Catching Up On the News

One of the problems with working a day job is that it interferes with blogging.  Sadly, for bloggers like me whose interests are too unfocused and whose writing style is rather amateurish, the day job pays better. 

While I was away, I flagged several articles I could point at, or topics I could write about.  Sadly, it looks like I’m not going to have to time to do much detailed catch-up (especially with another many-miles-in-little-time trip coming next week).

But I can do a quick chop-suey post.

• While transiting ATL yesterday, a coworker and I were accosted by Delta folks asking, “are you a SkyMiles member?”   I suspect they were trying to get folks to sign up with Delta’s affinity credit card.  I waved them off with the response “not until that part of the merger goes through” (I use Northwest’s program to aggregate my DL/NW/CO miles).   They didn’t seem entirely happy with that answer;  whether that was because they were getting few takers for the credit card offer, or disgruntlement with the Delta/Northwest merger (which apparently passed the last major regulatory hurdle while I was in the air), I cannot say.   I guess I can ask when I pass through ATL next week.
   
• I had thought Memphis’ days as a hub were numbered, with the merger of Delta and Northwest.  However, a Commercial Appeal article paints a more positive picture, due to capacity constraints at ATL.
   
• There is one advantage to Congress’ approval ratings being so low.  When spending time with a couple of coworkers whose political views seem to be frequently-in-opposition to my own, it’s nice to find common ground on the irrelevancy of the Presidential race, given the lack of turnover in Congress.
   
• IJ has a blurb on some good news (from an insurer’s perspective, at least) from the world of asbestos litigation.
   
• The Courant expects that same-gender marriages will begin in Connecticut on or about November 10.
   
• Travelers and the AIA are becoming vocal about how many mainstream property/casualty insurers are not in need of bailouts, and therefore we shouldn’t be bundled in with the woes of those carriers (life, surety, and some leveraged specialty/reinsurance) experiencing indigestion with the state of their investment portfolios.  However, word of CNA’s cash infusion from Loews illustrates the caveats that ought to come with such a pronouncement. (CNA, however, does deserve some respect for masochistically joining the no-bailout bandwagon.)
   
• I’ve seen rumblings that some folks believe the crash of ’08 marks the end of the soft market, and the beginning of a new hard market for commercial insurance.   For example, a Wall Street Journal article (subscriber link) quotes Ace’s chairman’s observations that the industry isn’t as overcapitalized as it was less than a year ago.
   
• Speaking of the end of overcapitalization, the Palm Beach Post has an article mentioning how several Florida-only subsidiaries may be up for ratings downgrades due to the current turmoil.
   
• The Moderate Voice has an interesting post up about the varying views on the oldest extracurricular activity for teenagers in red versus blue states.  
   
• CT News Junkie passed along word of a UConn poll suggesting a plurality of support in favor of Connecticut’s constitutional convention question (50% yes; 39% no; 11% undecided) .  A telling comment in the story: “The Constitutional Convention question appears to be a referendum on the performance of the General Assembly.  Connecticut residents unhappy with legislators in Hartford support holding a convention to amend the constitution, whereas those happy with the General Assembly oppose holding one.”  That’s in spite of the pro-ConCon campaign’s push to make a ConCon about ballot initiatives.
   
  That comment also furthers my amazement that incumbents by-and-large will likely be reelected countrywide, in spite of an apparent across-the-board dissatisfaction with most legislative bodies.