Originally published at: A 2021 update on the disappearing Salton Sea | Boing Boing
…
4 Likes
They have an awful ears/eyes/lung air born disease in the Salton Sea area. It’s very similar to in Arizona/Phoenix metro area they call “valley fever”, as the water recedes, [note: cause still unknown] the bacteria / plankton dries up and becomes air born, as well as a copious amounts of dirt/dust blowing daily. Folks with upper respiratory issues are forewarned not to venture into the area.
10 Likes
The sea bed is also full of settled heavy chemicals and metals from farm fertilizer. As it dries it blows into the air for Palm Springs and LA to inhale.
11 Likes
We thankfully are up 4000 feet [Joshua Tree], we seem to avoid the worst of the dust storms / wind blown crap from the lower valley. BTW: The town[s] around the water’s edge, if you can call them that, is all but hanging on by a thread. Property values are bottom of the barrel, it’s close to being a super fund site…
4 Likes
I saw lots in the low thousands in some of the places, and in nearby Thermal you can buy a home for out-of-state prices. The whole “The Westside is bad but the Eastside is OK” thing seems very, very over too.
Slab City is apparently still being Slab City.
7 Likes
Slab has turned into the “Instagram” stop over for every one looking to check that one off their bucket list. In the early to mid 80’s it was still unknown, and it was a blast to ride motorcycles out from San Diego for a weekend playing in the dirt with like minded mutants.
5 Likes
Before there was Burning Man we used to go out into the desert near you for that. Roll way out the 95 and turn off on BLM land someplace. Tear around and shoot things. Devices to chuck cans of spaghettios long distances were always being designed.
Slab City seemed more craze-ball Libertarian, but I guess now it is 365 Burning Man.
Once everyone went to Burning Man I enjoyed San Francisco as a tourist for a few days every year and waited, comfortably, at home for the horror stories. Now I think all but the hardest core have ceased and most of those friends ask if they can join Baja camping trips instead.
Honestly, if I am gonna camp over in the Salton Sea part of the world, I would drive a few more hours and go to Bahia de Los Angeles or just over to the Pacific Coast San Quinten or south.
5 Likes
If you want old world or old century feel. I strongly suggest Rocky Point/Puerto Peñasco Mexico. It has maintained a sleepy fish village vibe, has great beach camping. You can still rent beach RV’s for as little as $35.00 a night, a kilo of fresh caught shrimp was $10.00 and the local food is good / cheap and cheerful. We have retired friend there, so we have a bit of an in with whats up, and what to avoid. Never had a bad time in Rocky Point…
7 Likes
Change.org has a petition up to ‘restore’ the Salton Sea to what it was after the diversion accident, or at least do something about the blowing crap that flies around every time the wind kicks up. Was the Salton Sea ever naturally full of water in historic time?
2 Likes
=
is similar to saying Reddit has a meme on that.
Gov. Brown put a few hundred million in before and it did nada.
2 Likes
The only sustainable path is a canal/pipeline from the ocean. Maybe Elon can use the Boring Company to dig a tunnel on the cheap.
Ah yes, the Salton Sea. A fascinating place made all the moreso as the place where flat earth dreams go to die (of course not).
1 Like
Seeing legit, non-trilling flat earthers is always so stupefying.
The authoritative way he reels off the phenomena that allegedly support his side…
Personally, I think he must be in the pocket of Big Fata Morgana lobby.
2 Likes
In that vid it does all look so reasonable and amenable to an agreed upon test by all concerned but the Oh No pod episode that covered this test gives a very different perspective. The whole eight part series is worth a listen.
Ye gods, no thanks to you for showing this! It’s downright terrifying. These people are NOT functioning adults, neither are they children, they are something other that I cannot classify. I don’t think I ever saw anyone so removed from reality, even when someone gently shoves their face right into it.
Those people are in serious trouble mentally, and so are we physically if this sort of derangement becomes more common.
1 Like
Well, i’m not going down the road of speculating on anyone’s mental faculties as per the policy of the BBS on such matters. Although their epistemological process is seriously broken.
Do not make assumptions as to anyone’s mental state, race, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, group affiliation or sexual orientation without corroboration.
2 Likes
The way you describe it, " their epistemological process is seriously broken." is quite elegant, and might become the standard description. Still, my fondest hope is that sooner or later they’ll reveal that it was a huge joke all along, and they were doing it just for the lulz. Relief all around…
2 Likes
I can’t honestly say hand on heart that i believe most of them truly believe this nonsense but at this point they’re so deep into the grift with their monetised youtube channels and whatnot then why would they pull back from that? Look at Mark Sargent for instance, seems like a reasonable fella but in the vid he’s wearing his ridiculous ‘I am Mark Sargent’ t-shirt and the Oh No pod talks about him not wanting to do anything unless it’s on camera so there’s a lot of attention seeking opportunity in this and it’s like it gives them a feeling of self-importance.
But they are literally just that. They’re not even that unusual. The nature of their belief system is … odd to me… but the defenses and social structures that go into it and the behaviors they have around that seem pretty average.
1 Like
Politeruin makes a goog point, and at least some of them may have a practical (money-making?) reason for behaving this way, even at the cost of looking like a horse’s tush. But look at that gent at the end of the video, earnestly going “you don’t tell me what to think!”. It’s like another version of “you ain’t the bossa me”, and that’s hardly a very adult way of structuring one’s argument.
What can I say, I am mightily perplexed.
1 Like
