...in our ongoing debate about government funding for scientific research is now available at his blog Freespace. I'm a bit tied up with other things today and tomorrow, so it may be Friday before I get a chance to post a response. In the meantime, since his blog doesn't allow for comments, feel free to continue the discussion here.

• UAlbany off party school list -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY
  The school that I started my very long undergraduate career at is no longer one of the top party schools in the country. But the food still sucks.
• The World's Fair : Hopefully, the start of a definitive list of things to avoid at all cost when speaking publicly.
  David Ng's got a list of things to not do when giving a talk. It's cool. And it keeps getting longer. It's worth a read, and I bet you can come up with something to contribute, too.
• The Great Beyond: California clamps down on ships' sulphur
  I've got mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, I'm in favor of having ships clean up their emissions as much as possible. On the other, anything that increases the cost of shipping goods through California is going to make things harder for folks in Ha

• BBC NEWS | Americas | US man charged for shooting mower
  "It's my front yard, and I'll shoot if I want to, shoot if I want to, shoot if I want to. You would shoot too, if it broke down on you."
• Strange Maps
  A pretty cool blog that Wired's Geek Dads just pointed me to.
• Industry Gushed Money After Reversal on Drilling - washingtonpost.com
  The real payoff for McCain's drilling flip-flop didn't come at the pump.

• Video: Escaped chimp disarms zookeeper | Environment | guardian.co.uk
  Title says it all.
• Feministe » More On Medical Battery
  Yet another case of a surgeon going just a little bit beyond the procedure he had the patient's consent for.
• Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Idiot of the Century?
  To answer Ed's question, No. I'm sure that there's been someone dumber than this schmoe. I just can't think of an example.

• Mingle2 - 9 Reasons Not to Date a Tyrannosaurus Rex
  Cute. Not very cute, but cute.
• Leo Hickman: Ofcom's verdict on Channel 4 will feed the conspiracy theorists | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
  He's right, but that's why they're conspiracy theorists.
• The Beagle Project Blog: Lonesome George not so lonesome
  A very endangered species gets a boost, as the sole surviving male finally figures out what his job really is.
• Science To Life : 6 years, 3 letters-The end of graduate school
  Go say congrats to Scienceblogs' Karen Ventii!
• Greg Laden's Blog : John McCain Kicks Librarian Out
  Go watch this video.

• The Darwin Diet | Science | guardian.co.uk
  I'm not sure I'd try any of those diets out, but I'm not a fan of Atkins, either.
• The rise of the urban shepherd | Society | The Guardian
  At least one municipality in the UK is turning to sheep to help with park upkeep (but watch your step in the meadows). I'd love to see this kind of thing happen in the US. New York might not be the best starting point, though. Those squirrels are pretty t
• KHNL NBC 8 Honolulu Hawaii |California container fee could hurt Hawaii consumers
  A move by California to tax incoming shipping containers as part of an effort to curb air pollution could result in an increased cost of goods in Honolulu.
• 260503main_red_green_blue2.mov (video/quicktime Object)
  A NASA film clip of the moon passing in front of the earth, filmed from one of the ongoing robotic missions.

• A Blog Around The Clock : The Giant's Shoulders #1
  Bora brings us the inaugural edition of a new blog carnival devoted to posts that discuss classic scientific papers. If you're interested in history, there's a lot there to enjoy.
• Virtual humans: a quest - University of Oxford
  Folks at Oxford hope to eventually build a complete computer model of human physiology. They're starting with the heart. Remaining hurdles include the need to fully understand the heart, and to build a powerful enough computer. I'm not holding my breath.
• Warmer Temps, More Kidney Stones - TIME
  Three words, people: Drink. More. Water.

• Beavers, wolves & boar, oh my - University of Oxford
  Interesting article on the issues that come up when previously lost species are reintroduced to an area.
• Daily Kos: GOP, the Know-Nothing Party
  The Republicans continue to demonstrate that they're against pretty much everything. (In this case, it's learning any language besides English.

• The Greenbelt: Man Sues Church After Prayer Is Granted
  This needs to be read to get the full effect. If you lack patience, here's the short version: Man prays for a powerful religious experience. Man receives powerful religious experience. Man sues church over injuries sustained when struck by religious exper
• Greg Laden's Blog : Verily, "Homosexuality is the Downfall of Society"
  Once again, we have a Republican winner in the "Do what I say, not what I do" category.

• Gene Expression: Americans are scientific geniuses (relatively)
  No, Razib, we're not geniuses. We're apparently just slightly less stupid than others.
• An Original Confession - Olivia Judson - Evolution - Opinion - New York Times Blog
  Good article on Darwin as a writer. Personally, I find Darwin readable, but I prefer Wallace.
• Fineman on Gramm's 'Whiners' Gaffe | Newsweek Voices - Howard Fineman | Newsweek.com
  Just in case you were in a coma yesterday and managed to miss Gramm's slip up. (If you did and want the short version, let's just say that good ol' Phill's gonna be pooping shoelaces.)