Cedar chips for August 5

• We all hate No Child Left Behind.
  
  It's panned in the media, on right-wing radio, on NPR (the most listened-to radio station in Portland, by the way).
  
  Not many people can say why though — so here's NCLB in a nutshell:
  
  Every subgroup of every school most show improvement every year from the prior year's test scores. So if your school finishes with 98% passing in 2007, and only gets 97% in 2008, guess what?
  
  You're nonproficient.
  
  And, if, God forbid, your test scores slip back to 90%, you're really in deep stuff. (Big O)
  
  It's just too bad we can't do the same thing to the presidency.
  
  If the President can't improve his approval rating after two years, Americans have the right to transfer to another country and W has to work on a improvement plan.
  
  After three years, Americans have to be supplied with supplemental services, maybe tax cuts for the not-so-rich.
  
  After four years, W's got to take corrective action, like firing cabinet secretaries, not taking August off in Crawford, or shooting Dick Cheney out of a cannon.
  
  And after five years of sinking ratings, the White House must be taken over by Congress. Or Canada. 
• Another of the Bushies' operating philosophies: people are responsible for themselves. This goes for the disabled, too. Get jobs, folks. God gave you gifts. Use 'em. (Big O)
• Daughter of editor at Califoregon suburb gets bright idea, decides to go without a car in the most car-free-able city in the West, gets on CNN for it. If only it were that easy for the rest of us. (Calumbian)
• Speaking of columnists in the suburbs, ag county wingnut Hanoi Jayne writes a column which apparently nobody decided to check for accuracy. (Ag County Weekly)
• Califoregon suburb paper talks to senator, discovers that federal highway funding comes from gas tax, of which people are continually paying less. Of course, by the time we do something about it, every car will get 60 mpg,  and there will be exactly 70 cents in the federal budget for the I-5 bridge project. (Calumbian)
• But at least it'll be in the federal budget. (Calumbian)
• Unless these hippie nutsies can stop it. (Weekly Superfund)
• Meanwhile, in free weekly land, more hippie nutsies propose union to push for a fareless system on TriMet. Which is kind of like suggesting that we should suspend the gas tax. (Distant Stranger)
• Good thing a writer for the DS has a blog. I bought some George Michael on my iPod last Thursday and have been wondering for five days whether that makes me gay. Seriously. (Matt Davis Opens His Mouth)