Humanist Santa Watch

Every year around this time, the hyper-rational, hyper-quantitative rocket geeks and propellerheads at NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, train their radar systems, spy planes, and other surveillance resources especially closely on the North Pole.

No, they're not afraid of a sneak Russkie Christmas Eve attack on Cleveland or Edmonton. Rather, they're using all the skill and ingenuity of the human spirit to help all the good little girls and boys of the world know precisely when Santa will arrive. They track his departure from the North Pole, mark his arrival in various cities around the world, and even on occasion provide escorts through friendly or unfriendly airspace.

And they have a website. When Faustoette and Fausto Jr. were a little younger, one of the high points of Christmas Eve in the Fausto home was checking up on Santa's progress online.

You can follow Santa's progress too, here. Starting tonight. (Remember, they're a day ahead of us on the other side of the International Date Line. Santa remembers, thank goodness.)