Yesterday I noticed that it was 10/10/09, and thought to myself that it was only a year before we had the magic 10/10/10. I don't believe it's supposed to be as lucky as 09/09/09, or even 08/08/08 or 07/07/07, but it's still one of those series of dates available in the early part of a century where all three two-digit numbers are the same. There are three more left this century, ending with 12/12/12, and then an 88 year and change gap before things start up again.
The other thing about those dates is that they're the same in Europe, where they start with the day, and here in the U.S., where we start with the month. There are twelve days a year where the date is written the same here as over there, and yesterday was one of those. Today, 10/11/09, looks unexciting, but over in Europe, it looks like they're counting down for a space launch: 11/10/09. Thus my coinage: European Countdown Day.
Lest you feel deprived, we'll get our own countdown day, but not for thirty days yet, on November 10. But those Europeans, they're going to win the countdown game. I'll explain why over the jump.
How could Europe possibly win? Simple: they get more days. They started first, and they get last dibs, too. The ratfinks.
First, 02/01/00: they got the day after New Years Day in 2000, while we had to wait until February 1 to get our start. And they got that one-month-less-one-day head start every year since then, including today. But what really kills it is they get an extra one: 13/12/11 doesn't exist in the American date lexicon, but it's just December 13, 2011 over there. And, dammit, we don't even have the satisfaction of it being Friday the 13th. It's a Tuesday.
For those wondering whether we get our own back somehow, if there's some form of cosmic balance or numeric karma, I can only say reply hazy, try again later sort of, if you truly care about counting up more than countdowns. Being able to claim a 12/13/14 that the Europeans can't just doesn't quite cut the mustard, if you ask me. Or even if you don't.
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The Top Comments mailbox was quiet in the past 24 hours; this has been true for three Sunday diaries in a row for me. In fact, the mailbox was completely empty. You can't count on someone else to send in that comment you love; sometimes said someone will even call it a top comment but not bother to email it. The address of our mailbox for top comments submissions, in case you want to push the deadline, 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. 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, I was only creative with my own nominations because there weren't any to practice on...
Please note any outstanding comments in your own comments below, and provide links so we can see them. There may only have been 15,000 comments written in the past 24 hours, but I can't believe none others than the ones I found were worthy of notice; I didn't have nearly as much time today as I'd have liked to go looking on the site.
From sardonyx (your Sunday diarist):
In today's Morning Feature: How Many Americans Voted for Norway? (Ask Ms. Crissie), after JFinNE notes that Grayson's latest floor speech was made to a mostly empty house, addisnana recounts his her own experience at the mostly empty Senate, with senators Robert Byrd and Paul Simon.
If you've never stopped by Purple Priestess's The Mad Logophile diaries, you're missing a treat. She seems to post Sunday evenings, and has extensive word lists for various disciplines. This week's is The Mad Logophile: Some Science Words Everyone Should Know, and it inspired phillygirl64 to give a pictorial representation of a well-known mathematical formula. barbwires writes a paean to the language of reproductive biology. Other interesting comments can be found, too.
docstymie points out that David Gregory's comparison of himself to Barack Obama about sums it up.
Finally, given the number of top comments about Alan Grayson lately, I wanted to be sure you got to hear a few of Alan's own, in annie em's diary from earlier this evneing, Grayson Timeline - October 10, 2009, which has thirteen YouTube videos of the congressman starting with one from January, only three of which I recognize as having been on the front page of Daily Kos.
Finally, today's top mojo using my revision of the cskendrick-devised mojo-to-Excel process.
First, Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments:
1) Look at the people in the images by FishOutofWater — 262
2) 50,000 applications for 3,500 grants by War on Error — 133
3) Memorable quotes by Scarce — 122
4) this diary will make the rec list by sharistuff — 92
5) Dear OPOL, by pamelabrown — 88
6) How the hell did you do this? by Colorado is the Shiznit — 80
7) I can't tell by MeMeMeMeMe — 78
8) You rock MeMeMeMeMe! n/t :p by Eddie in ME — 78
9) Can't get enought Grayson by andrewj54 — 77
10) Voter Registration should be prominent at by tristan57 — 76
11) He's eating BREAST MILK by mahakali overdrive — 74
12) Yes, It'd Be Great 2 Actually Hear His Reaction: by leonard145b — 72
13) Grayson reminds me of Huey Long without by jct — 72
14) That is a great point by Eclectablog — 70
15) The same kind that did not read by texasmom — 69
16) The kid is breastfed. by mamamedusa — 68
17) LOVE IT by phriendlyjaime — 68
18) You forgot "all of the above" in your poll, which by dotster — 67
19) Detroit is a minority city. by dkmich — 66
20) a fundamental inability by Turkana — 66
21) Ha! Loved, loved, loved the 3,729 by blueyescryinintherain — 65
22) Just when you think by Cecile — 64
23) Thanks for bringing this to us BUT I have a by MRA NY — 62
24) All that's missing is ErrinF griping by yojimbo — 62
25) Like God? No, they act like Satan! by War on Error — 61
26) Dude, WTF are you talking about? by rogerdaddy — 61
27) WTF? by Drowning Wave — 61
28) I will post about the factory hog farm by Jill Richardson — 60
29) As always, by Chacounne — 59
30) This is an administration that learns. by Troubadour — 59
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by Eclectablog — 521
2) Tip Jar by desmoinesdem — 474
3) Tried to click by MeMeMeMeMe — 427
4) Tip Jar by Julie Gulden — 348
5) Tips for real justice for all... by One Pissed Off Liberal — 346
6) Tip Jar by BlatantLiberal — 321
7) Tip Jar by Scott Cobb — 270
8) Tip Jar by boofdah — 263
9) Look at the people in the images by FishOutofWater — 262
10) Tip Jar by Jill Richardson — 240
11) Tips by jamess — 188
12) Tip Jar by dasheight — 183
13) Tip Jar by A Siegel — 154
14) 50,000 applications for 3,500 grants by War on Error — 133
15) Memorable quotes by Scarce — 122
16) Tip Jar by Spedwybabs — 111
17) Tip Jar by Badabing — 108
18) TIP jabs by Trix — 108
19) Tip Jar by FishOutofWater — 108
20) this diary will make the rec list by sharistuff — 92
21) Tips for Exceptional Norwegians! :) by NCrissieB — 88
22) I wanted to be sure people read the Rocha by teacherken — 88
23) Dear OPOL, by pamelabrown — 88
24) Tip Jar by Chacounne — 84
25) Tip Jar by MaikeH — 84
26) How the hell did you do this? by Colorado is the Shiznit — 80
27) I can't tell by MeMeMeMeMe — 78
28) You rock MeMeMeMeMe! n/t :p by Eddie in ME — 78
29) Can't get enought Grayson by andrewj54 — 77
30) Voter Registration should be prominent at by tristan57 — 76
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