Boulder is a Stoopid Place

Yes, I said Greenspan is an idiot. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a bad stock market sellof in China, or the housing market won’t implode and a multitude of other financial issues.

Yep, most snow on Pikes Peak in the last decade. Barr Camp, which is 4000′ lower than Pikes Peak, recorded 260″ of snow this year vs. 50″ last year. Yes, of course the amount of precipitation is not indicative of global warming, but it DID have to be cold enough to snow when the precipitation fell.

Read more here, including the story of the Air Force Cadets that had to be rescued.

From AP/Yahoo…

Stocks initially rose, lifting the Dow Jones industrials briefly above 13,600 for the first time, after the market got a fresh load of deal-related news that included a possible bidding battle over aluminum producer Alcan Inc. But the excitement waned after a media report that Greenspan expressed concern that China’s stock market — which has recently been hitting record highs — could eventually see a sharp decline.

I’m sorry, Greenspan is an idiot. It wasn’t that long ago that he was recommending people get ARM’s at the very low of the interest rate cycle. Not to mention what he did to the value of the dollar during his tenure.

According to Fox news, Paris is traumatized about spending time in jail. I suppose I would be traumatized too, but I don’t have an attitude that I’m above the law.

LOS ANGELES — Paris Hilton is “emotionally distraught and traumatized” over her 45-day jail sentence and isn’t capable of testifying in a civil lawsuit against her, the socalite-reality TV star’s psychiatrist said.

Joanne Jacobs reports on a student suing his teacher for making it too easy to cheat.

In Ohio, Shi Huang is suing his AP bio teacher, administrators and the Kent Board of Education for making it too easy to hack into the teacher’s computer to find test questions. The honors student was caught, suspended for five days and given an F. His 3.97 grade point average was ruined and he was rejected by Harvard, Princeton, Duke and his other top college choices. He thinks that’s unfair.

Sickening, absolutely sickening. Of course, it appears Shi Huang and his family have become very accustomed to the American way of not taking responsibility for one’s actions.

From Betsy’s blog…

Al Qaeda starts to wear out its welcome

Al Qaeda’s effort to create its own territory of terror in Sunni areas of Iraq is running into difficulties: the tribes there, which at first were willing to accept financial aid from Al Qaeda to look the other way, are now sick of the violence and domination that Al Qaeda has brought with it. They are starting to work with American forces in order to help drive Al Qaeda from their territories.

Local shoe company Crocs seems to be taking the world by storm. In the last year, the stock has risen from a low of around 25 to near 70. The last 10 points were due to a great earnings report.

In yesterdays Bulls and Bears program on the FOX News business block, each guest makes a prediction. One of the guests, Gary Kaltbaum recommended Crocs. The guests recommendations are then put on the Fox web site, in the form of a poll, to allow people to vote for their favorites. Interestingly enough, the Croc’s recommendation was basically tied for the bottom of the list as you can see above.

This tells me the Crocs stock run isn’t over.

Singapore.

Kudo’s to Professor/Scientist/Physicist James Wanliss, who teaches a honors course titled “The Politics and Science of Fear” at Embry Riddle University. He has an apparently novel concept; show both sides of the debate. Of course, the Algore global warming believers think the debate is over and only neanderthals don’t get it.

Describing his concerns, Wanliss states,

“I fear that attempts are being made to purposefully subvert the public understanding of the nature of science in order to achieve political goals,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Science is not about consensus, and to invoke this raises the hackles of scientists such as myself. The lure of politics and publicity is no doubt seductive, but it nevertheless amazes me that so many scientists have jumped on the bandwagon of consensus science, apparently forgetting or ignoring the sad history of consensus science.”

After seeing both Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth‘ followed by ‘The Great Global Warming Swindle‘, one of Wanliss’ students freshman students, Nick Shipley comments,

“After watching ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ I was relatively convinced,” Shipley said one day last month in class. “(Al Gore) did a good job in presenting his points very methodically one after the other. They all build up to essentially prove his point.

“After watching ‘The Great Global Warming Swindle,’ my thinking completely changed,” he said. “I kind of did a complete flip-flop.”

Read more here.

From JoanneJacobs.com:

Twenty percent of children under age 3 have a bedroom TV, says a new study reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Start here to read more.

T. Boone Pickens on the price of oil…

T. Boone Pickens is perhaps the world’s greatest oil investor. He’s been drilling for oil, buying oil companies and running oil-based hedge funds since 1951 and right now he’s saying oil will top last year’s high of $78.80 and break through $80. “You will have to stop the demand with price,” he said at a recent Milken Conference.

CNN writes about a foreclosure auction of 500 properties in Michigan. The process to get to an actual auction is described as follows:

Most of the properties have already gone through the entire foreclosure process. First banks took them back from borrowers who fell behind on payments. Then, they then put them through public foreclosure auctions (often held on county courthouse steps) where the homes failed to sell. The banks then cleared any title issues and put them back on the market through a traditional real estate broker.

If the properties sit for 90 days or more on the market, with expenses piling up, banks get very impatient. That’s when they call the auction houses, which attempt to make quick sales. The sale is usually a very simple transaction.

“Unlike a foreclosure sale on the courthouse steps, all these homes are sold free and clear, no liens, no debt. The seller even pays for title insurance,” said Dave Webb, one of Hudson & Marshall’s owners.

Business is apparently quite good:

Business, according to Webb, is jumping; it grew 20 percent during the first quarter of 2007, usually a slow period for the company, compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. He anticipates even better times for the next year or two.

Talk about a great deal…

The prices will vary widely but, some people will walk away with homes for less than $5,000, according to Crystal Wright, spokeswoman for Hudson & Marshall.

Wow, this must be her alter-ego speaking…

LOS ANGELES — Five days after she was sentenced to jail, Paris Hilton says she understands the seriousness of driving under the influence and knows she is not “above the law.”

“I am ready to face the consequences of violating probation,” Hilton said in a statement released Wednesday by her new attorney, DUI specialist Richard Hutton. “I do not expect to be treated better than anyone else who violated probation. However, my hope is that I will not be treated worse.”

Read the rest here.

Looks like Paris can drive herself to jail!