Day: January 26, 2010

A quick look back at the Saints-Vikes: Most watched NFC Championship game in 3 decades

I can envision Nowdy watching the game on her TV, watching Brett get the snot knocked out of him with the accompanying camera shots towards Deanna and Momma Favre as they looked on in helpless agony. Buddy it kicked them motherly instincts into overdrive as I soon found out after sticking my old post To the Superbowl and Beyond…. to the front page of Slabbed after Hartley made the field goal to end the game. Nowdy and the local Who Dat Nation were not alone watching the game as the Time Picayune’s Dave Walker explains:

The New Orleans Saints’ overtime playoff victory over the Minnesota Vikings was the most-watched non-Super Bowl TV broadcast since the May 1998 “Seinfeld” finale.

And it had a better ending.

With an average national audience of 57.9 million — 40 percent larger than last year’s NFC Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals — Sunday’s game was also the most-watched NFC Championship game in nearly three decades.

The January 1982 conference title playoff between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers — broadcast by CBS and won by Dwight Clark’s leaping, last-minute reception know as “The Catch” — attracted 68.7 million viewers nationally. The “Seinfeld” finale drew 76.3 million. Continue reading “A quick look back at the Saints-Vikes: Most watched NFC Championship game in 3 decades”

How about a morning cup of Jefferson Parish Political Corruption. Aaron Broussard and his property in Nova Scotia in the news again

I’ve got a post coming which should tie a few things together for our readers but first we need to catch up (and I need to get on the road) and Richard Rainey at the Times Picayune posted a story late Friday which does just that plus puts he the paper on firmer ground regarding Broussard’s land holdings in Nova Scotia:

Former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, weathering a criminal investigation of his administration, delivered documents Friday to a federal grand jury in New Orleans, said his attorney, Mike Ellis.

“It was just records reproduction, which we complied with fully,” Ellis said. Broussard did not testify, he said.

Ellis would not elaborate on the nature of the documents, but Broussard has been linked to the private insurance agency of his former top government aide, Tim Whitmer. A lawyer, Broussard has said he did $5,000 worth of legal work for the brokerage, Lagniappe Industries, and referred business to the firm.

Broussard also has come under scrutiny for accepting gift certificates and travel vouchers from parish employees as Christmas gifts and property he owns in Nova Scotia. He has ownership rights in six properties in East Kemptville, according to Canadian property records. Combined, the properties have a residential, commercial or resource taxable value of $847,000 in Canadian money, about $801,700 in U.S. currency. Continue reading “How about a morning cup of Jefferson Parish Political Corruption. Aaron Broussard and his property in Nova Scotia in the news again”

Lets talk cat modeling and insurance rates: Karen Clark welcome to slabbed.

OK folks, I’ve written a good bit on weather modeling most of which in one way shape or fashion has its roots in the work of Karen Clark, a woman with a keen financial intellect, that literally pioneered the field. Her story is reminiscent of HAL 9000 and a South Park episode. It is also my considered opinion Ms Clark is one of the good guys in the insurance wars.  I mentioned this general topic and its importance with the last State Farm rate hike here in Mississippi using very plain english but no journalist here in Mississippi was up to the challenge of reporting it. I say that because if there is one area in the rate setting process that is completely suspect it would be in the loss assumptions indicated by the models. These concepts are equally applicable in other states besides Mississippi that now face insurance rate hikes such as our neighbor Alabama. Finally in the land where people get it, FLOIR Commish Kevin McCarty busted Allstate using bogus short-term models to calculate a 65% rate hike in Florida in 2008.

Besides Sop, Karen  Clark understands the implications. She left the company she founded, AIR Worldwide (most likely forced out IMHO), founded another company and went public with her concerns on how the information produced by those models was being misused. It was no surprise to me then when a reader sent me this link from the National Underwriter:

Catastrophe modeling firms’ hurricane damage predictions overestimated insured losses for a second year, according to a catastrophe prediction consulting firm.

Karen Clark & Company in a report said models designed to project U.S. Atlantic hurricane insured losses for the five-year period ending in 2010 “have significantly overestimated losses for the cumulative 2006 through 2009 seasons.”

“Hurricane activity is very difficult to project because the Earth’s atmosphere is very complex and has many feedback mechanisms,” said the report. “Given all of the uncertainties, near-term projections do not have sufficient credibility to be used for important insurance applications such as product pricing and establishing solvency standards.”

Predictably Karen’s wayward babies were having none of it: Continue reading “Lets talk cat modeling and insurance rates: Karen Clark welcome to slabbed.”