Money (That's What I Want)

On the competition for NIH challenge grant money that is available as part of the stimulus package, Amanda Schaffer writes:

"To a young applicant, these look a bit like de facto earmarks, drawn up with particular scientists in mind. (Many have combed the topic lists to see where their work might fit in. This has involved a lot of all-nighters and an 'almost comedic reshaping of what people do,' said the New Jersey biologist.) As a result, the competition has started to look something like America's Got Talent—if Bob Dylan, Beyoncé, and Bono were allowed to compete."

Bono, of course, is not actually American. Which I guess would make the possibility of him performing on America's Got Talent even more unfair.

By the way, where's the federal stimulus money for ethnomusicology? Someone has to keep pointing out slips like this one.