Two must-reads:

Scout gives us an article of impeachment introduced by Dennis Kucinich:

Article XXXI

KATRINA: FAILURE TO PLAN FOR THE PREDICTED DISASTER OF HURRICANE KATRINA, FAILURE TO RESPOND TO A CIVIL EMERGENCY

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed", has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, failed to take sufficient action to protect life and property prior to and in the face of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, given decades of foreknowledge of the dangers of storms to New Orleans and specific forewarning in the days prior to the storm. The President failed to prepare for predictable and predicted disasters, failed to respond to an immediate need of which he was informed, and has subsequently failed to rebuild the section of our nation that was destroyed.

Also via First Draft:

43 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

Somebody, get me Nora Charles. I need to become a very superior 1930's wife whilst taking care of Asta and solving crimes with my husband Dan/Nick/NicholASS (as my disapproving parents call him) as we raise our growing child.

Another must-read: AccreditateGate:

According to the few responses I have recieved and based on prior knowledge from an old Coastal Georgia accreditation situation, applying for accreditation from a regional accrediting organization (such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [SACS]) is a fairly lenthy and expensive process. Current timelines indicate that an application can take up to 5 years to complete, and that comes after 3 years of data collection at the applicant school or district.

That makes some sense. As I understand it, the district or the school is responsible for proving to the accreditor that they should be accredited. It can take some time to prove that you adhere to the appropriate standards to recieve the stamp of approval.

But 8 years is one hell of a long time, especially if the RSD started operating as a blank slate in 2006. That means it could take until 2009 for the very first RSD schools to start applying and the first RSD schools won't recieve accreditation until 2014 at the earliest.

I have also learned that the individuals most affected by a school or district's accreditation are high school seniors applying to colleges. If you are going to a college or university that is regionally accredited, your admission is aided if you went to a high school that also had regional accreditation. If your high school was not regionally accredited, you may face additional hurdles when attempting to go to college. For the record, most of the recognizable colleges and universities have regional accreditation.

In response to this, many high schools require the GEE to graduate. This is a standardized exam that aids a passing student in proving to a regionally accredited university that the student's education has met certain standards necessary for admission.

Another way accreditation affects students is when it comes to transfer credits... Many accredited schools will not accept transfer credits from non-accredited schools. This again becomes problematic for students as they may have to repeat classes based on what schools they end up attending in different years. I can also forsee this being a problem for students who attend RSD middle schools who then attempt to attend OPSB high schools that maintain accreditation. Let that roll around for a minute.

I have no current evidence that this has happened, but I wonder how many parents have been or will be told their children can't attend Lusher, O.P. Walker, Ben Franklin or Warren Easton not based on grades or LEAP scores, but because their children didn't attend an accredited middle school. (I also wonder how long it will take voucher-supporters to begin using this argument to further their cause.)

If y'all need me, I'll be taking advantage of the world's biggest time sink. I don't know whether to thank the Cajun Boy or whack him for the introduction...