Well the only reason to ask for me was because many, if not most insurance companies in the US (for example State Farm – the largest insurer in the US) for property and casualty insurance are “mutual” insurance companies meaning they are owned by their customers. This is not to say that the execs don’t spend the profits on hookers and blow, but the customer owner’s should then vote for a board that will fire those people. There is power in being a customer of a mutual insurance company. You can vote for board members and make sure they are acting in your best interest.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tyler Arnold Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 5:02 PM To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alabama Town's Failed Pension is a Warning (NYT-article) Dan, I'm very sorry to say that I'm paranoid enough to not want to say. You may cynically assume that I am lying, of course, and if corporate power didn't routinely stomp little people like me to death worldwide without a second thought, I would cynically agree with you. -----Original Message----- >From: Dan Beukelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Dec 30, 2010 12:47 PM >To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org >Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alabama Town's Failed Pension is a Warning >(NYT-article) > >What insurance company was your main customer? > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tyler Arnold >Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 2:09 PM >To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org; >sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org >Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alabama Town's Failed Pension is a Warning (NYT-article) > > > >Yes, that's because insurance companies' business model is to 1) accept money >in return for a promise to give it back when needed and then 2) don't give it >back. That's it. Their profit is inversely related to their payouts. I used >to work for a small software startup which made a kind of auto insurance >claims management/decision support software that was supposed to account for >the fact that newbie claims adjusters were all over the map when it came to >payouts. Our software would use custom calculations based on different >scenarios to set the upper and lower limits of a given payout and would prompt >the claims adjuster to find a number between those limits. It worked really >well -- I learned that our main customer was thrilled with it when they >discovered that after using our software for one year they had saved $50 >million USD in payouts. That's $50 million that was given to them by >California drivers in the expectation that the money would be paid back out in >the event of an accident; money which the company kept for itself instead. So >instead of buying $50 million worth of car repair and medical bills or >whatever people needed, it paid for $50 million worth of hookers and blow for >insurance company executives.* I no longer work for this company, but I hear >they are doing very well. > > >* This may not literally be true. I don't care. > > >-----Original Message----- >>From: Zeke Yewdall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>Sent: Dec 28, 2010 6:41 PM >>To: "sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org" >><sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org> >>Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alabama Town's Failed Pension is a Warning >>(NYT-article) >> >>Same here. That's quite common in rural areas here. Often property >>taxes via special levies that we vote upon fund the equipment, etc, >>but the staff volunteers their time. The insurance companies don't >>like this and charge higher premiums than houses in town with a paid >>fire department but we're also finding out after 170 houses burned in >>the forest fire this fall that so called insurance is quite a scam as >>they are trying to avoid paying the benefits that were supposedly paid >>for. >> >>On Tuesday, December 28, 2010, Jason Mier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>> i have never, and will never live in an area where the fire department is a >>> paid service. all the FD's around me are volunteer, except for the village, >>> which is paid via property taxes, and when the opportunity arises, i do in >>> fact volunteer my time to the department. any other scheme is by and large, >>> foolish. >>> >>>> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>> To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org >>>> Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:16:45 +1100 >>>> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alabama Town's Failed Pension is a >>>> Warning(NYT-article) >>>> >>>> Luckily , in Australia, virtually all the Rural Fire services are staffed >>>> by >>>> volunteers (although there are some paid positions in support areas, Govt >>>> funded). I live on rural acreage, & some fdunds go to the RFS as donations, >>>> but there is no compulsion. >>>> I was really surprised with the claim about US rural FS: Australia has on >>>> occasions sent brigades from Australia to help fight the big fires in the >>>> US (& >>>> the US has reciprocated for Australia on occasions). >>>> >>>> The insurance link to fire brigades also happened in Australia in the >>>> 1800´s: >>>> there was a plaque attached to the front of the house proving you had >>>> insurance. (These are now a collectors item). House insurance now contains >>>> a >>>> levy that helps fund the Urban fire services. AS I stated, Rural Fire >>>> Services >>>> are volunteers, with some Govt funding for equipment & overheads. >>>> >>>> regards Doug >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:53:34 am Erik Lane wrote: >>>> > On Sun, Dec 26, 2010 at 6:32 AM, Ivan Menchero <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: >>>> > > Ivan >>>> > > PS: I am surprise the have not privatize the fire department in the >>>> > > USA! >>>> > > so you pay a monthly "insurance' and if you do not pay and there is a >>>> > > fire in your house you are out of luck! >>>> > >>>> > Unfortunately there are at least some fire departments that already do >>>> > work >>>> > like that. Here's a story about one that let a house burn, and the >>>> > outrage >>>> > over it was slim to none, that I saw. I'm very disappointed in the way >>>> > things are going. >>>> > >>>> > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/ >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn Tennessee house in ashes >>>> > after homeowner 'forgot' to pay $75 fee >>>> > >>>> > Below: >>>> > 1. >>>> > - x >>>> > - >>>> > Jump to video People step up to help Gene Cranick >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/#slice-2> >>>> > - video >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/#slice-2> >>>> > 2. >>>> > - x Jump to vote Results below >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/#slice-3> >>>> > - vote >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/#slice-3> >>>> > 3. >>>> > - x Next story in Life Storm, blizzard warnings stretch along >>>> > Atlantic <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40810424/ns/weather/> >>>> > - related >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/#slice-4> >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > - >>>> > - >>>> > >>>> > Advertisement | ad info <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26613008/> >>>> > msnbc.com msnbc.com >>>> > updated 10/6/2010 12:48:23 PM ET 2010-10-06T16:48:23 >>>> > >>>> > - Share <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> > - Print <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/# >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/# >>>> > <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/> > > >>>> > - Font: >>>> > - + >>>> > - - >>>> > >>>> > Firefighters in rural Tennessee let a home burn to the ground last week >>>> > because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee. >>>> > >>>> > Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions >>>> > in the Sept. 29 fire, along with three dogs and a cat. >>>> > >>>> > "They could have been saved if they had put water on it, but they didn't >>>> > do >>>> > it," Cranick told MSNBURL: >>>> > /pipermail/attachments/20101228/4a792ccc/attachment.html >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Biofuel mailing list >>> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel >>> >>> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >>> >>> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 >>> messages): >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >>> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Biofuel mailing list >>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel >> >>Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >>Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): >>http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > _____ > >No virus found in this message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 10.0.1191 / Virus Database: 1435/3347 - Release Date: 12/29/10 > >-------------- next part -------------- >An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >URL: /pipermail/attachments/20101230/3d5ad21e/attachment.html >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _____ No virus found in this message. 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