Archive for the ‘Only in America’ Category

NORAD tracks Santa Claus

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

In the series “Only in America” we bring to you some interesting aspects of life in the US. Where else does the Aerospace Defence Command track Santa Claus!

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracks the path of Santa throughout the world. With their satellite systems, radars, fighter jets and other resources they have now been tracking Santa for over 50 years. It all started with an accidental printing of the Aerospace command’s phone number in a Sears ad. The ad promised a phone number which would tell the kids about Santa’s travel plans. When the phone started ringing, the commanding officer decided not to disappoint the children and directed staff to answer phone calls. In 2008, volunteers used 100 phones and 25 computers to handle 69,845 calls and 6,086 e-mails from more than 200 countries.

Few years later the Command was replaced by a joint US-Canada project but the tradition continues. Thousands of volunteers now help answer phone calls alongwith NORAD employees. With the changing times, as you might expect, now the project has its own facebook and twitter pages that publish Santa’s latest whereabouts.

A few hours ago, Santa was spotted in some of the cities thousands of app2us.com users call home - Mumbal, Shanghai, Kolkata and Dhaka. One of the cities Santa visits every year is Agra - this video was shot over Taj Mahal earlier today. For more information about NORAD Tracks Santa, visit www.noradsanta.org. The phone number is 877-HI-NORAD (877-446-6723).

Reference:
Wikipedia

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Barack Obama - A true American story

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009


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Today Barack Hussein Obama II was sworn as the 44th president of the Unites States. It is a historic day for the country and a unparallel occurance in the world history. To quote from his innauguration speech, “… a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” It is said that anything is possible in America and after today this is more true.



We explore some of the academic affiliations and qualifications of the president and his family which our readers may find interesting.



Barack Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles then transferred to Columbia University where is completed his B.A. degree in Political Science in 1983. He was admitted to Harvard Law School in 1988. In 1990, he was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991. He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.



First lady Michelle Obama obtained her B.A. degree in 1985 with a major in sociology and minor in African American studies at Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude. She obtained her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. She is the third First Lady with a graduate degree, following Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. In 1996, Mrs. Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals and held the position of Vice President for Community and External Affairs till 2008.



President Obama’s father, Barack Hussein Obama, attended University of Hawaii and Harvard University as an international student from Kenya. He obtained M.A. degree in economics from Harvard University. His mother attended University of Hawaii at Manoa and obtained her PhD in Anthropology. her Ph.D. dissertation was titled, “Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds”.



Barack Obama was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents. Against many odds, he worked his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans. Mrs. Obama’s father was a pump worker at the City of Chicago water plant. He worked hard all his life despite facing various health problems. Education is the key to advancement in America and nobody exemplifies it better than Barack Obama. Yes, you also can.



Reference:

www.whitehouse.gov, wikipedia


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