A growing number of parents are opting to exclude Santa Claus in children’s Christmas celebrations.
These people fear that convincing children of such a fantastical story and later revealing that it is, in a literal sense, false, will undermine trust between parents and children, cause children to doubt their faith, or even result in childhood trauma.
Of course, there are still plenty of people who hold that Santa Claus is a valuable part of an innocent, imaginative childhood. But the anti-Santa camp seemed especially vocal this year, particularly among religious conservatives.
Those people may be shocked to hear that they are on the same side as the radicals who perpetrated the French Revolution.
Consider the revolutionary: one who believes that individual reason is supreme, that tradition is questionable at best, and that beauty, mystique, and ceremony have no place in a rational society.
During the French Revolution, these radicals spurned their nation’s political, religious, and cultural history as impediments to man’s liberty. They tried to eradicate French Catholicism, abolished France’s ancient regional borders, and even created a new calendar. Devoted to their own individual “Reason,” they disregarded all ancestral wisdom and attempted to create a new France. Unfortunately, these cool, rational, dispassionate men succeeded only in unleashing decades of brutal war first upon France and then upon the rest of Europe.
How does Santa Claus fit into this? It’s all in the ideology. Many Santa objectors reduce a familial, cultural, and (if properly understood) religious symbol to a “lie.” In so doing, they implicitly align themselves with the rationalistic French philosophes and their Marxist successors, who held that truth must be observable, quantifiable, and physical. No poetic beauty, no metaphors, no affinity for man’s soul.
On the other hand, we have the Claus partisans. Like the great Irish statesman and opponent of the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, they recognize the power of tradition, reverence, and beauty to shape a society. They recognize that man is spirit, not just intellect, and that to reduce him to his intellect is to dehumanize him. They recognize, in Burke’s words, that if “all the decent drapery of life is to be rudely torn off” and “the superadded ideas, furnished from the wardrobe of a moral imagination&#8230;are to be exploded as a ridiculous, absurd, and antiquated fashion,” man will be reduced to a barbarian. Like all good conservatives, these Claus partisans recognize that human beings are passionate creatures who need to be trained, not only in their reason but in their affections, to be virtuous.
In a certain sense, those who object to Santa Claus are right: the historical Saint Nicholas notwithstanding, Santa isn’t real.
But nor are characters in poetry, folklore, or literature “real.” However, as Russell Kirk wrote in his masterpiece The Conservative Mind, “great myths are true in essence, however fanciful in detail.” G.K. Chesterton, too, was fond of arguing that fairy tales are, in a sense, truer than bald facts. They instill in children a sense of wonder, an appreciation for miracles, and a firm sense of morality.
The Santa Claus story is true in its essence of gratitude, wonder, and joy in the miraculous. It is merely presented to small children in an allegorical way, which they can understand. It was this manner of oral tradition and mythmaking that held together the societies of Ancient Greece and Rome and laid the foundation for Western culture. We would abandon it at our peril.
In this sense, is it not insulting to our children to think that they are capable of understanding only the most literal, mathematical truths? Is it not far-fetched to imagine that a fairytale, lovingly passed on from generation to generation, will undermine a parent-child relationship?
Not all Santa objectors are morally deficient successors of the Jacobins. Some parents believe that if they reveal the Santa secret to their children, the children will no longer trust what they have learned about Christ. And indeed, if Santa has managed to supersede discussions about Jesus in a Christian household, it may be best to discontinue the tradition.
But this is not an inevitability. If Santa is a fun addition for a few weeks every year, and Jesus is the center of family life throughout the year, there shouldn’t be any confusion between them.
Emily Claire Boulet is a student at the University of Dallas.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Untitled design (98)

If You Don’t Let Your Kids Believe In Santa, You May Be A Jacobin

Christmas

France

Jesus Christ

Revolution

Santa Claus

Editor’s Note: This article was first published last December. It&#8217;s a good holiday story, so we’re bringing it back.
* * *
In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup had a very important job. It was the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was working at the Continental Air Defense Command — now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
One December day, his phone rang, but it wasn&#8217;t his regular phone. It was the red phone — the phone that had a <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/wrong-number-started-norad-santa-tracker/">number so secret</a> that only he and a four-star general at the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/disney-hires-obama-era-pentagon-spokesperson-to-build-on-companys-strong-reputation/">Pentagon</a> knew of its existence. But when he answered the phone, a child was on the other end.
&#8220;Is this Santa Claus?&#8221; the child asked. <a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2018/12/21/santa-tracker-creator-norad-colonel-christmas/2369617002/">Shoup</a>, according to his children — Terri Van Keuren, Rick Shoup, Pam Farrel — was initially surprised and annoyed, but when the child began to cry, he quickly changed his tone. He said, &#8220;Ho, ho, ho,&#8221; and asked the child whether he had been good — and then he asked to speak to a parent.
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport">NPR reported</a>:
<blockquote>His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.
&#8220;And Dad realized that it wasn&#8217;t a joke,&#8221; her sister says. &#8220;So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho&#8217;d and asked if he had been a good boy and, &#8216;May I talk to your mother?&#8217; And the mother got on and said, &#8216;You haven&#8217;t seen the paper yet? There&#8217;s a phone number to call Santa. It&#8217;s in the Sears ad.&#8217; Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus.&#8221;
&#8220;It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, &#8216;The old man&#8217;s really flipped his lid this time. We&#8217;re answering Santa calls,&#8217; &#8221; Terri says.</blockquote>
The joke took another turn when, on Christmas Eve of 1955, several of the Airmen under Shoup&#8217;s command drew a sleigh and eight reindeer on the glass board that they normally used to track the paths of airplanes over U.S. and Canadian airspace.
According to Terri, Shoup saw the drawing and asked, &#8220;What is that?&#8221;
The airmen said it was just a joke, apologizing and offering to take it down.
&#8220;Dad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, &#8216;This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.&#8217; Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, &#8216;Where&#8217;s Santa now?'&#8221; Terri told NPR, adding, &#8220;And later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, &#8216;Thank you, Colonel,&#8217; for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information. You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he&#8217;s known for.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s probably the thing he was proudest of, too,&#8221; her brother agreed.
In the years since, NORAD has embraced the tradition. Call centers are operational and children can call from all over the world to see where Santa is as he makes his grand journey delivering gifts around the world in a single night.
Santa&#8217;s 2024 journey is already underway and can be tracked on X at @NORADSanta.
https://x.com/NoradSanta

US-CANADA-MILITARY-HOLIDAY-CHRISTMAS-OFFBEAT-GOVERNMENT

‘The Santa Colonel’: The Air Force Officer Who Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition

'The Santa Colonel': The Air Force Officer Who Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition

Air Force

Military

U.S.

Just in time for the holidays, Brighton and Hove Museums is redefining Christmas for modern sensibilities — but not in a way anyone celebrating the season might enjoy. The museum, which was granted <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/37706714/woke-museum-decolonises-father-christmas/">over $1.2 million</a> in taxpayer dollars earlier this year, has a guide on “decolonizing” Father Christmas, claiming that the jolly old man is too white, too male, and far too judgmental for contemporary audiences.
According to the museum, Santa’s traditional “naughty and nice” list teaches children that a Western figure has the power to judge everyone, imposing colonial assumptions and erasing Indigenous cultural practices.
The museum’s Joint Head of Culture Change, Simone LaCorbinière, published a blog post in 2023 that <a href="https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/discovery/history-stories/decolonising-father-christmas/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">stated</a>:
<blockquote>
&#8230; the tale of a white, Western Santa who judges all children’s behaviour has problems &#8230;  who decided Santa should be the judge of children’s behaviour in every community? How can he assess, for example, Indigenous children practicing their own cultural traditions? Told like this, the story presents Santa as the ultimate authority of all societies. This asks us to accept colonial assumptions of cultural superiority. It doesn’t recognise the complex realities colonised people face.
And it can erase Indigenous cultural practices and sovereignty. For example, in many Santa storybooks of my youth, and later when exploring the story with children in the family, other cultures appeared simply as backdrops for Santa’s adventure. There might be a flag, and illustrations of children in their national costume, but we learned nothing about those places and people.
This perpetuates the harmful ‘colonial gaze’. Non-Western cultures are ‘othered’. It says that the coloniser has the power to judge all people. And it ignores many communities’ histories and traditions. Telling the story like this teaches new generations that the coloniser knows best.
And what do we say by having an old white man supervise the elves’ work? Is it something entirely innocent – elves are magical, mythical beings completely separate from the real world – or is there more to it? Are they representative of other groups? How do they reinforce how marginalised groups view not only ‘father figures’ but also themselves?
Mythical maybe, but elves are identifiably different to what is often presented as ‘normal’, which is white, male and non-disabled. And in the stories, the ‘different’ ones make the toys and the white, non-disabled man supervises them.
</blockquote>
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25&amp;_gl=1*vdwpap*_gcl_au*MTYzODg4ODI4OS4xNzY1ODA4NTE2*_ga*NDM4MjI1MTA1LjE3NTc5NTYzMzI.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NjY0MTUwMTMkbzM0OSRnMSR0MTc2NjQxNTAxNiRqNTkkbDAkaDA." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The post, which remains on the museum’s website, also included suggestions such as these:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Remove Santa rewarding children based on a Western binary of ‘naughty/nice.’ Focus on bringing joy to kids of all backgrounds rather than judging them.</li>
<li>Put Santa to work in the factory alongside the elves. This shows him and the elves as equal.</li>
<li>Have Santa be a more diverse character who celebrates cultural exchange. Avoid promoting one culture’s dominance. An inclusive adaptation could include many Santas from different regions.</li>
<li>Include some Mother Christmases. Patriarchy and colonialism went hand in hand. Show the next generation that men don’t have to be in charge.</li>
</ul>
Critics were not impressed. Senior Tory MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke called the initiative “the worst possible use of taxpayer funds,” while Lord Young of Acton of the Free Speech Union <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/article/santa-claus-decolonised-diversity-3l73qxcc2">derided</a> the museum as “po-faced,” sarcastically questioning whether children in non-Christian countries should now demand Santa leave a note apologizing for centuries of white supremacy.
The museum defends the project as “prompting reflection” rather than prescribing behavior, claiming it’s intended to teach children about historical narratives and cultural perspectives. In practice, it reads more like a manual for scrutinizing Christmas traditions through a lens of social justice, replacing timeless family fun with guilt and ideology.
Meanwhile, taxpayers are footing the bill.

Preparations are Underway at Santa School

Woke Christmas: Taxpayer-Funded British Museum Argues For ‘Decolonizing’ Father Christmas

Great Britain

Wokeness

In the waning days of the Obama administration, the most fun thing you could do on the website then called Twitter was debate whether something was actually something else. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie?
It was a blast, for a time. Then people got too into it (“PopTarts are ravioli”) and ruined the fun for the rest of us, right around the time that Trump took office, and Twitter got lame. Still, a version of this game has persisted on the right, because conservatives love nothing more than declaring clearly non-conservative things secretly conservative.
I’ll admit, there was a time when I loved this game. It got me a few good tweets and at least one passable op-ed. But like the sandwich debate, it got out of hand. I don’t want to read 5,000 words on how “Eyes Wide Shut” is actually about Christianity and tax cuts. You’re embarrassing yourself.
But like a reformed thief who can’t help but case every room he walks into, I can’t completely quiet the contrarian movie revisionism that lives inside me. Is “Anchorman” a commentary on Watergate? Is “Jerry Maguire” a modern retelling of King Midas? Probably not! But who cares? I’m free to think whatever I want, and the worst thing that happens is I bore my wife to death.
Except today. Because today, dear reader, I’m going to bore you to death.
The goal: see if we can make the case for why every Christmas movie is conservative. The criteria for film selection and judgment: vibes, and a healthy dash of the Christmas spirit.
Let’s dive in.
&nbsp;
<h3>White Christmas</h3>
<div id="attachment_844723" style="width: 768px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-844723" class="size-large wp-image-844723" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-758x576.jpg" alt="" width="758" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-758x576.jpg 758w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-300x228.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-768x583.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-1536x1167.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-530787520-2048x1556.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px" />Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, and Danny Kaye (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)</div>
By far the easiest one on the list. As I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-christmas-is-the-festive-film-for-our-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote last year</a>, “White Christmas” is a movie about America adjusting from World War II to the postwar boom. More broadly, the movie teaches us that it’s “okay to be okay, to be successful and happy, even — especially! — shortly after a period of national tumult.”
Defeating the Nazis, getting rich, and marrying Rosemary Clooney: they really were the Greatest Generation.
Verdict: More conservative than General Patton.
&nbsp;
<h3>The Santa Clause</h3>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bx8FX7etF_8?si=nUdVZ40FvLHQ1T_g" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
This may or may not be the movie that launched this ridiculous exercise. In this 90s Disney classic, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), a hardworking toy salesman and loving single father, has his son taken away from him because he lets the lad believe in Santa.
The enemy: his ex-wife, Laura, and her new husband, Neal, a smug psychiatrist with an admittedly cool sweater collection. Egged on by Neal, Laura weaponizes the courts and the public school system to take Charlie from Scott, all because he wants his son to believe in Santa.
If you wanted, you could read the whole movie as an allegory about parental rights, belief in God, and the dangers of an overreaching state. Or you could just enjoy the killer 90s style and classic Tim Allen performance.
Verdict: As conservative as Tim The Tool Man, the best Republican celebrity.
&nbsp;
<h3>Four Christmases</h3>
<div id="attachment_1012997" style="width: 842px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1012997" class="size-large wp-image-1012997" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-83863813-832x576.jpg" alt="" width="832" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-83863813-832x576.jpg 832w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-83863813-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-83863813-768x532.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-83863813.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px" />(JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) are unmarried, childless partners who spend every Christmas avoiding their families. When their vacation gets cancelled, they have to split their time between all four of their divorced parents.
Like “The Santa Clause,” this is a movie about how you shouldn’t get divorced (a lot of Christmas movies are about divorce being bad, by the way — Hollywood therapists must really be rolling in it this time of year).
But “Four Christmases” does double duty, because it’s also a movie about how you should get married and have children and not waste your life on frivolities. Kate and Brad insist they’re happy as they are, but as the movie goes on, it becomes incredibly clear that this isn’t true.
Also, Robert Duvall uses the phrase “first class ass sniffer” while drinking a Bud Heavy. Need I say more?
Verdict: Four Conservatives.
&nbsp;
<h3>It’s A Wonderful Life</h3>
<div id="attachment_478828" style="width: 775px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-478828" class="size-large wp-image-478828" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1187707436-765x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 20: The movie &quot;It's a Wonderful Life&quot;, produced and directed by Frank Capra. Seen here from left, Donna Reed as Mary Hatch Bailey, James Stewart as George Bailey and Karolyn Grimes as Zuzu. Premiered December 20, 1946; theatrical wide release January 7, 1947. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)" width="765" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1187707436-765x576.jpg 765w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1187707436-300x226.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1187707436-768x578.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/GettyImages-1187707436.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 765px) 100vw, 765px" />(Photo by CBS via Getty Images)</div>
I’ll be honest: I don’t like this movie and haven’t seen it in a long time. But it’s definitely the Christmas movie with the most think pieces behind it. Dorks on the Left and Right alike love to opine about how the Frank Capra classic is really about capitalism or industrialism or whatever.
But I only remember two things about it: young George wants to have a harem when he grows up, and there’s an angel who confirms the existence of Heaven and, by extension, God.
Based.
Verdict: it’s conservative, you old building and loan!
&nbsp;
<h3>Santa Claus Is Comin&#8217; To Town</h3>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z9DXamm2maA?si=sxAJhSEpLm5TiK7f" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
An average Joe puts on some muscle mass and grows a righteous beard, bags the town hottie, and defeats a scowling German fascist. It’s basically Captain America.
Ironically, this is the only Rankin/Bass claymation classic that makes the conservative cut. &#8220;The Little Drummer Boy&#8221; is heretical, probably. &#8220;Frosty the Snowman&#8221; is about voodoo. &#8220;Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer&#8221; is a love-yourself monstrosity that’s one glitter bomb short of a Lady Gaga musical, and also promotes Hermie, who wants to be a dentist. Pervert.
Verdict: conservative, but suspicious by association.
&nbsp;
<h3>How The Grinch Stole Christmas</h3>
<div id="attachment_504862" style="width: 975px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-504862" class="size-large wp-image-504862" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch-965x576.jpg" alt="Grinch" width="965" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch-965x576.jpg 965w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch-300x179.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch-768x459.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch-1536x917.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Grinch.jpg 1730w" sizes=" (max-width: 965px) 100vw, 965px" />ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images</div>
An important corrective to the aforementioned red-nosed reindeer. In Dr. Seuss’s classic tale, a community successfully shames an outsider into conformity and accepting the magic of Christmas. (See also: every Hallmark Christmas movie).
Also, since the Whos of Whoville only care about Christmas, we have to conclude that the Grinch eventually accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Dahoo Dores? More like Deo Gratias!
Verdict: Conservative like a rare slice of Roast Beast.
&nbsp;
<h3>Love, Actually</h3>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QyN9E08vFSY?si=yIeGPwNbv3dIf0tX" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> 
You may be shocked that this one made the cut, considering it&#8217;s very fashionable every year for people to “realize” that “Love, Actually” is kind of a twisted flick, actually.
The guy from the &#8220;The Walking Dead&#8221; stalks his buddy’s wife. Professor Snape cheats on Emma Thompson and then adds insult to injury by giving her the worst Joni Mitchell album ever. The British prime minister sees the American president trying to grope his secretary and responds by… groping his secretary. There are multiple lobsters in the Nativity play. There’s a whole subplot that’s just people filming a porn! It’s all kinds of nasty, and not very Christmassy.
But here’s the thing: it’s British people doing all this gross stuff. The movie is actually an expose on how the English are moral degenerates. And the American president is clearly supposed to be Bill Clinton. Honestly, I’m amazed we didn’t produce this movie.
Verdict: conservative enough to make Maggie Thatcher crack a smile.

Untitled design (83)

Is Every Christmas Movie Secretly Conservative?

Christmas movies

Conservatives

It's A Wonderful Life

In 1955, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup had a very important job. It was the height of the Cold War, and Shoup was working at the Continental Air Defense Command — now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
One December day, his phone rang, but it wasn&#8217;t his regular phone. It was the red phone — the phone that had a <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/wrong-number-started-norad-santa-tracker/">number so secret</a> that only he and a four-star general at the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/disney-hires-obama-era-pentagon-spokesperson-to-build-on-companys-strong-reputation/">Pentagon</a> knew of its existence. But when he answered the phone, a child was on the other end.
&#8220;Is this Santa Claus?&#8221; the child asked. <a href="https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2018/12/21/santa-tracker-creator-norad-colonel-christmas/2369617002/">Shoup</a>, according to his children — Terri Van Keuren, Rick Shoup, Pam Farrel — was initially surprised and annoyed, but when the child began to cry he quickly changed his tone. He said, &#8220;Ho, ho, ho,&#8221; and asked the child whether he had been good — and then he asked to speak to a parent.
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/19/371647099/norads-santa-tracker-began-with-a-typo-and-a-good-sport">NPR reported</a>:
<blockquote>His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.
&#8220;And Dad realized that it wasn&#8217;t a joke,&#8221; her sister says. &#8220;So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho&#8217;d and asked if he had been a good boy and, &#8216;May I talk to your mother?&#8217; And the mother got on and said, &#8216;You haven&#8217;t seen the paper yet? There&#8217;s a phone number to call Santa. It&#8217;s in the Sears ad.&#8217; Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus.&#8221;
&#8220;It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, &#8216;The old man&#8217;s really flipped his lid this time. We&#8217;re answering Santa calls,&#8217; &#8221; Terri says.</blockquote>
The joke took another turn when, on Christmas Eve of 1955, several of the Airmen under Shoup&#8217;s command drew a sleigh and eight reindeer on the glass board that they normally used to track the paths of airplanes over U.S. and Canadian airspace.
According to Terri, Shoup saw the drawing and asked, &#8220;What is that?&#8221;
The airmen said it was just a joke, apologizing and offering to take it down.
&#8220;Dad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, &#8216;This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.&#8217; Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, &#8216;Where&#8217;s Santa now?'&#8221; Terri told NPR, adding, &#8220;And later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, &#8216;Thank you, Colonel,&#8217; for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information. You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he&#8217;s known for.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s probably the thing he was proudest of, too,&#8221; her brother agreed.
In the years since, NORAD has embraced the tradition. Call centers are operational and children can call from all over the world to see where Santa is as he makes his grand journey delivering gifts around the world in a single night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Take an inside look at our NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center as we track <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Santa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Santa</a> on his magical journey today! Track with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORAD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORAD</a> at <a href="https://t.co/7afKWWcryj">https://t.co/7afKWWcryj</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORADSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORADSanta</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SantaTracker?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SantaTracker</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORADTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORADTracksSanta</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/santaclaus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#santaclaus</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/merrychristmas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#merrychristmas</a> <a href="https://t.co/NsKxdPvuyo">pic.twitter.com/NsKxdPvuyo</a>
&mdash; NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoradSanta/status/1738940517080031321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
There is even an official Twitter account — @NoradSanta — that posts updates and videos throughout the day.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORADTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORADTracksSanta</a> is following the heat signature from Rudolph&#39;s nose to Dubai as Santa flies over the Arabian Peninsula.<a href="https://t.co/UVuyzrCgDr">https://t.co/UVuyzrCgDr</a>
&mdash; NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoradSanta/status/1738979427218760075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Santa is making a special stop for the astronauts at the International Space Station! Find out where he will go next at <a href="https://t.co/6qfPToRTlN">https://t.co/6qfPToRTlN</a><a href="https://t.co/pwuCxiDDyg">https://t.co/pwuCxiDDyg</a>
&mdash; NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoradSanta/status/1738993195214667809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORAD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORAD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SantaTrackers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SantaTrackers</a> still going strong and tracking <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Santa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Santa</a> on his magical journey around the world! Call our Santa Trackers at 1-877-Hi-NORAD, or track on our website at <a href="https://t.co/7afKWWcryj">https://t.co/7afKWWcryj</a>!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoradTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NoradTracksSanta</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MerryChristmas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MerryChristmas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChristmasEve?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChristmasEve</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SantaClaus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SantaClaus</a> <a href="https://t.co/mFSU6hB8to">pic.twitter.com/mFSU6hB8to</a>
&mdash; NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoradSanta/status/1739006882038071397?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Sleighbells are ringing over Athens 📷 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NORADTracksSanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NORADTracksSanta</a> <a href="https://t.co/1OZguqLhXv">https://t.co/1OZguqLhXv</a>
&mdash; NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoradSanta/status/1739012780760465760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

US-LIFESTYLE-CHRISTMAS-INTERNET-SANTA-OFFBEAT

‘The Santa Colonel’: How One Air Force Officer Turned A Sears Ad Typo Into A Holiday Tradition

Sears

U.S. Air Force

Renowned astro-physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson delivered an unsolicited science lesson on Christmas Eve, using his own research to &#8220;prove&#8221; that Santa Claus&#8217; holiday delivery schedule was an impossibility.
Tyson explained in a couple of tweets why Santa could not possibly make it to billions of homes all around the globe in the span of just 24 hours.
&#8220;After extensive research, I&#8217;ve concluded that for Santa to deliver presents to the billions of homes that celebrate Christmas, and to do so in one continuous night across 24 time zones, he &amp; his reindeer must open wormholes through the fabric of spacetime between each delivery,&#8221; he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
After extensive research, I&#39;ve concluded that for Santa to deliver presents to the billions of homes that celebrate Christmas, and to do so in one continuous night across 24 time zones, he &amp; his reindeer must open wormholes through the fabric of spacetime between each delivery.
&mdash; Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) <a href="https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1606786528407158784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tyson went on to explain just how many homes per second Santa would have to visit in order to reach every family who celebrated the holiday, adding, &#8220;In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In case you were wondering, for Santa, in a single 24-hr Earth-night, to deliver presents to all those who celebrate Christmas, he must visit 25,000 homes per second.
&mdash; Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) <a href="https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1606787493428346880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Critics were not impressed with Tyson&#8217;s lesson, however. One <a href="https://twitter.com/aginnt/status/1606881806351241217" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it &#8220;wins for the most unfun Christmas tweet of all time.&#8221;
&#8220;Got the same 24 hours Santa got and using your time to tweet this smh,&#8221; another <a href="https://twitter.com/yc/status/1606903147552976896" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
Tyson wasn&#8217;t quite finished, however, and he followed up with one more tweet reminding the people who were offended by the religious undertones of the &#8220;Merry Christmas&#8221; greeting that &#8220;Happy Holidays&#8221; might not be quite as atheist as they thought.
&#8220;Just to affirm that whoever says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, is using a word that etymologically derives from &#8216;Holy Days,'&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just to affirm that whoever says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, is using a word that etymologically derives from “Holy Days”.
&mdash; Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) <a href="https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1606789323000512512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It wasn&#8217;t the first time that Tyson <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/neil-degrinch-tyson-astrophysicist-neil-degrasse-tyson-dragged-for-sucking-the-magic-out-of-christmas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used science</a> to throw cold water on Christmas magic, either. In 2021, his Christmas tweets argued that Santa could not possibly live at the North Pole. &#8220;Since the Northern Arctic is just ocean, Santa’s North Pole workshop has only ever existed on a floating sheet of ice.&#8221;
Tyson also suggested that families should help the rotund Christmas gifter to get his weight under control, calling on them to leave &#8220;carrots, celery, &amp; hot tea for Santa on the table instead of milk &amp; cookies.&#8221;
In 2020, Tyson took issue with <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/neil-degrasse-tyson-santa-doesnt-know-zoology-rudolph-was-misgendered/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Santa again</a> — claiming that the jolly old elf had misgendered his own most famous reindeer. &#8220;Santa doesn’t know Zoology: Both male &amp; female Reindeer grow antlers. But all male Reindeer lose their antlers in the late fall, well-before Christmas. So Santa’s reindeer, which all sport antlers, are therefore all female, which means Rudolf has been misgendered.&#8221;

Neil deGrasse Tyson In Conversation With Gayle King: Starry Messenger

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tries To Ruin Christmas. Again.

General

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Science

Holiday watchers were thrown into a panic Saturday morning as the famous NORAD &#8220;<a href="https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Santa Tracker</a>&#8221; website crashed.
The Daily Mail reported that the site was down at around 6:21 a.m. EST Saturday morning, and was down for less than 90 minutes. The brief outage sent social media users into a frenzy as they were unable to enjoy a cherished holiday pastime. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been &#8220;tracking&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/santa-claus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Santa Claus</a>&#8216; progress delivering presents around the world since 1955.
&#8220;Oh no! The trusty [NORAD] Santa tracker has crashed as technology goes on the blink,&#8221; The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11571671/NORAD-Santa-Tracker-LIVE-Follow-Father-Christmas-flies-world.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail</a> reported. &#8220;We&#8217;re not sure what this means for Father Christmas, but hopefully it&#8217;s a technical error only and he&#8217;s still out there delivering presents.&#8221;
Screenshots from the NORAD website at the time showed a blank blue screen with no information on Santa&#8217;s location. The Daily Mail speculated at the time that the interruption could have been caused by blizzard conditions from the colossal &#8220;bomb cyclone&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/once-in-a-generation-winter-storm-expected-to-affect-most-of-u-s-midwest-likely-to-be-hardest-hit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">winter storm</a> that blanketed most of the United States this week, since the Santa Tracker uses data from American satellites.
In response to the outage, Santa watchers panicked on Twitter, scrambling to come up with explanations for the young children in their lives.
&#8220;The NORAD santa tracker website has crashed and i have no clue how i’m going to explain this to the kiddos when they wake back up for the day,&#8221; one user wrote.
&#8220;Is the NORAD Santa tracker website/app down for anyone else?,&#8221; asked another. &#8220;Seems like of all the days, today would be fairly important to be running&#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;Where is Santa?,&#8221; another user tweeted. &#8220;NORAD can you please get it back up because I NEED to know where Santa is and I might just have to go to either Google SANTA tracker [or] Flightradar24 SANTA1 flight?&#8221;
Other users had more fun with it, and several blamed the outage on recent events besides the winter weather blast.
&#8220;The NORAD Santa Tracker is down. Our defense system is down,&#8221; one user joked. &#8220;An attack on American soil is imminent. Hide your kids, hide your wife. We have hours left until the fat man and his animals invade our shores.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t want to worry everyone but… Norad’s Santa Tracker is down,&#8221; one user wrote, before taking several swipes at ELon Musk&#8217;s takeover of Twitter. &#8220;What’s going on? Has Elon banned live sharing of Santa’s &#8216;assassination coordinates?&#8217; Have the reindeer demanded WFH this year?&#8221;
&#8220;Norad santa tracker isn&#8217;t working, they must&#8217;ve given all the money for that to Ukraine this year,&#8221; said another.
NORAD restored the site at around 7:30 A.M. EST. &#8220;Thank you for your patience!&#8221; NORAD wrote on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/noradsanta/posts/pfbid01PgJ2BRoYjqfNTx8dJeMkJQEFzSg61wncrh9c4RV9XNr7RYzR1YpmMaVs3HePNQFl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> page. &#8220;We are up and running! (Santa has been up for hours.)&#8221;
As of the publication of this piece, Santa has already delivered more than 2.5 billion presents, and is en route to Madagascar.
The U.S. Air Force began &#8220;tracking&#8221; St. Nick&#8217;s progress on his annual journey Christmas Even in 1955, when a child, looking to call Santa Claus through a number in a Sears catalog, accidentally dialed the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. The tradition has been repeated every year since; NORAD took over the tracker in 1958.

Santa Claus carrying sack of gifts, portrait, close-up

Santa Watchers Panic As NORAD’s ‘Santa Tracker’ Crashes Early Christmas Eve Morning

Santa Watchers Panic As NORAD's 'Santa Tracker' Crashes Early Christmas Eve Morning

Twitter

Actor Tim Allen said he&#8217;s &#8220;better as Santa Claus&#8221; than in any other role as he praised his new Disney+ series, &#8220;The Santa Clauses,&#8221; for remembering that Christmas is about a Christian holiday.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-allen">69-year-old</a> recently discussed playing jolly old Saint Nick again 28 years after he first donned the Santa suit in the hit 1994 movie, &#8220;The Santa Clause,&#8221; with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/tim-allen-getting-back-into-santa-suit-retirement-not-in-vocabulary">Fox News Digital</a>.
&#8220;You know, you get around that suit, and I haven&#8217;t changed,&#8221; Allen explained. &#8220;It&#8217;s become that stupid thing, and it ain&#8217;t me.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m nowhere near as nice as that guy,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s just amazing how I become that guy, walk on set and people react to it, and I honor it. I don&#8217;t make any jokes anymore as I watch my performance, and I literally think I&#8217;m better as Santa Claus than I am as anything else because I think for any actor to tease or put on a costume, it&#8217;s easy to become that thing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Tim Allen on getting back into the Santa suit and why retirement is not in his vocabulary <a href="https://t.co/Rt8cleaVaV">https://t.co/Rt8cleaVaV</a>
&mdash; Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1602639509065273344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We honor the Christian tradition without heralding it,&#8221; Allen continued. &#8220;It&#8217;s not – it is what it is. It&#8217;s a Christian holiday. So, we don&#8217;t belabor it, but we don&#8217;t ignore it. I love the way we deal with it.&#8221;
Allen embraced the challenges of reprising his Kris Kringle role on a streaming format instead of the big screen.
&#8220;I see the beginning, middle and end as though it&#8217;s a six-hour movie,&#8221; &#8220;The Santa Clause 2&#8221; star shared. &#8220;I said, &#8216;This thing is very, very good,&#8217; and this is early on, and we continue down this path.&#8221;
&#8220;This is a new format for me, and then I can get my head around it creatively,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s not a television show. It&#8217;s not a movie. It&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve been forced, challenged to do now is a hybrid. It&#8217;s a long movie or a very produced, very creatively elevated television program.&#8221;
The first episode of &#8220;The Santa Clauses&#8221; was released on Disney+ on November 16, and the last show will be available on December 14.
Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids’ entertainment content.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-allen-shares-what-it-took-to-get-him-to-don-the-red-coat-for-another-santa-clause-after-third-film-overshot-the-runway">Tim Allen Shares What It Took To Get Him To Don The Red Coat For Another &#8216;Santa Clause&#8217; After Third Film &#8216;Overshot The Runway&#8217;</a>

FOX Summer TCA 2018 All-Star Party – Arrivals

Tim Allen Says He’s ‘Better As Santa Claus’ Than Other Roles, Says New Christmas Series Doesn’t ‘Ignore’ Christian Holiday

Tim Allen Says He’s 'Better As Santa Claus’ Than Other Roles, Says New Christmas Series Doesn’t ‘Ignore’ Christian Holiday

Celebrities

Disney

Entertainment

Hollywood

Tim Allen

The tomb of the famed Saint Nicolas whose memory was immortalized as Father Christmas and still later Santa Claus has reportedly <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11329305/Tomb-Santa-Claus-Burial-spot-Saint-Nicholas-discovered-underneath-Turkish-church.html?ico=most_shared_articles_mol.web.desktop_">been found</a>.
The original Saint Nicolas served in the fourth century as the Bishop of Myra, in what is now Turkey. He was famed for his anonymous gift-giving, including surreptitiously stuffing coins into peoples’ shoes.
“The first church was submerged with the rise of the Mediterranean Sea, and some centuries later, a new church was built above,” Osman Eravsar, the chief of the cultural heritage preservation board in Antalya, said of the church in Demre.
“Now we have reached the remains of the first church and the floor on which Saint Nicholas stepped,” he continued. “The tiling of the floor of the first church, on which Saint Nicholas walked, has been unearthed.”
After the church was inundated with rising sea levels, a new church was built atop it to protect Saint Nicolas’ tomb.
“Turkish archaeologists reportedly detected a crypt 5ft beneath the marble slabs which make the church&#8217;s floor,” The Irish Sun<a href="https://www.thesun.ie/tech/9591329/grave-father-christmas-discovered-ancient-church/"> reported</a>.
Prior research believed the remains of the saint had been stolen by Italian thieves in the 11th century, but Turkish archaeologists aver that the bones in Italy were those of an unknown priest.
One story told of the original Saint Nicolas relates that he bequeathed three poor girls marriage gifts consisting of bags of gold to prevent them from turning to a life of prostitution. He was said to have climbed up to their windows and thrown the money in so they would not be embarrassed by receiving the money in public.
The Roman emperor Diocletian, who hated Christians, reportedly imprisoned Nicolas, but he was released by Emperor Constantine, who embraced Christianity.
After his death, Nicolas became the patron saint of Russia and Greece and cities from Fribourg to Moscow. Literally thousands of European churches were dedicated to him.
In Holland, Saint Nicolas was known for the Reformation as Sinterklaas; when Dutch colonists came to America that name evolved into Santa Claus. “His legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents,” <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Nicholas">Britannica</a> notes.

Santa Claus looking through binoculars

Tomb Of The Original St. Nick Reportedly Discovered

Remains Of The Original St. Nick Reportedly Discovered

Fans got their first introduction to Ralphie&#8217;s family and friends nearly 40 years ago in the film that would become a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christmas">Christmas</a> classic — and a sequel to &#8220;A Christmas Story&#8221; will drop this year on HBO Max in November.
In the highly anticipated film titled &#8220;A Christmas Story Christmas,&#8221; fans will check in on &#8220;grown-up&#8221; Ralphie — played once again by Peter Billingsly — who &#8220;must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it, this time as a dad,&#8221; according to the a description from the streaming site, <a href="https://deadline.com/2022/08/hbo-max-dates-four-holiday-movies-including-sequel-a-christmas-story-christmas-1235099541/">Deadline</a> reported in a piece published Wednesday.
&#8220;With the same attention-to-real-life tone of the first, Ralphie reconnects with childhood friends, reconciles the passing of his Old Man and sows the seeds for the origins of the beloved holiday classic,&#8221; the film&#8217;s logline read, per <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1343552/the-a-christmas-story-sequel-finally-has-a-release-date?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&amp;utm_source=eonline&amp;utm_medium=rssfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=rss_topstories">E! News</a>,
It will reportedly take place in the 1970s, with Billingsly playing an adult Ralphie, bringing his family to his childhood home for the holiday, <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/a-christmas-story-sequel-peter-billingsley-1235159114/">Variety</a> reported. Erinn Hayes, Julianna Layne, River Drosche, RD Robb and Scott Schwartz along with Zack Ward and Julie Hagerty also star.
The new movie is directed by Clay Kaytis with producers Irwin Zwilling, Marc Toberoff, Cale Boyter, Jay Ashenfelter, Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="A Christmas Story (1983) Official Trailer #1 - Family Comedy" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cfjEZ88NHBw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
For those who might have somehow missed the original movie, the film follows a kid in the 1940s, (Ralphie) on the adventure that culminates in him getting the one Christmas gift he would die for, a Red Ryder BB rifle from Santa Claus. Through a serious of hilarious incidents, everyone from his teacher to the Santa Claus mall tells him he will &#8220;shoot his eye out&#8221; if he gets one.
But regardless, Santa does deliver that BB gun on Christmas morning and well, not to spoil it, but the advice he got from others about the potential risks of owning a rifle do not seem completely unwarranted.
Despite the cult following the legendary Christmas movie has had, it was originally considered a box office flop in 1983 when it hit the big screen, E! News noted.
&#8220;A Christmas Story Christmas&#8221; debuts on HBO Max November 17.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-christmas-story-star-peter-billingsley-says-crew-gave-him-real-chewing-tobacco-they-really-screwed-up">&#8216;A Christmas Story&#8217; Star Says Crew Gave Him Real Chewing Tobacco: &#8216;They Really Screwed Up&#8217;</a>

A Christmas Story-2

‘A Christmas Story’ Sequel Will Drop This Year. Here’s When To Expect It

'A Christmas Story' Sequel Will Drop This Year. Here's When To Expect It

Movies

One of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sarah-palin">Sarah Palin</a>&#8216;s opponents in her bid for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alaska">Alaska</a>&#8216;s sole <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-house-of-representatives">House</a> seat is jolly personality with massive name recognition and a tradition of handing out largess to future taxpayers.
His name is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/santa-claus">Santa Claus</a>.
The state is implementing a new voting system in Saturday&#8217;s special election to replace longtime <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-alaska-gop-congressman-don-young-passes-away-at-88">Rep. Don Young</a>, who died in March. Palin is the most experienced politician in the 48-person field, but one opponent is a Democrat socialist from the (real) city of North Pole who legally changed his name to Santa Claus.
&#8220;I&#8217;m happy to announce that I&#8217;m a Candidate in the Special Election for the U.S. House of Representatives for Alaska in 2022!&#8221; Claus says on his Twitter page. &#8220;I&#8217;m an independent, progressive, democratic socialist, with an affinity for Bernie Sanders, and aim to represent ALL Alaskans :-)}&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I&#39;m happy to announce that I&#39;m a Candidate in the Special Election for the U.S. House of Representatives for Alaska in 2022! I&#39;m an independent, progressive, democratic socialist, with an affinity for Bernie Sanders, and aim to represent ALL Alaskans :-)} <a href="https://t.co/DrYTU63Xp3">https://t.co/DrYTU63Xp3</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8HplPVC3z">pic.twitter.com/r8HplPVC3z</a>
&mdash; SANTA CLAUS FOR ALASKA (@SantaClausforAK) <a href="https://twitter.com/SantaClausforAK/status/1509949060995715081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The race is the first since the state switched to nonpartisan primaries and ranked-choice voting. The changes followed a 2020 ballot measure. The system was supposed to debut in the regular primary in August, but the death of Young, who had held the state&#8217;s sole House seat since 1973, sped up the timetable.
Voters cast ballots for single candidates in today&#8217;s primary, then the top four finishers advance to the general election, in which voters pick four in order of preference. If a candidate tops 50%, he or she wins. If no one gets a majority, the last-place finisher drops out and his or her supporters&#8217; second, third and fourth choices are reacts. The elimination process continues until there is a winner.
Palin, the former governor and the 2008 running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is considered the front-runner. Others include Nick Begich, a Republican whose grandfather held the seat before Young and Al Gross, a surgeon who ran for Senate in 2020.
Begich is the state GOP&#8217;s choice. His grandfather died in the same 1972 plane crash that killed then-House Majority Leader Hale Boggs. His brother Mark was a U.S. senator from 2009-2015.
Palin has scored endorsements from a slew of Republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
Claus, a city councilman in North Pole who changed his name two decades ago, has a legitimate shot to make the top four, and perhaps even win the seat, pollster Ivan Moore <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/alaskas-new-voting-system-sarah-palin-facing-santa-claus-congress-rcna32441">told</a> NBC News.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up snagging the seat for real, through a combination of people who are just being mischievous and wanting to see a situation where Santa Claus wins,” Moore said.

Sarah Palin V. The New York Times Defamation Trial Begins

Sarah Palin Vs. Santa Claus, Dozens More In Alaska House Seat Special Election

2022 Election

Alaska

Sarah Palin

Russian economist Alexander Butmanov toasted the death of the national stock market on live television, telling the stunned host that he would go back to his old job, playing Santa Claus.
Journalist Peter Liakhov tweeted a video clip of the segment broadcast on a Russian business news channel along with the caption, &#8220;A snapshot of the Russian economy: an investment expert goes live on air and says his current career trajectory is to work as &#8216;Santa Claus&#8217; and then drinks to the death of the stock market. With subtitles.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A snapshot of the Russian economy: an investment expert goes live on air and says his current career trajectory is to work as &quot;Santa Claus&quot; and then drinks to the death of the stock market. With subtitles. <a href="https://t.co/XiPVTSUuks">pic.twitter.com/XiPVTSUuks</a>
&mdash; Peter Liakhov (@peterliakhov) <a href="https://twitter.com/peterliakhov/status/1499341576518217730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;With me in the studio today is Alexandre Butmanov,&#8221; host Elina Tikhonova began, introducing him as an &#8220;economist, founder of the investment group &#8216;Allies,&#8217; and expert on stock market strategies.&#8221;
&#8220;Alexander, hello,&#8221; Tikhonova said, and he replied, &#8220;Greetings. Good day. I am not saying anything.&#8221;
&#8220;Yes, we are all at a loss for words now,&#8221; the host agreed, asking, &#8220;Are stock market strategies outdated now, or do you still hope to remain in the profession?&#8221;
&#8220;Worst case scenario, I&#8217;m going to work as Santa Claus, as I did 25 years ago,&#8221; Butmanov replied.
&#8220;But that&#8217;s only once a year,&#8221; Tikhonova pressed.
&#8220;Excluding jokes, let&#8217;s do this quickly,&#8221; Butmanov continued, ducking out of frame only to return a moment later with a green glass bottle. &#8220;I send regards to Sergei Usychenko, who drank 12, 13 years ago to the death of the stock market.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, I&#8217;m drinking carbonated water,&#8221; he announced, opening the bottle. &#8220;Dear Stock Market, you were close to us, you were interesting. Rest In Peace, dear Comrade.&#8221;
Butmanov proceeded to drink from the bottle, prompting the host to raise her eyebrows.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to comment on this stunt because I don&#8217;t want to believe it,&#8221; Tikhonova said.
Russia&#8217;s national stock market is struggling under the weight of <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/quit-pussy-footing-around-tom-cotton-blasts-biden-administrations-weak-sanctions-on-ruthless-dictator-putin/">sanctions</a> imposed primarily in financial sectors against Russian banks and other financial institutions, all resulting from the ongoing <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/how-can-you-defend-them-stephanopoulos-grills-russian-foreign-minister-over-kremlins-lies-attacks-on-ukrainian-civilians/">Russian invasion</a> of Ukraine.
As Business Insider <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/russia-stocks-plunge-ukraine-conflict-sberbank-gazprom-lukoil-sanctions-economy-2022-3">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Russia&#8217;s biggest bank plunged as much as 95% on the London stock exchange Wednesday and other companies crashed by similar amounts as the war in Ukraine and ensuing sanctions caused investors to dump the country&#8217;s assets.
<a href="https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/SBER/sberbank-of-russia/company-page" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="40" data-uri="0d3a32a0d76df42246db041a3d15f292">Sberbank</a>, which has more than 135 million customers, plunged to as low as $0.01 Wednesday morning, having stood at $16.12 at the start of the year. The company&#8217;s depository receipts — certificates representing shares — are listed in London, although its main listing is in Moscow.
The lender said Wednesday that it had decided to withdraw from the non-Russian European market after facing &#8220;an exceptional outflow of funds.&#8221;</blockquote>
Additional sanctions could <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/russian-billionaire-puts-chelsea-football-club-up-for-sale-as-sanctions-questions-swirl/">target assets</a> owned by those who reportedly have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including real estate, yachts, and other high-dollar items. The possible threat of such sanctions from the United States and other western nations has already prompted at least one Russian billionaire to put the Chelsea Football Club up for sale.

Ukraine war – ruble

Russian Economist Drinks To The Death Of The Market, Says He’ll Get A Job Playing Santa Claus

Russia

Sanctions

Stock Market

Ukraine

Menu