Scuttlebutt Pipeline

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What ever happened to the good old days, when the market’s hottest companies were in fascinating businesses and run by mouthy chief executives who provided some color and texture to the game?

Well, it turns out that there is one high-momentum company this year that actually makes stuff that comes in colors bright enough to light the dark corners of your closet. And as well as it has done, with a 90% move this year alone, there is probably quite a bit of upside left ahead.

That company is Crocs (CROX, news, msgs), manufacturer of the ugliest line of shoes in America, but also, ironically, one of the most popular. If you have never heard of them, just ask any woman of a certain age or her daughter. They probably have at least one pair, and probably two.

(Article Source)

To be honest I can’t see the appeal of these shoes and I honestly don’t understand why people are swarming to pick them up. I can name a dozen other shoes that are twice as comfortable as these suckers and they aren’t plastic either. Not to mention they cost less too.

Honestly, if you own a pair of these smack yourself on the head for your silliness and then load them in your truck with the garbage and haul them down to the dump. And if your truck has a tonneau cover even better, now even our neighbors don’t have to see just how bad your fashion taste is.

LARGO, Fla. - A 38-year-old man was arrested after he called 911 and told a dispatcher he was surrounded by police officers and needed help, authorities said.

Police officers met Dana Farrell Shelton after being called to investigate a disturbance at a bar on Sunday but had found no problems and told him to move along.

Shelton, who officers said appeared intoxicated, then called 911 to report he was “surrounded by Largo police,” according to an arrest affidavit.

“Our officers were standing there scratching their heads. He called, standing there in their presence,” Largo Sgt. Melanie Holley said. “It’s one of our ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ cases.”

Shelton was charged with misdemeanor misuse of 911. The charge carries maximum penalties of one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

(Article Source)

We need a dumbass award. No seriously, this takes the cake. You’re drunk, cause a stir at a bar, and the cops are going to let you walk away from it all with just a warning so you call 911 to tell them that you are surrounded by police? How thick do you have to be? Or maybe drunk?

Of course, if he really was that drunk shouldn’t he have been arrested for public drunkenness? Tsk tsk, shame on the officers for not doing their job.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - Topless women on parade? That was fine. Teenagers loitering in the buff, in a downtown parking lot? No problem. Naked sunbathers at swimming holes? It was just au naturel.

But a senior citizen in his birthday suit, walking through the center of town on a Friday night, wearing only a fanny pack? That’s where Brattleboro draws a fig leaf.

After years of allowing public nudity, the town famous for its strip-and-let-strip attitude is considering banning it in parts of town, saying naked notoriety has begun drawing people here and is offending locals.

(Full Article)

I guess this just proves that you can only push things so far before you’ve crossed the line, even though it’s kind of hard to see what line was crossed. I’m kind of mixed on this. I can understand the concern, but at the same time I feel as though they’re drawing imaginary lines and differences in order to reverse a reputation that, until recently, they never cared about. How is a man strolling through downtown in the late evening in the nude any different than nude teenagers hanging out by their car in a parking lot?

Or is the difference just that one instance was eye candy and the other was more of an eyesore?

…entertainment that is:

CANON CITY, Colo. - A unit of 25 military paratroopers landed inside the perimeter of a state prison, but not to quell a riot or attempt some movie-script breakout. They just goofed.

The paratroopers, armed with exercise rifles that shoot rubber bullets, landed in a corn field outside the Fremont Correctional Institute early Thursday, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said.

Guards escorted them off the grounds with no violence, she told the Rocky Mountain News.

Sanguinetti said she did not know which military unit was involved. She said an investigation is under way but it appears guards handled the inadvertent intrusion correctly.

The newspaper said the Army and Air Force denied knowledge of the episode. The Colorado National Guard did not return a call seeking comment.

Article Source

The fact that no one was willing to return calls from the National Guard means one of two things, the big cheeses are kicking it on the sands of their Orlando vacation home while their subordinates work their tails off, or they’re the guilty party and are trying to get their stories straight.

Attention shopaholics, and those who just love to save a buck or two, Online Discount Mart is currently offering up a 10% discount on your purchase from now until the end of the summer.

Most importantly however, this discount is good for all online purchases and there is no minimum amount to spend either.

Now try beating that with a stick.