Aces Full of Links

I have to add:

SHOCK AND AWE, BABY!

Arson pinhead:
My first thought was that he was burning property he wanted to get rid of and thought the wild fire would be a good cover. I also wonder if he's hiding a dead body.

Giuliani:
I can understand rooting for the AL because I don't follow the NL (well, I like the Braves), but as Bob pointed out last night, you don't, under any circumstances, root for your mortal enemy. True. I wouldn't root for the Yankees to win the World Series. In fact, I have done just the opposite.

Hand washing:
Duh. But, as you know from my previous posts on this disgusting subject, some people just will not do it. This includes people not even using the Purell dispensers that are in every bathroom on all 12 floors of my building. Go figure.

Weaver's Cove Energy, Take XI:
Great news! Bad news: they plan to appeal the Coast Guard. Huh? Appeal the Coast Guard? What desparate and sad (read: greedy) people.

One more bonus bonehead story:

Rev. Ron Barker of St. Joseph's school in Wakefield, MA, has banned Harry Potter books. If I wasn't on a 28.8 Kbps connection, I would search for the radio story from WBUR's "Here and Now" program today during which the good Reverend equated the banning of these books to banning peanutbutter or other foodstuffs people are allergic to. He actually said something like "this is literary peanutbutter" or something. Here's the Globe story:

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/10/25/man_from_ministry_bans_potter

Patti: That sounds too CSI. I think the people who set fires are just plain disturbed.

Of course, if you believe Fox, we should all be trying to figure out how to prove al Qaeda did it.

There were nuts setting fires in FL too back in... uh... whatever year that was when we had all those wildfires. (It was the same year Orlando flew the rainbow flags, and Operation Rescue came to town to stir up trouble but were largely ignored.) The FL fires weren't nearly as bad as the ones in CA, but they were bad enough that we didn't need any more of them.

I don't know what motivates this. Obviously it's not just the thrill of watching something burn, because there's already plenty of that. I guess it's the combination of feeling powerful, and the mistaken belief that no one will notice and investigate the extra flames.

Ok, James, perhaps I have read a great many Henning Mankell mysteries lately and have watched a lot of CSI, and maybe people aren't really that bad, but if it shakes out this way, remember who said it first...

I think you will find some disturbed people who see this as a "safe" opportunity to indulge in their arson compulsion.

But there are also a number of homes out here that people have lost equity in. They owe more than the current market value, but the house is insured for the cost. I'd look for houses that were burned outside of the groupings I have seen and check those.

No guarantee insurance will pay that insured cost. I hope that any arson who was banking on that gets porked.

Er, I mean arsonist.

A GS leader in town lost her home to a fire a few years ago and said she couldn't even begin to replace what she lost on what she got from the insurance company. And large claims is basically why we have insurance companies, because if you make a small claim, they'll drop you like a hot potato. I suppose that once the mortgage is paid off, we have the option of dropping the insurance. I wish everybody would, and insurance companies would go to hell.

So you're saying it would be better to get nothing back?

I think part of the problem is expecting insurance to cover every last item. I see it as preventing a catastrophic loss. If my house burned down I'd be bummed about not recovering evrything but I'd be pretty glad to have that few hundred thousand rather than nothing.

My only experience with filing a homeowners insurance claim was having all my luggage stolen from my rental car in Golden Gate Park (fortunately I had my tickets, ID and carry on with me). I filed a police report and an insurance claim. My company called me, asked me what was stolen and how much did I think it was worth. I had a check for that amount less the deductible by the end of the week. No questions, no increase in premiums, nothing. I've also never had problems with car insurance claims. I have heard those horror stories of people being dropped etc. but I don't think they are as prevelent as the media would lead you to believe.

Well, let's not dump on the media too much. Face it: happy stories aren't as riveting as the "I got screwed by the man" stories, which is why we see them more often.

I think it's impossible to judge the GS leader's story without knowing what her insurance coverage was and whether it was adequate. It's important for an insurance agent to review options with the policy holder and set expectations given the coverage chosen. Perhaps her issue is not with the insurance company but with her agent (or perhaps with herself if she chose to limit her coverage because of cost or other factors). We just don't know.

On a personal note, I've got a different auto insurance group than Bob, and I have had nothing but excellent service from them.

I know people who have made small claims and been dropped by their insurance. It's not just stories in the media.

The problem is, you don't know if it will happen to you until after it happens. And there's no protection from it that I know of. Kinda like living under a dictator.