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November 30, 2010
"You know, a lot of people ask me—well, some people ask me—two people asked me once—'What is facilities management, again?' Let me clarify this: facilities management is a very specialized function that is evolving in Corporate America, which takes care of the management of facilities for said corporations. Is that a lot clearer?"
The Juggler explains facilities management.
(single link Google video) [more inside]
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 10:38 PM PST - 15 comments
Sam Hengel, a 15-year-old student at Marinette High School in Wisconsin, held a classroom of 23 students and a teacher hostage on Monday, November 28th. Without making any demands from police, Hengel released the hostages and shot himself. Early Tuesday morning, Hengel died in the hospital. (
1,
2)
[more inside]
posted by MHPlost at 10:06 PM PST - 101 comments
Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen may hold the pop music record for highest ratio of covers to initial popular success. Why? theories abound, but in an
essay in America Magazine Thomas G. Casey, S.J., director of the Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies in Rome and professor of philosophy at the Gregorian University, offers an interesting and compelling argument why this is a song for our time. It also provides a framework for understanding the difference between
the good,
the bad and
the meh.
posted by TheShadowKnows at 8:33 PM PST - 99 comments
The Africa Portal is an online knowledge resource for policy-related issues on Africa. An undertaking by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (
CIGI), Makerere University (
MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (
SAIIA), the Africa Portal offers open access to a suite of features including an online library collection; a resource for opinion and analysis; an experts directory; an international events calendar; and a mobile technology component—all aimed to equip users with research and information on Africa’s current policy issues.
[more inside]
posted by infinite intimation at 7:47 PM PST - 8 comments
The pictures show a lovely celebration. A crowd of 100 or so is seated on a well-groomed lawn in front of a trim orchestra and a grand old plantation house. A retired astronaut has been flown in to address the group. Late in the day, two hot-air balloons skim the dusky sky. That fall day in 2007 seemed an auspicious start for a college with only five professors and 10 students. But as the year wore on, the students, professors, and staff members became convinced that it was a sign of something else entirely: an elaborate facade.
The brief rise and rapid fall of
Founders College, an
experiment in
Randian education.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:09 PM PST - 83 comments
"The project was the brainchild of three good friends of mine. One was an astronaut, one was a communications genius who used to work with Walter Cronkite and the third was a highly respected scientist, and the one thing I won’t tell you about them is their names. You see, the three of them collectively cooked up one of the very best ideas I have ever heard, and they overcame all obstacles to make it come to pass. But then they messed up one tiny, inconsequential little detail. That turned the whole enterprise into a catastrophic confusion which gave great pleasure to some but cost others, including one of its principle intended beneficiaries of the idea, the Holland America cruise ship line, a ton of money." -
Frederik Pohl [
previously]
[more inside]
posted by brundlefly at 4:03 PM PST - 47 comments
SEED Magazine:
Wealth of Nations:
"Shared natural resources underpin the global economy, but our current economic system does not acknowledge their worth. Can a major new effort to assess the costs of biodiversity loss force a paradigm shift in what we value?" [more inside]
posted by zarq at 2:17 PM PST - 10 comments
“It’s time to return America to the common sense conservative principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual responsibility.
The Repeal Amendment would provide a check on the ever-expanding federal government, protect against Congressional overreach, and get the government working for the people again, not the other way around. In order to return America to opportunity, responsibility, and success, we must reverse course and the Repeal Amendment is a step in that direction.”
—incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), on a proposed amendment allowing a 2/3 vote by the state governments to overturn any federal law or regulation.
[more inside]
posted by kipmanley at 2:04 PM PST - 134 comments
Melvin Van Peebles made a documentary called Classified X in 1998, about the portrayal of black people throughout the history of American cinema. You can see it on YT in six parts:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6. Apologies for the low video quality.
posted by Dim Siawns at 1:46 PM PST - 19 comments
Anyone can write Star Trek fan-fiction, but few can render it in 3-D. Since 2006, Brandon Bridges has been writing, directing and producing a work of full-length Star Trek fan fiction entitled
Star Trek: Specter of the Past.
ST:SOTP "follows the crew of the USS Fitzgerald, an Entente-class starship commanded by newly promoted Captain Gaius Reyf."
Last month, Bridges released his
Director's Edition to the web. It should be noted that Bridges plans to re-release the film with a full voice cast. Parts
0,
1, 2
, 3, 4
, 5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11 and
12.
(Multi-link YouTube Post) [more inside]
posted by grabbingsand at 8:45 AM PST - 45 comments
