FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US

The Winter Holiday season, in particular Christmas  are portrayed in our society as the happiest time of the year, an opportunity to be joyful and grateful with family, friends and colleagues.

It has always seemed to me that this time of the year highlights the hypocrisy of Society by designating the period for everyone to be joyful, compassionate toward those less fortunate, being friendly, courteous, and doing "all the right" choreographed things in their interactions with others.

Suddenly sick children in hospitals are showered with free gifts by strangers, magical Santa Claus appears to provide needy children with toys, the poor are given free warm clothes, food, and treated as human beings.

What about the rest of the year, when most of these very same people who are still suffering, become invisible, ignored by most others, where does the kindness they received during the Holiday Season go? It simply disappears, these humans no longer are worthy of being recognized.

According to the National Institute of Health
Christmas/Holiday Season is the time of year that people experience a high incidence of depression.

Hospitals and police forces report high incidences of suicide and attempted suicide.

Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers and other mental health professionals report a significant increase in patients complaining about depression.

One North American survey reported that 45% of respondents dreaded the season.

It appears to have more to do with unrealistic expectations and excessive self-reflection for many people.

For some people, they get depressed at this time of the year and even angry because of the extreme commercialization with the focus on gifts and the emphasis on "perfect" social activities. 

Others get depressed because it appears to be a trigger to engage in excessive self-reflection and rumination about the inadequacies of life (and creates a "victim" mentality) in comparison with other people who seem to have more and do more. 

Still others become anxious because of the pressure (both commercial and self-induced) to spend a lot of money on gifts and incur increasing debt. 

Some report that they dread Christmas because of the expectations for social gatherings with family, friends and acquaintances that they'd rather not spend time with. 

And finally, many people feel very lonely at Christmas, because they have suffered the loss of loved ones, are distant from family members, or live alone.

To counter all of this, I suggest that we all look back to the truly positive holiday spirit of "Happy Festivus" which is the traditional greeting of Festivus, a holiday featured in "The Strike" episode of The Seinfeld Televison show aired on December 18, 1997.

According to the Seinfeld model, Festivus is celebrated each year on December 23rd. However many people celebrate it other times in December, and even at other times throughout the year (Click Here).

The slogan of Festivus is "A Festivus for the rest of us!" 

The usual holiday tradition of a tree is replaced by an unadorned aluminum pole, which is in direct contrast to normal holiday materialism. 

Those attending Festivus may also participate in the "Airing of Grievances" which is an opportunity to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year, followed by a Festivus dinner, and then completed by the "Feats of Strength" where the head of the household must be pinned. 

The Festivus celebration includes four main components:

The Festivus Pole: The tradition begins with an aluminum pole, which is used for its "very high strength-to-weight ratio." 

During Festivus, the unadorned Festivus Pole is displayed. 

The pole was chosen apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, because it is "very low-maintenance," and also because the holiday's patron, Frank Costanza, "finds tinsel distracting."

The Airing of Grievances: At the beginning of the Festivus dinner, each participant tells friends and family of all the instances where they disappointed him or her that year. 

As quoted from Frank Costanza: "I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about it!"

Festivus Dinner: A celebratory dinner is shown on the evening of Festivus prior to the Feats of Strength. In the episode the meal appeared to be meat loaf or spaghetti in a red sauce.

The Feats of Strength: After the dinner, the head of the household tests his or her strength against one participant of their choosing. 

Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned. However, a participant may be allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of the household only if they have something better to do instead.

Set aside the day of December 23rd and break out the meat loaf, because Festivus is once again upon us!

HAROLD KONIGSBERG-UPDATED-THE ANIMAL IS DEAD.

UPDATED on December 6, 2014. (Also see my original post of December 3, 2014).

Harold Konigsberg is dead.

Killer Harold  Konigsberg, has died, according to the Florida and New York State Departments of Corrections.
 
The sadistic monster he was, has died at the age of 89 on November 23, 2014 and is buried at the Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 7701 Bailey Road, North Lauderdale, FL 33068.

He now resides buried in the Garden of Netanya section at the above Cemetery, in Lot 402, Grave 12.

Well respected mob buster and retired NYPD Detective Joe Coffey once said to me about Konigsberg "I knew him well and he was the worst of the worst,' Coffey said. 'He enjoyed killing and enjoyed getting paid for it.  He was a nasty bastard and he should have gotten the (electric) chair.'" 

He was not alone in his sentiments about Konigsberg as reported by Denny Walsh in a June 25, 1971 article for Life magazine:

"To begin with, he is a terrifying human being.  Those who know him best, lawmen, underworld associates, even his own lawyer, fear him most.  “Animal” is the word they use repeatedly to describe him."

However, today we should only remember his many victims, their families, in particular my innocent father Samuel Wolkoff, 42 years old, horrifically tortured for five consecutive hours and murdered by Konigsberg (Click Here to Read More) and also in my other Blog post on his evil deeds (CLICK HERE) , my heart goes out to them.

Good riddance to the depraved and sadistic animal monster Harold Konigsberg who will no longer breathe the air of life.

He was a sub human who actually enjoyed murdering people, destroying families, and reveled in what he did, seeing himself as some kind of "hero".

Almost always attacking his victims with multiple accomplices to make certain that he would not be overpowered by being alone when killing people.

In reality he was a coward, a bully, who murdered at will for money and/or pleasure, sometimes by shooting, but in particular his favorite method was to brutally strangle victims with his bare hands. Often their bodies were never discovered.

Konigsberg was one of those types that you kind of hope every breath he took in his life and in death, there was much pain, suffering associated with it, because he caused such agony to his victims and their families.

His death brings no closure to myself and the others who suffer forever because of his evil acts. It does bring some relief that he is now in the ground, rotting away and dead forever.

Many survivors of Harold's victims will always live with the painful feelings of loss, anger, broken hearts for their loved one.The wounds of the cold blooded murders by Konigsberg of our fathers, grandfathers sons, uncles, cousins, family, friends, and the impact on the families of the survivors, will always remain fresh, there is no healing for us.

Grieving survivors of those victims who have been murdered, should never be made to feel guilty about endlessly feeling the loss of how horribly our loved ones lives were stolen from them. 

Although brutal murderers may enjoy long lives while the bodies of their younger victims decays in the ground, some victims families maintain their moral equilibrium through faith that justice will be done in the hereafter.

This belief consoles them. The need for justice may especially incline victims' survivors to those beliefs seeking as they do, solace in the face of suffering.

It would console me in a tiny way to believe that my father's brutal murderer will now face ultimate justice in the hereafter, should such a place actually exist.

Hopefully, this animal will burn up for eternity in the hottest part of hell, where he belongs.

At the very least, he will no longer take another breath of life, and the maggot he was, will be eaten by his very same body maggots that will feast on him.

He ruthlessly brought massive suffering to other human beings who deserved so much better in life.

Harold Konigsberg, an inhuman, depraved, violent, cold blooded mass murderer, had no soul, no conscience, never did a productive, positive thing in this world. 

He was a beast who will never rest in peace.

HAROLD KONIGSBERG-THE MONSTER IS DEAD.

(Also see my UPDATED post of December 6, 2014).

Harold Konigsberg is dead.

The sadistic monster he was, has died at the age of 89 on November 23, 2014 and is buried at the Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 7701 Bailey Road, North Lauderdale, FL 33068.

He now resides buried in the Garden of Netanya section at the above Cemetery, in Lot 402, Grave 12.

Today we should only remember his many victims, their families, in particular my innocent father Samuel Wolkoff, 42 years old, horrifically tortured for five consecutive hours,murdered by Konigsberg (Click Here to Read More) and also in my other Blog post on his evil deeds (CLICK HERE), my heart goes out to them.

Good riddance to the depraved and sadistic animal monster Harold Konigsberg who will no longer breathe the air of life.

He was a sub human who actually enjoyed murdering people, destroying families, and reveled in what he did, seeing himself as some kind of "hero". 

Almost always attacking his victims with multiple accomplices to make certain that he would not be overpowered by being alone when killing people.

In reality he was a coward, a bully, who murdered at will for money and/or pleasure, sometimes by shooting, but in particular his favorite method was to brutally strangle victims with his bare hands. Often their bodies were never discovered.

Konigsberg was one of those types that you kind of hope every breath he took in his life and in death, there was much pain, suffering associated with it, because he caused such agony to his victims and their families.

His death brings no closure to myself and the others who suffer forever because of his evil acts. It does bring some relief that he is now in the ground, rotting away and dead forever.

Many survivors of Harold's victims will always live with the painful feelings of loss, anger, broken hearts for their loved one.The wounds of the cold blooded murders by Konigsberg of our fathers, grandfathers sons, uncles, cousins, family, friends, and the impact on the families of the survivors, will always remain fresh, there is no healing for us.

Grieving survivors of those victims who have been murdered, should never be made to feel guilty about endlessly feeling the loss of how horribly our loved ones lives were stolen from them. 

Although brutal murderers may enjoy long lives while the bodies of their younger victims decays in the ground, some victims families maintain their moral equilibrium through faith that justice will be done in the hereafter.

This belief consoles them. The need for justice may especially incline victims' survivors to those beliefs seeking as they do, solace in the face of suffering.

It would console me in a tiny way to believe that my father's brutal murderer will now face ultimate justice in the hereafter, should such a place actually exist.

Hopefully, this animal will burn up for eternity in the hottest part of hell, where he belongs.

At the very least, he will no longer take another breath of life, and the maggot he was, will be eaten by his very same body maggots that will feast on him.

He ruthlessly brought massive suffering to other human beings who deserved so much better in life.

Harold Konigsberg, an inhuman, depraved, violent, cold blooded mass murderer, had no soul, no conscience, never did a productive, positive thing in this world. 

He was a beast who will never rest in peace.