[jeffkrol]

or ...

Look at this ****ing hipster

---------- Post added 10-26-10 at 02:37 PM ----------



There are non-governmental ways to urge or require safety compliance such as through the insurance industry. They are the ones that do even more sophisticated tests to identify what works best and push for it to become standard equipment. Just look at housing, building codes help but the insurance industry also defines defacto building codes that go above and beyond the basics if you want the best rates.

The insurance industry established the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) 6 years before Unsafe At Any Speed was published and more than a decade before the governmental counterpart, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was establised. The IIHS has been more aggressive about creating different tests like offset impact and side impact tests as well as tests for roll over

Since 1897 the U.S. National Fire Protection Association, a private nonprofit association formed by insurance companies, has published the National Electrical Code (NEC).

As far as housing goes, the insurance industry has a hurricane simulator where they can subject test houses against each other to test building code. Right now most of the major insurers like State Farm and Allstate are not writing new policies in Louisiana, hopefully with this thing they can lay down some rules for what kind of building code you need to comply with in order to get reasonable insurance. Homeowners runs about 2-3% of the property value/year with a huge hurricane deductible right now. Those that are writing new policies have some rules that can make you eligible for a much lower rate, but nothing about the Louisiana insurance market right now makes it anywhere near viable and I think it is because there is not an understanding of what risk mitigation steps can be and need to be taken. I suspect once they have some conclusive results they will be laying down the law and defining some building codes for hurricane zones like they did with electrical wiring. After a while you will have to either retrofit to comply or buy your home outright and live without insurance or the ability to basically sell it. If people could build hurricane resistant homes that the insurers were confident in the rates could probably drop by 50-66% and the insurers would still be making a nicer profit than they do today, everyone wins.

Building a Giant Lab to Test Disasters - WSJ.com



This is the time when you raise your hand if you don't like your house burning down or your child seat failing in an accident

Maybe we should have moved New Orleans when we had the chance...Your making me regret that any of MY tax money went to that area.... That said I do know someone that made a good haul on used FEMA trailer homes...........
I don't think I ever met someone in an insurance "dream world"... You got to work for them in some capacity........
At best I'll give you coordination between the fed and ins.. but no more.
In case you think I'm picking on NO, I pretty much think it's STUPID to build cities on fault lines, flood plains under active volcanoes and places w/ no water or under sea level coastal areas..But if you do CHOOSE to live there you should pay the premium.. I believe that fits in your philosophical parameters.
Thumbing your nose at mother nature is never a wise move.
As to your rose colored glasses:

Criticism
The IIHS has come under scrutiny on several occasions since the 1980s over what some consider unfair bias against certain vehicle types, namely some small pickups and certain types of motorcycles. Since the IIHS first-and-foremost represents the interests of the 80 insurance companies from which it receives its funding, critics such as the American Motorcyclist Association have suggested that the IIHS sometimes seeks to influence legislation aimed at making insurance companies more profitable, rather than benefitting the public interest.[8]

In 1980, the IIHS helped 60 Minutes produce a report slamming the Jeep CJ in which a superhumanly capable robot apparatus was used to put the vehicles through 435 unrealistic test runs to get 8 rollovers.[9]

The IIHS released a report in 2007 suggesting that certain types of motorcycles be either banned or restricted from use on public roads, specifically sportbikes, after lumping together several different types of non-sport motorbikes into makeshift categories, allegedly to skew the crash data in favor of its argument. The 2007 report mirrored a similar IIHS study released in 1987, which was claimed by the IIHS to be based on findings in the famous Hurt Report motorcycle crash study, and which was used to influence U.S. Sen. John Danforth into proposing a law that would have mandated horsepower limits for bikes sold in America. Dr. Hugh H. (“Harry”) Hurt, Jr., the noted author of the Hurt Report, called the 1987 IIHS study "sloppy" and "fatally flawed".[10]

Citing its similarities to the 1987 report, AMA called the 2007 IIHS report "...a bike classification shell game". An AMA news release stated: "We beat the IIHS sportbike ban [in 1987], and we even got Sen. Danforth on our side, saying that he recognized that the AMA had the constituent interest in motorcycle safety and that his IIHS-backed bill was a 'dead-end street.'".[11]

Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, said of the 2007 report: "This kind of flawed report, passed off as scientific research, has the potential to do great damage. At the very least, it can create false perceptions we’ll have to fight for years. And at worst, it could lead to restrictive laws that have no basis in reality.”.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_Institute_for_Highway_Safety
Remember business is amoral..............
Skip the shock and awe of burnt babies.........
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=143&URL=About%20NFPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electrical_Code
Most likekly union sponsered.......... Need more research
When Industries and Gov. fail "the people" these kind of organizations arise........

Overview


NFPA overview hosted by President James M. Shannon


Part II of President Shannon's overview





The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization that was established in 1896. The company’s mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.

With a membership that includes more than 75,000 individuals from nearly 100 nations NFPA is the world's leading advocate of fire prevention and an authoritative source on public safety.

Codes and Standards
NFPA is responsible for 300 codes and standards that are designed to minimize the risk and effects of fire by establishing criteria for building, processing, design, service, and installation in the United States, as well as many other countries. Its more than 200 technical code- and standard- development committees are comprised of over 6,000 volunteer seats. Volunteers vote on proposals and revisions in a process that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI

http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=181&URL=Member%20Access/Join...ber%20Sections
With or without "insurance" this would probably exist...
Your blending to look better...............

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Last edited by jeffkrol; 10-26-2010 at 02:46 PM.

[Nesster]

Enough about insurance, that's an Eastern Elitist Establishment business anyway.

What the culture warriors don't talk about:
Univision set to become top U.S. broadcast network - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Adweek) – With double-digit ratings growth this season, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is off to a better start than any of the major English-language networks, and the future is promising as well.

The new census is expected to show a nearly 45% increase in the number of Hispanic Americans since 2000, to a total of 50 million. This couples with continuing audience erosion at the major networks and Univision's recent deal with Mexican programer Grupo Televisa, which locks up the source of much the network's popular programing for at least another decade.

Just a few years ago, the notion of Univision catching and surpassing them would have had mainstream network executives rolling with laughter. They're not laughing now.

And they're not talking publicly about it either: When asked to comment, the Big Four nets refused. But a couple of executives talked on background and indicated that they take the threat from Univision seriously.

"They're already No. 5," as one put it, having eclipsed the CW.

One top network researcher's calculations concluded that Univision could surpass the Anglo networks in seven years, even without the boost provided by growth in the Hispanic population.