The Story of NORAD and the Santa Tracker

A family tradition in my youth was worshiping at a Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and driving around nearby neighborhoods with wonderful holiday light displays while listening for NORAD reports on Santa Claus' whereabouts.  As a jaded grown-up, I presumed that these reports were performance shtick on a long media night.  Little did I know that the reports were real and that a typo and the good cheer of an Air Force colonel brought joy to the world.

During the 1950s, America was engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet Union which threatened to become hot at any moment. School children of the era was raised to be prepared to duck and cover at any given moment due to a sneak nuclear attack from the enemy.  Soon, Sputnik's successful launch made watching the skies even more important.

In Colorado Springs,Colorado at  the Continental Air Defense Command    a.k.a. CONAD (the predecessor to the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD), there was a red telephone on the commander's desk which had a secret telephone number known only by a four star General at the Pentagon, which would have been used to convey news of an enemy aerial attack.

However, in December 1955, the CONAD commander's red phone rang and the voice on the other line was a little voice which asked "Is this really Santa Claus".  At first the Colonel was upset at what he thought was a crank call, but when he heard crying, the straight laced Colonel changed his demeanor.  The CONAD commander ho-ho-hoed and asked the caller if he had been a good boy.  Afterwards, the Santa Colonel asked to speak to his mother.

It seems that a copy for a Sears Roebuck newspaper ad had a misprint, so "Santa's private phone" number not connecting to Toyland but was actually the secret military number for what is now NORAD. Colonel Shoup delegated a few airman to act like Santa Claus for kiddie red phone callers.

Col. Shoup's daughter,  Terri Van Keuren, recounted: "It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, 'The old man's really flipped his lid this time. We're answering Santa calls".  So much so, on Christmas Eve 1955, airmen modified the big glass board used to track air flights and included a drawing of a sleigh and eight reindeer coming from the North Pole.

When Col. Shoup saw this modified big board, he exclaimed: "What is this?".  His subordinates apologized and insisted that they were just making a a joke.  Shoup pondered the predicament for a bit and then telephoned a radio station with the message: "This is the Commander at the Combat Air Center, and we have an unidentified flying object.  Why, it looks like a sled.".  Hence the tradition began.

Now kids can call 1-877 HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to talk to NORAD staff about Santa's exact location.  The internet tracker for the big man in red began in 1998 with the SantaCam.  At noradsanta.org, people can view the SantaCams from around the world as well as understand NORAD's main mission. Last year, "Operation Feel" had F-18 fighter jets escorting Santa and his sleigh, which led CNN reporters questioning if the US military had taken possession of Santa Claus.  Of course, these reporters failed to report on "Operation Noble Eagle" with the Royal Canadian Air Force escorts over their territory or how these videos infuse some of NORAD's primary mission to girls and boys along with the spirit of the season.






Colonel Shoup died in 2009.  But even in his 90s, Shoup proudly carried a briefcase which he treated like had top secret information that contained letters thanking him for having a good sense of humor in allowing NORAD to track Santa.



h/t: NPR
      NORADSanta.org 

[This piece was originally published on DCBarroco.blogspot.com]

Mayor Pete on Backyard Bullying

Larry King on the News

RIP Anthony Bourdain

Celebrity chef and tv personality Anthony Bourdain, took his own life by hanging himself while on location filming for his CNN show "Parts Unknown" in Paris.  He was 61.


Bourdain was had a checkered past as he worked his way through the New York luxury restaurant scene. Bourdain had to overcome addiction to cocaine, LSD and heroin.  Bourdain quipped that before his first book, Kitchen Confidential, was published in 2000, he was a guy in his 40s who had never paid rent on time, owed ten years of taxes and did not own a piece of furniture. Between his books and food shows, Bourdain's fortunes changed and he amassed a personal wealth of $16 million.

Bourdain's books, Kitchen Confidential (2000) led to a Food TV series A Cooks Tour in 2002 that vaulted him into celebrity chef status.  Bourdain then jumped to the Travel Network for his iconic series No Reservations in 2005, which included a warning for graphic language. 

In 2013, Bourdain began his series "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" which linked culture with cuisine.  The show won the Peabody Award in 2013 as judges noted that Bourdain expanded our palates and horizons in equal measure. 

While Bourdain traveled the world in search of a good meal, he appreciated how Asian American influence was shaping contemporary American cuisine.  Bourdain also noted that the fact that 50% of Toronto's residents are not from Canada gives it strength for interesting food. 

One can intuit that Bourdain agreed with his observations about Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese food culture:  "[They] see food as part of a larger, more essential and pleasurable part of daily life. Not as an experience to be collected or bragged about- or as a ritual like filling up a car - but as something else that gives pleasure, like sex or music, or a good nap in the afternoon." 

Despite his prominence on the culinary circuit, Bourdain was not reticent to criticize fellow celebrity chefs such as Paula Dean, Rachel Ray and Bobby Flay. The Smithsonian dubbed Bourdain a rock star of the culinary world and the Elvis of bad boy chefs.    Notwithstanding that articulated antipathy, many celebrity chefs had no reservations in expressing stunned condolences at Bourdain's passing.

Bourdain did not have reservations about trash talking people outside of chef circles who did not simmer well with him.  Last fall, when asked what he would serve at a prospective North Korea-US Summit between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, Bourdain blurted out: "Hemlock".  Trump fans got up in arms about this verbal assault instead of understanding it like some of Mr. Trump's barbs -- to take it seriously but not literally. 

Sadly, Bourdain's apparent suicide moots his daydream of retirement: "I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I stop working - if I ever stop working.  I like the idea of kneeling over in my tomato vines in Sardinia or northern Italy." 

Resisting New NFL National Anthem Rule

On the Raid of Donald Trump's Personal Lawyer's Office

Post Scriptus- 04/10/2018:  

In attempting to report on Donald Trump's reaction to the raid on his personal lawyer's office and home, Twitter has taken to block links which cite the President's  thoughts, claiming that it could be a violation of Terms of Service.  

This seems to be another example of social media censorship of conservatives via shadow banning by internet overlords.  No wonder why Diamond and Silk are so agitated.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel Reflects on Florida School Shooting

In the aftermath of the Parkland Florida School Shooting, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has been front and center in attacking the NRA and demanding more gun control.  

As facts began to show that local law enforcement ignored many red flags about Nikolas Cruz (including 36 police contacts about him) and Broward County did nothing before the atrocity, Sheriff Israel sought to deflect responsibility. Sheriff Israel had no qualms about throwing the School Resource Officer under the bus for not engaging and killing  the shooter.  But as hard questions about the performance of his office were raised, Sheriff Israel refused to take responsibility.

Florida legislators circulated a petition for Sheriff Israel to be suspended, which 73 legislators signed. Governor Rick Scott (R-FL) declared that he would not summarily suspend Sheriff Israel before an investigation. 

Sheriff Israel's strident face saving, however,  may well have inhibited the seemingly bullet proof push for stringent gun control measures imposed in reaction to the Stoneman Douglass High School shooting.

Jay Z on Good Leaders and Donald Trump

Is Barack Obama Really Trying to Bridge News Universes?

During the initial episode of David Letterman's new limited run program on Netflix "My Guest Needs No Introduction", former President Barack Obama laments the lack of a common baseline of facts for the news.

 In some ways, this echoes a theme that Mr. Obama emphasized in his BBC Radio interview with Prince Harry about finding common realities on the internet. And during the speech at the Dallas Police Shooting Memorial, then President Obama lamented political polarization stemming from news coverage.  

Yet is is hard not to appreciate Obama's implication that those watching Fox News are "way out there" vis-a-vis the Mainstream Media represented by  taxpayer supported National Public Radio. His quip served as a laugh line to the Netflix audience at City College, New York. Such a jibe will affirm the biases of coastal elites who cannot fathom how fly over country could vote for a guy like President Donald Trump.  But it inspires a broader question of what is news and what is the prudent way to discern truth on current events. 

Some have fantasized about having a group that evaluates the news for its truthfulness.  But as it has been tried by Politifact's Truth-o-Meter  and the Washington Post's Fact Check with the Pinocchio scale, it has proven to be skewed and lacking. 

It is repugnant to the First Amendment to contemplate having the government take a role in vetting media.  It is bad enough that social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are using "curating" newfeeds to avoid conservative stories deemed as "fake news" and algorithms which shadowbans opinions not in favor with the social media powers that be. 

Then there is the question of how to cover a story.  Recently, CNN launched an advertising campaign with the spot "This is an apple" touting "Facts First".   The Media Research Center's study of coverage of the first eight months of the Trump Administration was 91% negative stories. In another study, the MRC examined one day of coverage on CNN, when 92% of the airtime was focused on President Trump, and CNN used 96 critics and seven supporters to back up their coverage. That hardly seems like facts first or fair and balanced news.

A more difficult thing to detect is the news that the mainstream media chooses not to report. A concrete example is when undercover video exposed that Planned Parenthood clinics were selling baby body parts.  Network news did not give one second of coverage, probably because it sullied a cause with which the networks suits agree. No wonder why there is a populist outcry against "Fake News".

Another niggling aspect is what "news" mainstream media outlets choose to report.  It is interesting to see how much that makes it on a network nightly news is just recycled packages that were creating for fluffy morning news shows. ABC is notorious for cross promoting entertainment programming as news.  The Tonya Harding 20/20 episode seemed to give as much airtime to its affiliated journalists as the protagonists in order to hype a film poised for Best Picture for the Oscars, which will be broadcast on ABC.  One should expect that NBC's News will be chock full of Olympic feature stories (as it broadcasts the Winter Olympics in February) when it is not bashing the Trump Administration.

As a news junkie, it is laudable to seek out news sources which do not comfortably give "confirmation bias".  In addition, it is necessary to vet the reliability of news sources when considering stories.  However, it is dubious that President Obama wants to find a real "baseline of common facts".  His out of this world comment seems more inclined to smear those who do not buy into the line from the mainstream media, shaped by the likes of the Journo-list and then disseminated via papers of record, like the New York Times and the Washington Post, which then dictates the coverage in most of the rest of the media.

As much as one would like to believe that Mr. Obama is trying to bridge news consumption universes, this comes from a leader who gathered lawmakers around a table supposedly to work together on health care and then wanted to dictate terms.  It is likely that politically correct pressure about the consensus on the news would drown out minority opinions and counter facts.  So it would be like the pre-internet "fairness doctrine" days when there was little choice and the public could be simply swayed. 

President Trump's Verbal Cannon Volley Against Steve Bannon

Amanda Carpenter on the Loss of Moral Credibility

Jerry Brown Not Acclimatizing to Trump's Ship of State

In an interview with BBC Radio, California Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) rebuked the Trump Administration for backing away from Obama era Climate Change goals to galvanize his base. Brown vowed to act to stabilize the "Ship of State".

The Trump Administration has taken a more skeptical approach to anthropomorphic (man-made) Climate Change.  Trump EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt cast doubt on the 2009 finding that man made climate change harms human health.  In June 2017, Pruitt reportedly launched an internal critique of mainstay climate science . In addition, esident Trump has indicated that the United States may withdraw from the November 2015 Paris Climate Change Accord unless more favorable terms can be reached,

Such deviations from the settled climate science shibboleth triggers progressives like celebrity science enthusiast Bill Nye. As it became evident that President Trump was not going to be the environmental internationalist like his predecessor, blue state politicians tried to stand the wound to America's bona fides to the world. Governor Brown acted as a self appointed American environmental envoy traveling to China to promise that not all of the country was poised for perceived environmental rollbacks.  The 79 year old California Governor also announced that San Francisco would host a global Climate Change Summit in September 2018, with or without President Trump.  Many cities and states, governed by leftists, have signaled that they intend to comply with the Paris Climate Change Accords, even if the United States federal government does not. 

As Nicaragua recently ratified the Paris Climate Change Accords, CNN laments that only the US and Syria remain as non-signatories to the international accord. The problem is that this is a non-binding "treaty" (which was not ratified by the US Senate despite President Obama being a signatory). Despite 197 nations signing on to the Paris Climate Change Accord, few countries are actually complying the the goals, so they effectively are worthless commitments  Still, progressives scorn the United States for not buying into the transfer of wealth to the Global South under the guise of fighting climate change. 

Puckish pundits ponder if Governor Brown would navigate the ship of state with Moonbeams. 

On a Rock Star #ParasiteRodeoClown

The anti-Trump controversy of the week seems to be alleged insensitivity of President Trump when he called a Gold Star spouse of a Special Force soldier killed in Niger.  

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL 24th) claims to have listened to the call and insists that Mr. Trump was cruel when he told the widow of Sgt. Johnson that "he knew what he was volunteering for". 

Trump Administration Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly (USMC, ret.) spoke with authority before the White House Press Corps to share how Mr. Trump echoed his words about expressing the bravery of the fallen soldier, and that it was extraordinary for the Commander-in-Chief to make such a phone call.  When Rep. Wilson learned that the White House had focused its attention on her allegations, Wilson laughed and claimed that she was a Rock Star.  When later questioned about Gen. Kelly's characterization of her being an "empty barrel that makes the most noise",  the flamboyant Florida Congresswoman claimed that he used a racist term.

It is not surprising that Frederica Wilson is all in on Trump hatred.  She reflects the Congressional Black Caucus' predisposition to call everything they oppose racist and actively invoke Impeachment of the 45th President.  Since Rep. Wilson was on the air within ten minutes of this phone call, Bill O'Reilly opined that the alleged indignation was a set up. 

What is notable is how former 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign spokesman came out with such sharp elbows towards Gen. Kelly in defense of Frederica Wilson.  

Cynics might wonder if some of "The Resistance" is shifting away from the Russian narrative because of the Clinton connections to the Uranium One scandal.  If so, it is an odd choice to champion a Rock Star Parasite Rodeo Clown.  No wonder why politically active conservative entertainer James Woods calls Frederica Wilson God's gift to Republicans.

On the Meaning of Robin Hood to US

During a debate sponsored by CNN between Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (S-VT) and Conservative Senator Ted Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas demolished the Democrat conceit that progressives take from the rich to give to the poor. 

Las Vegas Massacre Prompts Faith

The Las Vegas Massacre  at the Country Music festival near the Mandolay Bay hotel exposed evil in humanity as well as goodness of people.  In the heat of the shooting and the aftermath, in which 58 people were killed and over 500 people injured, strangers helped one another to safety.  There were many stories in which off duty law enforcement officers and former military selflessly sprang into action to help others and possibly lay down their lives for the safety of others.

When CNN was interviewing victims of the shooting, one of the attendees professed that the horrible experience jolted him from agnosticism to faith in God. 

The humanity of how many responded to the terrible travesty and the faith which the adversity inspired is another instance  of how God writes straight with crooked lines

Sally Kohn on Political Correctness

On A CNN Anchor's Brains

On a Maverick Bromance

Not only are they both loyal to each other and a mutual admiration society but they both are quite hawkish on the American uses of force throughout the world.  But despite the caricature, they can apply more viral war paint. 

Lefty Pundit Launches Verbal Crude Missile at CNN's Fareed Zakaria After Syria Strike

In seeking to shape the battlefield of public opinion after the Trump Administration's limited Tomahawk attack against a Syrian government airbase which delivered a chemical attack against civilians, lefty pundit Jeremy Scahill let loose some verbal crude missiles of his own.

While one can understand chaffing against the poetic plaudits by MSNBC's Brian Williams quoting Leonard Cohen, the all out attack on CNN's Fareed Zakaria was striking with both its vulgarity and ferocity. 

Alan Dershowitz on the Second Injunction Against the Trump Travel Ban

Instant analysis by Professor Alan Dershowitz on the instant decision by a 9th Circuit Court Judge in Hawaii who produced a 43 page decision two hours after hearing the case.

Judge Watson cited reports by CNN's Anderson Cooper in rendering his opinion to impose a second injunction against the implementation of the Trump Administration's immigration hold from six countries which have sketchy passport vetting procedures and experience problems with terrorists.  

Despite the Trump Administration amending their original "Travel Ban" to exclude Iraq, accommodate those who already hold green cards and took away language which seemingly privileged beleaguered Christian minorities in the Middle East, Judge Watson struck down the Trump Immigration order, because of statements of candidate Trump on the stump and the allegation that it is still a Muslim ban. It is dubious if the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will overturn this idiosyncratic legal opinion. Maybe Thomas Sowell was right about how the Ninth Circuit may eventually rule the Constitution as unconstitutional 

Professor Dershowitz is a liberal who is no Trump fan and believes that the Trump "Travel Ban" is a bad idea.  However, Dershowitz is a fair minded liberal jurist who believes in the rule of law rather than the rule by law and who understands Supreme Court precedents on immigration.