• some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      7 hours ago

      404 Media is journalist-founded and supported by reader subscriptions. They are four high quality investigators doing amazing work (they work with a couple of other people on some stories).

      If you can’t afford it, I understand. I share archive links all the time. For anyone with a few extra bucks who cares about quality reporting by people with integrity, this is easily one of the best options around. I’ve been extremely happy knowing they exist. (Gets you extra content from their podcast, too.)

      • Syrc@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        I generally hate the principle of subscriptions + ads + paywalling stuff to viewers but not to crawlers, it’s pretty much double-dipping while baiting people for SEO.

        On the other hand, I understand that in this day and age keeping a news outlet afloat without “outside influence” requires doing stuff like this. It’s a hard thing to balance but in either case I appreciate the insight from your comment, I admit I didn’t look them up and I figured they were just another money-hungry megacorp-owned outlet.

  • ptc075@lemmy.zip
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    10 hours ago

    Stories like this always remind me of the Peter’s parking deck at GA Tech. The couple that donated the land wanted it to be a park, so that the students would have a green place to play and relax. Once Tech had the land, they put a parking deck there instead. But they put a basketball court on the top level so that they technically met the letter of the law.

    In fairness, as a student I needed that parking deck way more than I needed the park.

    • Soup@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      The said part there is truly that the you needed a parking lot more than greenspace.

    • neuromorph@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      omg, never knew about this donation. Sad, but also in the spirit of an engineer doing absolute minimum to pass compliance while achieving what you need. Whats the good word!

  • NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca
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    12 hours ago

    I’m curious what would be the better approach if someone wanted to donate land to be used for a park? Give it to a charity? Or somehow find the cash and just build the park yourself and let people visit your land?

    • ITGuyLevi@programming.dev
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      11 hours ago

      My town had a guy that loved baseball a long time ago, he had money and wanted it local so he built a baseball field right on the river, made a big park and donated it to the city. He was pretty smart about it and worked the deed so that it would take a two-third vote of the citizens to sell it.

      Fast forward to a couple of years ago and the mayor petitioned the governor to change the deed under an NDA as he wanted to lease the park to a minor league baseball team. In the deal he also gave them the naming rights for the park, so the baseball team renamed the park after a local bank that gave them money.

    • MrNesser@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Depends how it was dontated, you can specify a loan of the land indefinetly to the city as long as its use is xyz.

      If its a straight donation with no caveats attached then the city can do what it wants

      My local council tried to build on some park land donated 100 years ago but the donator had specified its usage in the donation so they got shut down pretty hard.

      • Syrc@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Unfortunately it seems like the donator specified the usage in this case as well, but the courts are straight up ignoring it.

        On July 7, 1999, Bland’s descendants granted 87.97 acres of land to the “Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation, a Texas non-profit corporation, to be held in trust for future use as parkland by Williamson County, Texas,” according to a copy of the deed reviewed by 404 Media.

    • betanumerus@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      Keep the land. Build on it that park you have in mind. A donation means you give away any control.

  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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    16 hours ago

    a while back when i was a animal physio class a university, the profess told how he knew someone about to retire/Will but he wanted to donate it to STANFORD on the sole purpose of it being used as a research station in some island/country. the guy somehow heard the stanford lawyers said they were going to sell it or rent it out instead right behind his back. he gave it to Berkley university instead to be used for science.

    the moral of the story make sure you have something in place so that the land/property being donated is used properly by a lawyer or a trust org.

    • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca
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      12 hours ago

      Universities are a business and have the morals of your generic street thug. Why anyone would consider donating anything to them is a mystery.

  • Eternal192@anarchist.nexus
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    1 day ago

    AI is starting to show that it isn’t worth the investment and they are STILL building more?!? WTF is going on?

    • fenrasulfr@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Because I do not think AI is the actual end goal. I think the actual end goal is cloud computing. They want everyone to use thin clients and connect to their data center instead of using a pc at home.

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        There are multiple goals in mind such as surveillance, pumping the stock market, taking control out of people’s hands, excuses to do things like lay people off, etc. In this case or in general for local governments, it’s a matter of a select number of people getting a lot of money in their pockets and thus pushing for these data centers to happen.

      • Eternal192@anarchist.nexus
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        3 hours ago

        That might have worked over a few generations but they want people that are used to owning their stuff to just give it up over night and it’s not going very well for them.

      • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        I think the real goal is the billionaires uploading their minds to achieve immortality. Definitely impossible, but that’s what I think.

        • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          That was my theory to why Zuck was so interested in his Metaverse. Every billionaire is planning some sort of post-life or extending their lives one way or another. The same way kings and emperors of history have.

          • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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            8 hours ago

            Chinese emperors often consumed mercury in pursuit of eternity. Zuck and friends want to print themselves onto silicon. Coincidence?

            • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              You also have Brian Johnson’s blood transfusions and it wouldn’t be a stretch that Musk’s children are all potential organ donors.

      • nosuchanon@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Don’t forget the surveillance state! The global buildout for the NWO one government surveillance state will be paid with your pension and retirement savings.

        • fenrasulfr@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          Nothing to do with a so called new world orde just the same people as before. It is just the government and industrialist that want more power. We are just living though the beginings of a cyberpunk setting.

            • fenrasulfr@lemmy.world
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              7 hours ago

              Well there is cool tech for the ultra rich (some examples, robotic prostetics, private space companies, Gabe’s private lab yachts, brain interface, private exploration of the Marianna trench).

              We definetly get the sloppy seconds, if that.

      • Rothe@piefed.social
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        15 hours ago

        Jensen Huang has been pretty open about that being the plan lately. Although he still insists that even the cloud computers will be run by AI agents.

    • Auth@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      That is crazy and would make no sense for them to do. Why do you think they’re doing that?

        • dzsimbo@sopuli.xyz
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          1 day ago

          Lol, that’s clearly Portugal. They have burrokracia over there, and they are honorary Balkan.

        • wia@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          Not judging but curious, why did you dig into post histories? I see plenty of people doing it even if I never do, so I’m just curious why.

          • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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            23 hours ago

            Can’t answer for them but the few times I’ve done it is to make sure I’m talking with someone that can actually hold a conversation and I’m not arguing with a shill or looney. Sometimes just to see what a person is like on average. Especially if they act like a cunt for little reason. Some do it just for curiosity sake.

        • innermachine@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Lol I wasn’t expecting op to actually reply don’t need them doxxing themselves was just poking fun at how that crap happens more often than you’d think with the corruption , shits a plague everywhere

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.website
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      Even if they didn’t do her dirty, she wouldn’t. She donated it to the city and relinquished ownership of it. The expectation, even written into the deed, was that the land was to be used as a park, but they turned around and sold it multiple times. Despite the stipulation in the original deed to the parks and recreation department, the data center is still going forward.

      The story is just such a tragedy all around.

      • Arrandee@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Huh, I’m not an attorney but that sure seems actionable if the intended use was documented in a contract.

      • bluGill@fedia.io
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        While in many ways it is a tragedy, the cure is often worse. I on balance oppose deed restrictions, either you own the land and pay taxes, or you give up all control. Deed restrictions just force future generations to live by your values and that is a bad thing.

        • frostysauce@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          As for your last line there, forcing future generations to live by the values of having a park isn’t a bad thing.

          • bluGill@fedia.io
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            7 hours ago

            What makes you so sure? I mean, I would hope that future generations will have parks, but we don’t know what the future is going to be like. There may be some consideration that we couldn’t even conceive of that would make it not a good thing for them to have a park. Or maybe parks are considered good in future generations, but there’s a reason that that is a particularly bad spot to have a park.

        • Iced Raktajino@startrek.website
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          1 day ago

          It’s a lot like another commenter mentioned about eminent domain. It can be used for good (roads, fiber deployments, district heating, etc) but also for things not so good (data centers, etc).

          I went out of my way to find a house that didn’t even have a vestigial HOA deed restriction, so I get that. But when a private citizen donates something to the local municipality, it’s pretty egregious to not honor those restrictions, especially for things that may take a while to develop.

          I’d donate my share of my family’s farmland to build a park, but I wouldn’t sell it for all the money in the world to build a datacenter or landfill or anything else, really.

          • bluGill@fedia.io
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            1 day ago

            It is a jerk move for sure and the voters should be mad about this. If you can’t keep your word without a contract that says a lot about your lack of honor.

            I’m talking pure legality here though. The cities actions are legal and should be. They are however dishonorable and nobody should deal with the city again.

    • Brem@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Best they can do is no trees, half of everyone riding mobility scooters and neighbors with dogs that can poop EVERYWHERE.