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...this is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.
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Did you know the word Festivus is now a problem for some?
I didn't know this but I do now thanks to my local newspaper that comes out twice a week and is all of 12 pages long in it's entirety. Before I read the 6 pages of my local paper that is the news section (the other 6 pages are local sports, cop report, obituaires and classified ads) I thought this about Festivus:
It's a totally made up thing from a Seinfeld show back in the 1990's. George Costanza's dad came up with it. (The truth is a writer for that show, Dan O'Keefe came up with it. Actually Dan's father is credited with coming up with it in real life so Dan wrote it into a Seinfeld episode).
It was patently non-religious and poked fun at the crazy commercialism of the holiday season. You erect a Festivus pole...then air the grievances you have about your family members...then there is wrestling. It is so silly, that's what makes it funny. It's a fake holiday made up by fake characters on a show on TV that was all about nothing.
Now however, I've learned how sinister Festivus really is because it's now seen as a problem according to certain Christians. Mind you what I'm laying out here comes from three separate articles that comprised the news as they see fit to spoon feed me where I live. Here's the reasoning as I read in my local paper on Christmas Day.
(1) Jeroslav Pelikan, a professor at Yale states definitively that "Jesus of Nazareth is THE dominant figure of Western Culture for the past 20 centuries."
(2) Jesus is considered to be THE single most influential person in all of human history.
(3) Christmas has been a national holiday since 1870.
(4) Only atheists and "these groups of PC enforcers" feel threatened by what people believe or don't believe.
(5) Festivus is a "dog whistle" for non-believers.
Well that is some type of (non) logic I suppose. So, the word Festivus is code to non-believers. I'm sure it must be some marching order of some sort. I am apparently out of the loop because I've yet to receive my secret book of "dog whistles that FOX NEWS makes up out of thin air." Then there is this explanation as to what's really up with Festivus. Ready? Here goes:
We are a Christian nation so dog whistles that politicians use straight out of the Bible are perfectly fine to use. Examples are Ronald Reagan talking about "the shining city on a hill" in his speeches and George W. Bush saying, "wonder-working power" in his 2003 State of the Union speech and Mike Huckabee saying "vertical leadership" in his speeches when running for president in 2008.
And so why is it OK to use references straight out of the Bible as dog whistles for "true believers" but it's not OK to say Festivus because that's a dog whistle for "them" those "non-believers?"
Why?
Because 20% of all Americans and 33% of adults under age 30 have no religious affiliation AND more than 50% of all Americans think that's a very bad thing. So, since most Americans believe not having a religious affiliation is a very bad thing (do you think they're comfortable with all religions?) that means politicians that say "Festivus"...dog whistle to the non-religious...risk a very serious political backlash by the majority Christians.
WOW! This is really strange. So ultimately it's all about politics in the end of course. Where do you suppose this new made up idea that Festivus is a dog whistle for the non-religious comes from? And what's up with ginning up paranoia? Could it be that TV channel that told us that Jesus came so that Jews would not have to pay taxes anymore? Yup...it's them. And the War on Christmas gets weirder and weirder each year. They must have a room full of conspiracy theory writers.
Merry Festivus to one and all the rest of us!
Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Below the New Day sunrise cloud
SFKossacks Holiday Lunch, A Photo Recap
Many thanks to sfbob for bringing his camera and helping out with documentation.
Here is his photo of everyone but himself:
~Photo Courtesy of sfbob
L-R: Meteor Blades, Glen The Plumber, Lusty, navajo, dharmasyd, citisven,
side pocket, maggiejean, remembrance, and TLO
Later, my photo to include sfbob but lost dharmasyd, oh well...
L-R: Meteor Blades, Glen The Plumber, Lusty, maggiejean, sfbob,
remembrance, TLO and citisven
Another one to get the back end of the table:
L-R: maggiejean, sfbob and side pocket
~Photo Courtesy of sfbob
navajo holding side pocket's gift of one of the original prints of the original flag guy from back in the day. Signed by the artist.
Cuteness award:
The Little One with her mac n' cheese
Requisite Food Pr0n
From Limón Rotisserie in the Mission:
Empanadas
Carne a la Parrilla:
Grilled marinated skirt steak over roasted chimichurry baby yukon potatoes,
red wine & demi glaze
Arroz con Mariscos:
Peruvian style paella made with saffron rice, mixture of seafood, aji amarillo pimento sauce
Pollo a la Brasa:
Limón's famous marinated free-range rotisserie chicken is slowly roasted over open flame.
One of Limón Rotisserie's sides:
Tacu-Tacu (Sauteed rice & beans)
Ensalada Rusa:
Classic Peruvian salad of fresh local beets, baby yukon potatoes, carrots,
choclo & peas tossed with Aji Amarillo aioli
Obviously, we all had a very good time.
Don't you wanna meet some Kossacks after all those great pics?
Or smoke a cigarette after all that great food pr0n?
You can join SFKossacks by sending a Kosmail to navajo.
Or look below for a group near you. There isn't one? Well, volunteer to start one. Tell us in the comments.
:: 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
:: Events Currently on the Books for Kossacks ::
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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. rubyr
4. kathny
5. joanbrooker
6. oxfdblue
7. mattc129
8. Bethesda1921
9. No Exit
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Maybees:
mconvente
Ian Reifowitz
gchaucer2
Laura Clawson
Rosalie907
andgarden
wader
isabelle hayes
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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. kimoconnor
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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
7. kimoconnor
8. Glen The Plumber
9. remembrance
10. TLO
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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?