Commentary: In an Electoral Defeat – Echoes of the ‘Great War’

November 10, 2006

  • November 10, 2006 at 7:42 am
    ben says:
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    Hi,

    Interesting article. I agreed with some things, disagreed with others.

    I am still not sure what it has to do with insurance.

    I guess this goes hand and hand with insurance journal\’s cruscade to try to make insurance professionals think they need to do something about global warming.

    Anyway, it really was an interesting article. I was just left not knowing why I am reading it here and not on some other blog.

  • November 10, 2006 at 1:26 am
    Clemenceau says:
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    Excellent, Ben. I was wondering the same thing. Why was no one\’s name appended to this yarn?

    Why at this time was this piece included? Why is the 88th anniversary of 11/11/18 significant? Had the Repubs won the election would we have been treated to this?

  • November 10, 2006 at 2:46 am
    Raye Knoll says:
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    This was a fascinating article, and perhaps the best point articulated was the total disregard for the need for the European countries to obtain proper insurance. No comprehensive coverage, no collision, not even any liability or uninsured motorist coverage. Don\’t even bring up towing or rental! Even if the Austrian-Hungarian Empire even considered proper coverage, most historian agree they would have chosen the wrong limits and found themselves woefully underinsured.

    Based upon research completed by Chad Balaamaba at the Dana Beteet Institute of Wartime Insurability, simply not asking for the proper coverage probably cost Europe many years in reconstruction. The economic loss is incalculable!

    However, only no-fault, and true no-fault coverage, would have helped the healing. Afterall, it wouldn\’t matter who started, who finished it, who turned right when they should\’ve turned left; all would turn to their insurer and use their \’no fault\’ coverage. Europe would have recovered at breakneck speed with no fault; the doctors would have been paid for their services, the injured would have been entitled to not only payment for their medical bills, but also limited lost wages and even essential services for cleaning the house. Attorney\’s would have flourished, as you know some benefits would be denied, and they are needed to be a proper check and balance to the insurance policy.

    Heck, even a decent medical payment policy would have been helpful, but only no-fault coverage would have healed Europe.

    Reconstruction would have benefited by a low deductible property policy; replacement cost coverage rather than actual cash value, however, most importantly, Europe would have needed to insist on the removal of the war exclusion…

    Happy Veterans Day! Thank a Veteran if you know one; without their sacrifice, we couldn\’t ponder the opportunities of insuring the War to end all Wars.

  • November 10, 2006 at 3:09 am
    Vlad says:
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    Please some one contact the terrorists and let them know. In the words of Rodney King \”Can\’t we all just get along?\”

  • November 10, 2006 at 6:56 am
    Natty Bumppo says:
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    1&2 I would say yes. But not 3&4…

    At any rate the US is not to blame for any of the following. Not EVEN the Republicans! ;-)

    1)By 1918 the European \”Great Powers\” were drained of young men, physically exhausted and financially ruined. Never again would they be in fact \”Great.\”

    2)The rise of the Soviet State in Russia, and all the misery it inflicted on that country\’s people and on the rest of the world might not have happened, but for that War.

    3)The Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917, set in motion the creation of the State of Israel.

    4)The rise of what would become the 20th century\’s only remaining \”Great Power,\” the United States, dates from World War I.

  • November 12, 2006 at 7:50 am
    Buckey says:
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    Thanks to all of you veterans out there for your service. Without your service we wouldn\’t have the privilege to morn or celebrate the election.

  • November 13, 2006 at 9:05 am
    Little Frog says:
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    This was an appropriate summary & reflection. Winston Churchill also said \”never give up, never give up, never never ever give up\”. He knew there was no bargaining with someone whose fundamental goal is your distruction.

  • November 13, 2006 at 12:53 pm
    GeSchmidtt says:
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    I remember when the Soviet Union had 20,000 nukes aimed at US cities, and our leadership was strong and clear headed. Now with a guy in a cave with box cutters, the American people are being asked to shut the borders, torture and spy and more or less cower like little girls under their mommies skirts. If this what you want to call leadership, go right ahead. I call it the coward/bully syndrome.

  • November 13, 2006 at 1:54 am
    Ollie says:
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    \”…the American people are being asked to shut the borders, torture and spy and more or less cower like little girls under their mommies skirts.\”

    Shutting the borders should have been done long ago. The prospect of terrorists infiltrating only increases the urgency. Do you think that our borders should be open to all comers? And are we torturing and spying, or cowering like little girls? Which is it? Is it wrong to spy on enemies that want to kill you and your family? As far as torture goes, please name one instance of it with names and dates.

    \”If this what you want to call leadership, go right ahead. I call it the coward/bully syndrome.\”

    Your thinking is muddled, and that\’s a compliment. We\’re in for some real leadership now with Murtha and Pelosi and the rest of the Moscow-on-Potomac crowd you dopes just elected. Please God save us from \”liberals\”!

  • November 13, 2006 at 2:23 am
    Chad Balaamaba says:
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    I think Oprah is against terrorists and for veterans, but we might need her to host a program and search our feelings about right vs left, hiding liking little girlies, and searching for terrorists. Unfortunately, the weapons of choice are exponentially larger, so we do have to make tough choices, just like the brave men and women did during every other war fought by this nation.

    One of the most unpopular wars fought was the Civil War, yet few question Lincoln had our nations best interests in mind.

    Like many others, I enjoyed the article, however, I\’m not quite sure of it\’s point. As Raye Knoll points out, maybe the writer wanted to point out Europe could\’ve used some good no fault coverage to cover their losses after the outcome. And a belated thanks to our veterans.

  • November 21, 2006 at 11:12 am
    Doug White says:
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    I\’m concerned that Oprah might be too pro-trial lawyer for my tastes. True, it might be valuable to have her host a program and search for our true feelings on war insurability, but I can see the trial lawyers lining up for their take as soon as the limits run out.

    As Raye Knoll and Chad Balaamaba of the Dana Beteet Institute of Wartime Insurability point out, had no fault been the \’insurance of choice\’, rather than the tank as the weapon of choice, Europe\’s War to end all Wars may not have occurred at all.

  • November 21, 2006 at 11:23 am
    Jim Diamond says:
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    I\’ve been in claims and claims are alot of work, but I understand war is even harder work. I don\’t know how we could insure war, because it would be even harder work to insure what is considered some of the hardest work of all, but by insuring war, the premiums would be hard to calculate, and hopefully the countries could pay monthly, as the yearly premium would be hard to get by any legislature.

  • November 28, 2006 at 11:29 am
    Shellie Bratton says:
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    I\’ve heard about Iraq, but I though Europe didn\’t want to get involved. Why do they put one i or two i\’s after the words World War? wwi; is that a radio station? Everyone knows we went it alone, with no allies, so this is not what I would call a world wide thing; I know we went to Iraq in the early 90\’s, but I don\’t think it qualifies as a world war, at least not yet. It\’s been so long since I worked in insurance, I thought this article was about insurance!

  • November 28, 2006 at 11:37 am
    Rob Freihoff says:
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    I was reading an article about insurance the other day, and my furnance went out; while I was trying to re-light it, a thought popped in my head: WWI was like a War, much like many others, however, it was around the World. I have begun collecting books on War and storing them on my condenza; I think it\’s about time someone brings up the similarities of war and insurance. I saw a brilliant analogy about no fault insurance and Europe\’s time for rebuilding, and I thought it made an excellent point. The biggest difference between war and insurance is that insurance is fun, and war is not fun. The only thing harder than war is piece, and the only thing harder than both is reading that big book, war and piece.

  • November 29, 2006 at 9:15 am
    Sheri Brotherton says:
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    some insurance companies can be like war; they have war like leaders who make dictatorial rules and procedures. I spent a whole week at war with an insurance company one time; it was pure heck. Some even take Christmas decorations and don\’t give them back. I bet I never see that little tree again, but they can\’t defeat my trees spirit. That they will never take from me, those who are evil like the devil. I understand this analology, the war like democrats beat the warlike republicans, and the true victors are the attorneys and their insurance companies.

  • December 8, 2006 at 2:47 am
    Dena Hunt says:
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    all this war stuff, it\’s like someone who gets right in your face, and their eyes bug out, and they can lie, tell all sorts of lies, but they don\’t blink, and you can tell they believe it! That\’s why we should support the progressive libertarians in the next election. They will cut down on fraud and absenteeism, but they won\’t get in your face and tell bald faced lies.

  • December 8, 2006 at 2:54 am
    Kathy Judge says:
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    all this war stuff, why doesn\’t anyone try to solve this in a word puzzle or cryptogram format? Even solitaire, combined with a crossword puzzle format, is preferable to war, but admittedly very difficult to underwrite. So many word puzzles, but they come in all different sizes. Long and short, I figure I can be as bad as I wannabe, whenever, as long as I can settle down with a good crossword puzzle after the air has cleared.

  • December 8, 2006 at 3:01 am
    Howard Oldham says:
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    Kick your shoes off, boys, and try to figure this one out! We\’re gonna insure war? How? I don\’t how strong I go on prescription eyewear, I just can\’t see a way we can properly underwrite. I know people that have devoted weekend after weekend, trying to come up with another angle; I\’ve spent many a sleepless nite, recording my thoughts via tape, but no where can I find a method to underwrite and insure war- and what is this Dana Beteet Institute on wartime insurability? they don\’t don\’t have a website I can locate?

  • January 30, 2007 at 1:56 am
    Ross Perot says:
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    This surgery thingamajig reminds me of how polarized we are, we gots the pro-surg flood insurers against the pro-winddamage pay me cuz I had insurance folk; it reminds of of the wal-mart vs union, Iraq war vs surrenderers, vegietariens vs carnievors, and even right vs left…even
    reminds me of government; gridlock that is; you got the reds hatin\’ the blues, and the blues hatin\’ the reds; dat\’s why nuttin\’ gets done in Washington; it\’s like the big fish and the little fish; the big fish wants to eat, and the little fish wants to eat, but the big fish wants to eat the little fish, and the little fish doesn\’t want to be eat. See, that\’s like government. What we need is universal flood coverage; put a $500k cap on it, but a 15% deductible; that way you makes flood people take responsibility for some of their loss, but you can provide coverage to the really well off people like me who need extra coverage for their beach property. That, and we should tax gas 50 cents per gallon on top of the current taxes to balance the budget.

  • February 5, 2007 at 4:59 am
    Suzanne McMichael says:
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    It was right after a long road trip to Sturgis to another hog convetion; I was tired, completely worn out, and we were short of allot of necessities. I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog; I tried to be polite, but she continued to pry, and I was feeling a bit crabby so on impulse, I told her no, I was starting dog food diet again (brand name withheld, but one of the namebrands), although I probably shouldn\’t because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I\’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my body and IV\’s in both arms. Her eyes about bugged out of her head.

    I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it. I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

    I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy behind her.

    Horrified, she asked if something in the dog food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital.

    I said no…..I\’d been sitting in the street licking my butt when a car hit me.

  • February 6, 2007 at 11:06 am
    hey there says:
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    Hey there! This is an intriguing diet idea; What would Oprah think about it? We need more information from the Dana Beteet Institute of Wartime Insurability; where are they when we need them?

  • April 3, 2007 at 8:37 am
    Ronald F. Utrell says:
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    thieves remind me of war. thieves are all around us. Do you know how many nail clippers I\’ve had taken from my desk at work?

  • April 4, 2007 at 8:51 am
    B. Bird says:
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    HI, I\’m Big Bird. Reading is fun. If you remember, my nest was blown away by a nasty hurricane a few years back. But my friends stuck with me, and I pulled thru.

    It wasn\’t easy. I had many anxious days. Waiting for the adjuster to come out was nerve wracking.

    But you know what really pulled me thru?

    Being a bird, many underestimate my intellectual side. I\’m not quite Mensa, but I did learn something several years ago:

    TO READ!!!!!!

    THAT\’S RIGHT; I READ THE FRAKIN\’ POLICY; I MADE SURE THERE WERE NO EXCLUSIONS IN MY COVERAGE THAT WOULD PREVENT MY NEST FROM BEING COVERED. i BOUGHT FIRE, WIND, EARTHQUAKE, AND HURRICANE COVERAGE. I EVEN GOT COVERAGE FOR GROUND SUBSIDENCE, NOT SURE WHY I NEED THAT, BUT IF THE GROUND SINKS AND AL CAPONE\’S VAULT TURNS UP, I\’M COVERED. HAD I BEEN STUPID ENOUGH TO ATTACH MY NEST TO A BASEMENT, YOU CAN BET YOUR SWEET BIPPY I WOULD HAVE OBTAINED FLOOD COVERAGE. BUT HEY, I\’M JUST A BIRD, I FIGURED IT OUT, BUT THIS IDIOT OF A SENATOR CAN\’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO TIE HIS OWN SHOESTRINGS WITHOUT LOOKING AT POLLING DATA FIRST, AND HE\’S GONE AND FIGURED OUT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IS TOO STUPID TO READ THEIR OWN POLICY. THEY THINK IF IT GOES BAD, THEY CAN APPEAR ON OPRAH AND SHE\’LL MAKE IT ALL BETTER. HEY, OPRAH\’S MAKING SCHOOLS IN AFRICA. TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN BACK YARD. OH MY GOSH, INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE MAKING PROFIT, WHAT ON EARTH WILL I DO? I SHOULD COMPLAIN BECAUSE I WASN\’T SMART ENOUGH TO GET PROPER COVERAGE. TALK ABOUT CRYING WOLF, I CALL IT CRYING STUPID. GET COVERAGE, ASK WHAT YOUR ARE GETTING; ASK WHAT IT COVERS, ASK WHAT IT DOESN\’T COVER; TRY PAYING FOR IT AND READ THE POLICY.

    IF YOU WANT TO BECOME DEPENDENT ON OTHERS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, MOVE TO A SHELTER, BUT QUIT WHINING ABOUT HOW UNFAIR IT WAS THAT YOU DIDN\’T READ THE POLICY, THAT YOU DIDN\’T THINK THE WATER COULD RISE LIKE THAT, THAT YOU DIDN\’T THINK IT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU. YOU CAN GET YOU HEAD ABOVE SEA LEVEL AND SEE THE SUNLIGHT, OR YOU CAN CHOOSE TO KEEP YOUR BRAINS IN HIDING BEHIND YOUR TIN FOIL HATS AND WHINE THAT IT ISN\’T FAIR.

    Thanks,
    I feel better now.

  • December 6, 2007 at 9:43 am
    mary b shaw says:
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    war is expensive; it can cost a great deal of money, ALLOT of money.

  • June 17, 2008 at 1:33 am
    Gerraine Willoughby says:
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    war is enough to make me want to move; if I move, I only give me address to my closest buddies so it can’t follow me.

  • October 22, 2008 at 2:40 am
    J. Biden says:
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    “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy…Gird your loins…I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate.” Biden prophesied both Russia and the Middle East as possible points of origin. Biden then said, “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you — not financially to help him — we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

  • July 9, 2009 at 5:26 am
    J. Biden says:
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    Now I know we said all along it was the worst economy since the Great Depression, but that didn’t mean we knew what we were talking about; we had no idea it was really so bad; had we known how bad the Bush people had made it, we wouldn’t have pushed thru a simulus bill that had no chance of improving the economy; we actually thought this thing was going to get better, and then we could claim our big government spending and buildup was responsible for the recovery, but hear me and hear me now, we had no idea how bad this thing was. And it’s Israel’s business if they choose to attack Iran; we cannot stop them; I know this is essentially what Sarah whatshername said prior to the election, and yeah, we hammered her on it and pretended she didn’t know anything, but it’s at least as good as anything we go now.

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:12 am
    B.O. Bamma says:
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    it’s what we inherited, it’s not our fault, so uh, uh, don’t complain…uh…ah dunt mind doin’ cleanup,…uh…ah just don’t wunna hear all dat talkin’ goin’ on …ah clean up ya mess…ah just dunt’ wanna hear all yur talkin’…and don’t watch Fox News, uh, everytime ah hire a new czar with just a little, ya know…uh…the smallest little bit of communism, or racism, or socialism, or evading taxes, or praising pedophiles…ya know…just the little stuff…they blow it all out of proportion…and uh…they try an attach it to ME!!!! Can you believe that..??? I’m just assemblin’ the most transparent government in history, why, we’re even tellin’ the Russian where we have hidden our missiles so they know where they are…why do I do that? because if you put your fist away, we’ll extend our hand…if you chop off mah hand…uh…well, that’s because of what I inherited from Bush…

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:14 am
    Shellie Bratton says:
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    is this what I heard our president calling the necessary war? I am still confused; this isn’t the war of choice, then it must be antichoice, and I’m for choice as long as it’s right. I still don’t know when this was; I would assign something to my staff but they all asked for today off.

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:16 am
    Randolph Mantooth says:
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    Remember me? I’m Randoph Mantooth, I was on Emergency back in the 70’s.

    OK, I’m not really him, but I do love the name, Randoph Mantooth.

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:17 am
    Mary B. Shaw says:
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    I remember Randolph Mantooth…I bet he made decent money, allot of money, for doing Emergency back then. I mean ALLOT of money.

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:21 am
    J. Biden says:
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    He’s still gonna be tested, sure, he aint’ done squat yet, and he’s gonna raise your taxes, but he’s clean and well spoken; for this time, I mean, he’s allot cleaner and weller spoken than others, like the opposition. And don’t watch Fox News. The Simpson’s is ok, it’s my favorite, when the wife lets me stay up that late I watch it.

    So stand up and let everyone see ya…oh, my, he’s in a wheelchair…then everyone stand up. And check the air pressure in the tires on that chair…

  • October 20, 2009 at 2:27 am
    Ross P. Rot says:
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    That’s right, old ‘Gridlock Ross’…I used to say funny stuff about the chickens gettin’ plucked and someeone’s in the kitchen with Dinah, but I got more stuff…I still wanna be your president!

    This healthcare thingamajig reminds me of how polarized we are, we gots the pro-surg flood insurers against the pro-winddamage pay me cuz I had insurance folk; it reminds of of the wal-mart vs union, Iraq war vs surrenderers, vegietariens vs carnievors, and even right vs left…even
    reminds me of government; gridlock that is; you got the reds hatin’ the blues, and the blues hatin’ the reds; dat’s why nuttin’ gets done in Washington; it’s like the big fish and the little fish; the big fish wants to eat, and the little fish wants to eat, but the big fish wants to eat the little fish, and the little fish doesn’t want to be eat. See, that’s like government. What we need is universal flood coverage; put a $500k cap on it, but a 15% deductible; that way you makes flood people take responsibility for some of their loss, but you can provide coverage to the really well off people like me who need extra coverage for their beach property. That, and we should tax gas 50 cents per gallon on top of the current taxes to balance the budget.

  • May 6, 2011 at 3:47 pm
    Home T. Buffet says:
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    We specialize in the land of “and”…and we are very disturbed…why can’t we get the pictures of Osama? We would love to post a before and after photo…

    it’s funny, the same folks who were yelling to disclose photos of Abu Grab, the Iraqi prison where some Iraqi’s were photo’s in women’s underware…the folks on the left were screaming ‘transparency’, but now that they have the White House, they are concerned photos of Osama with buckshot in his forehead might somehow inflame the Muslim…what you’re really saying is it was not important not to inflame the middle east on Bush’s watch, but now that it has a new resident, why, cooler heads must prevail…heard he took 16 hours to ‘sleep on it’ before giving the kill order…but back to the land of ‘and’…you can get seafood and steak…all for around $10, unless you find a coupon, then it’s cheaper. Drink is extra. Don’t tell Shellie Bratton.

  • January 27, 2012 at 1:50 pm
    Homer T. Buffet says:
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    they keeps a shuttin down my restaurants, and anyone whose had a business knows its like a war out there…but I want to know, when can I eat my breakfast? I just herd dat president feller is gonna raise my taxes to 30%, and I keep filin for bankruptcy, kin anyone tell me how I am gonna git outta bankrutpcin if me taxs keep goin up and up and up, and then up some more?



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