Random News: December 24, 2022

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s December 24, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. It’s the morning of Christmas Eve, which is weird because we don’t say tonight that’s it’s the evening of Christmas morn, so let’s just go about our business before I have to start wrapping things…

• The House passed the omnibus spending bill, it was signed by President Biden, and so our federal government is funded to do things through September. That’s good.
• Over a million people were without power last night as the bomb cyclone fucked up their shit. I wish them well and hope the heat and lights are on for everyone ASAP, and certainly before Christmas morning tomorrow.
• Thousands and thousands of flights were canceled yesterday and today. Many roads were closed or became otherwise unnavigable. I know people make plans and want to be with families and loved ones over the holidays. Frankly, it might have been a better idea to phone this one in. 
• There was a shooting last night at Mall of America in Minnesota. One dead, another grazed. It would be nice to live somewhere that doesn’t have people killing each other at our supposed most peaceful time of year. I know that’s not realistic. You may say I’m a dreamer. 
• But I’m not the only one.
• And now, The Weather: “Shotgun” by Soccer Mommy
• I’m checking out NORAD’s Santa Tracker. I’m sure you know the story.
• It actually goes back to December 24, 1948. The United States Air Force issued a communique claiming that an "early warning radar net to the north" had detected "one unidentified sleigh, powered by eight reindeer, at 14,000 feet, heading 180 degrees."
• In 1955, as the story goes, a Sears department store in Colorado Springs ran an ad which told children they could place a call to Santa Claus and included the number ME 2-6681. That number was off by one digit, and instead went to the Continental Air Defense Command Center.
• It’s more likely that some kid just misdialed. Anyway, it got answered by the crew commander on duty, Colonel Harry Shoup.
• Shoup recognized it as a good PR opportunity, and told public affairs officer Colonel Barney Oldfield to inform the press that CONAD was tracking Santa's sleigh.
• In his release to the press, Oldfield added that "CONAD, Army, Navy, and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh.”
• The following year in 1956, Oldfield informed him that the Associated Press and United Press International were awaiting reports that CONAD again was claiming to be tracking Santa Claus. Shoup agreed that Oldfield should announce it again, and the annual tradition was born.
• In 1981, CONAD was renamed NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), and published a hotline number for the general public to call to get updates on Santa Claus’ progress.
• And obviously, the tradition continued in the online age. Starting in 1997, people could track Santa using a website set up for this purpose.
• If you want a less military-based Santa and a more corporate-based Santa, Google has its own Santa Tracker.
• In case you’re wondering, NORAD has Santa over the southern Indian Ocean at this moment, heading toward Madagascar.
• From the Sports Desk… the Tennessee Titans have delayed their scheduled noon CT game by an hour due to rolling blackouts in the region, stemming from the winter storm and brutal cold.
• All the NFL games being played right now — most of them crucial to various teams’ playoff hopes — are close. 3-0. 7-6. 0-7, 0-0, 7-7 and so on after the first quarter.
• Today in history… Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di (759). Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook (1777). The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria (1818). The opera Aida premieres in Cairo, Egypt (1871). Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast, consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech (1906). U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Operation Overlord (1943). The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so (1968).
• December 24 is the birthday of astronomer Jean-Louis Pons (1761), frontiersman/general Kit Carson (1809), brewer/physicist James Prescott Joule (1818), engineer/pilot/businessman Howard Hughes (1905), actress Ava Gardner (1922), general George Patton IV (1923), producer/businessman/politician Mike Curb (1944), trumpeter Woody Shaw (1944), singer-songwriter Lemmy (1945), guitarist Jan Akkerman (1946), actor Diedrich Bader (1966), author Stephenie Meyer (1973), radio/TV host Ryan Seacrest (1974), and NFL player Davante Adams (1992). 

Well, I’ll be doing mellow holiday stuff today, and then wrapping presents soon. I could wrap them earlier, but we have four cats and there’s no way they’d resist opening the presents early. Cats have no sense of tradition or ceremony. Anyway, doing that and eating and stuff is all I have on my list. Enjoy your day.