When I agreed to take on this project the possibility it may fail crossed my mind, after all, the sum total of our collective experience on blogger could fit in a thimble. Motivated by those who are actively working against the people on the coast getting a fair shake from their insurer we began undaunted by the long odds that we could actually interest a potential readership in this very complex issue.
While the spillover from the "insurance wars" captivates the nation we continue to stick to our knitting of educating the public on the very real problems exposed by Katrina's wind and water over two years ago. Though we have not been burning up the proverbial commentary meter, Coastal Cowboy summed up our goal best early on, "The measure of our success will not be the amount of comments we get or the number of readers we attract, rather it is having the RIGHT folks reading us."
By that measure our first month online is a resounding success as we've attracted readers from 3 foreign countries as well as from across the US. We count people from diverse places like Washington DC, Lincoln Nebraska, and Bloomington Illinois to small towns like New Albany, Mississippi among our readership. We hope to continue educating all on our perspective, that of ordinary men and women here on the coast who struggle with the costs of insurance everyday and the related local fallout from insurance companies refusing to honor their contracts on the coast post Katrina.
So we thank our readers, even those who may disagree with our viewpoint, for spending time with us this past month as we too hope the New Year brings resolution to more of the good folks of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. God Bless us all in 2008.
sop
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year from the Mississippi Gulf Coast
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9 comments:
Indeed my good man Lizzy is amused by all U talking heads, especially the parasites.
*Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp*
Strangers in the night exchanging glances
wandring in the night what were the chances
we'd be sharing Marsha before the night was through
something in your eyes was so inviting
something in your smile was so exiting
something in my heart told me i must have you
strangers in the night two lonely people we were
strangers in the night up to the moment when we
said our first hello little did we know
love was just a glance away warm embracing dance away and
ever since that night we've been together
lovers at first sight in love forever
it turned out so right for strangers in the night
love was just a glance away a warm embracing dance away
ever since that night we've been together
loverss at first sight in love for ever
it turned out so right for strangers in the night
Ever wonder if Dickie and Haley drank SAE grog together?
Perhaps engage in a little perverted copulation with a young SAE loving coed?
Fraternity brothers and undergrad contemporaries to the end my good men.
Check it out and thank Lizzy later.
*Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp*
XXOO
The Mississippi Insurance Forum welcomes comment.
Until a more formal comment policy is posted, consider me Joe Friday - "just the facts, mam".
...and your facts related to insurance issues are?
If "just the facts" is your goal, share with us the "facts" behind your attacks on Rossmiller. It seems to me like he has been pretty fair.
Mr. Claims guy since we are ordinary Mississippians who have lives and careers away from this blog I will take the liberty of replying for Promise, who is tied up today. Perhaps Promise will find the time to stop in later to give you a more direct answer to your question. However, I'll step in for now and answer your question; in fact I'll probably give you more of an answer than you want to hear.
First, please bear in mind we have limited experience on blogger. Comments like those left by the user Tin Lizzy have stimulated conversation among the moderators of this blog. Since we truly do value all viewpoints, even those from the insane asylum, we've let those comments like the first one posted here stand for the time being.
Second, the goal of this blog is to give a voice to ordinary people who are being impacted in a very real way by Hurricane Katrina and it's impact on the insurance markets. While we do engage in fact finding at MIF we also impart our viewpoint derived from our analysis of the facts as we see them.
David Rossmiller is a very interesting figure in this whole insurance mess. While he often posts original source information such as deposition transcripts and the like I don't share your sentiment that he is being fair. In fact from what we have been able to determine his blog is in reality more about marketing his firm's services to insurance companies than giving even handed analysis. http://tinyurl.com/2o8jlp
There is nothing wrong with that per se, except when he does a hatchet job on some of the specific cases down here misrepresenting "facts" in order to curry favor with his intended target. http://tinyurl.com/29ruyg
This is a free country and Mr. Rossmiller is certainly welcome to his own viewpoint. However there are also real people down here suffering from the way certain insurance companies chose to adjust their claims. To the extent they feel Mr. Rossmiller is capitalizing on their suffering for his own monetary gain is just as valid a viewpoint as Mr. Rossmiller's opinions. In fact I submit those raw feelings sometimes expressed by Coastal Cowboy and Steve are far more genuine than some of the content that has appeared on Mr. Rossmiller's blog such as his post of December 3, 2007 that I linked above.
Finally I'll add that you should probably thank Mr. Rossmiller for this blog. If it wasn't for people outside Mississippi like him (I believe he said he has not even traveled here) looking for book deals, I most certainly would not be spending time on this endeavor presenting "the rest of the story".
Thank you for sharing your viewpoint with us Mr. Claim Guy and for taking the time to read what we have to say as well.
Sop
I looked at your links. One points out that law firms (like every other commercial enterprise under the sun) are using blogs to gain recognition for commercial purposes. That cannot possibly be news.
The other gives a Rossmiller post regarding some notes that were turned over in litigation, and some factual observations regarding those notes. I see nothing egregious there: the commentary seems pretty factual to me.
It seems like your position is that only those who suffered Katrina-related property damage can comment on the insurance issues posed by Katrina. I would respectfully suggest that such a position is ill-advised. Issues like the meaning of the flood exclusion are matters of national interest, open to fair comment by all. Likewise, the whole Scruggs mess is clearly of national import.
I would also note that some of the commentary aimed at Rossmiller by this blog's founders has been offensive and disgusting. For example, I call your attention to Cowboy's post on the ALL Yahoo board on 12/24. (Which, I would also add, links to this blog, as if you all endorse his utterly disgusting comments.) You can't possibly be condoning those comments, can you?
I stand by criticisms of Mr. Rossmiller's blog as the cyber equivalent of a wolf in sheep’s clothing Mr. Claim Guy. And while the use of a blog to generate business certainly is not "news", those on the bottom end of a blogs posts have a right to their viewpoint as well, even in it's most raw form as exhibited in the Cowboy's post on ALL to which you referred. I do hope he stops by and addresses your comment himself as I personally think the level of rhetoric has become unnecessarily nasty.
While I think the legal theory involved with the Katrina litigation is fair game for everyone who is interested I prefer to tell my own story and am saddened that more Mississippians are content to let others who aren't from here frame this story for them. I am not being exclusionary as much as I am saying that I know where the McIntosh's lived in relation to the shoreline and accompanying wave action and it was very evident that Mr. Rossmiller did not from his posts. There is no substitute for this type of local knowledge.
However I am especially disappointed in the political right in Mississippi because they willingly let their hatred for Dickie Scruggs be hijacked by insurance interests for a different end than seeing justice done in that matter. And while many people do find the Scruggs case interesting we do not feel it is an insurance issue though we are having spirited internal debates concerning whether to cover the few aspects of the case that do affect people like the McIntoshes.
Thank you for your thoughtful post sir.
Sop
I'll tell you folks what I think of David Rossmiller. If the carpetbagging worm presented himself in front of me on fire I would not piss on him to put it out.
I hope you didn't hold anything back telling us how you really feel about Mr. Rossmiller Cowboy. Jeez. I promise, if you could bite your tongue and show some civilility it can only help us.
Claim Guy, let me first welcome you and your comment and assure you we welcome all comment, both fact and opinion.
Mine, by the way, was intended as a "hint" to Lizzie. Since we all "know" Lizzie from other blogs, she knows her "colorful" comments are welcome here.
David Rossmiller is welcome here, too. I read his blog daily; and,appreciate his contribution to the knowledge base on legal issues related to Hurricane Katrina.
That said, David does reflect bias in his posts. There's absolutely nothing wrong about biased opinion. In David's usual circle, his bias toward the insurance industry is known.
I suspect his loyal following in our State are not his "usual circle" as there is abundant evidence here that many consider his opinion as fact and use it to justify their own biased opinion.
Here of late, I've begun to wonder how much of Rossmiller's bias about some of the legal issues here is unintended. David's has made comment on a blog I frequent that leads me to believe he may not realize how much bias there is in the information submitted to him by some in our state.
I'm specifically referring to information related to Dicky Scruggs and those associated with him in some capacity present or past and not just those also indicted.
The indictment of Scruggs, his son and associates included a statment indicating Scruggs knew where certain "bodies were buried".
Many, just how many I don't know, took that statement as a challenge to find those bodies and dig them up. From my perspective, they have and continue to use David Rossmiller as their grave digger.
In the eyes of my colleagues here who were "slabbed" first by Katrina and then by their insurance provider, Mr. Rossmiller has been "dirtied" in the process to the potential disadvantage of their friends and neighbors who are contesting the handling of their claims.
It is my opinion that more people have been "injured" by the actions of others after Katrina than were injured by the storm. Since that number includes people just trying to earn a living in the insurance industry.
I trust a "claim guy" understands.
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