TIL: Today I Learned

Celt Z

Celt Z

jwhouk said:
TIL that there is a state park about thirty miles north of NYC in Yorktown Heights, just south of FDR State Park, that is named Donald J. Trump State Park.



It is not administered by the SONY Parks Department, as it was essentially "delisted" as a park 11 years ago. It is considered a "passive" park by the state, as in they do minimal work on it and - outside a couple of signs on the Taconic State Parkway and the entrance sign - keep it unsigned.
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This is the first time I've heard of it, and I've been in that area a number of times.

I wonder when that's going to be renamed.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

See, that's the problem. Trump "donated" it to the SONY because the local governments refused to allow him to build a private golf course on the land. Turns out it was essentially a tax dodge, as he vastly over-valued the land on his tax returns (I know, shocking, right?). Trump insisted in making the original donation that the park be named after him (of course) and that it couldn't be renamed. The state's been looking to rename it for a good while now, but recent events might finally be the tipping point.

The complete irony is that the park is mostly unmaintained (the annual operating budget was set at $2,500), and a few buildings that were on the park ground have been demolished due to neglect and decay.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

jwhouk said:
See, that's the problem. Trump "donated" it to the SONY because the local governments refused to allow him to build a private golf course on the land. Turns out it was essentially a tax dodge, as he vastly over-valued the land on his tax returns (I know, shocking, right?). Trump insisted in making the original donation that the park be named after him (of course) and that it couldn't be renamed. The state's been looking to rename it for a good while now, but recent events might finally be the tipping point.

The complete irony is that the park is mostly unmaintained (the annual operating budget was set at $2,500), and a few buildings that were on the park ground have been demolished due to neglect and decay.
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I'd say that's par for the course with everything he puts his name on.

:rimshot:
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

Okay, the Barack Obama State Park. Leave it the way it is, but allow organizations and volunteers to clean it up on chosen weekends.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

No, there are people that live right next to it. And there's the freeway that's on the other side of those houses and trees.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

TIL Robin Hobb's female. Also, that some of her books were published in Dutch a year ahead of being published in English. Which is neat, except that the Dutch translation really lose something in, err, translation.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Today I learned that you can go to adssettings.google.com to see what Google thinks about you (in order to customize the advertising you see).

Today I also learned that Google thinks I'm single. Must be all the porn searches.
 
Fun Size

Fun Size

I don't know if it's my judicious use of adblock plus, but they have nothing on me. Like, my age, I'm a dude, and I have a Discover card. End of list. Shocking given how much I'm online.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I've been watching a lot of documentaries on YouTube lately. I found a presenter that is on Timeline doing a lot of Roman and walking history shows. I thought he looked familiar and he always drags out the last syllable of a sentence. I kept thinking that he reminded me of Baldrick from Blackadder... turns out that I was right!
 
Emrys

Emrys

sixpackshaker said:
I've been watching a lot of documentaries on YouTube lately. I found a presenter that is on Timeline doing a lot of Roman and walking history shows. I thought he looked familiar and he always drags out the last syllable of a sentence. I kept thinking that he reminded me of Baldrick from Blackadder... turns out that I was right!
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Those are wonderful! Also check out his "Worst Jobs in History" series.
 
drifter

drifter

He has an athletic background (played football in college and had a tryout with the Steelers), so I'm not entirely surprised.
 
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