Something to keep in mind: even when the shutdown shenanigans are done with, Republicans will still keep beating up on science. Republican Representative and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the theocratic wing of the base (he has a little Jewish problem after all) has decided to do his part in the War on Science (boldface mine):

We are launching an experiment – the first YouCut Citizen Review of a government agency. Together, we will identify wasteful spending that should be cut and begin to hold agencies accountable for how they are spending your money.

First, we will take a look at the National Science Foundation (NSF) – Congress created the NSF in 1950 to promote the progress of science. For this purpose, NSF makes more than 10,000 new grant awards annually, many of these grants fund worthy research in the hard sciences. Recently, however NSF has funded some more questionable projects – $750,000 to develop computer models to analyze the on-field contributions of soccer players and $1.2 million to model the sound of objects breaking for use by the video game industry. Help us identify grants that are wasteful or that you don’t think are a good use of taxpayer dollars.

Step One: Look for Questionable Grants
Click here to open the National Science Foundation website. In the “Search Award For” field, try some keywords, such as: success, culture, media, games, social norm, lawyers, museum, leisure, stimulus, etc. to bring up grants. If you find a grant that you believe is a waste of your taxdollars, be sure to record the award number.

I’m surprised they didn’t add penis (ZOMG!!!!). I’m sure nothing can go wrong when people who believe in invisible light bulb vigilantes, who think that international disarmament means you won’t be able to own a handgun, who think ceiling fan regulations are an assault on OUR FREEDOM!, who think finding out how medical interventions perform will lead to death panels, who think smart electric meters are part of a nefarious monitoring plot (even as they don’t really seem upset about the ongoing domestic surveillance revelations), and who think the detailed Census infringes upon OUR FREEDOM! (THEY MAY TAKE OUR LIVES, BUT THEY’LL NEVER COUNT OUR TOILET BOWLS! WOLVERINES!), well, I’m sure they’ll do a splendid job assessing scientific research.

Well, done Shanda. Well done.