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NORAD's Amazing 60-Year Santa Tracking History (networkworld.com)
coondoggie writes: The National Archive blog takes a look at the background of the nation's premier defense unit's 60 years of tracking of Santa as he travels around the globe delivering his Christmas goodies. Colonel Harry Shoup began the tradition in 1955, after receiving a phone call from a child expecting to reach Santa Claus. The misdirected call was the result of the child reversing two numbers of a Santa Line phone number printed in a Sears advertisement, according to the National Archives.
Looks like coal and switches for you this year little boy.
...in an scarlet clad elf who sacrifices himself to provide pleasure to little children when I was young. Around the age of seven or so I realized that it was all hokey, but by then I was able to comprehend the spirit behind the season.
Some of humanities rules are very simple:
1) Number one is the Golden Rule, treat others as you have would others treat you!
2) It is better to give than receive.
3) Question everything.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
In this world of smart phones, supercookies, browser fingerprinting, unwarranted wiretap, NSL, mass surveillance, and encryption backdoors, I can only say this:
In post-soviet World, Santa tracks YOU!
Obey, good citizen!
Many people of all manner of beliefs already celebrated something around the 25th of December (near the winter solstice). Christmas trees are a pagan tradition. Santa Claus is a weird mix of Northern European Christian traditions and pagan myths. (Interestingly, st. Nicholas or Sinterklaas as he's called over here, from whom both the name and the idea of Santa Claus appears to have originated, is celebrated as a separate holiday on December 5th here in the Netherlands and Belgium. 30 years ago, Sinterklaas was the children's holiday of the year, with Christmas mostly being a family gettogether where kids might perhaps receive a small gift)
So Christmas has some religious roots though they certainly aren't all Christian, and the rest is all of pagan origin. It has long since ceased to be a religious festival and evolved into something that non-Christians enjoy celebrating as a nice family holiday as well (especially since we don't have something like Thanksgiving over here). Instead of going full PC and banning Christmas trees from public offices for fear of offending someone, better to pitch Christmas as a generic holiday. Hell, I know some Muslims who have a family dinner on Christmas eve even if they don't go so far as to call it that.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
He is going in and out of the country without any papers. They are able to track him.
To me it is clear that they are just a waste of money. If they can not stop a single person on a sledge, how do they think they can stop bombs coming in from the Soviet Union.
And to people telling he is no danger: he is clearly devastating for the US toy industry as the majority he brings in is made by underpaid elves in (as indicate don the toys) in China.
The reason nothing is done is because he favors the rich more than the poor and those are the people in charge.
Wake up sheeple!
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
60 Years and NORAD still hasn't been able to direct a missile to shoot down this object!!
Many people of all manner of beliefs already celebrated something around the 25th of December (near the winter solstice).
More specifically, it's four days after the solstice. In a pre-technological society, you didn't have any accurate way of noting the time of sunrise -- but in four days, you could note the progression of where it rose. Hey, the sun was rising over that rock, now it's rising over that tree -- it's coming back!
You knew there was still a lot of winter ahead, but the outcome was assured, and you could afford to break into the stored food and have a party.
If you object to "Christmas" because you don't believe in the story behind it, you may want to reconsider what you call it.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Yes. Because fortress-building horses, gods who cross-dress to impersonate the bride at a wedding, and tasty-goat-drawn chariots make a lot of sense. I do have to admit the story about Thor's beer run where he eats two cows, beats up a sea serpent, and gets in a brawl on a fishing trip, would make a great movie. Actually, that's probably where they got the inspiration for the Scott Pilgrim and Superbad scripts.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Worse the liberals with the help of merchandise peddling corporations have infiltrated the government to the top levels. They even use the military to perpetuate the myth and indoctrinate the young kids into the myth of Christmas.
It is time we return to the original Christian roots of observing and celebrating the birth of our Savior. No gifts, no pagan trees. No drinking or making merry. We have to take the Merry out of the Merry Christmas and put Holy in it, not holly. Strict abstemious, pious prayers and mass is ALL that should be allowed on Christmas. They commercialized the sabbath, commercialized Christmas. They will commercialize the entire church canon if you let them.
Christians of the world, unite against the Merry in the Merry Christmas.
Of course, we, non Christians would be allowed to celebrate a winter Season festival, with all the drinking, making merry and exchanging gifts. Pious Christians, you keep the Christ, the rest of us keep the Merry and we call it a fair division.
Holy Christmas Greetings to Christians. Merry Season's Greetings to us.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact