Insurance News - Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Deloitte Report Estimates U.S. P & C Insurance Fraud At $30 BillionA recent report, A Call to Action: Identifying Strategies to Win the War Against Insurance Claims Fraud, released by Deloitte says auto insurance and workers’ compensation are the two biggest sources of an estimated $30 million in insurance fraud.With losses mounting from fraudulent claims, fraud management has moved higher on the agenda of senior management. Many companies have taken steps to improve their ability to identify and address fraudulent claims, but these efforts have typically been fragmented. Effectively addressing claims fraud rests on four pillars of an integrated fraud management program: Develop a fraud management strategyAlign the operating modelImprove information qualityLeverage advanced technology...

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Not Another Talent Reality Show Please

I don't know about you but I am really fatigued by the number of similar talent reality shows for the past few years. Finally, one that has a better concept and a very engaging group of 4 brilliant master musicians / singers / composers / producers as judges (team leaders). You must have watched The Voice before, but somehow, the mix is just right, the participants generally are sincere and genuine. For once, its really their voices and not the packaging. Here are some of the highlights: It is not brilliant to be able to sing almost exactly like Teresa Teng, but she has certainly a lot more to offer. Try not to be touched. His range is unbelievable, just lifts you up. Jazz singing in Chinese ... you better believe it. Like Dinah Washington / Sarah Vaughn reincarnated into a Chinese lady....

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My Life's Aphorisms

Don't aim just to be rich, aim to create wealth, create better lives, create better livelihoods for people, create jobs where others can contribute to society and be a useful participant. Use your wealth to fund your passions and causes, and don't forget to enjoy yourself in the process. Stand up for injustice, for the downtrodden, for those who cannot help themselves. Aim for equality for all, in all. Have a zest for good things, finer things in life, its OK to to enjoy. Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure your life partner is enthusiastic, have energy for life, and empathy for people, friends and family. Don't wait for fate or destiny to affect your life, its your life, make it happen. Finding something or someone that/who means more to you than yourself. Make a conscious effort...

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Register Now Please

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Love This ....

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Hanazen .... Baby!!!

As Japanese restaurants go, its not a difficult task to locate good ones, as seriously there is very little cooking with good Japanese food. It all has more to do with getting the  best produce, best cuts and delivered with sincerity and care. One more Japanese restaurant that fits the bill perfectly is Hanazen @ Jaya One. You may choose to order the sets, which are more than reasonably priced to get a good taste of what Hanazen has to offer. Most sets are under RM40.  However, to get a real good taste of the best of Hanazen and what chef/GRO Mun Mun has to offer, go for the omakase ( chef's choice), it will set you back RM250-300pp...

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A Second Opinion

I was browsing through The Edge's Options and they featured the president & CEO of Davidoff Group, Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, talking about smoking cigars. Its all fine and dandy until he shared some interesting tips in "Doing It Right" when smoking cigars. I literally fell off my chair. Just because someone is CEO of a big cigar company, do not take their views as "the bible". His opinions would have elicited a heated counter argument from me. I am not a snob but I like my cigars with a passion having smoked them for nearly 20 years. My views may not be better but certainly, let's weigh the views properly. Cigar aficionados please contribute....

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Dilbert@E.U. Bailout Crisis

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Selamat Hari Raya, Keroncong Style

Music plays a huge part of our memories. As in any balik kampung event, its our memories and nostalgia that fill the air. So, here are my favourite keroncong tunes by Kartina Dahari for listening pleasure over this festive period. Drive dafe.Many Malaysians (including younger Malays even) have not heard of Kartina Dahari. Well, she was one of the top singers in the 60s and 70s. She was known for her keroncong songs. Don't ask me how I know of her songs, heard it on the radio when I was much much younger but you could hardly get a copy of her recordings on CDs. Keroncong styled songs are not everyone's cup of teh tarik, for me it struck a chord,...

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Best Things in Life Are Free

Never has the cliche been more meaningful when it comes to designing a company's logo. The two best logos for big companies have to be Coca Cola and Google, and they both cost the company $0 because it was done in house. cost: $35Nike co-founder Phil Knight purchased the famous swoosh logo from graphic design student Carolyn Davidson in 1971. Knight was teaching an accounting class at Portland State University, and he heard Davidson talking about not being able to afford oil paints in the halls. That's when he offered her $2/hour to do charts, graphs, and finally a logo. "I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me," Knight said, after...

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Things We Really Should Have

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Why A Severe Bear Market Could Be Just Around The Corner

While valuations are still reasonable and liquidity still ample in global markets, there is going to be a confluence of events that could derail even decent or fair valuations. Global markets have been through a pretty bumpy ride so far this year, thanks to the Greece worsening on/off debacle. Every single time, the EU leaders would convene another hastily reworked package to stave the bleeding patient. Now we have not one bleeding patient but another coming into ICU (Spain), the hospital is running out of blood and nerves are shot. To a large extent, we did not see the boil over yet because the US economy showed signs of recovery even though...

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Warren's Mantras

"Rule No. 1: never lose money; rule No. 2: don't forget rule No. 1"Source: The Tao of Warren Buffett"Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful."Source: Letter to shareholders, 2004"The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind,...

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Growth Investing

If you mention any other kind of investing other than "value investing", they'd seem like bad words next to value investing. Thanks to Warren Buffett, value investing has almost reached the nirvana of acceptance by all and sundry as the safest and most consistent long term performance tool.  Value investing to pay less for something. The off shoot of value investing is something called growth investing. It has the same basis as value investing but is willing to pay a lot more for potential. As long as growth is evident and in the works, these investors will not mind riding the bull in a growth stock. Beware of growth stocks because they...

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Arbitration Appeal Decision Regarding Failed Mediation

On February 10, 2012, in Leone and State Farm, a FSCO arbitrator ruled that mediation was deemed to have failed because it did not take place within 60 days of an application being filed and that the parties could not extend the time limit on consent once 60 days had expired. In this particular case the claimant filed for mediation on September 28, 2010 and FSCO acknowledged receiving the application 2 days later. A mediation number was assigned to the file and the claimant was informed that there would be a delay in assigning a mediator because of high volumes.The claimant filed for arbitration on March 14, 2011 indicating that although mediation had not taken place, it had failed because of the passage of time. FSCO received the arbitration application 169 days after receiving the mediation...

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Stop 114A

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Coolest Dad Ever

Most people would have heard of Depeche Mode, a New Romantics top band in the early 80s, where young adults trying to figure out their place in the world donned stupid outfits and dye their hair silly, played with electronic instrumentations a lot, trying to change the world. It was a natural evolvement from the punk era, where anarchy and disillusionment were the rage. From anger, anti-establishment to trying to find "new ways to love and new wave of electronic melodies structured into tight dance numbers".Thats all well and good, have a look at the original Depeche Mode hit, Everything Counts. Last year a cool dad and his two kids calling themselves DMK, became an internet sensation by copying the whole instrumentation and vocals of Depeche Mode in a few songs. Its damn funny, joyous and...

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Affogato .... Finally

Affogato, a shot or two of good espresso drowned with usually vanilla gelato or ice cream. I haven't come across any that do this decently. Either the ice cream is not cold enough (melts away too quickly even before it arrives at my table) or the ice cream quality is mediocre. The ice cream needed to be chilled a bit more than the usual owing to the hot shots of espresso and the ice cream needed to be very good and very plain, thats why vanilla was the usual choice. The Bee (Jaya 1 and Publika) has gone one better ...  A scoop of White Chocolate Butter ice cream drowned in two shots of hot espresso. Hey, the ice cream is by The...

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The Incredible Paintings of Jason de Graaf

Jason de GraafBorn and raised in Montreal. Currently living and painting near Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada. JdG: My paintings are about creating verisimilitude on the painted surface, Subjects are filtered through my personal response to them. While I do tend to paint in a photo realistic manner, my goal is not to reproduce or document faithfully what I see one hundred percent, but also to create the illusion of depth and a sense of presence not found in photographs. I use colours and composition intuitively with the intent of imbuing my paintings with emotion, mood and mystery. Throughout, I try to remain open to new ideas and surprises...

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Wednesday Funnies

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