Rove Indicted!

From The Onion

WASHINGTON, DC—
The recent leak revealing Santa Claus to be "your mommy and daddy" has been linked to President Bush's senior political adviser and deputy chief of staff Karl Rove.

"If this devastating leak, which severely undermines the security of children everywhere and has compromised parent-child relations, came from the highest levels of the White House, that is an outrage," said former Bush counterterrorism adviser and outspoken Bush Administration critic Richard Clarke.

The identity of the mythical holiday gift-giver, previously known only in grown-up circles, was published in the popular Timbertoes cartoon in the December issue of Highlights For Children. Jean Abrams, a conservative firebrand known to have close ties to Bush appointees in the Department of Education, revealed "Santa" to be a code name for anonymous parental gift-giving.

Abrams and several other children's-magazine journalists, including Ranger Rick's Kristin Brittany and Cricket managing editor Shaina Belowitz, have testified before a federal grand jury on the source of the leak. Sources say that Randall Polk, Washington bureau chief for Weekly Reader, named Rove after serving eight days in jail for refusing to divulge his sources.

Federal investigators began to suspect a White House connection to the Santa leak when Abrams wrote in Timbertoes that the character of Pa had some "devastating information" on "very high authority."

"Did you know that Santa Claus is really just your mommy and daddy?" Pa's dialogue read. "It's true. Sometimes parents tell little white lies to their children to make them feel special."

Clarke criticized the leak as "foolhardy," saying it was "the kind of conduct you would expect from dangerous zealots who routinely confuse short-term political gain with the national interest."

"This leak compromises generations of undercover work on the part of U.S. parents," Clarke said. "Consider all the covers that will be blown, all the secret gift-hiding places that will be exposed."

The motivations behind the leak remain unclear, but some political observers have characterized it as a calculated act of retribution against Fairfax, VA second-grader Madison Harris. Harris, 7, wore an antiwar T-shirt to her elementary school during a Nov. 2 visit by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

"The shirt, decorated with doves and the word 'peace,' angered White House ideologues, who felt that Harris had undermined a tightly orchestrated visit," independent political media watchdog Ellen Applebee said. "An aggressive attempt to hit Harris where she lived was set in motion."

On Nov. 3, Rove told reporters, "People shouldn't take too seriously the opinions of someone who still thinks a fat man slides down the chimney into her living room every December 25." On Nov. 6, he told several aides, "I don't consider it precocious to wear peace T-shirts and, from what I hear, read Highlights."

Applebee cited these comments as evidence of "Rove's deliberate campaign against Harris."

During that same week, Rove is also believed to have placed calls to several of the children's-magazine journalists who were later called before the grand jury.

If Rove is responsible for leaking Santa's identity to the world's children, it would not be his first political "dirty trick." In 1988, he was fired from George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign for sending an unsigned letter to the young daughter of a Dukakis campaign adviser. In the letter, he revealed the sad ending of the film Old Yeller.

On Capitol Hill, many say they believe that the damage has already been done. Clarke cited the absence of Santas from several department stores across the country as possible evidence that their compromised identities fatally damaged their credibility.

"I don't envy parents of young children right now," Clarke said. "Trust has been shattered. I wouldn't be surprised if some moms and dads are forced into hiding."

My teeth are healthy

Good news today. The Peace Corps sent an email saying: "Peace Corps has completed your dental review. There are no dental holds on your account at this time." Yay! Now if only the medical portion of the application would take as quick. Here's for hoping...


Ok for the pic of the day. I took this photo a few weeks ago when I made a yogurt cake with raspberries.

Yo!

I love cinnamon buns.

In other news, I have decided to add a feature to this informative blog about moi. I want to show aspects of my life so I am gonna take pictures of regular things around me and I will try to post a picture every day to every few days, we will see.

A sunny winter day

The Genographic Project

National Geographic started a project in April 2005 compiling a database to track the genetics of all people and ethnic groups in the world and their diversity. Those who are lucky to be members of the 1st World can pay a $100 fee to get a kit in which you take a sample of your cheek cells and send it in to them. National Geographic then processed your DNA, the Y chromosome in men & mtDNA in women, and sends back the information that is in your DNA. Well, with the money that Mom gave me to Christmas, I decided to order this and find out. I just took the sample from my cheeks and sent in the packet. I think it will take around 8 weeks to process the data and then I will find out where I came from. Woohoo!

You can find out about this here.

get ready to gamble everything

Powerball is coming to North Carolina. I am sure that many many will spend plenty to "ensure our student's education" wink-wink.

On a total and opposite matter, I spend entirely too much money. After Christmas, I will my goal to cut spending to what i need, and not what I want. To save to things is my new mantra. We will see...

"Lazy Sunday" SNL Digital Short

Last night, Saturday Night Live had a hiliarious comedic bit featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell. It has cupcakes, movie theatres, and the (Chronic)les of Naria.

Watch this and laugh.

winter time update

Well, this morning I got some good news. The PC has received the packet. The website says that they are reviewing the medical and dental portions. From what I have read, this process can take from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. I hope it is the couple of weeks choice.

At the same time that I was working on my packet, the Peace Corps required me to do another thing. Since Mom decided to take on paying off my college loans until I come back, I had to assure the PC that this was actually happening. At first, all they told me to do is have mom write on a piece of paper that they was taking over the loan, have it stamped by a notary, and fax it to the PC. Haha, knowing that this was a federal bureaucracy should have alerted to me that this wasn't the end of it. A little later, I got an email saying that Mom needed to write the letter again, have it notarized and then MAIL it to the PC. Well , I did that at the same time as the medical packet, and today my Toolkit says that there are no legal holds on my application status. w00T!!

Ok, what else is happening?? I am bored to death of living at home. Here on Little Horse Creek, I am so remote from even the least little fun thing to do. There is no where to go out to and nothing to do even in the largest hamlet here, West Jefferson. I know I will miss home when I am gone, but as of right now, I can't wait to leave.

Since winter has unofficially begun here, we have been hit by a plague of mice. It has truely been crazy. Over the past month, our mouse-traps in the little hallway connected to the basement has caught 17 mice and 1 shrew lol. I think it is because there are entrances in the basement that they can get into to escape the cold and find food and then they decide to nibble the cheese to their ultimate demise. Who knows how many more we will catch??

Ok that is all of my thoughts. I am glad that there are people out there reading this, I can tell from using Google Analytics.

Peace

Medical Forms have been completed!!!!

After many tedious and time-consuming forms, I have completed all that I needed to fill out, wrote my name and SSN on every single form, and mailed the whole package in. I am relieved that I am healthy and that all of it in out of my hands. Hopefully, I will hear from the PC within a month and will get my nomination soon!!!

Today Mom and I waited at Polly's until Bailey had her little dance recital. She danced a total of 5 minutes but it was cute. The weather is nasty today due to freezing rain but there wasn't any major accumulation of ice on the roads so mom and I arrived back to here, the back of beyond called Horse Creek.

Ok that is all I have to say for now. Say a little prayer for me as I go through the process.

Ciao