The Real Story Behind the Green Reflecting Pool

Algae invades the reflecting pool. Epstein offered authorities dirt on Trump. And a terror attack being foiled leads to folks grabbing their tinfoil hats. Then more on this week's America Uncovered headlines. Welcome to America Uncovered, I'm Chris Chappell. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody. At least it feels like St. Patrick's Day, since the water in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington is green, thanks to algae growth. Either that, or it's a brilliant marketing campaign for the Shrek 5 trailer drop. Can't drain the swamp when an ogre lives there. Now this may not seem like that big of a deal to you. After all, standing pools of water can have algae issues, especially in hot, humid, swampy climates like Washington DC. And this particular pool has had algae issues since it was constructed in the 1920s. But you'd be wrong. This is a huge deal. Absolute madness. Why? Because the reflecting pool turned green right after a $14 million glow-up from the Trump administration. That included installing a new nano-bubbler system to deal with algae. And painting the pool American flag blue. The most beautiful blue besides blue steel. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. We told you it wouldn't work. That's right, go ahead and try to fix the problem by pouring hydrogen peroxide in the water. That won't have any unwanted effects. So what is this? Science denial? Staggering incompetence? Some kind of money laundering scheme? Well, two weeks ago, Trump boasted about the sheer size of the pool in the strangest possible way. We did a fantastic job. Those are among the tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Sears Tower, Chicago. So if you lay it on its side, you'd take two or three of them to fill it in, because the width is almost 200 feet wide. I guess that's why it costs so much to renovate. Oh, he also said this. And it's going to be beautiful. Yeah, that aged about as well as Keith Richards. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said the nano-bubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening since 1922. Now, due to deploying the advanced nano-bubbler technology, the algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak. So essentially, the new system flushed out algae out of the old pipes, and the warm weather caused it to bloom. Now they're hoping this new algae is dead and dying, and say it will soon be hoovered up. Will this work? Only time will tell. But you know what definitely isn't working? At least according to Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine? The death penalty. Which is why he wants Ohio to abolish it, saying it's not a deterrent. This is noteworthy since DeWine, who looks like business formal Judge Doom, actually helped write the policy of Ohio adopting the death penalty as a state legislator back in 1981. DeWine says he's had a change of heart, figuratively, but also possibly literally, since he's so old and Midwestern, he may have needed a transplant, after seeing statistics showing that criminals aren't deterred by the state having a death penalty. In his argument, he provided information about how wait times to actually commit the execution have gotten delayed longer and longer, costing the state more money, and causing the families of the victims more mental anguish. I mean, to be honest, this is a bit redundant. Because when you're in an area where there's a Chili's on every other block, living in Ohio is a death sentence. A delicious, delicious death sentence. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem warns of a coordinated effort to funnel Chinese nationals into the US. Specifically, young men of military age. Apparently, there are a lot of these in the US. Noem thinks this is all part of a plan. A ridiculously long plan. China has a thousands year plan to destroy the United States. They don't just build up their military. They don't just manipulate their currency, you know, harm us with trade practices. They have a plan to kill our country from the inside by killing off our next generation of Americans. A thousands year plan to destroy the US? My god, we're going to need to update all those US-250 decorations. Joking aside, as my twin brother, China Uncensored's Chris Chappell can tell you, the Chinese communists do plan super long term. Except for when they don't. So it might be worth keeping an eye out for hidden bazookas or spy balloons. You know, besides the ones on Brian Noem's chest. Yeah, I think we're going to need something a little more wholesome to get that image out of our heads. Jeffrey Epstein! According to the New York Post, Epstein was obsessed with trying to take down Trump while in prison in 2019. The New York Post is getting this from an article by the New York Times magazine, and this might surprise you, some context for that headline is definitely needed. You see, the New York Times recently published an expose on Jeffrey Epstein's time in jail leading up to his death. In it, they analyzed some new information about Epstein's death, including an apparent suicide note, purportedly written by Epstein, that was released just last month by a federal judge. Man, penmanship is just awful. The article also included stories from cellmates of previous times Epstein apparently tried to unalive himself that the guards did not take seriously, as well as interviews with cellmates who were not interviewed during the investigation into Epstein's death. At notes, Epstein jotted down as he was trying to come up with something to give his lawyers that might be exchanged for leniency. Something like dirt on the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. According to the New York Times, he returned to the president again and again, trying to dredge up anything to offer prosecutors. And here's what he came up with. Yeah, all Epstein produced were random scribblings on pieces of paper saying things like Trump is a con artist and never had any money. Not exactly the kind of thing you can indict the commander in chief over. So yeah, if Trump really was a PDF file that was implicated in all of Epstein's, let's see, YouTube-friendly way of saying this, after school activities, you'd think Epstein would be able to hand over some evidence. Maybe this stunt failing is the reason he was so sad he decided to definitely, totally, 100% no fishy funny business at all unalive himself. Or maybe Epstein bit off more than he could chew. He offered up dirt to the authorities on Trump while Trump was in office. Epstein didn't produce anything because it was more of a veiled threat. Trump didn't take this lying down, so he used his DOJ to stage Epstein's death, but actually gave him plastic surgery and let him go free. And Israel, who's actually controlling everything and Trump repeatedly cursing at Netanyahu, is just the puppet's way to throw off the scent of the puppet master. Or someone else paid off a guard to look the other way while Epstein took the easy way out instead of spending the rest of his life in prison. I don't know, I'm just spitballing here. I think I may be spending too much time on social media. And UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who looks like Clark Kent if instead of superpowers the sun just gave him melanoma, feels one minute is too much time on social media for children. So starting in spring of 2027, the UK will ban anyone under 16 from social media apps. The response from parents in the consultation has been absolutely clear. Thousands of parents say their children are addicted to social media. It can leave them trapped in a cycle of endless scrolling that displaces play, sleep, and time with the family. It can harm their mental health. Yes, social media is terrible. And what better way to talk about its dangers than on social media? This would be like warning about the health risk of secondhand smoke in a cigar lounge. But ok, I mean, he's not wrong. Social media is doing damage to the mental health of young people. That's a real issue. But is this the right solution? If only we had some recent real-world data to look at. Oh wait, we do. Australia instituted a social media ban for minors, and it started floundering almost immediately with many of the teens already back on the sites. I know, it's crazy. What next? You're going to tell me that abstinence-only education doesn't stop teens from having sex? The age verification system leaves a lot to be desired, as it isn't stopping a lot of kids from getting on sites. Plus, it's an invasion of privacy nightmare to hand over all the sensitive info to the social media companies. This is leading to concerns that a US social media ban for minors could be next. Again, the intention is good. Who doesn't want to improve the health of children? But good intentions are often the excuse to pave a very dangerous road. Like more and more censorship in the name of safety, until our information is more suppressed than the Chinese internet. If you really want to keep kids off social media, you don't need to ban it. That just makes it seem cool. Instead, do what happened to Facebook, and have grandparents join every site. If Nana and Pop Pop are doing 6-7 on Twitch and TikTok, kids are going to go, yeah, I think I'll just read instead. OK, maybe kids will want to attend live shows like last weekend's UFC Freedom 250, which was notable not just because it took place at the White House, or because Josh Hokut shouted Michelle Obama is a man. The founding fathers would be outraged, partly at the lack of decorum, and partly learning that a Black man was president. No, UFC Freedom 250 was notable for what almost happened, namely a terrorist plot on the White House that the FBI says it foiled. The plot allegedly involved drones and snipers. And the attack may have been prevented by a mother reporting concerning behavior about her son to the authorities. So remember kids, if you're planning to plot an assassination of the president in June, make sure to get Mom a nice Mother's Day gift leading up to it. Also, don't. I feel like, legally, I should say that. Of course, yet another assassination plot means renewed arguments justifying the White House ballroom. As well as people saying this assassination plot was fake in order to justify the White House ballroom. Can we at least agree that the extreme rhetoric needs to be toned down? Otherwise, this is going to keep happening, and it's all getting more sad and repetitive than another Shrek movie. What do you think? Leave your comments below. I read as many as I can. But I read every comment on AmericaUncovered.tv, where you'll get access to thousands of episodes ad-free, plus a community chat, live streams, and more. I'm Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching America Uncovered.