Every day is a new day and with that, a new opportunity.
EVERYONE is welcome and please join us each morning at 7:30 AM PACIFIC
to tell us what you're working on, share your show & tell, vent, whatever you want...
...this is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.
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Ever mourn for someone who died only to see them arise from the dead?
I am not talking about the kind of George Romero zombies that walk around eating flesh. Nor am I talking about the kind of zombies that sometimes stalk around here eating up comment threads with right-wing talking points. I mean folks that you thought had passed on, but who in fact never died in the first place. They are not real 'zombies' in any sense-
except for the first few seconds you see them after supposing them dead.
Zombie 1: The Customer.
A few days ago I wrote here about someone I feared had died, and I wondered what else I could've done to prevent their death. I spent a couple days trying to get official confirmation of that from authorities, but all to no avail. To say the least, I was not exactly in downtown happyland about it. Then I got a call from work that the 'dead' person had come into work all bandaged up and ate lunch with a smile on her face. Heh, a welcome zombie.
I haven't seen that one yet, but I have seen others.
Zombie 2: The Brother.
I have an older brother who is a different type of zombie. He disappeared completely when I was about 13. He was about 21 or 22 at the time and had just started his own family (a wife and a baby girl). For decades there was no word on him. Growing up I would occassionaly asked my parents about him and they'd just shake their heads. As I grew older I began snooping into family documents and found he'd had a long troubled adolescent history replete with burglaries, juvenile hall and a fascination with guns. In the last years of my mom's life she confided to me the events of the last night he was seen.
His bride on that last night had called my mom because my brother was freaking out and firing a gun in their apartment. My mom rushed over. My brother met her outside on the 2nd floor porch and threw her down the flight of stairs.
He then disappeared.
That must've been around 1970. I assumed from the story he was dead or in jail someplace.
Then about 7 years ago my sister and I did an internet search in an attempt to find out what ever happened to him. We found two shockers. First, he was still alive. Second, he lived just a few blocks away from me. Heh, a zombie in the 'hood.
We reached out to him, but there was no one there. We encountered a person with the same name and face, but he was no longer our brother. He was no longer my niece's father. He was a shell. Financially relatively well off, but seemingly with little of the original soul left.
Zombie 3: The Friend.
I have an old friend who spent much of his life near death. I first met him working on an anti-apartheid newspaper. He was the best editor and the best writer. His stories were always the hardest hitting. He passed his puberty hanging tough with the Black Panthers in Oakland. He survived an encounter with death when the helicopter he was in over Vietnam was shot out of the sky. Came back to the U.S. and spent years in jail (I can't remember for what-if he ever told me). Afterwards, unable to find anyone who would employ a Black man with both a criminal and political record, he entered the underground economy.
Years later, he travelled with me to Central America. He came close to getting both of us killed on the Belize/Guatemala border. He went on to El Salvador to interview the FMLN guerrilas. Then from there went to Peru to interview combatants there. That's when he disappeared off the face of the earth. For a year or so I and several others believed him to be dead.
One day he nonchalantly reappeared in Oakland as if he'd been out on a fishing trip. He was in the best of moods. Heh, he hadn't died. He came close though. Seeking an interview with the Shining Path, he had been 'detained' by them for some months. When finally he was allowed to leave, he had the misfortune to encounter government para-military forces. The latter tortured him ruthlessly in an effort to get him to divulge info on his "friends" in the Shining Path. He heard one of the men in the room say in a flawless New England accent, "his left ball is swelling to the size of a football. Should we just cut it off and throw it for a touchdown?" That was a room filled with the worst kind of zombies.
Have you ever known any type of zombie (good or bad)?
Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Below the New Day sunrise cloud
:: COMMUNITY BUILDING UPDATES ::
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Let's build communities!
Every region needs a meatspace community like SFKossacks.
We take care of each other in real life.
I urge YOU to take the lead and organize one in your region.
Please tell us about it if you do and we're here for advice.
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THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
>>>Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
NEW GROUPS IN THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING:
Send a Kosmail to the organizers and ask for an invitation to the group.
• Northern Indiana Area: Kosmail Tim Delaney
• Long Island: Kosmail grannycarol
• Northern Michigan: Kosmail JillS
• Nebraska: Kosmail Nebraska68847Dem
• Westburbia Chicago Kossacks: Kosmail Majordomo
• Caprock Kossacks (Panhandle/Caprock/Lubbock/Amarillo area) : Kosmail shesaid
• West Texas Kossacks (including Big Bend Region and El Paso) : Kosmail Yo Bubba
• Las Vegas Kossacks: Kosmail miracle11
• Vermont Kossacks: Kosmail 4Freedom
Note to the above new leaders: Feel free to leave a comment any day reminding readers about your new group. Also, tell us about your progress in gathering members. Kosmail me when you've chosen a good name for your group and have created a the group. Then I'll move you to the NEW GROUPS LIST. When you've planned a date for your first event I'll make a banner for you to highlight your event in our diaries and your diaries.
These are the groups that have started since * NEW DAY * began. Please Kosmail navajo if you have started a group before that.
NEW GROUPS LIST:
• California Central Valley Kossacks - Formed: Jul 29, 2012, Organizer: tgypsy
• New England Kossacks - Formed: Aug 6, 2012, Organizers:
Clytemnestra for Lower New England (Conneticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island)
nhox42 for Upper New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)
• Houston Area Kossacks - Formed: Aug 7, 2012, Organizer: Chrislove
• Kossacks in India - Formed: Aug 14, 2012, Organizer: chandu
• CenTex Kossacks - Formed: Sep 9, 2012, Organizer: papa monzano
• Central Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Sep 26, 2012, Organizer: VetGrl
• Kansas City Kossacks - Formed Oct 15, 2012, Organizer: [Founder stepped down]
• Phoenix Kossacks - Formed Oct 16, 2012, Organizer: arizonablue
• Chicago Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2012, Organizer: figbash
• Koscadia the Pacific Northwest coast from Northern California to Alaska
- Formed Oct 17, 2012, Oganizer: Horace Boothroyd III based in Portland, OR
• Boston Kossacks - Formed: Nov 7, 2012, Organizer: GreyHawk
• Motor City Kossacks South East Michigan (Detroit) Area - Formed: Nov 10, 2012, Organizer: peregrine kate
• Pittsburgh Area Kossacks - Formed: Nov 12, 2012, Organizer: dweb8231
• Salt Lake City Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: War on Error
• Twin Cities Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: imonlylurking
• Dallas Kossacks North Texas - Formed: Nov 21, 2012, Admins: Catte Nappe and dalfireplug. Please contact them to join the group. An Event Organizer needed.
• The Southern California Inland Empire Kossacks - Formed: Dec 3, 2012, Organizer: SoCaliana
• Los Angeles Kossacks - Formed: Dec 17, 2012, Organizer: Dave in Northridge
• Northeast Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Jan 16, 2013, Organizer: GenXangster
• Kansas & Missouri Kossacks - Formed: Jan 17, 2013, Organizer: tmservo433
• I-77 Carolina Kossacks who live from Columbia, SC to north of Winston-Salem, NC. - Formed: Jan 30, 2013, Organizers: gulfgal98 and eeff
• Indianapolis Kossacks - Formed: Feb 6, 2013, Organizer: CityLightsLover
• Southwest Ohio Kossacks - Formed: May 10, 2013, Organizer: Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN
• Northern Arizona Kossacks - Formed: Jul 5, 2013, Organizer: Sam Sara
• Mexican Kossacks - Formed: Apr 14, 2013, Organizer: roberb7
• New York Hudson Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 27, 2012, Organizer: boran2
• North Carolina Triangle Kosmopolitans - Formed: Aug 2, 2013, Organizer: highacidity
• Silicon Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2013, Organizer: Glen The Plumber
ESTABLISHED GROUPS LIST: (List will grow as we discover them)
• SFKossacks Founded by navajo, Formed: May 2, 2005
• Maryland Kos Founded by timmyc, Formed: Feb 23, 2011. Contact: JamieG from Md for a group invite.
• New York City Founded by Eddie C - Contact the group organizer for meet-up events: sidnora
• Baja Arizona Kossacks, Event Organizer: Azazello
• Three Star Kossacks Tennessee, Founded by maryKK, Formed: Apr 8, 2011
• Nashville KosKats, Founded by ZenTrainer Formed: Jan 30, 2012
• Virginia Kos Founded by JamieG from Md, Formed: May 3, 2011
• Kos Georgia Founded by pat208, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• Colorado COmmunity Founded by Leftcandid, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• New Mexico Kossaks Founded by claude
• Philly Kos Founded by mconvente Formed: Aug 29, 2011
• DKos Florida Founded by ThirstyGator, Formed: Feb 14, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail Vetwife to be included in next event.
• Oklahoma Roundup Founded by BigOkie, Formed: Feb 13, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail peacearena to be included.
• DKos Asheville Founded by davehouck, Formed: Feb 13, 2011 - Organizing Assist by: randallt
• San Diego Kossacks Founded by La Gitane, Formed: Nov 18, 2011
• Massachusetts Kosmopolitans Founded by mem from somerville, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
by ColoTim ♥ for COLORADO COMMUNITY
Seven Kossacks from the Denver area got together to enjoy each other's company. Casual conversation included: "...various past elections, various upcoming elections, interactions people have had with elected and/or government officials, discussions of various parts of the Denver metro area, showing some pictures of [ColoTim's] new woozle, past and future gatherings, food and drink and fantasy football."
Good times in Colorado!
L-R: ACPA, ColoTim, whoknu, RockyMtnLib, Leftcandid & Phoenix Rising
Please visit ColoTim's diary for obligatory food shots. Enjoy, there's pie! You can join COLORADO COMMUNITY by sending a Kosmail to ColoTim.
by Dave in Northridge ♥ for Los Angeles Kossacks
Nice turnout for the lastest gathering:
L-R, Front: jakedog42, flowingone, deniserobb, mvanier and son,
San FernandoValleyMom, MugWumpBlues, Dave in Northridge,
susans, joemarkowitz, optimistic pizza.
Rear: Shockwave, Gay CA Democrat, otoelbc, Lisa, Richard (Mr. Lisa)
~Photo Courtesy of SanFernandoValleyMom
Please visit Dave in Northridge's diary for MORE photos! Enjoy! You can join Los Angeles Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to Dave in Northridge.
by CityLightsLover ♥ for Indianapolis Kossacks
CityLightsLover pulled together another Indianapolis Kossack event. This time at a Mexican restaurant complete with her orangey Daily Kos tablescapes and schwag she produced herself.
Here's their group photo:
L-R: maryabein, MKDAWUSS, Tim DeLaney, CityLightsLover, im2004Lurker, Mrs. Mokurai, Furbabies2013, Dragon5616, Mokurai and mithra666
Please visit CityLightsLover's diary for many MORE photos of those Daily Kos tablescapes and food pr0n! Enjoy! You can join Indianapolis Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to CityLightsLover.
by randallt ♥ for DKos Asheville
Asheville, NC gets out the vote!
The following is a brief roundup of the DKos Asheville Voter Registration Project's fifth outing. We've been setting up every Tuesday for the last five weeks at Earth Fare, a natural food store at Westgate Shopping Center in Asheville. We have a nice spot on the patio outside the store. This week with no icy wind and much more moderate temps. Oh it was cold alright, just not stupid cold. Back to having three of us was great. LamontCranston, David and Myself received many thumbs up and "thank you's" from passers by and shoppers and more than a few questions as to why we were doing this now. "Didn't we just have an election?". We officially re-registered one voter and took advantage of the interaction to do some Daily Kos evangelism. And here is a tease for next week. It involves llamas!
LamontCranston, our new Salvation Army bell ringer friend, randallt and davehouck
You can join DKos Asheville by sending a Kosmail to randallt.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
Organizer tmservo433
~Photo Courtesy of Michael Bersin
tmservo433 delivered a great event. Almost 30 people attended what tmservo433 calls the first session of the evening that lasted until 11:30 P.M. The second session of the evening included about ten more people lurking outside the door and some working as hotel staff inside the room. So after the meet-up ended, on-lookers from the hall and hotel service people wanted to talk about what they overheard coming out of the ballroom. For example, the round table discussion about the importance of increasing the minimum wage resonated with the waitstaff and they chimed in about that with strong opinons. A ballroom dancing couple applauded the progressive discussion they could hear on the other side of the partition. This event united progressives within its reach!
Please visit tmservo433's diary for written details on this terrific event! You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
L-R: Some where in this photo are Kossacks Glitterscale, Man Oh Man and tmservo433.
Please visit tmservo433's diary for a description of the rest of the attendees which were mostly non-Kossacks, but folks who should be there, such as, State Legislator John Wright. tmservo433 gathered a great group of Progressives and hopefully we can get a few more of them to join us at DKos. Kudos to tmservo433 for reaching out and uniting like-minded folk in Missouri!
You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by navajo ♥ for SFKossacks
L-R: SFKossacks meeting at the home of Andrew McGuire in the Wine Country
You can join the SFKossacks by sending a Kosmail to navajo.
:: Events Currently on the Books for ALL Kossacks ::
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Saturday, December 21st
SFKossacks Holiday Luncheon in the City!
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Limon Rotisserie
524 Valencia Street • San Francisco
Near 16th & Mission BART
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. dharmasyd
3. ceebee7
4. sfbob
5. side pocket
6. Lusty
7. remembrance
8. Glen The Plumber
9. TLO™
10. maggiejean
11. citisven
12.
13.
14.
15.
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Maybees:
Trapper
Mrs. side pocket
PatG
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Sunday, January 12th
NYC Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: Noon
LOCATION: Spitzer's Corner
101 Rivington Street (Ludlow) • NYC
Meet in the back room. This venue is wheelchair accessible.
ORGANIZER: Send sidnora a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. sidnora
2. blue jersey mom
3.
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Maybees:
mconvente
Ian Reifowitz |
Latest diary: Coming In From The Cold: January 12, A NYC Meetup!
Date Moving to January 2014
Connecticut Kossacks Meet-up!
TIME: TBD
LOCATION: The Shamrock Pub & Grill
210 Meadow St. • Waterbury
The Shamrock is a short walk from the MTA Metro North Station. If anyone wants to take Amtrak, thankgodforairamerica can pick you up in Meriden and drive you to the event.
ORGANIZER: Send thankgodforairamerica a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. thankgodforairamerica
2. gchaucer2
3.
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Maybees:
annieli
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Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Sunday, January 26th
SFKossacks Welcome matching mole to San Francisco!
TIME: TBD, daytime car trip to the Delta for birding with lineatus
LOCATION: Grizzly Island Wildlife Area
2548 Grizzly Island Road • Suisun City
lineatus will have a spotting scope and a few spare pairs of binoculars, so novices can have something to use.
ORGANIZER: Send lineatus a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. lineatus
2. matching mole
3. navajo
4. tgypsy
5.
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Maybees: |
TIME: TBD, evening event for city folk and to celebrate dharmasyd's and kimoconnor's birthdays!
LOCATION: TBD
[Address] • [City]
ORGANIZER: Send lineatus a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. lineatus
2. matching mole
3. navajo
4. dharmasyd
5. side pocket
6. norm
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Maybees: |
Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Send navajo a kosmail if you post a diary about an event so we can update our round-up.
Okay. Floor's open.
Tell us what you are doing on this NEW DAY?