Missouri's loss is our gain.
I feel like Gen. George Custer at the Little Big Horn when he realized he was surrounded. Modern legend has it his final words were, "Holy crap! Where'd all these _______ Indians come from?" In my neighborhood I think I'm the last Texan standing. Haha! Plenty of room....come on. Just bring your greenbacks with you. ;)
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Oh no! Heaven is on fire. Colorado is burning. The temp hit 100 in Denver yesterday. The virtual home I built in the mountains is threatened. This climate change thing is getting totally out of hand. If not Colorado, where can I escape to?
Here in Dallas the temps are in the upper 90's and the humidity isn't far behind. The drought map shows my area to be only slightly impacted, yet the water utilities are planning ahead and already declaring a water emergency. Lawn watering is limited to once a week.
Before long it will look like Arizona around here, except flat. Hardly suitable for a Chamber of Commerce photo spread.
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You've heard the ads that say, "We can get you $500,000 worth of life insurance with a 5-Star-rated company for only $25 per month"? Not so fast. Turns out the insurance companies are cooking their books to make it look like they have WAY more money available to pay claims than they really do. Many of those "5-star-rated companies" aren't.
Basically they're paying excessive executive bonuses and handsome dividends to stockholders (semi-Ponzi scheme?) using the money that should be in reserve to pay claims. They have bought $5.46TRILLION in re-insurance (normally a prudent industry tactic) from wholly-owned subsidiaries they have set up in states that have lax insurance regulation. The net result is they don't really have the re-insurance protection their financial statements say they do. (They would be filing a claim against themselves.) It's all a shell game.
They say this is likely to blow up eventually necessitating a government (taxpayer) bailout. And businesses are lobbying heavily for the right to "self-regulate". Yeah, right.
S
These people never seem to learn. The Great Depression, the mortgage crisis of 2008, and yet here we are with the same garbage all over again. I saw an article yesterday about how Bank of America is trying to lure people into equity loans that are actually loaded up with fees and such to make it only profitable for the bank. But hey they don't need regulation; they got this!
ReplyDeleteAnd our memory gets shorter and shorter.
DeleteWell since they hardly ever pay off on claims anyway.
ReplyDeleteEven with Government regulation we have business self-regulation, it's call Lobbyists. The Business Lobbyists write many of the regulation laws.
Good point Joe. Lobbyists write, "This is how we want you to regulate us", and we go along! Well, DUH!
DeleteI'm sorry, I don't understand why people are moving to Texas (at least from a weather perspective) - I guess that's where the growth is. Except in summer. Unless you're a cactus...
ReplyDeleteThey're not moving here for the weather, Dana. It's all about jobs. The awl...er...oil industry is thriving, and our location is perfect for distribution. It's just a freak of geography.
DeleteWell since they hardly ever pay off on claims anyway. houston used cars
ReplyDeleteSelf regulation is a big fat joke. Few businesses should be totally self regulated. When profit is at play few companies can be trusted. I hope it cools down for you.
ReplyDeleteIt will cool down nicely, Steve, in....oh, about October. ;)
DeleteHahaha...one of my friends here flew to Colorado yesterday. She wore boots and jeans, to be ready for, well, Colorado.
ReplyDeleteIt was 12º hotter there than here in FL.