Midterms and all that

Are preventing me from posting.
In other news, the facebook group ‘Stephen Colbert for President’ is the fastest growing group ever, and is causing facebook quite a problem because of the sheer multitude of people joining it. I posted the link to this blog on its wall and got a huge surge in traffic to this [...]

I have a slight suspicion that some of my professors are reading this

Another incentive to take this thing down!

Spending a rainy day applying for internships

It’s a very drizzly day…

and I’m bored filling out applications to work for the NSA this summer (and slightly annoyed that they have a ridiculously early, October 15th, deadline).
I decided to apply for the NSA positions to keep my options open; the consulting positions that I’ll be applying for later on are notoriously difficult to [...]

Hitchens shames the Dutch, welcomes Hirsi Ali to America

Writing in Slate, Hitchens implores the Dutch to stand up for their Enlightenment values and protect Ayaan Hirsi Ali from murderous Islamic fundamentalists:
The Price of Freedom: if the Dutch government abandons Ayaan Hirsi Ali, America should welcome her. 

links for Oct 10, 2007

Theme: threats
Military:

China Announces Gains in Air Defense

The blanket of China’s air defense radar now almost matches similar networks in developed countries, state media reported today, in an announcement that coincided with Taiwan’s first National Day military parade in 16 years.

Taiwan Plans Missiles Able to Hit China

Faced with a threatening military buildup by China, an [...]

links for Oct 08, 2007

Two articles from the Washington Post:
On the environment:

In China, a Green Awakening

For almost three decades, the city had welcomed some of the world’s biggest polluters. Churning out paper, photographic film, dye, fertilizer, cement and other products for the global marketplace, the businesses helped make Wuxi into one of China’s wealthiest industrial cities. They also poisoned [...]

Christopher Hitchens: reasons for anti-theism

Here is a video of Christopher Hitchens giving his best summary of why he’s not just an atheist, but an anti-theist.
Enjoy!

What do you do when the promise of eternal salvation isn’t enough to sucker kids into attending church? Set up free Halo.

Tomorrow’s New York Times is running a great article about how leaders at Protestant churches, including those from evangelical branches who’ve actively opposed video games, are using ‘Halo nights’ to induce kids to come to church.
I suppose the pastors, “desperate to reach young congregants,” have come to the realization that the mind-numbing and immoral 2000 [...]