We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
One of the richest, and perhaps most under-appreciated, areas of thought come in the form of comments attached to these diaries.
Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and through nominations at made at topcomments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks.
These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But hopefully they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.
Please come in and make yourself at home! Join us beneath the fold...
I. Revisiting Christmas on Boxing Day
I don't know about anyone else, but I had a wonderful holiday.
We opened stockings and presents with the kids in the morning. Unsurprisingly, the kids were a little too excited in the morning for my taste; they thought it would be a good idea to demand that we get up at 6:30 a.m. to start opening gifts.
Although we were sympathetic to their enthusiasm, we were also tired from wrapping presents until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning. Mercifully, the kids let us sleep for another hour or so.
The kids opened their gifts in record time. Our 8 year old received mostly toys, and our 12 year old received mostly clothes. Our living room still looks like a disaster area despite our effort to clean along the way.
After the immediate family gifts (and several cups of coffee), we meandered over to my in-laws' house for a breakfast of eggs and cinnamon rolls. Delicious. Then more gifts were exchanged. Grammy and Grampy gave the kids way too much stuff, and our nephew made out like a bandit.
Around noon or 1:00 p.m., we noticed it had started snowing pretty heavily. The kids were beside themselves, and although it was fun to see a rare White Christmas in Seattle, we were worried about getting to my parents' house for dinner. So we rounded up our loot, and set off in the middle of the snow.
An aside, for folks who are used to snow, you need to understand that as soon as two flakes fall in Seattle, the whole city shuts down. Nobody knows how to drive in the snow. Even when it isn't sticking to any roads, people feel the need to drive 30 mph on the damn freeway. So while it most certainly didn't look like upstate New York yesterday, we were nevertheless worried about making it to my folks house.
To make a long story short, the freeway was slow, but the traffic wasn't too bad, and we made it to my folks house without a glitch. Dinner was wonderful, we had all the typical foods: turkey, mashed potato, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. After dinner, we opened presents from my family. And like the other grandparents, my folk bought too damn many gifts for the kids, lol.
All said, we had a very enjoyable Christmas, and were glad to have spent the time communing with family.
Here are a few photos of our Christmas day fun, plus a bonus Mary and Joseph sighting:
II. Tonight's Top Comments
Via A Siegel :
RFK Lives examines Tony Blair's religiousity amid my discussion of a recent Papal statement on the environment.
Via PBCliberal:
Pasta wars, with some considerable punning, erupted among the Flying Spaghetti Monster faithful starting with mollyd comment here and raging through doctrinal differences, adaptation of the icons, sayings and ceremonies of other religions, and ending in a schism.
Via ezdidit:
adigal describes a refreshing turn of events he witnessed on C-SPAN.
Via sardonyx:
In davidkc's diary Flying spaghetti monster defeats anti-evolution FL school board, a serious diary provokes some very funny comments indeed. The initial spate starts below the tip jar with Ed in Montana's, but don't stop reading there. Among other things, you can find Mishima's picture of the Ramen God, Uncle Cosmo's definitions for a new word introduced by the diary, verocity, and Pandoras Box on what God can create.
Top Mojo (thanks so much BeninSC!)
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 30 of each plus ties):
1 have some sauce :) by mollyd - 115
2 And it's not "pseudo-sauce" by Ed in Montana - 93
3 Who made them a laughingstock? by irate - 93
4 Too true by TheNightfly - 92
5 What's the Pastafarians' favorite hymn? by jazzmaniac - 89
6 Wise words by Zwoof - 87
7 ...I couldn't continue but feel I should by Zwoof - 83
8 In Memory of Alicia by Zwoof - 81
9 Oh, yes, I have by noweasels - 78
10 Err ... by Adam B - 77
11 The noodle knows by saildude - 74
12 Well played, davidkc by TruthOfAngels - 72
13 relevant quote by NCrefugee - 70
14 oh my God, Noweasels . . . by nyceve - 69
15 Namaste, noweasels by Pax Amicus - 68
16 The hardest thing I ever read... by ImpeachKingBushII - 67
17 Thank you, noweasels. by x - 65
18 dearest Zwoof by noweasels - 65
19 Ramen! by irate - 63
20 I trust that you've found peace in the by watercarrier4diogenes - 62
21 what an enormously kind comment by noweasels - 58
22 Confusion! by altruista - 58
23 "35 Clinton administration officials" by psericks - 57
24 sometimes... by rioduran - 57
25 No one called her inadequate. by psericks - 56
26 thank you, shock by noweasels - 56
27 Darn that Mike Gravel by greggp - 56
28 Voting for Edwards by cosbo - 55
29 The sickening part is the p.r stunt by meatwad420 - 55
30 Thank you for writing this. by shock - 53
31 this man embodies evil by Jeffersonian Democrat - 53
32 The media have some nerve, don't they? by davidkc - 53
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 Tips for Pastafarians by davidkc - 536
2 Prayers and help for those by noweasels - 272
3 tips by dday - 194
4 tips for exposing push-polls by desmoinesdem - 159
5 Tips by turneresq - 137
6 Tips for clean air by DWG - 132
7 Tip Jar by Ryan Anderson - 118
8 tip jar by ethanthej - 116
9 have some sauce :) by mollyd - 115
10 Tips by turneresq - 111
11 Tip Jar by LithiumCola - 99
12 Why should Americans not have proper care? by xxdr zombiexx - 96
13 And it's not "pseudo-sauce" by Ed in Montana - 93
14 Who made them a laughingstock? by irate - 93
15 tip jar by altruista - 93
16 Tips for viability. by icebergslim - 92
17 Too true by TheNightfly - 92
18 tips by RDemocrat - 92
19 What's the Pastafarians' favorite hymn? by jazzmaniac - 89
20 The NY Times is reporting today that by blue jersey mom - 87
21 Wise words by Zwoof - 87
22 ...I couldn't continue but feel I should by Zwoof - 83
23 In Memory of Alicia by Zwoof - 81
24 Oh, yes, I have by noweasels - 78
25 Err ... by Adam B - 77
26 Tip Jar by Avenging Angel - 76
27 Tips for all of America Rising... by cosbo - 75
28 The noodle knows by saildude - 74
29 Well played, davidkc by TruthOfAngels - 72
30 relevant quote by NCrefugee - 70