that is for agriculture and landscape. Nevada, the driest state in the union, gets 4.4%.
160 comments. Trump Derangement Syndrome tag. Freder checks in at #4.
Perfection.
Original Mike said...
"That's about as much as it costs for a Learning Center or two and some SNAP cards for illegal democrat voters."
You misspelled Learing.
You would think Autocorrect would be updated by now.
I forget where I said that Obama's project was successful and a wise use of government funds. Can you provide a link where I lauded Obama's renovations?
It's still a total mystery why she thinks you're an asshole, Freder. Stumped, I tell you.
Pick whichever ones you like. The NPS has a $23.2 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repair.
Another thing Freder likely didn’t read. You see, it says on the website:
“ President Trump's Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund, supported by revenue from energy development, provided up to $1.3 billion per year for five years through 2025, to make significant enhancements in national parks.”
You see, in 2020, Trump signed a law that gave the NPS budget to work down that list, a budget of $1.3billion/per year.
BTW, the reflecting pool is part of the national park system. That means Trump actually spent more money to work off the backlog of the National Park System. It is almost like Freder doesn’t have a clue what he is arguing against or for.
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...
Two Iranian ballistic missiles shot down, in first attack since April 8 ceasefire ~ The Times of Israel
But I thought Trump said Iran was obliterated, he had a peace deal secured and the Straits were about to re-open?
I guess Trump isn’t bored anymore.
LOL!
A country with no leadership and barely any military left fires 2 missiles that are immediately shot down and the launchers destroyed.
It is a massive victory for Chuck the retard! The walls are closing in on Trump!
"It is almost like Freder doesn’t have a clue what he is arguing against or for."
Sure he does. It's Trump, always and everywhere. He's against anything Trump is for and for anything Trump is against.
No thinking required, probably a good thing in this case.
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