Comments on: Swimming in Toxic Sludge to Save the Earth: Environmental Hero or Idiot?

By: abdulhamid

abdulhamid — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:27:21 +0000

BASE jumping, climbing Mt. Everest, swimming in toxic sludge. Do you white harbor some kind of deep-seated collective deathwish?

By: Oscar

Oscar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:59:28 +0000

another vote for idiot

By: Mouserz

Mouserz — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:53:07 +0000

both. If you wanna be dumb you gotta be tough.

By: Avarana

Avarana — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:15:51 +0000

“I realized that if somebody doesn’t put themselves on the line, nothing changes.”

Well, nothing did change.

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:12:42 +0000

.idiut.
..when all the toxins and chemical elements that you aren’t supposed to bathe in finally catch up to him, his medical care will be a burden to our already over-burdened healthcare system. nice one!

By: Oomi

Oomi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:08:44 +0000

Maybe he’ll turn into the Toxic Avenger.

By: Bryan C

Bryan C — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:30:52 +0000

I’m not sure how this proves his point. In fact, it kinda seems to do the opposite. Exposure to trace amounts of gasoline and such have not and will not turn him into the Incredible Melting Man. You can pick up life-threatening infections from almost any body of water, if you try hard enough. And seeing as wildlife have notoriously sloppy bathroom habits, the most serious ones can entirely unrelated to human activity. So deliberately expose yourself to “toxic sludge” as a hobby, and you get sick exactly the same way as an unwary hiker sipping water from a crystal-clear brook just downstream from a pile of bear poo. That’s really not all that compelling.

By: Petite Poi

Petite Poi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:48:34 +0000

Agreed…idiot.

By: LisaL

LisaL — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:28:24 +0000

I vote idiot as well.
There are plenty of other things he could do to raise awareness other than this.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing about him coming down with some weird cancer b/c of these BS stunts.

By: Foreigner1

Foreigner1 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:01:27 +0000

Yeah wel… Bit complicated this one. But I wonder how far you need to go on a personal level to show the world something’s wrong…. Perhaps when he’s ill, he can sue someone for several billions of dollars in damage…? Perhaps that would make a difference.

By: Emperor Tomato Catsup

Emperor Tomato Catsup — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:49:02 +0000

I vote “idiot.”

By: onecrazymomma

onecrazymomma — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:37:27 +0000

i think it’s admirable that he’s willing to put his body and health on the line to support his beliefs, but i also think there are probably many other ways to educate people without having to risk your own health like this. aren’t enough people around the planet affected by all the environmental issues already? couldn’t he just draw attention to them?

By: seefish3

seefish3 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:16:10 +0000

This guy’s in the same catagory as that sting-ray-killed nature tv host who left a wife and kids behind because he wouldn’t stop f@#king with dangerous animals.

Lost cause anyway. Pollution will stop only when we as a species die off or leave the planet.

By: iamthepush

iamthepush — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:14:52 +0000

before he goes in the schools to speak they tell kids to stay off drugs, if they don’t they’ll end up like this guy

By: 032125

032125 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:13:16 +0000

Isn’t tannin a naturally occuring acid that comes from trees? Why does he even mention it?

By: Mytake

Mytake — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:28:19 +0000

He must make quite an impression when he enters the classrooms he visits. Students can’t help but be impressed by an environmental hero, particularly one that glows in the dark and has an extra eye on his forehead due to his pointless wallowing in toxic waste.

Someone should let this self-destructive egomaniac know that protecting natural life means taking care of your own well-being as well and avoiding juvenile oneupmanship attempts. Above all, set a good example. Don’t go out giving students bad ideas.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:11:38 +0000

I assume he is talking about the Potomac River in Washington DC. If so I would hardly call it “noxious”. Decades ago I would have agreed with you, but there has been a concerted effort over the years to clean the river up and it is far from a cesspool.

Granted there is some to be desired, and there is still work to be done, but it’s far from a sewer.

By: free online games for kids

free online games for kids — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:32:08 +0000

I think a lot more can be done in terms of saving the environment other than swimming in the pollution yourself, although I certainly respect the perseverance and determination to bring across the message through such means. I hope something good certainly comes out of this.

By: james tracy

james tracy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:11:56 +0000

Idiot.

By: ilikecows13

ilikecows13 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:37:20 +0000

I’ll just say, I’m glad I’m not his wife.

By: Kalel

Kalel — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:05:20 +0000

The power of his message won’t be complete until his activities finally kill him.

By: eni

eni — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:18:12 +0000

If something changes because of what he’s doing, people will call him a hero. If it doesn’t they will call him an idiot. It’s simple. The winner writes history.

By: secret asian man

secret asian man — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:18:01 +0000

White people are crazy!

By: vonskippy

vonskippy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:55:05 +0000

You know what else is dangerous? Power tools. Maybe the guy could cut off a few fingers or limbs to raise awareness on those dangers.

By: Geekazoid

Geekazoid — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:34:23 +0000

Good for him, but I don’t think anything is out of bounds for anyone these days wanting to be an activist or bring attention to their causes (or themselves as it increasingly seems).

Anything that can be made into a blog with advertising revenue and other sources of profit I suppose.