Representing insurance companies in Florida after the '04 and '05 hurricanes, I noticed that too. I also noticed that most public adjusters' estimates grossly inflate claims. My favorite was a PA whose absurd condo claim included an estimate alleging $20k to $40k in damages to per unit interior, along with pictures "supporting" the estimate which showed completely undamaged units (save for some rust where toilets attached to the floor). I think the real winners were the lawyers.

If you have no use for some of those stimulus funds, please forward them down here.

Most sincerely,

California

"The last flash of that sensibility came when the corpse of poor Racetrack got knocked against the wrong button and wound up nuking Cavil's cylons to Kingdom Come just as everyone had decided to get along for a change."

Not sure if Racetrack got knocked against the wrong button or if she pressed the button with her last breath, but everyone had already started shooting again after Tyrol killed Tory Foster for killing Cally. Everyone was not getting along. I guess if you couldn't pay attention to that you must really not have been interested in the show.

Also, after having subjected the characters and viewers through so much heartbreak and disaster, letting most everyone have a modestly happy ending was, for me, nice, not a failure. Had the series ended with the discovery of nuked-earth, that might have been more "real" but also more "sucky".

What social value does insurance have? Insurance allows people to conduct business (e.g., commercial general liability policies), drive cars (automobile insurance), own property (e.g., homeowners property insurance) and make reasonable plans for the future of one's family (life insurance). Without insurance, there would be less commerce and trade, as the risk of disaster at sea would greatly reduce the ability to ship goods (which is why the first forms of insurance had to do with shipping). Any accident could wipe out a business' or family's wealth. Insurance allows risk to be managed in a way that is pretty much impossible without insurance. Do some insurers act in bad faith? Yes. Do some insureds commit fraud? Yes. Nonetheless, insurance is one of the cornerstones of modern society and is of great social value.

In theory, creating private causes of action for failure to adhere to regulations is great, but (as a lawyer), my gut tells me that it would make a lot of lawyers a lot of money and clog up an already over-burdened federal court system all without getting much done. Let the government do the government's job.

"In addition, Republicans would cut overall nondefense spending by reforming or eliminating a host of wasteful programs deemed ineffective by various government entities. "

So I guess the R's are cool with wasteful, ineffective programs so long as the programs are *defense* spending.

Don't you think that your desire to see a Jew tarred and feathered kind of proves zenbooty's point about Salonistas?

(tongue in cheek)

"Indeed, they say this is a test that a bank simply will not fail: if the examiners determine that a bank needs "exceptional assistance," the government, that is, taxpayers, will provide it."

What was the point of the test again? I have officially moved from "let's wait and see before we judge" to "what the fuck, chuck?"

Your column was my favorite on Salon. You most always made sense, you rarely got swept up in "oh for shame, Mr. Athelete!" sports commentary that I find so grating. I don't know much about business models or publishing or any of that, but I do know that I read stuff that has writers I like who write about things I like. I like your writing and I like sports and now Salon doesn't give me either. Sigh.

It was okay. Not as good at BSG, but better than I thought it would be.

Also, Tricia Helfer in heels is much, much taller than Seth Green.

Although I very much doubt that a bank holding a CDS is committing "fraud" by allowing that bank to fail, it is not because assets aren't destroyed in bankruptcy. Insurance fraud is not defined by a destruction of an asset by a person with a policy insuring that asset.

Insurance fraud is simply lying to the insurer in order to get coverage or get more coverage than the policy allows. Maybe about the cause of the loss (e.g., setting the fire yourself); maybe about whether a covered loss happened at all (e.g., claiming an item was stolen when you merely lost it); maybe about the value of a loss (e.g., claiming that a stolen car was worth more than it was because it had an expensive stereo system when it did not).

On the other hand, letting a company fail rather than taking a haircut on your loan so you can collect insurance is pretty douchey, especially if the party paying that insurance (AIG) can only pay because it got money from the government.

You just made me agree with Elephantman. Elephantman! Seriously, wtf?

My understanding is that a lot of the big microbial killers (e.g., measles, small pox, influenza) come from livestock. These diseases arose long before "agro-business" as we know it came to be. The question, then, is this: Are we seeing more such diseases arise and spread to humans, and, if so, is it related to how livestock are raised, kept, slaughtered, processed, distributed and/or served?

I'm a gentile. I'm circumcised.

Somehow, I survived. No, really I did. Suppose it was pretty painful, but I don't even remember it. Girlfriends, however, have said they liked it better because they think uncircumcised looks weird. That's good enough for me.

Sorry, but this seems like a pretty stupid thing to get riled up about.