Christmas Preps

The presents are all bought, the Christmas Eve turkey is in the oven (with the Christmas Day turkey thawing in the sink), and family has been stopping by all day. That means that it's Christmas Eve, and time to blog about some administrative items that this season brings forth.

1) Santa's started his trip: you can check his progress at the NORAD Santa Tracker. His visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was pretty cool.
Update 1801 24 Dec: This clip, from the Azores, features an unnamed SSBN.

2) For the first time since 1959, the first day of Hanukkah and Christmas both fall on December 25th. That'll next happen in 2024.

3) Speaking of Hanukkah, I think the best description of the duality faced by a Jewish youth in a majority-Christian society remains Kyle Broflovski's heartfelt rendition of "It's Hard To Be A Jew At Christmas" from the first South Park Christmas episode:

"It's hard to be a Jew on Christmas.
My friends won't let me join in any games.
And I can't sing Christmas songs or decorate a Christmas tree
Or leave water out for Rudolph, cause there's something wrong with me.
My people don't believe in Jesus Christ's divinity..
I'm a Jew, a lonely Jew, on Christmas.

"Hannukah is nice, but why is it
That Santa passes over my house every year.
And instead of eating ham I have to eat kosher latki
Instead of Silent Night I'm singing "Hu, haghtol gavish"
And what the f*ck is up with lighting all these f*cking candles tell me please..
I'm a Jew, a lonely Jew,
I'd be merry, but I'm Hebrew
On Christmas."

4) If you really feel you need to get me something for Christmas this year, I really could use some votes for the Mil-Bloggie awards. There's one week left to vote, and The Stupid Shall Be Punished has slipped to a tie for 7th in the Military Veterans category. Also, Ultraquiet No More could use some help in the U.S. Navy category (we're currently fifth). It's easy to vote -- the instruction are in this post of mine, or you can go straight to the source. I figure out of my 300 visitors per day, I have about a hundred of those who are pretty regular. If you're one of those, please think about voting. I think if I get 15 votes, I get to put up a banner or something...

But don't do it for me... do it for Submarine Santa.