One thing about writing diaries about Daily Kos history (which this isn't, or only very tangentially) is that you never know what you're going to find next. Even when my recent researches took me out of 2003 and the Movable Type era into mid-2004, when I'd actually been reading Daily Kos on a (more than) daily basis, minor details of the events of five years ago had faded from memory.
Sometimes, when searching on a particular topic, something completely unrelated will catch my eye, and all of a sudden I find I've gone off on a tangent and found out something interesting, perhaps even more so given how events turned out, but as diary fodder: not really useful.
Then there's the unexpected instant of confirmation, a sort of "what are the odds of my finding this!" moment (answer: no odds, since it's certain that you just did), whether you were looking for it or not. I found one of those earlier this week...and so will you, if you continue reading past the jump.
Thirteen days ago, I ran a short and cute Top Comments: Daily Kos Edition essay about how a new prescription for Niaspan—an Abbott Labs product—surprised me by having KOS embossed on one side of the pill. You may remember the live photo, taken by mik, of me holding one as proof:
For those of you wondering, the photo shows the pill at 75%-80% of life size on my monitor screen. I figured the next size up would be too scary to contemplate.
Most folks at Netroots Nation got a laugh out of it when I showed it to them, not least because the pill is a light orange color, but as I noted in the diary, Markos wasn't that impressed: after a moment of interest, he recalled hearing something about it, and that ended that.
So I'm doing the research for this next Daily Kos history diary (or series of diaries; I'm piling up way too many links and lots of data for a single diary barely a quarter of the way through, and my weakness as a writer is editing down), reading my way through a slew of diaries in 2004. I was working my way through August 2004, anticipating my own DKos signup on August 27 of that year and remembering more posts than I expected, when I came across one that I'd completely forgotten.
On August 5, Markos posted the Mid-day Open Thread, and later added an Update. Here's the complete text:
kind of a quiet day, it seems.
Update: Hey, shares in Kos are way up on strong sales of a new, er, cholesterol drug.
Wait, that might be a different Kos. I don't remember net revenues of $120.3 million for the quarter. I probably wouldn't be renting if I did.
Yup. Markos was still renting He had posted about that Kos a mere five years earlier as part of an Open Thread. No wonder he still could recall its existence when I showed him the pill.
Kos Pharmaceuticals indeed had a very good quarter, helped on by this same Niaspan. They were purchased by Abbott in late 2006 for $3.7 billion, and the drug was probably one reason why they were.
$3.7 billion. Damn, Markos, you could practically have funded a completely new liberal and progressive infrastructure, and masterminded a takeover of the Democratic Party with that kind of dough. You sure it was a different Kos?
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The Top Comments mailbox received billions a boatload of submissions (okay, it was double digits!) in the past 24 hours, for which many thanks. They were (with one exception) sent in to our gmail address before the 9:30pm Eastern Time deadline. You can do this, too. The address of our mailbox for top comments submissions is:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Any Kossack can send great comments to our address. Be sure to include the direct link to a comment—the URL—which is available from that comment's date/time; we need that to find your choice. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. As I say every time, both link and username are important. (One submission was missing the username, alas. We're using Unknown Kossack until a better identification comes along.) If you also include a writeup, we are able to include that, too, though we reserve the right to edit if necessary; should you only provide the link, then you have to take whatever writeup we create...and we can be excessively creative. Today, creativity was mildly exercised...
From mieprowan:
auapplemac has a great sense about what society is about.
Tom 11 joins in an energy debate.
From MinistryOfTruth:
TrueBlueMajority blessed my diary with a parody version of a campaign song for Michele Bachmann that was awe-inspiringly awesome. Sing with us to the tune of the Cars: "Michele is bat crap crazy!" I even e-mailed this to Keith Olbermann, it is that good!
In sluggahjell's diary Line In The Sand Drawn: House Liberals Give Obama The Business, a comment by AngryZealot got promoted into the diary that not only draws a line in the sand, it nails home a sentiment I think we all share on further compromise with the party of teabaggers.
From rontun:
Benintn aptly described the frustration of the gay community in this comment posted to BarbinMD's front-page diary Senate Is Too Busy Doing Nothing To Address "don't ask, don't tell". As I responded, this so sums up my predicament!
From Dump Terry McAuliffe:
In the front page post Learning from past mistakes? Dems don't do that, IndyScott unleashes a string of sports metaphors to describe Democrats' tactical incompetence.
From CityLightsLover:
This suggestion from fayea is just about the most perfect solution I've heard to ensure no more Dem and/or President Obama caving on meaningful health care reform. From today's mid-day thread...
From buhdydharma:
From my diary today, averageyoungman nails it!
From an Unknown Kossack Corporate Dog:
In BoxerDave's diary This is your Bank of America, bablhous's comment amused me.
From LaughingPlanet:
This surreal gem by Amayi in The Simple Canadian's masterful diary shows just how intelligent those opposed to health care are.
From nonnie9999:
Trix nails it in this comment in a front page story about Mike Enzi and the Gang of 6. Short and sweet. (That's what she said!)
From sardonyx (tonight's diarist):
In socratic's stark and eloquent diary A family member is dying, both snafubar's comment and ferallike's reply are both outstanding.
In Sensible Shoes's diary Write On! Setting the stage., Crashing Vor writes: I live in a favorite setting.
The National Nurses Movement posted a diary entitled The Real Death Panels: Insurers Deny 22% of Claims. In it, theKgirls follows up on her Morning Feature diary from earlier in the week, noting that she just had some very expensive tests done for her daughter that may have been required due to earlier insurance company intransigence. blue aardvark's reply starts simply, but the final sentence is a kick in the pants.
For our final feature in tonight's diary, we have today's top mojo using my revision of the cskendrick-devised mojo-to-Excel process.
First, Top Mojo excluding Cheers and Jeers, search-identifiable tip jars, and first diary comments:
1) I'm angry with them by blue armadillo — 161
2) Is This it Then? by JekyllnHyde — 126
3) It's the beginning of a seismic shift by political junquie — 114
4) thanks by dark daze — 101
5) If we get a trigger for a public option by Dallasdoc — 97
6) The angry right threatens First Amendment by political junquie — 87
7) The General wrote a letter to the mayor by Gordon20024 — 87
8) Excellent diary. Terrifying subject matter. by BigVegan — 84
9) If we have a trigger for a public option by FishOutofWater — 82
10) I just got home from taking my daughter for a by theKgirls — 82
11) This is one of the best diaries I've read... by nwprogressive — 81
12) On the rec list in less than 20 minutes by notrouble — 79
13) Slink, good post. by TomP — 75
14) Don't send John Bolton CD's either by Jeff Y — 75
15) In the diarist's defense by droogie6655321 — 73
16) I've been a huge critic in the past by heart of a quince — 71
17) WTF are trial balloons doing going up now? by Dallasdoc — 70
18) Yep, except by TomP — 70
19) If they were ever serious about health care by dkmich — 69
20) Fuck YES drop the individual mandate by jumpjet — 69
21) It's a tough issue... by California Nurses Shum — 66
22) A bit more about pastor Anderson by Troutfishing — 64
23) Thanks, though I suspect this will just... by Troutfishing — 63
24) You were right about the by TomP — 63
25) RE: So Sorry by Kris Alexander — 62
26) Those crowds actually look like America by blackjackal — 61
27) Yes, the deal is done and by TomP — 59
28) A half dozen of my friends by tr GW — 59
29) I am seriously considering making by Bluejoy — 59
30) You write extremely well, soldier! by LaughingPlanet — 58
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by sylvarose — 801
2) Tip Jar by Kris Alexander — 575
3) Tip Jar by politicjock — 527
4) Teddy can you hear us!?!?! by citisven — 511
5) Politics is about power, power is about pressure by buhdydharma — 508
6) Tip Jar by ManageWA — 472
7) Tip Jar by Troutfishing — 348
8) The Line in the sand is drawn by sluggahjells — 334
9) Tip Jar by National Nurses Movement — 324
10) Tip Jar by indepenocrat — 319
11) Tip Jar by Magnifico — 285
12) Tip Jar by Jonathan Singer — 265
13) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 223
14) Tip Jar by FistJab — 223
15) Tip Jar by liberalpragmatist — 209
16) I'm angry with them by blue armadillo — 161
17) Tip Jar by ShadowSD — 152
18) Is This it Then? by JekyllnHyde — 126
19) No tips. by socratic — 114
20) It's the beginning of a seismic shift by political junquie — 114
21) thanks by dark daze — 101
22) If we get a trigger for a public option by Dallasdoc — 97
23) Tip Jar by MinistryOfTruth — 88
24) The angry right threatens First Amendment by political junquie — 87
25) The General wrote a letter to the mayor by Gordon20024 — 87
26) Excellent diary. Terrifying subject matter. by BigVegan — 84
27) If we have a trigger for a public option by FishOutofWater — 82
28) I just got home from taking my daughter for a by theKgirls — 82
29) This is one of the best diaries I've read... by nwprogressive — 81
30) Tip Jar by Asinus Asinum Fricat — 81
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