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Saturday, December 18, 2004

 

It begins.

Sometime Monday or Tuesday, we begin. We have two more members joining us, and room for a few more people who think they can compete with the impressive team assembled here. I'll put up the first question soon, and then it begins.

# posted by The CO @ 11:42 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

 

NORAD Tracks Santa Thoughout Christmas Eve

Before we get too serious, here is a little Santa Blogging.

Well NORAD is going to be tracking Santa again this year. This is the 50th year Santa will be tracked by the military. This is essential to ensure that we don't accidentally shoot Santa down and we have advised Santa in the past of hot spots so he knows when he'll have to be particularly stealthy.

Personally we have been tracking Santa on the NORAD site for the last 4 years. It has been great and the kids get to see Santa cam footage (a new report every hour) as Santa progresses through the time zones. Make sure you have the right plugins setup ahead of time.

NORAD helps you setup and test your machine ahead of time.
Every year, Santa's travels are watched by the men and women of NORAD. This year will be no exception. Starting early in the morning of December 24, 2004, we'll be tracking him. Based on careful record keeping from years past, and highly skilled radar and satellite technicians, we normally know exactly where Santa is throughout Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve we'll post a map of the world on this web site. It will pinpoint a few of the thousands of places Santa visits. We'll update the map throughout Christmas Eve, showing you where Santa is every moment, where he's been and where he's going. Clicking on that map will display Santa Cam videos of his journey.
Test your video player now

Click the test video link below to see if your computer has the necessary plug-ins to view images from our SantaCams. If you hear sound and see video, you're all set! If you are having trouble seeing the video or hearing the audio download the Real One Player by clicking the link below.
Click for larger picture suitable for wallpaper.
How this tradition came about.
This is the 50th season that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs store's advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included a misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States decided to create a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.

The Command carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition from CONAD. Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts. This year, the information is provided in six languages.

NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many people at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD’s Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to the many thousands of children who calls in.

# posted by Walt @ 1:18 AM 0 comments
 

Howdy Folks

Greetings, Walt from Truth, Lies & Common Sense here. This is the Welcome Greeting from my blog.
When I retired from the Navy after twenty-two years of service. I was read a poem titled "The Watch". This poem outlined how I had protected this great land for twenty-two years while standing the watch. The end reads “Shipmate the watch stands relieved. Relieved by those you have Trained, Guided, and Led. Shipmate you stand relieved we have the watch.”

I am glad that there are those standing the watch even as you read this. I thought that in retirement I could let those that I had trained stand the watch. I now realize that there are watches to be stood in civilian life. This Blog is my watch. I have created this to assist those who do not have the time to ferret out fact from fiction.

Our wonderful "Free Press" is primarily liberal in action and reporting. They go so far as to not even allow a fair discourse of the issues. Because of this slant I have chose to again stand the watch in the name of protecting our country's freedom and our individual liberty. My goal is to separate the Truth from the Lies and infuse a good dose of common sense.
I do not have all the answers but I do have an opinion. I'm anxious to see how this group interacts. I am still a little confused about where were going but it should be fun getting there.

# posted by Walt @ 1:03 AM 3 comments

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

 

Nearly complete

The team is nearly ready to go, we've got a liberal or two but the team is still listing decidedly to the conservative end. If there are any liberals out there with a blog that would like to play, send me a link. Likewise for any American Socialist or Communists. At this pace, we could be putting up the first "Spectrum Perspective" next week. I'm glad so many people have decided to bring their skilled minds onboard

# posted by The CO @ 10:50 PM 1 comments
 

Ah-ha, so that's how this works

So, where's the party?

# posted by Morgen @ 7:21 PM 0 comments
 

Vlad Tepes?

Hi-ya, all. I'm I.C., otherwise known as J'myle, and sometimes known as Utah. I've been called a few other things as well, none of them publishable. Like Quilly, I also think Vlad Tepes was a skirt wearing sissy. Unlike Quilly, I am a big fan of Vlad Tepes.

It's good to be here. I've brought you all a picture of a chipmunk:


# posted by J'myle @ 8:21 AM 0 comments

Monday, December 13, 2004

 

We're Growing

As y'all can see we've gotten a bit deeper in the ranks, Sidial will probably do most our Webmistress duties. Quilly is a Conservative who appears to think Vlad Tepes was a skirt wearing sissy. You might be surprised by the others who have agreed to come play. Keep watching.

# posted by The CO @ 9:49 PM 0 comments