If I only had the time...

Here are a few articles that I would have loved to have blogged about today - if I only had the time. In no particular order:

Via Afarensis, we learn that the American Museum of Natural History in New York now has the authority to grant PhDs. If nothing else, that would probably look pretty cool on a diploma.

Time Magazine has a letter written by a US Marine Corps officer up on its website. The letter has been authenticated, and the sentiments expressed in it match up fairly well with what I've been hearing from people I know who have come back from sandbox tours. That one is a must-read.

Over at Respectful Insolence, Orac has an article about the unregulated pain in the collective ass of researchers that goes by the names"Institutional Review Board" or "Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee." While it's true that researchers will inevitably complain about anything that makes life in any way inconvenient, it's also true that these committees have gotten out of hand in far too many cases. All research that is related to either humans or to vertebrate animals has to go through one of these committees. The committees are largely unregulated, and there is no clear appeal process for their decisions. This is an example of a something that was put together to fill an immediate need, with far too little attention given to future consequences.

Ed Brayton wrote an article on the federal debt this morning that is a good read - even though I don't agree with all of it.

They're all good reads, so enjoy.