Not all that long ago insurance was as steady and predictable as Newton’s laws of motion, especially the third law, i.e. for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction.

You bought an insurance policy that covered certain areas [house, auto, life, health, etc.] and you paid your premiums to be covered for losses. If a loss occurred, you filed a claim and the insurance company paid it. Things were simple and straight forward.

Then things changed. More and more insurance companies in all fields shifted from being mutual insurance companies to being for-profit, and the Newton model broke down, and people who bought insurance policies were no longer certain claims would be paid, even though they had been paying premiums. Insurance entered the world of Max Planck and Quantum physics.

You now see examples of “string theory”, if the company strings you along, eventually you’ll quit trying to get paid. Chaos and uncertainty rule the current insurance market, and especially with health insurance, you are getting Schrödinger’s policies that at the same time make you insured and uninsured, with procedures that are approved and unapproved.

Via DC Blogger at Corrente, a Sacramento Bee article, State attorney general targets health insurers, provides the odds that your health insurance will pay claims in California.

It is important to look at California, because it is one of the few states where there actually is some competition.

People buy insurance to reduce their personal risk, and now they are discovering they may have been paying for nothing. This is the insurance that the Obama administration apparently thinks everyone should buy.

The fire in the Angeles National Forest has now burned over 148,258 acres [≅ 232 miles²] and at least 64 homes, three commercial buildings and 27 outbuildings. The cost estimate is >$27 million. It is 42% contained.

The weather has been cooperating, and the emphasis has been on extending the fire breaks to prevent the fire from spreading outward as well as clearing up hotspots in the areas already burned.

The Station Fire was started by an arsonist near mile marker 29 on the Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2) about one mile above Angeles Crest Fire Station around 3:30pm [PDT] Wednesday August 26, 2009.

Two Los Angeles County firefighters have died in a motor vehicle accident escaping a burnover. In addition there have been 3 civilians and 8 firefighters reported injured.

Currently there are 121 hand crews, 419 engines, 43 water tenders, 66 dozers, 11 air tankers, 18 helicopters, and 4,847 total personnel assigned to the fire.

The aircraft now include the 747 Supertanker [20,000 gallons], Tanker 910 [DC-10 12,000 gallons], Mars Hawaii Superscooper [7,200 gallons], and two Canadair 415 water scoopers [1,600 gallons] from the Province of Quebec.

Links: InciWeb, LA Times, KTLA, and Pasadena Star-News

Maps: LA Times fire map, the Enplan Wildfire Viewer, and the Weather Underground Smoke Map.

Webcams: Tujunga and Altadena

[For more information go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

The Pump House Gang II

Mom, he’s back.

[Editor: Only one of two tuxedos and the silver tabby, but you can see their faces.]

Friday Ark