PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Volunteers at a Colorado Air Force base monitoring maps showing Santa Claus’ progress are only about three hours into their goodwill mission but have already answered more than 7,000 phone calls from people asking about the jolly old elf.
Phones are ringing nonstop at Peterson Air Force Base, headquarters of the North American Aerospace Command’s annual Santa-tracking operation.
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of fun and inspired Christmas trees based on video games, science fiction and other pop culture memes. So I figured that this holiday season, I’d put together a compilation of some of my favorites of all time.
Pac Man Christmas Tree – Madrid, Spain – Wocka, Wocka, Wocka!
Godzilla Christmas Tree – Tokyo, Japan: Shoppers, run for your lives!
Cthulhu Christmas Tree: I’m H.P. Lovecrafting it!
Portal Christmas Tree: Fruitcake and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test.
Robots Build a Christmas Tree – Only Nieman Marcus could afford this rig.
Dalek Christmas Tree: Your presents have been exterminated.
Minecraft Christmas Tree: Unfortunately, the boxes are filled with creepers.
Tesla Coil Christmas Tree: Santa in his jolly red Faraday suit.
Super Mario Bros. 2 Christmas Tree: What ever happened to King Wart anyhow?
Katamari Christmas Tree: Deck the Balls!
Pretty great, eh? Can you guys think of other geeky Christmas trees you’ve seen? If so, post them in the comments below and spread the joy this holiday season.
Few things in this world will reaffirm your holiday spirit faster than watching a dozen or so uniformed service people cover a room in Christmas wrapping. Also on that short list, it so happens, is spotting one of the aforementioned troops hand-feed an overzealous and noticeably plump squirrel who’s anxiously scratching on the door to get in. It’s a strangely Snow White-esque moment that unfolds minutes after we set up our gear in the conference room of the Leadership Development Center — a drab, unassuming office space in the middle of Colorado Springs’ Peterson Air Force Base that serves as a training facility for 11 months out of the year. But now, in early December, there’s a transformation occurring, as men and women in various shades of camouflage paper the space with Christmas spirit in record time.
For one month a year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) converts this area into holiday central for NORAD’s Santa Tracker, a half-century-old program that has become a thing of legend — a curious juxtaposition of warfare preparedness and storybook magic. It’s one that, somehow fittingly, is rooted in a mistake — a phone number misprinted in a 1955 Sears catalog, prompting local children to call Santa’s “private number.” Those calls from excited boys and girls were routed, the legend goes, to the big red phone in the war room of NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), where quick-thinking Col. Harry Shoup asked his troops to play along. Now, 57 years later, it’s a massive undertaking, as volunteers in military garb and Santa hats answer calls from children in hundreds of countries.
Continue reading A visit to NORAD’s Santa-tracking facility (video)
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Last Christmas, we climbed atop our soapbox to remind readers that there’s more to the holiday season than bright lights, wrapping paper and holiday-themed Pandora stations.
That sentiment may seem obvious, especially as many settle in for a cozy 24 hours eating delicious food and exchanging tokens of affection with family members and loved ones. The holidays, of course, are about spending time with the most important people in our lives and taking a few extra moments to show them we care.
But as the dust settles and the Christmas trees collect on the side of the road, let’s not forget that the true meaning of the season is to spread the love beyond our loved ones. On a selfish level, nothing alleviates a post-holiday slump like the joy that comes from helping others. On an altruistic level, San Francisco is brimming with causes and organizations that need our help.
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INDIANAPOLIS — Chuck Pagano was back at work Monday morning.
Three months after taking an indefinite leave to battle leukemia, the Colts’ coach was scheduled to meet with players, coaches and reporters as he retook the reins from interim coach Bruce Arians.
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Salon writer David Sirota appeared on Don Lemon’s CNN show on Saturday to discuss that the majority of mass shooters in the United States have been white.
In Sirota’s recent article titled “Time To Profile White Men?” the Salon writer argued that nuanced conversations that grew out of the tragic Newtown shootings on mental health and gun control is due to the race of the shooter.
He wrote, “But the point here is that those tempered and nuanced conversations are only able to happen because the demographic at the center of it all is white guys.”
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The whole thing was white, and broken, that much was clear. A week after the presidential election, when the dreams of Republicans were dashed with President Barack Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney, we were snorkeling in the blue waters of the Caribbean. In the distance was a shipwreck. “You could make out the pieces of it,” said Ralph Reed, the right-wing political operator who had bolstered the Evangelical Christian vote for Romney. “It was deep and murky.”
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If you spend any time on the internet at all, this shouldn’t shock you: Game of Thrones was the most pirated show of the year. More »
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