resources sector, particularly in the north-west of Western Australia, has been quite strong so we welcome the decision that has been made," he said. Fraud reports Many overseas students from Asia seek residency in Australia after completing vocational courses at private colleges, usually in hairdressing and catering. Education experts have been calling on Australia to overhaul its foreign student sector after reports of fraud and that students were using the system purely to gain residency in Australia. Last year 170,000 people applied to live and work permanently in Australia as skilled migrants, but there were just 108,100 places available, he said. Mr Evans added that all lower-skilled applications lodged before 1 September 2007, when English language skills and work experience requirements were easier, would have their applications withdrawnPages

September 17, 2008

Everything And More: David Foster Wallace And Infinite Jest

"The truth will you set you free, but not until it's done with you."

David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest was published in early 1996. Part of the book's huge hype (and for me, its initial allure) was its sheer size -- a brick of nearly 1,100 pages (cut down from an alleged 1,700!), including 388 small-fonted endnotes. I borrowed it from the library, but my brain balked at its dense prose and confusing storylines (which were also jumping back and forth in time). I gave up after 100 or so pages.

But I returned maybe a year or two later. I bought the paperback and dove back in. At about the 200-page mark, a number of the plot lines