A daily series, Connect! Unite! Act! seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups regularly socialize but also get out the vote, support candidates and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers-that-be. Visit us at Daily Kos every morning at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time to see how you can get involved. The comment thread is fun and light-hearted, but we're serious about moving the progressive political agenda forward.
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The orange pinpoints are the location of each organized group of Daily Kos readers.
If you'd like to join a group, click on a point and a box will pop up showing contact links.
If you'd like to start a group, contact navajo for instructions.
View Interactive Map of Daily Kos Regional Communities in a full screen version.
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Ever Experienced an Uncontrollable and Contradictory Emotion?
It's a common enough experience that it's now been scientifically studied. Ever wept tears of joy, or giggled uncontrollably at a funeral? These inappropriate and oddly contradictory responses to stimuli are known as
dimorphous expressions, which
scientists now say serve a purpose:
...it’s our brains’ way of creating emotional balance when faced with overwhelming feelings.
“People may be restoring emotional equilibrium with these expressions,” Aragon said. “They seem to take place when people are overwhelmed with strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions.”
My seestah and I had our own Chuckles incident two months after Mom died, when we decided to attend her Hospice's annual commemoration at a local church. After a few words we were invited to stand up one by one and call out the name of our loved one who had died that previous year.
We all sighed and murmured as each name was tearfully spoken. Then, after a long pause when no names had been called and it seemed about time to move on, someone else stood up and offered yet another name, which either jogged another person's memory or gave them the courage to speak out, and another string of names ensued. Another uncomfortably long silence was followed by a renewed roll call. It ocurred to me that people were starting to just randomly call out names of long-dead relatives just to have someone to talk about. During the next pregnant pause I leaned over and whispered to mimi2three, "My dog Spot." She snickered and quickly shushed me as she was surrounded by her peers.
Finally the roll call ended, and we were each given a lit candle with a protective paper cone around the bottom. We spread out in a large circle around the perimeter of the church and the leader then took us through what I couldn't help but begin to see as candle calisthenics. "Now hold your candle high above you to symbolize heaven...now turn around and hold your candle out in front of you to symbolize something something....now turn to the person on the right with your candle..."
I whispered to mimi2three, "Now do the hokey-pokey with your candle...." and she began to sputter, lowering her head so that her shaking shoulders and snuffling sounds could be mistaken for crying. I pressed on because I could, urging her to greater fits of giggles, but the final blow came when an elderly lady patted her shoulder and said, "That's all right dear, just let it all out."
We barely made it to the parking lot before we both fell about in great braying donkey-sobs of laughter.
I now know we merely experienced a perfectly normal dimorphous expression of overwhelming emotion.
That seeming polarity in responses to a rush of emotions is the brain’s way of keeping our emotional temperatures in the proper zone. Subjects in the study were better able to return to a neutral emotional state in a short period of time as a result of having paired seemingly conflicting emotions to certain stimuli.
Researchers also cited examples of aggressive behaviors accompanying positive feelings. For example, most of us are familiar with the sudden urge to pinch the cheek of an adorable baby, or wanting to, in the words of many participants in the study, “eat them up.”
Friday Open Thread -- What You Got?
Latest Updates on Regional Meet-Up News Can Be Found Below the Orange Group Hug.
Let's Build Communities!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events.
We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in.
If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
List of All Existing Meatspace Groups
Where the Kogs Are: Index/Directory of the 130+ Localized Daily Kos Groups
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
by cooper888 ♥ for Sacramento Kossacks
We heard from navajo and Meteor Blades about the initiative by Daily Kos to have active Kossack groups in each of the state capitals. DK is looking for engaged Kossack's ready to roll up their sleeves and participate in many different types of activism/advocacy. For example, delivering petitions to the state capitol, participating in various protests, marches, rally's at the capitol, etc. As Meteor Blades pointed out this won't happen over night and is a long term strategy but I think if we all take the lead in our respective states we can make this dream happen sooner than DK leadership expects.
L-R: Front row: Sychotic1, tgypsy, tb92, trevizolga, Mrs. side pocket. Second row: Arundsdel (sp?), Laurel in CA, Kestrel, Meteor Blades. Third row: Kestrel's two friends, smileycreek, paradise50, Dave. Back row: Clif, Mr. Arundsdel, Neil, cooper888, side pocket, Left foot forward, got mooned & Nate
Please visit cooper888's diary for many MORE photos! Enjoy! You can still REC it. You can join Sacramento Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to cooper888.
Event Organizers! Please contact wink from Netrootsradio.com by KosMail to schedule airtime with them to live broadcast the date of your Event. Wink & Justice will then promote it on The After Show radio program!
Saturday, December 13th
SF Kossacks Holiday Party at Daily Kos HQ
The usual Pot Luck drill
TIME: 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Daily Kos HQ
Address given privately by kosmail • Berkeley
Near Ashby BART
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend
- POTLUCK SIGNUP -
HQ will be providing the main course of our buffet:
• White bean sausage cassoulet
• Marinated chicken skewers
Vegetarian options:
• Butternut squash with farro, parmesan, spinach and onion
• Ratatouille with polenta squares
Please volunteer for beverages, side dishes & desserts needed below.
Beverages:
20 bottles of wine [20 complete (navajo, smileycreek, enhydra lutris, glescagal, side pocket, skywriter, cooper888, maggiejean)]
16 six-packs of beer [12 complete (paradise50, 714day, side pocket, jotter, skywriter, Steven Payne, zdenfender)]
8 six-packs soft drinks [8 complete (linkage)]
4 six-packs non-corn syrup soft drinks [2 complete (Lusty)]
4 six-packs diet drinks [1 complete (zdefender)]
6 six-packs bottles of water [2 complete (sfbob, maggiejean)]
Appetizers:
8 appetizers, anything goes here. Whatcha' got? [4 complete (jforests, boatsie, side pocket, Steven Payne)]
Side Dishes:
6 green salads needed, each to feed 10 [6 complete (jforests, Lorikeet, ceebee7, remembrance, simplify, cooper888)]
4 (10-12 pcs) dinner roll sets, plus butter cubes [1 complete (kimoconnor)]
Desserts:
6 hand-held desserts (dozen each) [4 complete (syd, norm, gmats, jpmassar)]
70 paper plates [jakedog42 & susans]
70 dessert plates [jakedog42 & susans]
70 appetizer plates [jakedog42 & susans]
140 cocktail napkins [jakedog42 & susans]
70 dinner napkins [jakedog42 & susans]
100 plastic forks [jakedog42 & susans]
70 plastic knives [jakedog42 & susans]
100 clear plastic beverage cups [jakedog42 & susans]
RSVPs:
1. Markos
2. Will Rockafellow
3. Susan Gardner
4. Meteor Blades
5. Faith Gardner & Roxie!
6. navajo - 4 bottles red wine
7. side pocket* - 2 six-pks beer, 2 bottles of wine, pesto-stuffed mushrooms
8. Mrs. side pocket*
9. smileycreek - 1 bottle red, 1 white wine
10. paradise50 - 1 six-pks beer
11. remembrance* - gobi aloo, vegetarian
12. Glen The Plumber* - apparently, nothing...
13. TLO*
14. jakedog42* - plates, cups, napkins & utensils
15. edrie
16. dharmasyd* - brownies
17. catilinus
18. boatsie - Cowgirl Creamery cheeses & crackers
19. liberated spaces
20. citisven
21. kimoconnor* - dinner rolls & butter
22. susans* - plates, cups, napkins & utensils
23. maggiejean* - biblical water & wine
24. 714day* - 3 six-pks of beer
25. Steven Payne - 2 six-pks of beer
26. scaboni - appetizer
27. skywriter* - 1 six-pk of beer, 1 bottle of wine
28. jpmassar - dessert
29. jotter* - case of IPA
30. aha aha*
31. jeremybloom
32. norm* - sugar-free cake
33. Lorikeet* - vege salad
34. cooper888* - 2 bottles of wine + cooler of ice
35. got mooned* - Mixed Greens w/ Grapes, Pears, Prosciutto, Honey ToastedWalnuts & Gorgonzola w/ Raspberry vinaigrette
36. Hunter*
37. elfling*
38. Cassia
39. Friend of elfling
40. Friend of elfling
41. Friend of elfling
42. Friend of elfling
43. tmservo433
44. Simplify* - kale salad
45. jforests* - greek salad, cheese ball appetizer/crackers
46. jforests SO and baby girl
47. Brian82
48. ceebee7* - green salad
49. Elisa +Ari & Eli
50. jglass
51. jglass's wife + 2 sons (6,9)
52. Walter + toddler
53. Denise
54. Denise's teen
55. Michaela
56. enhydra lutris* - 3 bottles wine
57. enhydra lutris's SO
58. Bonnie
59. gmats* - brownies/cookies
60. linkage - soft drinks
61. sfbob - bottled water
62. Kerry
63. Kerry's partner
64. Lusty - 2 six pks non-corny soft drinks
65. zdefender - 1 six pk beer and diet drinks
Maybees:
Thinking Fella
LaughingPlanet*
Mark
LinSea
*address given
Sunday, December 28th
Koscadia Meet-up with navajo & Pipe Ceremony with Ojibwa to Bless Quilts
TIME: 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Private home
[Kosmail Sara R for the address] • Portland
ORGANIZER: Send Sara R to attend
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. Ojibwa
3. Sara R
4. winglion
5. Angie in WA State
6. loggersbrat
7. llbear
8. Drewid
9. also mom of 5
10. watercarrier4diogenes
11. ozsea1
12. Damnit Janet
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Maybees:
Sapere aude
Arenosa
exlrrp
quill
pdxteacher
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Latest diary: Koscadia Meet Up, Dec. 28, with special guests navajo and Ojibwa
Saturday & Sunday, January 17-18, 2015
Dkos Asheville 24-hour Meet-up
This is what community is about; sharing, giving, creating together. And this is what being a progressive is about; working for social, economic, and environmental justice.
Each day we start from where we are now; and we move forward from here. -davehouck
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...we have built ourselves a network of like minded brothers and sisters who are in this fight for life. A place we can come to find inspiration, power, solace and community.
-randallt |
TIME: 1:00 pm Saturday till 1:00 pm Sunday
LOCATION: Crown Plaza Resort Asheville
One Resort Drive • Asheville
ORGANIZER: Send randallt a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. randallt
2. davehouck
3. Joieau
4. Gordon20024
5. SteelerGrrl
6. SteelerGuy
7. LamontCranston
8. Otteray Scribe
9.
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Maybees:
Joy of Fishes
IamGumby
smiley7
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Latest diary: DKos Asheville: Open Thread
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries
about your event or if you have changes or additions.
EVERYONE is welcome, tell us what you're working on,
share your show and tell, vent, whatever you want.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.