Santa Claus comes to town and Norad has him on radar

Volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base, headquarters of Norad's annual Santa-tracking operation, are in Colorado monitoring Santa's progress. Monday evening they were on pace to break last year's record of 107,000 calls from children wanting to know everything from old Saint Nick's age, to how reindeer fly, to when they can expect their presents.

Each year, the job of watching out for Santa on Dec. 24 falls to Norad personnel ― the same people who monitor North American skies year round.

Norad's Santa-tracking work all started with a typo more than a half-century ago.

In 1955, a department store advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper gave the wrong phone number for children to talk to Santa at the Sears Toyland.

Instead, the children were ringing through to the operations hotline for the then Continental Air Defence Command, a predecessor of the bi-national Norad command that was created in 1958.

The American director of operations at the time, Col. Harry Shoup, heard his calling to pitch in as an elf and made the best of the mistake: he told his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole.

Children who called the number from then on were given updates on his location.

Tracking Santa in 2012 has become a major undertaking for Norad, with 1,250 volunteers on duty to provide updates to the public and media.

In footage of an earlier video teleconference between Norad commanders and Santa Claus posted on its website, Gen. Chuck Jacoby, Commander of Norad and U.S. Northern Command (U.S. Northcom) and his deputy, Lt.-Gen. Alain Parent from the Royal Canadian Air Force, walk Santa through the 2012 preparations.

"We're going to make sure you get to everybody's house Santa," Jacoby assures him. "Don't worry about the journey. We've got the watch."

"Thank you," Santa tells Jacoby and Parent. "Ho ho ho."

Three high-tech systems track the flight of that one sleigh from the North Pole: radar, satellites and specially installed Santa cams that were installed at strategic locations around the world in 1998 for this one special day of use.

Norad is the first to know when the reindeer take off from the North Pole, thanks to its "North Warning System" of 47 installations that Norad’s team compares to a string of Christmas lights strung across the top of North America.

The Canadian Air Defence Sector at 22 Wing in North Bay, Ont., closely monitors this radar system to make sure Santa and his reindeer are not delayed.

Rudolph’s introduction to the reindeer team some years back also makes it possible for Norad to use its space satellites to track the sleigh’s journey: his nose gives off an infrared signature, the heat from which is picked up by the satellites’ sensors.

Over the years, Norad has been able to compile data of practical use to Canadian children plotting their own Christmas Eve agendas.

Santa usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west. Historically, he visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia. After that, he covers off Japan, Asia, Africa and then onto Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central and South America.

But Norad cautions that Santa’s exact route year to year can be affected by weather and remains unpredictable.

"Norad co-ordinates with Santa’s Elf Launch staff to confirm his launch time, but from that point on, Santa calls the shots," says Wright Eruebi, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Air Forces 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg. "We just track him."

In most countries, on average, Norad finds Santa arrives between 9 p.m. and midnight local time. But if children are still awake when Santa arrives, he has to move on to other houses and return later after they’re asleep.

"Santa travels at the speed of one T [in layman’s terms, a twinkling of an eye]," explains Eruebi. "Santa usually slows down the sleigh when Norad pilots are approaching, and he likes to wave and acknowledge the pilots when they tip their wing to show their respect.

"The main reason we [give Santa a fighter jet escort] is to treat him like the VIP that he is and, of course, to capture a few images of him in action," Eruebi explains. "He slows down to allow our fighters to catch up and he humours us. He appears to like posing for the camera."

On behalf of a five-year old reader in Ottawa, CBC News asked the air force what Santa’s fighter jet escort does while he's on the roof of each house.

In November, for the second time in six years, members of the Vietnam Veterans of Diablo Valley embarked on a trip to Vietnam to distribute wheelchairs to those in need. And for the second time in six years, it was difficult to tell which group got the most from the experience -- the vets, or those they helped.

"It was a good way for me to go back," said Rich Lambert, of Walnut Creek, who flew helicopters during the Vietnam War. "It was very rewarding and heartwarming."

Partnering with the Danville-based Wheelchair Foundation, as they had in 2006, the 11 veterans (and six spouses) who made the trip distributed 320 new wheelchairs at prescreened locations during their 18-day stay. The chairs had all-terrain wheels to better suit the needs of rural villagers. Sixty were sports wheelchairs.

"There would be people present who it was obvious needed wheelchairs," said Ronald Lowe, of Danville, who returned to Vietnam for the first time since he was an Army infantry captain in 1969. "Some of them were in rickety old wheelchairs. Some were on crutches. We would actually set up the wheelchairs, blowing up the tires. They were local people there to help, and in come cases even the handicapped people pitched in to help."

Lambert, who returned to Vietnam for the first time since the war, recalled meeting two women, both double leg amputees, who struggled to get around on cumbersome, homemade apparatus.

The veterans also visited orphanages, where they made monetary donations. When they weren't doing for others, they often were doing for themselves, trying to put their war experience into perspective by locating echoes of their past.

In the case of Danville's Jerry Yahiro, some echoes located him.

Yahiro, 69, was on the 2006 trip, but an excursion to the Central Highlands, where he had served as a mortar platoon leader, was called off at the last minute. He finally made it back in November, finding some of his old fire bases near the Cambodia and Laos borders. At one location, to his surprise:

"The Vietnamese military was having a live fire drill," he said. "I'm thinking, this is not real. It was like they were trying to remind me they were still here. It was a little unnerving."

Comings & Goings

If you’re not convinced that Hampden can sustain another coffee shop, don’t mention your concern to Susan Weis-Bohlen, owner of breathe books. She’s been energetically raising funds to launch a cafe in the bookstore’s converted house, on the Avenue, that will spill out onto the wraparound porch when the weather is warm. “Book sales are down,” Weis-Bohlen says. “We have to adapt to the new reality,” which includes expanding into new areas of business.

The place aims to fill a niche, eschewing white flour and white sugar in its menu of vegan, gluten-free, and Ayurvedic-influenced treats prepared by Renee and Don Gorman, once of the health-foody Puffins in Pikesville and, more recently, fixtures at the Waverly farmers market. Weis-Bohlen also hired Joanne Goshen, of the defunct Louie’s Bookstore Cafe, as cafe manager. “Louie’s has been in my head the whole time,” Weis-Bohlen says. “When Joanne sent her resume, I thought, This is unreal.”

When the Volstead Act was set down in 1919, the Martick family began selling moonshine from its tiny grocery store on West Mulberry Street. At one point, Harry Martick was sent to a Pennsylvania prison for selling liquor to a federal agent. The legendary Martick’s operated post-prohibition as a legitimate bar, frequented by artists and writers, and, beginning in the 1970s, as a fine dining institution helmed by Harry’s son Morris. Sometime soon, the spot will reopen, taking on a new persona while remaining saturated in its storied past. The newest incarnation will be a speakeasy, with small tables, sofas, and classic cocktails inside, a discreet entrance with no signage and a bell for entry―designed to encourage an aura of exclusivity―on the outside.The partners are Morris’ octogenarian brother Alex and nephew Steve Shockett, both attorneys who share office space, along with Brooks Bennett, who has been involved in restaurant projects in Harford County, Towson, and Baltimore City. “This is not a reproduction,” says Shockett. “We’ve got the original tile floors and tin ceiling. It’ll be the real deal.”

But all the rest is there - same suspension system, same 17-inch alloys, same auto with its very good gear Logic Control and hill-start assist, same audio with its controls and Bluetooth integrated into the steering wheel, same climate-control air conditioning, and the same level of safety specification which has given it a five-star crash rating.

It drives well, too. Naturally, power is down when compared to the AWD CRV, because the engine is smaller in capacity. But performance is still sound thanks to the capability of Honda's 2.0-litre i-VTEC engine, which offers 114 kW of power and 190 Nm of torque.

Body size and interior dimensions are identical to the AWD Sport model. That means this SUV is smaller in size, but bigger on the inside. The vehicle's length is 30mm shorter and height is 30mm lower when compared to the previous- generation model, but thanks to advances in materials and good design, the interior headroom remains the same and shoulder width has gone up by 75mm.

The only real change is that the rear seats are now 40mm lower than before. But the hip points of those seats remain higher than those at the front, which means rear seat visibility is still good.

Honda tells us the 2012 CRV's body and glass have been completely redesigned in the interests of improved visibility - and it is good - and what I like are the location and feel of the steering wheel plus the highish positioning of the transmission.

New in this model is a central LED screen that displays information ranging from average speed, to kilometres to empty. It also displays audio and Bluetooth hands-free information, the controls for which are mounted on the steering wheel.

One reason people buy SUV-style vehicles is to enjoy more rear load space, and this new CRV has had this area increased from 524 litres to a very good 589 litres. And, thanks to Honda's Magic Seat system, the rear seats now have the ability to lay completely flat, which can increase maximum cargo space to 1669 litres. That's a massive amount of space.

The S also has Honda's Econ operating mode which, at the push of a button, alters the CRV's electronic throttle so it doesn't respond as much to accelerator pedal input. It also has the Eco Assist feature which changes the colour of panels either side of the rev counter to encourage efficient driving - white for inefficient, green for efficient.

All this allowed me to achieve an average fuel consumption better than the stated 7.7 L/100 km, which is very good for any SUV-shaped petrol vehicle, even if it is front-driven.

Having already spent quite an amount of time behind the wheel of the new CRV Sport, I did find that at times the smaller- engined S version was slightly lacking in grunt. But I also found it to be quieter and with a better ride. So overall that's a nice balance of what you get, and what you don't, when compared to its CRV sibling that retails for $9000 more.

Even if that means inviting controversy. In GTA III, the player could make use of the services of a prostitute to bolster his health - and then kill her afterwards to get his money back. There was an immediate chorus of disapproval from concerned groups, but Rockstar refused to engage them after pointing out that its games are for adults, not children. The company had a point - last year, a report from Bond University in Queensland found that the average age of gamers in Australia is 32.

"We were always an easy target," says Houser. "Even when our most violent and antisocial game, Manhunt [where the player has to commit a series of increasingly gruesome murders], came out in 2003, the film Saw 3, which is far more violent, was being lauded as a slasher classic.

"Interacting with a system, as one does in a game, is no better or worse than looking at pictures or reading words in a book. I don't think society is in great shape, but I don't think video games have caused the problems."

In Australia, GTA III was refused an MA15+ classification due to its "sexualised violence"; with no R18+ rating for video games available here, copies were pulled from shelves.

Rockstar also became the specific target of proposed US legislation to limit the actions of video-game characters, with Hillary Clinton calling for a probe on video-game violence. "[Children are] playing a game that encourages them to have sex with prostitutes and then murder them. That's kind of hard to digest," she said in a 2005 speech.

Lawsuits followed, many brought before the courts by Florida attorney and religious crusader Jack Thompson, who claimed he wouldn't be happy until Rockstar was out of business. When GTA: Vice City was released, it immediately became obvious that Rockstar had no intention of tempering the brashness of the series. But it was with the release of GTA: San Andreas two years later that the company would face its most famous - and most expensive - controversy.

Although GTA: San Andreas was awash with gang violence, the game was eventually banned in a number of countries, including Australia, because of a hidden piece of code, accessible to just a handful of particularly technologically adept gamers. Almost a year after its release, a Dutch hacker

released a patch for the PC version of the game which unlocked a piece of code that allowed the player to have sex, albeit dressed, with his in-game girlfriend - and thus gain health - by pressing a series of buttons.
See your ad here

The lawsuits kept coming, this time with claimants accusing Rockstar of having misrepresented the game's content. The presence of sexualised content on the disc meant the game would need reclassifying. The cost of amending and rebranding GTA: San Andreas, and settling class-action suits, ended up in the tens of millions of dollars.

The new sequel is due out early next year and Houser calls its central protagonist, Trevor, "the most psychopathic in GTA history". He adds: "If people don't like it they are always free to not play it."