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The PhD in Language and Communication is an interdisciplinary programme involving Education, Language and Linguistic Science, Psychology and Sociology. It focuses on investigating language as it is used in the real world and the processes which underpin it. We conduct highly data-driven research into the communicative structures – linguistic, sequential, gestural – used in everyday life, in workplace settings, in educational settings, and in on-line interaction.
The PhD in Language and Communication is an interdisciplinary programme run across four departments: Education, Language and Linguistic Science, Psychology and Sociology. The staff on the programme are experts in language and communication who pool their resources to offer the PhD. Students on the programme have two joint supervisors, each from a different department, and are part of the academic community of both departments.
Academic staff on the programme have established international reputations for innovative research and cross-disciplinary working. We employ multiple methodologies underpinned by a range of approaches to the study of language, including cognitive, ethnographic, interactionist, or dynamic/emergent approaches to language study. Some of us use primarily qualitative methods (notably conversation analysis), while others specialise in experimental and quantitative approaches.
We are international in outlook and welcome multilingual and multicultural research projects. Students on the programme have conducted research on a wide range of European, Asian and African languages and social settings (and more information about these can be found on the 'research' tab).
Partner departments all have a full training programme for PhD students and students registered on the Programme have access to training in their departments. Such programmes include subject-specific courses, courses on research skills, and generic courses aimed at increasing students' employability, personal effectiveness, language skills, etc.
The PhD in Language and Communication is available to full and part time research students, and also to Visiting Research students who would like to come here for short periods (usually between one term and a year) for specialist training.
Areas of research in which we would be willing to supervise theses include (but are not limited to):
Here is a sample of previous PhD theses:
All students are assigned two supervisors from two different departments. This system of joint supervision reflects the inter-disciplinary nature of the programme and provides input from different but complementary disciplinary perspectives and methodologies.
When making an application, indicate which disciplines your research topic is relevant to and a possible supervisor for your research. The list of staff on the programme and the information on individuals' web pages will help you to identify these disciplines and individuals. The course co-ordinator will be happy to advise you.
Staff on the PhD in Language and Communication Programme
- Peter Bull (Psychology)
- Microanalysis of interpersonal communication; social psychology of health
- Ian Davies (Education)
Citizenship education, global education, global citizenship education, history education, social studies education
- Paul Foulkes (Language and Linguistic Science)
Phonetics; phonology; child language acquisition; sociolinguistics; forensic phonetics
- Clare Jackson (Sociology)
- Celia Kitzinger (Sociology)
Gender and sexuality in talk; conversation analysis; help lines; feminist and LGBT issues; childbirth; trauma
- Emma Marsden (Education)
- Second language acquisition (especially of French, Spanish and English); foreign and second language education (especially grammar pedagogy and implicit learning); the role and design of experiments in educational research
- Heather Marsden (Language and Linguistic Science)
Second language acquisition (especially of syntax-semantics and syntax-pragmatics interface phenomena); applications of theoretical linguistic research for language teaching; third language acquisition; second language acquisition research methodology
- Richard Ogden (Language and Linguistic Science)
Phonetics; phonology; conversation analysis; cross-linguistic research
- Darren Reed (Sociology)
Gesture, interaction, embodiment, on-line communication and performance, science and technology studies, conversation analysis, social media, performance studies
- Beatrice Szczepek-Reed (Education)
Prosody, phonology, conversation analysis, cross-cultural interaction, institutional interaction.
- Vanita Sundaram (Education)
- Merran Toerien (Sociology)
Conversation analysis; interaction in institutional settings, especially clinical encounters (e.g. doctor-patient interaction); gender and interaction.
- Danijela Trenkic (Education)
Pragmatics and discourse comprehension (with particular reference to definiteness); input and metalinguistic knowledge in second language acquisition; prosody and segmentation in second language listening comprehension
- Robin Wooffitt (Sociology)
Language and consciousness; identity and authority in interaction; the relationship between conversation analysis and critical movements within social psychology, such as discursive psychology
Candidates should have a good first degree or MA in linguistics, psychology, sociology, education, communication, or a related area.
You are welcome to contact the programme co-ordinator, Richard Ogden (firstname.lastname@example.com) if you are in doubt about your suitability for the programme because of your previous experience.
For applicants whose native language is not English, the Programme requires an English language proficiency level of 7.0 in the British Council's IELTS test with at least IELTS 7.0 in writing. We do accept other English Language Tests. Information on these is available at http://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/english/
We also strongly recommend that applicants attend the University's Intensive Summer Courses. Their four and eight-week pre-sessional courses in August-September will help you build the study skills necessary for living within British culture and its academic life. Typical courses comprise 21 contact hours a week in groups of 12.
Students who have successfully completed a recent undergraduate or taught masters degree at a UK University are exempt from the English Language requirement.
Application for Research degrees are made online. Please follow the link below to access the online form:
On the application form you need to provide a brief outline of your proposed research area, as well as a more detailed Research Proposal. This, together with the other information you provide on the form, will be reviewed by the proposed supervisor, in consultation with another specialist in the relevant research area. If you have not already visited us informally, to meet and talk to the person with whom you are interested in working, and if it seems that your proposed field of research is one in which we are able to offer appropriate supervision, then you will normally have the opportunity to come and talk to us about your plans, and see the university.
Applicants from overseas are encouraged to visit the department, wherever possible, so that you can get a clear, first-hand impression of the department, the university and the city of York.
You are free to make informal enquiries through the programme co-ordinator Richard Ogden (firstname.lastname@example.com) to see whether there are staff members whose research interests and expertise are likely to match your own and are more likely to be able to provide appropriate supervision for your project.
Please note that the University and the Department pursue a policy of equal opportunities in offering places to read for postgraduate degrees, as in all appointments.
Who to contact
- Dr Richard Ogden
Course Coordinator
Tel: +44 (0) 1904 322672


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Carlino Family History
14-Day Free Trial
Carlino Name Meaning
Italian: from a diminutive of the personal name Carlo, Italian equivalent of Charles. Carlino was also a term denoting a medieval Italian coin, and it is possible that in some cases the surname arose as a nickname, possibly for a worthless fellow, since it was a coin of low value, or as an occupational name for a moneyer.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
Similar surnames: Carlin, Carpino, Carlisi, Carline, Cerino, Carlo, Carling, Merlino

subset: commoncrawl


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Seinfeld: Season Four - Region 99 DVD
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Description: J J 0 0 It's hard to believe, but for the first three seasons nobody really knew that Seinfeld was about, well, you know. It wasn't until season 4--unleashed here in a four-disc set that's equal in scope, quality, and quantity of bonus material to its predecessors--that the show really became something. In a series which can claim every installment as classic, the two-parter on disc 1 titled "The Pitch/The Ticket" truly stands out as a defining episode and, in retrospect, marked Seinfeld 4 as the breakthrough season. It's the one where (fake) NBC executives express their interest in working with Jerry Seinfeld on a ... (more)
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release date: 17 May 2005
Number of discs: 4
Release date: 17 May 2005
Number of discs: 4
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text: Green finance is crucial to realizing global sustainability goals. Countries around the world implementing plans to realize the Paris Climate Agreement are faced with an enormous investment gap between what is necessary and what the public sector can provide. For the green transformation to succeed, the private sector will have to lead the way. Banking, capital markets, and insurance must be positioned with sustainable development goals in mind. New financial instruments must be developed, and standards for the sector set. Countries like China are already experimenting heavily, nurturing a robust green bonds market and green finance pilot zones. What must governments and businesses know as the green economy accelerates? What are some best practices that can be considered from the Chinese experience?


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One of the main pitfalls of cosmetic dentistry is choosing the wrong beauty dentist. The treatment at The Cosmetic Dentistry Center NYC is an unimaginable experience. A dentist who is good at dental implants or dental bridges is probably not so skilled in dental bonding for example and a beauty dentist that specialises in tooth whitening could be good with whitening products and dental veneers but not so skilled in dental braces. Advantages of cosmetic dentistry comprise the flexibility to charge a good price for one thing that people will actually recognize when the process is done proper.
Beauty dentistry usually contains something outdoors the common well being and maintenance of your tooth performed by you or a daily dentist. The truth is that mainstream family dentists aren't educated within the field of beauty dentistry and not all cosmetic dentists are in a position to adequately perform every beauty procedure. In instances where the price of a smile makeover is greater than you may afford, financing cosmetic dental remedy may be a solution so that you can get your new smile.
Cosmetic dentistry is a specialized discipline of dentistry that deals primarily with the use of quite a lot of dental procedures to improve the looks of the face. Dr. Swift is co-writer of an Amazon #1 Greatest Vendor book for consumers on beauty dentistry, and Dr. Myers is creator of a shopper guide to dental implants and restorative dentistry. When excited about the cost of cosmetic dentistry, many elements need to be thought of.
A dental crown is perhaps the one factor in the way of improving your smile and doesn't price very much to have accomplished. Heated massage pads in every chair, aromatherapy, the latest expertise, and pleasant completely happy workers create a heat, friendly environment that may scale back your stress and forever change your expectations for dental care in Dallas.
It doesn't matter what process you need on your enamel, sedation dentistry can make you extra comfortable and put your anxieties comfortable. The preferred possibility in cosmetic dentistry is tooth bleaching, an area that is experiencing a 15 to 20% progress a yr. With an elevated number of people desirous to have surgery completed on their mouth; extra persons are going into the beauty dentistry subject as an alternative of household dentistry.…


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Oracle today disclosed that it has acquired Ravello Systems, a company with tools for running enterprise workloads in public cloud environments. Oracle didn't disclose terms of the deal, but a source familiar with the matter said Oracle is paying $500 million to do the deal.
Oracle is rapidly trying to accelerate its cloud business and take on the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Today's acquisition could be strategically important as Oracle rushes to stand up its cloud infrastructure for compute, storage, and networking workloads.
"Ravello will join in Oracle's IaaS mission to allow customers to run any type of workload in the cloud, accelerating Oracle's ability to help customers quickly and simply move complex applications to the cloud without costly and time-consuming application rewrites," Ravello cofounder and chief executive Rami Tamir wrote in a letter about the deal.
As of last year Ravello had raised $54 million, including a $26 million round announced in 2013. Investors include Qualcomm Ventures, SanDisk Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Vintage Investment Partners.
Ravello started in 2011 and was based in Palo Alto, California, not far from Oracle headquarters in Redwood City. Customers include Arista, Brocade, Red Hat, SUSE, and Symantec.
Ravello's services will continue to be available from Oracle, Tamir wrote.
How startups are scaling communication: The pandemic is making startups take a close look at ramping up their communication solutions. Learn how


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Cliff Lede: wines that rock and roll
Cliff Lede's tasting room was designed in a Craftsman-style by renowned architect Howard Backen, and it is bright, clean and sophisticated. Lots of white wood is warmed with leather couches, wicker armchairs and a rock fireplace. Hosts are friendly if perfunctory in their presentation of five current release wines, explaining that the High Fidelity Napa Valley blend is inspired by winery owner Cliff Lede's love of classic rock — he even gave his vineyard blocks names like "My Generation" and "Dark Side of the Moon."
You can spend the extra money for a by-reservation $50 Table Tasting on the veranda to sample current releases from both Cliff Lede and its sister winery, the Anderson Valley-based FEL Wines. The vineyard views here are sumptuous, and tableside service means one-on-one attention. If music moves you and you appreciate eclectic art, the high-style Backstage Reserve Lounge is a real treat for $75, by reservation. Here, you soak in the ever-changing gallery, which mixes Day of the Dead portraits with retro Grateful Dead art and beautiful landscape paintings, against a soundtrack of Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and other greats.
WHAT TO TRY: You'll feel extra-fashionable Backstage, amid the mismatched, expensively artsy furnishings, savoring a pour of the Cabernet Sauvignon from the famed Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard. Characteristic of the highly coveted Oakville grapes it's made from, the wine is beautifully concentrated, for a big, ripe, elegant red that's worth its $185 per-bottle cost.
INSIDE INFO: Think about bringing a group of friends, perhaps 10 or so, and reserving a private, food-paired tasting. This gets you access to the showpiece winery itself, a spectacular, modern palace tucked into the adjacent hillside.


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Grant Park is one of a string of Milwaukee County parks that dot the shoreline throughout the southern Milwaukee suburbs of St. Francis, Cudahy and South Milwaukee. At 381 acres, it's the second-largest park in Milwaukee County.
Best known for its Seven Bridges Trail, Grant Park is also home to the first golf course operated by Milwaukee County, aptly named Grant Park Golf Course. It has been open since 1920 and remains a favorite course for local golfers.
Seven Bridges Trail
Grant Park's Seven Bridges Trail, known as one of Milwaukee's haunted hot-spots, in case you're into the supernatural, offers an easy hike through woods and ravines. The best part is that this hike also offers beach access, so don't forget to pack a camera and definitely don't be shy about walking into the water. The trails are not spectacularly marked, however, and despite rejuvenation efforts, some areas of the park still have a run-down appearance. Because of this, a walk through the Seven Bridges and adjacent trails would not be a great idea after dark, but it can still be quite charming during the day.
Where: South Lake Drive at Park Avenue, South Milwaukee
Hours: Grant Park closes at 10 p.m. daily
Covered bridge at the entrance to Seven Bridges Trail, Grant Park.
At the foot of Seven Bridges Trail, you are greeted by the words "Enter this wild wood and view the haunts of nature," a fitting tribute to this natural gem.
Seven Bridges Trail
Covered bridge at start of Seven Bridges Trail
Upon exiting the trail, hikers read the words "May the God given peace of this leafy solitude rest upon and abide with thee."
Seven Bridges Trail
Bridge at entrance to Seven Bridges Trail
The long expanse of bridge that takes you into the trail system at Grant Park.
Seven Bridges Trail
Staircase on Seven Bridges Trail
Seven Bridges trail contains numerous stairways, some concrete, some lannon stone, and some simply made from logs set parallel to the incline.
Seven Bridges Trail
Beach access from Seven Bridges Trail
A view from the beach in Grant Park, accessed by Seven Bridges Trail, looking north.
Seven Bridges Trail
Beach access at Seven Bridges Trail
A view at the beach at Grant Park, as accessed from Seven Bridges Trail, looking south.
Seven Bridges Trail
Leafy path in Grant Park
A wooded path winds its way through Grant Park as part of the Seven Bridges Trail system.
Seven Bridges Trail
Lannon-stone pool on the Seven Bridges Trail
Hikers on the Seven Bridges Trail will discover remnants of landscaping features long unused, like this Lannon stone pool.
Seven Bridges Trail
Raccoon prints in a creek bed in Grant Park
Many animals live in Grant Park, and it's easy to spot signs of them everywhere you look.
Seven Bridges Trail
Section of Seven Bridges Trail laid with Lannon stone
Many of the older features of Grant Park feature Lannon stone, which Civilian Conservation Corps worker used in the 1930's to construct paths and staircases through the park.
Seven Bridges Trail
Wulff overnight lodge in Grant Park
Frederick C. Wulff, who laid the paths that eventually became Seven Bridges, lived with his family in this building. The structure was remodeled in the mid-1990's and turned into an overnight lodge.
Seven Bridges Trail
Ravine on Seven Bridges Trail
A view down into the ravine that contains several bridges over meandering streams. The bridges were also rebuilt in the mid-1990's.


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The pressures of the workplace can take its toll on any woman and cause a lot of health problems later in life. That's why it's important to know when to stop in order to give your body a break. Although sitting back and relaxing is a great way to recharge, there are a lot of things that you can do on your feet that can lower your stress levels. Here are a few activities that you can do to unwind without taking fun out of the equation:
1. Dance your worries away.
There is a frustrated ballerina in all of us. Live that dream now by signing up in an adult ballet class. Check out Ballet Philippines' Ballet Workout course focused on stretching and strength based classical ballet exercises. Not only does it help strengthen the core muscles of the body, the moves also reduce stress levels and release happy hormones.
2. Take a dip.
According to a new international research commissioned by an international swimwear brand, swimming is one of the best and easiest ways to unwind. A few laps can help release stress and tension, plus it also makes people feel more confident and mentally recharged.
3. Work up a sweat.
Work can be very hectic, but setting aside time to visit the gym can actually give you energy to do more outside the office. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise ramps up your endorphins, which are the neurotransmitters that help make you feel good. Plus, as a great bonus, you can burn calories and torch fat!
4. Clean your home!
Take this as the best excuse to do your long-overdue spring cleaning. Home clutter was identified as a common cause of stress by an online survey, and it doesn't just affect women but men as well. A happy home = a happy you!
5. Try laughter yoga.
Laughter is the best medicine. Literally. The next time you are feeling down, try laughter yoga, a physically oriented technique that is a blend of empowering and 'tension-releasing' giggle-inducing exercises. The method is also believed to improve the well-being and health of its participants!
6. Book an impromptu trip with friends.
Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of randomness. It's time to finally say yes to that 2-hour impromptu out of town drive with your best buds. The change of scenery and spontaneity can refresh your body and mind.
7. Go window shopping.
No, you don't need to actually shop while you're at it (though we're not stopping you because shopping can be a pretty good stress reliever, too). Walking around the mall is a good exercise to keep your blood flowing. Also, the visual cues can help lift your mood!
8. Meditate at home.
This is pretty self-explanatory. Most are intimidated by the idea of meditation, thinking that they need to have a pro to guide them, but there are articles and videos on the web that can let you handle this by yourself. Spice up your meditation sessions with some stretching exercises to encourage blood flow.
9. Immerse yourself in new things.
Skip your usual weekend spots and explore other places. Weekend markets featuring art finds from up and coming artists and fresh community produce can be really refreshing! Get inspiration from local minds and enjoy discovering one-of-a-kind stuff.
10. Eat healthy.
Stress eating isn't something that can easily be avoided, so it's important to snack on food that can make you feel full without the guilt. Multigrain snacks such as Nova are fiber-rich and have 0 gram trans fat, keeping your snacking guilt-free. Always keep some beside your desk for times when the need to stress-eat strikes.
To know more about how you can #livetheNOVAlife with this awesome, fiber-rich multigrain snack, follow NOVA on Facebook.
This article was created by Summit Storylabs in partnership with Nova.


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This week's most-read stories included a thoughtful exchange between a reader and our expert contributor. It was exactly the kind of thing we live for here at OZY, and we can't wait to create space for more like it. Check it out!
1. What motivates a terrorist? After the bloody attack and hostage crisis in Kenya, we turned to former CIA deputy director and OZY contributor John McLaughlin for insight. So did one of our readers, who asked our expert a follow-up question: "What do terrorist cells think they're accomplishing?" McLaughlin weighed in later that day to explain they're looking to exact revenge, to build publicity to attract followers and to wreak economic damage. After 32 years in counterterrorism, this former spy should know. Read more from him on Syria, and look for his piece about Russia soon.
2. All aboard! Our story about the sorry state of high-speed rail in the U.S. surged ahead of all our previously published articles in total views, and this week it holds onto its spot way out front. With everyone thinking about how to get from here to there cheaply and quickly, this story seems to have struck a chord. So thank you, railroad enthusiasts!
3. Say that again… Turns out love not only has its own language, it even has a preferred voice. As plenty of readers learned in "The Sound of Hot," research shows that men and women can match voices with pictures of the speakers, and that voices deemed attractive tended to pair with physically attractive images. What does "good-looking" sound like to you?
4. Feeling lucky. Eugene Robinson's provocative take on why long-shot lotteries remain staples of modern society drove lots of interest among the OZY tribe this week. Whether you think the lottery is a scourge or you've got a sheaf of quick picks filed away in your pocket, the "Lotteries: Powerbull?" video is sure to make you think and even chuckle.
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30 April 2014
The 36MW project will entail the installation of Trina Solar's TSM-PC14 module, which is IEC certified to 1,000V and is ideal for large-scale installations in areas prone to high temperatures and dry conditions. Trina Solar expects to complete the shipment in the second quarter of 2014. Zhiguo Zhu, president of Trina Solar's module business unit, said the company's penetration into Chile's solar market also supports its market diversification strategy. "Trina Chile's vast desert with abundant solar resources creates significant potential for solar energy," he said. "We are enthusiastic about the prospects for solar energy in Chile and look forward to increasing our supply of modules to support the local solar industry,"
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Energy efficiency
Energy infrastructure
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Solar electricity


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Current Newswire:
LinuxDev.net: GUI Python: All This and Good Looks Too?Jun 27, 2000, 14:40 (4 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Daniel Solin)
[ Thanks to BeOpen for this link. ]
"Can I use Python for Web development?" "Can Python do serious programming?" "Is there anything Python can't do?". Since the answers to those three questions in 99% of the cases are "Yes, Yes and No", Python has probably earned its reputation as the coolest and most useful programming language today. In this series of articles, we'll show you how Python can be used for GUI development."
"...the discussions throughout this series assume you have a basic understanding of Python programming. ... Before we begin, we need to make sure that OOP (Object Oriented Programming) is your cup of tea (Tkinter, that is). Although Python can be used as a structured language, in this series we will use its OOP features to create our GUIs. So, make sure you are in a frame of mind to read discussions where objects, classes, constructors and such are mentioned before you proceed."
Related Stories:


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As much as I enjoy vigorous debate, I abhor pseudo-science. From The Bermuda Triangle to past life regression, I just can't deal. If the subject matter in question is faith-based like, say, a talking salamander's role in the development of Mormonism, I'm good. But the moment an aspiring conversationalist tries to deploy scientific explanations for a fundamentally irrational belief system– aliens sucking up Air Force planes from the Gulf Of Mexico for anal experimentation or Joan of Arc reborn as a 42-year-old housewife in Hackensack, New Jersey– I'm out. So when I read that insurance quote provider Lee Romanov says your star sign affects your chances of having an automobile accident, I just had to ring her up. Yes, it's been that kind of day.
You can hear my righteous indignation on the podcast below. Truth be told, I've got no truck with Ms. Romanov's basic assertion that automobile insurance industry rates seem capricious (even if she seems particularly oblivious the existence of actuarial tables). Certainly, one can understand the rational basis for mandatory car insurance: ensuring that drivers can pay for their mistakes. But in practice, the business is rife with greed, fraud, inequity and counterintuitive logic.
Here in Rhode Island, a state only slightly less corrupt than Botswana, insurance fraud is as common as people who drink their java with five sugars. I remember the first time I took a bent motor to a local auto body shop. The "repair specialist" took one look at the damage and asked "How 'bout we claim $500 and I'll kick you back a hundred?" Talk about a trick question. I don't think the idea that his customers might put a higher value on the quality of the actual repairs than their ability to make a quick buck ever occurred to him. Or, for that matter, most of his customers.
According to a recent study, one out of every three Americans thinks it's OK to pad their insurance claims. In dollar terms, insurance fraud costs the industry $30b a year. While health care and personal property fraud account for the lion's share of this thievery, the automotive part of the program racks-up some $8b (not including actual automotive theft). For example, on Saturday, the owner of Louis and Sons Auto Body in West New York was convicted of defrauding insurance companies out of $10k. Like tens of thousands of body shops across the nation, Louis Rivadeneira inflated claims and charged insurers for parts he never bought.
If you're thinking "…and never installed" you'd be dead right. (Perhaps literally.) All those Americans happy to top-up their insurance claims might want to think about Louis' "de-contenting" (i.e. leaving out parts or substituting inferior parts) the next time they drop off their car for repair. Never mind; the man received a fine, a slap on the wrists and promised never, ever to do it again. So policy holders and auto body shops can continue to commit fraud on an epic scale without fear of hard time. Of course, the insurance companies themselves complete this unholy trinity.
For example, all the safety equipment for which the major automotive insurers have lobbied so hard have added extra cost (not to mention weight and complexity) to the average automobile, without which your premium may be raised, with which you may not be any safer (e.g. ABS braking). Of course, all the safety-related bells and whistles don't lower drivers' premiums that much because the cost of fixing them raises the cost of repair, which the insurer must then pay, which gives the auto body shop another chance to commit fraud, which raises premiums.
To be fair, the insurance industry's major players shell out big bucks to try to crack down on fraud and protect their assets. Meanwhile, they stand by while the government gives driving licenses to people who can't read a warning sign or, in fact, drive. And there are plenty of independent agencies– many with big name insurance company stickers on their doors– that are ready, willing and able to pocket premiums and not provide insurance (a growing scam for new and illegal immigrants) or sell policies by the month (just long enough for drivers to get their cars registered or their licenses renewed). Clearly, car insurance is a racket for many people on many levels.
In fact, the situation's so nuts that charging people premiums according to their astrological sign makes about as much sense as the current set-up. And while I believe that astrological readings are simply a combination of observation, guesswork, playing the law of averages and picking-up on psychological "tells," I'm not against using the practice to get people to drive like responsible adults. "The moon is in Uranus– and so is your head if you talk on the cell while driving. And your son… Lenny? Liberace? Leo? Leo is getting retrogrades; don't let him drive without an adult on any day with an 'a' in it." Works for me.
[A free copy of Ms. Romanov's book "Car Carma" for the first person who can identify the astrological car referred to in the song with the lyrics "WELL SHE ISN'T!"]
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72 Comments on "Car Insurance Rates: Star Struck?..."
joshuaconnerDecember 18th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
That would be a Plymouth Satellite! Go B-52's!
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LutherDecember 18th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Joan of Arc reborn as a 42-year-old housewife in Hackensack, New Jersey
Well… Ummm… That would explain Hackensack…..
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December 18th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
We have a winner! It was indeed a Plymouth Satellite from the B52's song Planet Claire.
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December 18th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
I think it is a Ford Zodiac. An overseas product in the 50s and 60s.
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dolo54December 18th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
love that song!
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Alex RashevDecember 18th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
I'm really surprised that all insurers offer a cap on damage they cover. What if you hit an Enzo, and ram it into an intersection where 10 other cars hit it? I always thought the purpose of insurance was to protect you from large expenditures, not small ones.
And, I'm all for having liability deductibles, perhaps even pre-charged refundable ones. For example, you start an auto policy, you put down your $500 deductible, and if you hit somebody, the deductible is cut out of those $500 and you have to "refill" it within a certain time frame to keep your policy. If, on the other hand, you don't hit anybody, you're in good shape – your money is refunded when your policy ends.
In other words, I have no idea why there is a deductible going one way and not the other. Would have cut down on those small frauds, too – you'd care a lot more if all of a sudden $400 of your own money would go to fix that guy's scratched bumper.
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Jonny LiebermanDecember 18th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
"You know Astrology is complete horseshit, right?"
Thank you, Robert.
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Terry ParkhurstDecember 18th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
The insurance companies say they work off actuarial tables and data. It's the kind of stuff wherein which they make you pay more for a Volkswagen R32 than a Chevrolet Cobalt four door sedan. But there are oftentimes, other more ridiculous – to my mind – factors.
Case in point: 16 years ago, when I moved to the San Juan islands, to work for a short time as a reporter on a weekly paper up there, I changed auto insurance companies. When I filled out the paperwork, with a new agent in the tiny town of Friday Harbor, at one point, I was asked if I smoked. I admitted I smoked cigars, always outside and perhaps about four a year. The agent looked at me and replied, "So, you're a smoker" and scribbled something down. He admitted I would pay more. When I took issue and asked why, he replied, "You're a risk taker." Being a "risk taker" with an auto insurance company requires a lot less than most institutions. In the past year, I smoked a cigar, right after Thanksgiving dinner, at some friends; it's not something I would ever mention to the company now currently insuring my car.
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willjames2000December 18th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Your secret is safe with us. And your insurance agent doesn't read TTAC……probably.
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quasimondoDecember 18th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
I still think back fondly when I tried to get insurance on a 1991 Honda CRX. After I gave her my driving record (no accidents, 1 speeding ticket), and where I park the car at night (Brooklyn) and so on, she gave me back a quote for $6000 for a six month policy.
"But this is three times what I paid for the car, " I told her.
"Yes, but we have to factor in your driving record and the high theft rate for this car," she replied.
"So does this mean that if my car were to get stolen, I'd get a check from your company for $6,000?"
"Well, thank you for your time," I said, and promptly hung up.
I know that's not how the insurance companies is supposed to work, but I find it absurd to pay more for insurance than you pay for your car, given the fact that you'll get much less in an insurance payout than you pay in your premium, and if you have a low value car like I did, that they'd total out the car for anything beyond a bumper banger. It's all a shameless bureaucratic scam, I tell you.
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Paul NiedermeyerDecember 18th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Insurance scam #43: Comprehensive and Collision coverage for your vehicle (not liability) should go down each year as your vehicle depreciates. If anything, the rates go up. I drop this coverage after about 5 or 6 years; self insurance is cheaper for an older car.
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December 18th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
From The Bermuda Triangle to past life regression, I just can't deal. If the subject matter in question is faith-based like, say, a talking salamander's role in the development of Mormonism, I'm good. But the moment an aspiring conversationalist tries to deploy scientific explanations for a fundamentally irrational belief system– aliens sucking up Air Force planes from the Gulf Of Mexico for anal experimentation or Joan of Arc reborn as a 42-year-old housewife in Hackensack, New Jersey– I'm out.
That talking salamander who was involved in Mormonism was actually an earlier reincarnation of Joan of Arc, before the Hackensack housewife.
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buzzliteyearDecember 18th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
It would be interesting if Ms. Romanov would make her data available to other statisticians to see if they can confirm her result.
Often, the desire to believe blinds people to subtle but important mistakes in statistical methods. One dramatic case of this involved a study about whether praying affects medical outcomes:
BTW, I'm a Libra (one of the more 'dangerous' signs according to Ms. Romanov) and my last at-fault accident was in 1993 when I backed into my neighbor's car, causing $250 in damage. I paid for her repairs out-of-pocket.
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December 18th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
I know that's not how the insurance companies is supposed to work, but I find it absurd to pay more for insurance than you pay for your car, given the fact that you'll get much less in an insurance payout than you pay in your premium, and if you have a low value car like I did, that they'd total out the car for anything beyond a bumper banger. It's all a shameless bureaucratic scam, I tell you.
I paid $450 for my old '77 Corolla, in 1985. I paid about $800-900 a year for insurance in DC. But a lot of that was probably for liability. Still, 6k a year for a 2k car seems nutty.
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ash78December 18th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
The thing that irks me is that my rates don't go down over time. I always thought they were supposed to, at least as a reward for long-term safe driving. I've confronted several agents with this question, and I generally get the answer "Most claims are partials, not totals. Parts and repairs on your car don't really come down in price, even though the car itself goes down in value"
The best thing I've found is to get as many discounts as you can: homeowner/multiple policy, no accidents, safe driver, and driving fewer than 7,500 miles a year (I usually rent for long road trips).
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TheChazDecember 18th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
"Meanwhile, they stand by while the government gives driving licenses to people who can't speak English."
Just curious why you think that not speaking English makes one fundamentally more dangerous behind the wheel. If you're going to say that it's about needing to be able to read streetsigns, I'd point out that we also give licenses to the functionally illiterate. Not to mention that we allow drivers licensed in foreign countries to drive here while visiting, and are likewise allowed to drive in other nations. If one can read well enough to pass a driver's license test, I say, drive on.
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HippoDecember 18th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
The fact that they give driver licenses to people based on their ability to walk and chew gum at the same time is bad enough, but allowing people without financial responsability (wether insurance, self insurance or other means to compensate a victim) behind the wheel is beyond criminal.
IMO wether spanish speaking or not, people driving without insurance should be criminally prosecuted and their cars confiscated and crushed.
Other then that one of the biggest problems is rates based on ZIP codes.
The lack of ethics wether by insurance companies , shop owners or drivers seems to be a reflection of todays society in general.
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December 18th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
When I bemoaned the insurance industry's lack of concern for legal driving standards, I was not immigrant bashing per se. My parents and my wife are U.S. immigrants. I've amended the text to indicate the true cause of my ire: drivers who can't read a warning sign or drive.
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WolvenDecember 18th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
I think the "can't speak English" point was, they aren't LEGAL residents of the U.S., nor do they have a VISA or some other visitation permit. But then I could be wrong…
One point that should be made about the Insurance industry is exactly HOW they make their profits (their OBSCENE profits). Since they are required by law to pay out somewhere over 90% of what they recieve in premiums, MOST of their profit is made from the interest they get by "investing" the HUGE pool of money they have at any given time.
Now if you think about that for a bit, a number of things will begin to make sense. Such as: their push for more expensive "safety" features that don't actually do anything to increase safety. Laws that require everyone to insure everyone ELSE rather than a "No Fault" system where each person is free to choose whether they wish to insure themselves or not. Why they don't work harder at eliminating fraud. Why medical costs keep rising while quality keeps dropping. And so forth and so on.
The point is, the more they "have" to pay out, the higher the premiums they can charge, and consequently, the bigger the pool of money they have at any given time, and therefore, the greater their profits will be And THAT, is all the insurance companies and their paid for politicians really care about.
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Jonny LiebermanDecember 18th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
I owned a 2001 WRX Wagon. My insurance was X-amount.
I bought a 2006 WRX Wagon — the same car — and my insurance went up $50 (or so) a month.
"Your car is a turbo."
"My last car was a turbo — I actually bought the same car."
"No sir, the WRX only became a turbo in 2003."
"No, really, it's the same car except it has a little bit more power and better brakes."
"Correct sir, because it is a turbo."
"Let's say you replaced your current car with the same car and your rates went up by 33%, how would you feel?"
"While I agree it does not seem fair sir, I assure you that you didn't buy the same car. Call the dealer."
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RyanDecember 18th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
The insurance business in general is horseshit. If they can get away with charging people more for any factor, they will.
Case in point, I have a less than perfect record (an at-fault accident and a couple of minor tickets), and as such, I pay $5500 per year, for a truck that's probably worth $1500 (the only reason I drive a truck is because everything else is more expensive to insure – go figure). If I woke up tommorow as a woman, my rates would drop to half of that, basically the same rates that I'd pay if I had a perfect record. Now, I understand that I should be required to pay more, that much makes sense. But I refuse to believe that I'm twice the risk of someone who's done everything the same as I have, except developing a y-chromosome.
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PandaBearDecember 18th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
About driving less than 7500miles a year. I have been thinking about rolling back my odo just to get that. See, I am not really planning to sell my car (190k miles already) and have liability only insurance. Almost at a point where insurance is costing more than my car.
The last accident I have I settle out of my own pocket, for $100 (scratched bumper). I would have easily spend $500+ extra for insurance per year for 3 years.
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aarons12December 18th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
actually, there is at least one insurance agent who reads this column, and actually he is a proud Independent Insurance Agent whose family has been in this office since around 1927. So although i unfortunately realize that there is some truth to what is said at the top about some 'brokerage' offices, there are a whole lot of high quality people in the insurance agency business who should not be painted with the same brush.
as for the other comments, many are quite correct, and many are total misconceptions (that a $100 payout would raise ones rates $500 for 3 years, for example) that are just out there because insurance is not easy to understand and most people have no interest.
all they know is that insurance costs a fortune, and that part of the game is getting something for the money you spent, regardless of whether you had a real claim or not. what a system.
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AdamatariDecember 18th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
What's science? I don't seem to remember statistics being a science. A tool of science, yes, but not science itself. I don't call insurance companies methods scientific, statistical maybe but not scientific in any sense. If it's actually true that birth date (that's all astrology is really about in a way) is a better predictor of accident rate than other things they use (just look at the above posts for stupid examples) then it would make more sense to use it as a factor in rates, wouldn't it?
I find it kind of odd that you are willing to take higher rates based on some BS "scientific" explanation regardless of whether ir actually correlates with accident rate.
As for insurance, the issues run deeper than anyone can fathom it seems to me… Certainly rates are not truly in line with actual likelihood of getting in an accident. Fraud adds cost but other factors do as well. It seems to me that all the various forms of insurance have some sort of issue with them, making me think the insurance industry itself is messed up in some way.
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aarons12December 18th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
actually, there are some innovative ways to price insurance being looked at right now that may save a lot of money for certain groups of people (those that truly drive very little, for example). but what you leave out of the analysis is that although there is definitely an 'insurance establishment', the industry is also HUGELY competitive.
insurance companies are constantly looking for new ways they can stratify the market legitimately (i.e. they still have to be able to demonstrate SOME relevance to a variable that can be analyzed and predicted, otherwise regulators would not let them use it)
some more creative ways coming down the pike may include leasing with insurance (really with insurance, not shoved down your throat by a car salesman looking to pick up an illegal insurance kickback) and 'black boxes' people will be able to voluntarily install to lower their rates.
meanwhile, as was pointed out, insurance companies make a very small percentage profit on huge dollars. so they have to be conservative because mis-steps can affect profitability for years.
and all this talk has STILL not touched on the subject of catastrophe losses, such as katrina and the 9-11 losses, which the industry has also been expected to absorb. what's the right dollar amount for an insurance company to put away for such things? losses in the WTC approached $75 billion, but if a hurricane the size of katrina struck the NY metropolitan area, it's estimated that the amount of business and residential property at risk is over $3 TRILLION!
yes the industry has problems, as do all industries, otherwise TTAC would have nothing to write about most of the time. but on the whole, i don't think they are any worse than others, and better than many.
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i6December 18th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
$6000/year insurance for a $2000 CRX. That means they expect the car to be stolen or damaged beyond recovery as much as 3 times a year.
Brooklyn you say? Yep, seems fair.
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bummerDecember 18th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
So although i unfortunately realize that there is some truth to what is said at the top about some 'brokerage' offices, there are a whole lot of high quality people in the insurance agency business who should not be painted with the same brush.
Why not? After talking to 50-100 agents in the last 10 years, they seem to be alike ..
Also, if you worry about the hurricanes, maybe you should not be in the insurance business at all. just 2 cnts
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NoneMoreBlackDecember 18th, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Without the data being available this is almost impossible to accurately debate. However, I can assure you that if you look at the actual statistical significance of those conclusions, it will be marginal if not entirely insignificant.
I cannot stress how easy it is to slap a simple linear model on a big data set and show all kinds of "surprising" coefficients, not a single one of which will be meaningful. It's difficult to exlain how this works without explaining analysis of variance. Basically, the random walk principle means that any random junk data can contribute towards explaining the variance of data, whether or not it is actually useful as an explanation (and in fact, it is extremely unlikely that no matter how unrelated the data are, the correlation will be exactly 0). Analysis of variance is used to seperate junk explanatory vectors from real explanatory vectors.
I had a statistics professor demonstrate a hilariously similar statistical sham. He created a data set of names, ages, and marriage data, and included astrological sign. A linear regression showed (gasp) that astrological sign is more significant than similarity in ages. Except the data for astrological signs were invented and totally random. Oops. This was easily demonstrated with an analysis of variance of the data.
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December 18th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Adamatari: Farago:
What's science? I don't seem to remember statistics being a science. A tool of science, yes, but not science itself.
They are a very powerful tool of science when used correctly. Drugs are fairly effective because statistics are used to analyze clinical trials. I suspect that if Ms. Romanov, the Car Carma lady, used statistics at all, she used them incorrectly. Reminds me of when Carl Jung tried to prove synchronicity. When the statisticians showed it didn't work, he fired them.
If astrology worked, singles would go to astrologically based sites instead of websites like match.com. Astrology, on the other hand, is totally useless for making predictions. Otherwise, people would use it on websites like match.com to find romantic partners, to pick stocks, etc.
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PandaBearDecember 18th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
aarons12, $100 of payout (by the drivers without involving insurance claim) worth of scratched paints will cost $600 in the body shop just to paint the bumper, then factor in the potential impact on driving record, and the insurance company's overhead (they need operators, insurance sales, and claim adjusters right?) the whole can can easily cost them $1200, so adding that to the ROI and you can easily get $1500 over 3 years.
There was once a corp car of a non-profit group rear ended me, the bumper is scarred and a piece of foam inside is compressed. They pay out $1100 cash and I fixed it myself. Cost me $160 for a painted bumper on ebay and self installation.
It is usually more efficient for the whole society to have every one take their own risk (that they can afford) than layer risks to each other with overhead.
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HEATHROIDecember 19th, 2006 at 12:04 am
Ambrose Bierce suggested this about insurance in the late 19th Century.
(scroll to insurance & agents)
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reid_houstonDecember 19th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Your article reminds me of the extended warranties offered by retail stores nowadays everytime you buy electronics. They usually overlap the manufacturer's warranty which is plain silly. And even worst, the warrantys' usually amount to about 10-20 percent of the cost of the object, yet there is probably a one percent chance something will happen during the warranty period that will cause the company to pay. Insurance companys are just as devious as these warranty companys.
While your article shows a vicious cycle. It sounds like you are arguing on the insurance companys' behalf. I have no sympathy for all the fat cats in these companys since they have enough lobbiest in DC looking out for them to make anyone sick.
Even without fraud (if that were ever possible) premiums would still be ridiculous for anyone who isnt a perfect driver or at least the ones who have been caught not being perfect.
ALL Insurance companys' have one motto. Get as much out of the customer as possible and pay out as little as possible.
Car, House, and to some extent health insurance is all the same…
You should write an article about overpaid CEO's and there close friends in the company. That is where all the money goes.
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December 19th, 2006 at 12:26 am
To everyone quoting the guy about the $6000, it was a HALF year, i.e. Six MONTHS. So they expect the car stolen every other month, and have to pay out 2000$ 6 times a year, oh wait, how much was his deductible to be? 0$, 500$, or 1000$?
I was amazed at my insurance since I fully turned 25 (part of the last 6 months I was 24, then the new billing came, $296 for six months insurance ON TWO VEHICLES!!! (not full coverage, liability only) I'm a home owner with a clean record now, multi-vehicle discount, and I'm about to call them and ask for a discount for the under 7,500 miles driven a year, as I live precisely 1.5 miles from where I work. Yay!
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Robert SchwartzDecember 19th, 2006 at 1:24 am
Johnny: Of course your rates went up when you baought a new car. The risk increased by the difference in value between the new car and the old car. The agent may not have done a good job explaining it to you, but that is what happened.
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qfrogDecember 19th, 2006 at 1:47 am
What then explains this?
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December 19th, 2006 at 2:45 am
Ms Romanov gets pretty good media coverage in the GTA and her articles/releases often end up in the Toronto Star and the Globe.
If we take astrology out of the question what if the study had been based on month of birth? Any excuse for a rate increase right? ;-)
RF – You missed the best part of Ms Romanov's site.. the shirts/mugs section..
/"Pissing off the whole planet one person at a time"
//"If the shoe fits, buy the outfit to match" etc..
ouch :-P
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AdamatariDecember 19th, 2006 at 2:55 am
Don't get me wrong, astrology is crap. But is there really a significant difference between something that stupid and someone getting charged thousands different depending on the company, or whether they live a block down? Or for smoking a cigar once a month? That's crap too. Also, your drug metaphor also has a hole – drug companies often use statistics to make it seem that drugs have more positive effect than they actually do:
Perhaps you just trust people in drug and insurance companies more than me…
It seems you actually know what you're doing. Do you think the insurance companies charge rates that make sense most of the time?
I wonder what whether just dumping all the questions and charging a flat rate would come out to something less for most people. Where is the money going?
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allen5hDecember 19th, 2006 at 3:54 am
Insurance is a great mystery to me. I can never understand it. I mean I understand it conceptually, I just do not understand why insurance companies do the things they do.
For example, why would an auto insurance firm spend hundreds of millions in advertising, but will then take extraordinary measures to cheat you out of a lousy $300 to fix your rear bumper when you are rear ended while stopped at a red light? (This actually happened to me. Google keywords " lying claims adjustment process ".)
And what is it with this business about your credit scores? Now the local broker agent and the insurance company have the additional liability of safeguarding non-customer's SS numbers. Are these insurance companies selling these SS numbers to data profilers, and if so, is the risk of all of this data handling exposing people to ever greater identity theft and credit history errors?
Would it be a better system if they could look at people's investment portfolio and determine that the folks with long term buy and hold dividend paying stocks with low 'folio betas are risk adverse and therefore worthy for a lower rate? No wait, that would be too much like Big Brother getting his ugly nose into everybody's business.
So why is the business with the credit scores any better?
And then there are the really big insurance outfits that can not do with anything less than about fifty vice presidents. That is an aweful lot of executive compensation that we all have to pay for.
I just don't get the insurance thing.
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stukiDecember 19th, 2006 at 3:55 am
Comp/collision (ie voluntary) type insurance would be priced 'reasonably' if insurance carriers were allowed to discriminate sufficiently between drivers with different risk profiles ( which they aren't ), and there were enough of them competing (which there seem to be).
'Fixing' liability, would in addition require abandoning the obsession with assigning 'blame' for every little hap and mishap to one party, by a process rigged by ambulance chasers to extract the greatest possible share of the take for themselves. A 'no fault unless criminal conviction' default would do the trick. Why this would be such a difficult sell for a suitably populist politician is beyond me.
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PandaBearDecember 19th, 2006 at 4:16 am
A 'no fault unless criminal conviction' default would do the trick.
That's because people on average believe that they are more likely to be better than the others, that they will not be the at fault party, that this policy is unfair for them.
Althought it is still statistically average for everyone.
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ash78December 19th, 2006 at 9:27 am
I love that it's still okay to place heavy (and statistically sound, but factually unfounded) penalties against certain drivers, say male teenagers, just because of the actions of some of the group. I made it all the way through my teen years in the '90s without a single accident or ticket of any kind. Of course, having a 115hp FWD car keeps the hoonage to a minimum.
But what if the stats supported that black people or Jews just HAPPENED to have higher accident rates or median claim size? Can you even imagine the backlash when their rates went up? I guess I see insurance as the last form of open, institutionally-supported discrimination and it makes me ill.
So my beef is that actuarial calculations may be based on statistics, but the computing power is there now to identify the individuals' behaviors and change their rate structure according to their real-life performance, rather than the performance of hundreds of thousands of others in their same age/gender profile. Can you imagine if you were reviewed at work based on what other people in your supposed peer group were doing? I know I can't wait to reduce my coverage to liability when my car gets a little older. I will never forget how bad the premiums were for me over 9-10 years, and with zero real data to justify it.
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December 19th, 2006 at 9:42 am
lies, damn lies, and statistics.
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Gardiner WestboundDecember 19th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Insurance fraud is an insurance company refusing compensation after collecting premiums for decades. They're champs at the racket.
I paid premiums for 30-years for an all-perils house insurance policy. All perils seems pretty inclusive. I never had a claim until a freak early snow storm hit splitting two trees on our lot. The insurance adjuster immediately produced a 32-page booklet of exclusions from our all-perils policy. Guess what? Trees that break in a freak snow storm are excluded! Funny thing, we had never seen the booklet before nor had our insurance broker gotten around to mentioning it.
This may account for insurance companies owning most of the over 30-story office buildings in the country. It's a completely risk-free business.
The way I see it now, anything I can get out of an insurance company is rightfully mine in the first place. What's the name and address of that Rhode Island collision shop that kicks back part of the repair bill?
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murphysamberDecember 19th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Have you ever met some of the people studying to be actuarials at Bryant? Biggest bunch of drunken goons and whores i've ever had the pleasure of going to school with. If those same people from ten years ago are the one's writing the tables now, that would explain a lot about why I pay so much for insurance. Talk about risk takers…..
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ash78December 19th, 2006 at 11:09 am
If fraud is such an issue, how about letting homeowners and drivers build equity in the policies over time, a la life insurance? When you are accumulating an asset, it should reduce the chance that you would blow it all on a small or frivilous claim. I've always wondered why life insurance seems to be the only type of policy with a cash surrender value…
You want incentives for reduced claims and fraud, give people equity! I'm sure there's a good reason for the status quo, but I've never heard it.
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jdvDecember 19th, 2006 at 11:25 am
"Other then that one of the biggest problems is rates based on ZIP codes."
Why? I live in a little midwestern town where I am much less likely to have an insurance claim than someone in a large urban area. Why should I subsidize your higher losses because you choose to live somewhere else?
And for the conspiracy theorists that think all insurance companies are out to screw them, have you forgot basic capitalism? Wouldn't a "Southwest Airlines" equivalent rise up and become an industry leader based on magically lower rates and dramatically better service?
Insurance companies are for the most part doing the best they can for their customer, and trying to be competitive on price for the costs they will incur. That's not to say their aren't scumbags in the industry, just like there are in any walk of life, but to slight the industry as a whole is just naive.
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Glenn A.December 19th, 2006 at 11:39 am
A pal of mine had insurance on his garage with a certain large insurance company and when he put in a claim for a new roof which he felt was necessary because snow load had weakened his roof and he was afraid it would collapse on tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools, the company declined to put a new roof on and said, essentially, buzz off.
So he insured with a reputable company, put in the same claim with them a few months later and they paid, no questions asked.
Now the question is – why should the one company arbitrarily decide – nope, not gonna pay – and then another set of insureds, essentially, help him pay for his roof because the different company said – yes, valid point, we'll put on a new roof?
Not all insurance is a total racket. You just have to watch what you are doing (yes, what a novel idea – educating ones self and taking responsibility for your actions by using due dilligence with a business relationship with others), and actually read the fine print and if in doubt, ask questions. No REPUTABLE agent is going to lie to you. Their insurance licence is more valuable to reputable agents, than gaining some short-term money (and potentially losing a customer when you find out they lied).
I decided to try to get a better quote on my home and car and called a local agent, who lied to me. In the end, I said I would be staying with my current company, who have treated me well. It was a huge hassle to undo even a quote process because this unreputable agent had sent off as if I'd signed the application and she started the policy. I kept getting dunned for money from the insurance company when in fact, I'd never had a policy. Finally, after a LOT of aggro, I got it sorted out.
Then my current insurance company just reduced my monthly auto insurance from $273 to $210, for which I am grateful but I have no idea why they did it. Perhaps because I turn 50 next year. Who knows.
Another thing to consider. There are two types of insurance companies. Mutual and non-mutual. Just like there are banks, and there are credit unions. In a Mutual insurance company, YOU the policy holder are the "stock-holder" and thus, if you chose a good Mutual company, you actually will get a dividend check in the mail, part of the profits of the company. Just as credit unions are owned by the depositors, instead of by corporate Giantist-Greedius-Amerik-anus.
For car insurance, there is the state-required mandatory liability (in my state, the minimum is very low – $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident). This is to protect others for your actions, not your property. There is also legally required personal injury protection here, which encompasses medical cover (virtually unlimited in Michigan in catastrophic accidents, the only state thus so).
Now, IF everyone in any given state paid about 25 cents extra per gallon on motor fuel, statistically speaking this would provide a basic liability and medical cover for everyone, including those who pretend to buy insurance (say for 1 month) then go get tags from the DMV, and stop paying. So, instead of paying God-only knows how much for the basic insurance, we all would pay every time we fill up, and it would be a lot less noticeable.
Those smart enough to realize that the minimum insurance liability levels do not protect them adequately (nobody wants to lose their home in a lawsuit because they sneezed, twitched the wheel and ran over a Boy Scout) would be free to buy extra liability, obviously on top of the legally required amount, plus anyone with a car loan would be required to buy collision and comprehensive, just as now.
The money collected by the state would go into a fund to pay for the legally required liability for drivers of any licensed and properly tagged vehicles on the road, and medical for anyone injured in or as a result of an auto accident. (Michigan has such a system for over $1 million on medical bills, it is called the Michigan Catastrophic Claim Association). It's not brain surgery, it'd do-able.
In reality, overall insurance rates could and would come down because a) those now not paying a penny (including illegal aliens) would be forced to pay towards insurance sine they can't run their cars on air and b) we'd be paying a set amount towards insurance depending upon the fuel amount used (i.e. larger vehicles which can cause more mayhem in an accident would be charged more because generally speaking, they use more fuel; the more miles on the road, the more the risk – but this is even because the more miles on the road, the more fuel is used).
And no, it wouldn't ever happen except by grass-roots insistance by the general public. Same as a fair taxation system (known as flat tax).
Even God didn't say "the rich people get to give 40% and the poor 1%". He said 10% tithe for all.
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TreyVDecember 19th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Johnny L: The WRX wasn't available as a USDM model until the 2002 model year. Did you mean you bought your 2002 m.y. car in 2001?
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jdvDecember 19th, 2006 at 11:47 am
(My pet peeve is ignorant people bitching about some insurance conspiracy…. forgive my ranting)
And for those that bemoan their high insurance rates, then consider how every time someone gets a huge jury award "to send a message", that cost is then past on to the rest of us. We bitch about higher rates, but we also cheer when those scumbag insurance companies with billions in the bank (for such a contingency) have to pay out to someone with a sorry story. I'm in favor of people being compensated for a loss, but we as a society have to realize that it isn't "them" paying the bill, but the rest of "us".
Everytime someone pads their insurance bill, the rest of our bills just went up.
There is no vast conspiracy to screw you via insurance companies, else one smart operator would come along with a business model of making a reasonable but not excessive profit, and wouldsome ass on the industry.
But then it turns out those costs (huge jury awards and stupid regulatory costs) the industry has been bearing warrants high rates and our honest white knight insurance company never comes along…..
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jdvDecember 19th, 2006 at 11:52 am
I should give a disclaimer that I work for a mutual insurance company (as a computer nerd). There are no stockholders. When the company does well the money either goes into the "reserve" (money set aside for damages), or it goes back to the policy holders via dividends and lowered rates.
Nobody is getting rich here, though the CEO has a nice house and a sweet mercedes.
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December 19th, 2006 at 11:56 am
There is no vast conspiracy to screw you via insurance companies,
So the companies all do it independantly?
I thought I was in one company's good hands. I paid premiums for years and never asked anything from them. Then I had an accident – I was rear ended by a drunk uninsured motorist on a rainy night. I filed a claim. They paid the very minimum they could to get the car fixed and then they dropped me. Yeah… you're in good hands with them as long as their good hands are in your wallet. If you try to get your hands into their wallet they tell you to go away.
Thankfully I found a company that deals with you honestly and knows what customer service is all about.
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jdvDecember 19th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
"Thankfully I found a company that deals with you honestly and knows what customer service is all about. "
That's my point, it's not the industry as a whole. Or an honest one would eventually come in and conquer them all.
My wife seems to think that every auto mechanic in the world is out to rip her off. She thinks it is a conspiracy, or part of their training. And I tell her the same thing I am preaching now in this thread. "There is no vast conspiracy. There are good guys and bad guys just like anything else. Find a good guy, and stick with them."
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Justin BerkowitzDecember 19th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
JDV: I'm not at all trying to be a dick here, but do you know what the insurance underwriting cycle is and how it works? Big jury awards are not the reason auto insurance premiums increase. For empirical evidence of this in the med-mal sector, I suggest UConn Law Professor Thomas Baker's book "The Medical Malpractice Myth." His argument about why jury awards do not have an impact on premiums ports over to the auto insurance world, too.
Glenn A:
I agree with a lot of what you say, and much of it makes good theory, but a few things to mention:
1. A 25 cent tax probably wouldn't cover all the things auto insurance currently covers.
2. That's sort of a regressive way to go about things, and if nothing else it doesn't let people choose how much coverage they want.
3. You lose the benefits of coinsurance that we have now. If I report an accident, my rates go up. That's an incentive for me NOT to get into accidents, because I'll pay for it (maybe more) through insurance premiums. This maximizes the moral hazard inherent in all insurance, because I don't see consequences for my recklessness.
4. If it would be cheaper to just pay out of pocket than report something, we have a self-insurance, a form of deductible where I can choose to pay out of pocket. Again, this is not the case when premiums are flat based on a gas tax, not tied to my driving record.
A few comments about things people have brought up:
—Why not have prepaid deductibles?
You could, but why not just put your deductible in a savings account and you can keep the interest it bears instead of letting the insurance company turn a profit on holding your money?
—Why should my insurance cost more than my car is worth?
Because your insurance is not just first party (paying you) it is also third party (paying the guy whose Benz you just hit)
—It is bs that the policy has a cap. What if I hit an Enzo? They will take my house
Policies have caps so you can afford to have a policy at all. Insurance companies are all about predicting future payouts and costs. The fact that your policy has a limit allows them to calculate their future costs, know what they can invest and earn interest on, and most of all, how much to charge you per month. Policies with higher limits cost more money. If you want no cap on your policy, you will pay so much more per month you might as well just self insure by sticking your money in a high-yield savings account and keeping the 5% a month you'll earn on it.
They base rates on Zip codes? What bs
It's a good thing. It's called community rating. Not only is it a reasonable predictor of chances of accidents, your car getting stolen, etc, but it allows high risk people to get insurance at all. It is a counterbalance to a bad driving record. If all the factors insurance companies used to evaluate me were personalized (i.e. I'm a shit driver), insurance would be too expensive for me to afford and I'd have to go bare or have the legal minimum. Making more insurance available to more people is a good thing.
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Glenn A.December 19th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Hi Justin.
My idea about gas prices going up 25cents per gallon to cover basic liability and (BASIC) minimum medical costs should be a viable solution because part of the program would be to actually educate people that this does NOT replace car insurance, it only covers the legally mandated basics.
Once educated, anyone with brains enough to realize they need to keep more than minimum would go pay for the upgraded insurance at their agents/brokers office or go online and buy it, just as now.
Plus as I mentioned, any time you lease or buy a car with a loan, you would be required to have comprehensive and collision insurance, and usually with a leased car, at least $300,000 liability.
If you own a home, it is wise to have at least $300,000 liability on your car insurance, and obviously, on your home insurance too. This is a level above any legal requriements in any of our states to my knowledge.
My wife is a nurse. We buy profession liability insurance for her despite the fact that her employer is supposed to take care of that. It's called being prudent, in today's world.
I have insurance on my home, and my cars. It's not entirely altruistic (for the needs of others), it is also to protect me and my wife from losing my possessions if I'm sued or my wife is sued, whether the suit is justifiable in God's eyes or not (i.e. the REAL true, truth of the situation), if the jury and judge say I'm in the wrong – I pay. As in, if I don't have adequate insurance, I may as well kiss my home, my retirement, my standard of living "good-bye".
I'd rather pay a few hundred a month for peace of mind. I don't mind paying $70 a month for HDTV cable (only 8 HDTV channels, no less) despite only watching 3-4 hours of TV a week, so why would I quibble about the money used for protecting myself?
BUT that said, once again, use due dilligence when buying. Consider a Mutual insurance policy for home and auto. Look at the mutual company to see if they will do a discount if you write both auto and home with them.
Two companies which are very highly rated year in and year old at Consumer Reports are USAA (for military vets and active duty military) and Amica Mutual. I'm with the latter, despite being a vet, because I want to be with a mutual company. I'm awaiting my automobile dividend check which will arrive any time now, in fact, and in the summer, my home insurance dividend check will arrive.
I work for a collector car insurance company (NOT connected with either USAA nor with Amica Mutual) and our company is much like Amica – good customer service, highly rated claims service, we bend over backwards and do more than required more often then not. But the collector car insurance industry is tiny compared to the regular car insurance industry, and it is more highly focused. I won't plug my employer because I do not think this is the place to do so, however, if Robert wishes this information to be known for the benefit of any collector car insurers out there, I will divulge the information here.
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Glenn A.December 19th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Let me put it another way.
Currently, you might spend $100 a week on car insurance, ok? You might have a nice ride with a lein on it and want to cover it properly.
If my "idea" of gas price increases to cover the basic legally reqired insurance were to come to play, you might pay 25 cents extra a gallon for that, but then the more-than-minimum coverage might cost $90 a week.
I drove 20,000 miles a year, more than average. One of our cars gets a fairly average 25 mpg. That's 15.4 gallons a week, and at an extra 25 cents a gallon, that would mean an extra $3.85 per week.
Add $90 and $3.85 per week and I have $93.85 a week instead of $100 a week, for this example. The savings comes by the fact that the uninsured motorists which used to get away with not paying a frickin' penny (and for whom most of us paid uninsured motorists on our OWN policy, to cover) now have to pay something every time they fill up.
Make sense? By all means, put in your idea if you think mine is "bad".
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December 19th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Don't get me wrong, astrology is crap. But is there really a significant difference between something that stupid and someone getting charged thousands different depending on the company, or whether they live a block down? Or for smoking a cigar once a month? That's crap too. Also, your drug metaphor also has a hole – drug companies often use statistics to make it seem that drugs have more positive effect than they actually do:
Point well taken about the ins cos. As for drugs, I was just saying that without the statistics most of the drugs would be ineffective.
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jdvDecember 19th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Yes I know what the insurance underwriting cycle is. I don't doubt there have been some scumbags in insurance, but it is incredibly naive and cynical to think the whole industry is a big scam.
As I said, I work for a mutual company, over a billion in annual premium. Our goal is to cover costs. Our customers and our employees are our stakeholders. We have no stockholders demanding big profits. Our biggest insureds are the ones that come to the annual meeting and elect the board. We are driven by our customers – literally.
So any money made beyond actuarial expectations goes back to the insureds as a dividend or rate decrease.
But a funny thing, our rates are about the same as the stock companies. Either they are more efficient than we are, or they are priced somewhat fairly as well. I'm sure there are some scumbags, but you'd think that IF the industry as a whole was gouging, then their rates would be much higher than ours. But that's not the reality.
It's just fun to hate on the big evil billion dollar corporations, because they must be evil. It's ok, it's just human nature. ;-)
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Justin BerkowitzDecember 19th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
JDV – I definitely agree with you, and i didn't mean to suggest that I think the entire insurance industry is a scam to rip people off. In fact, I think insurance is an extremely important social utility. I just happen to be against the notion that jury award make this huge impact on insurance premiums, because in most fields (and depending on the insurance company itself), they don't.
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PandaBearDecember 19th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
I think financially and administratively, the insurance industry as a whole is doing very efficient. But the overhead came not from themselves but the extra work between the policy holders, the mechanics, the lawyers, the doctors, the claim adjusters, the sales, etc…. You just have to pay x dollars per hour for all the overhead these people spend time on.
Ask any mechanics or body shop how much it cost to repaint a bumper, the first thing they will ask is do you pay out of pocket or do you do it by insurance. Now take a look and see if you are an above average driver (I am as I only have 0 claim filed since I start driving, one minor accident that I pay out of pocket), and now take a look at how much you can save by having liability only insurance.
I'd think it is more efficient to pay someone $300 for a scratched paint or $500 for a fender bender than having the insurance foot a $1000 bill, then having to raise my rate to gain $1200 back over 3 years.
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December 19th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
Was that Zappa reference in the podcast intentional?
If it was, you'll know what I mean. If not, it was a one in 12 coincidence.
Or maybe it was in the stars!
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SherbornSeanDecember 19th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
As usual, Glenn A is the voice of reason.
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December 19th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
We've taken to hiding song references in our work. Keeps us amused.
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December 19th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
I also appreciate your gentle but firm skepticism of astrology. I've never heard it (accurately) dismissed as "horseshit" in such a cordial manner.
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aarons12December 19th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
"pay at the pump" insurance has been talked about for years as one way of having everybody contribute to the cost of basic liability insurance, with the excess coverage being sold by various channels as it is now and as was pointed out. like many good ideas, it is meeting lots of obstacles, and there are also competing ideas out there.
There is an insurance entrepreneur here on Long Island who has begun experimenting with leases that include insurance. according to him, the efficiencies that would be introduced, coupled with payment up front of the insurance premium for the entire period of the lease (increasing investment income opportunities) will allow the cost to be greatly reduced. (comments on that are welcome, it's not MY idea)
But right now the bottom line in many states is that car insurance rates are dropping because of competition (see one of the comments above about someone who stuck with their carrier and got a nice rate reduction – I represent 15 companies and every one of them has reduced rates in the past two years, some by more than 25%) the state of mass just announced an 11.7% reduction.
So as far as the politicians are concerned, the system is working pretty well and they are not getting that many complaints. so they are simply working on more pressing issues in the insurance area, such as health care for more people, workers comp problems, and coastal crises in some areas such the NY Metropolitan area.
one major national issue that car insurance pretty well avoids is the catastrophe problem. even down in areas hit by Katrina, by the time you knock out all the people who only carry liability insurance, and that many had fled in their cars so they weren't damaged, and the fact that cars simply don't cost as much as houses (most of them, anyway), the losses were just not that high.
on the other hand, the World Trade Center caused more insured damage than several major hurricanes combined up until katrina. it's now being estimated that the insurance industry needs to prepare for a $100 Billion claim every few years, with those costs going up as time goes by, costs go up, and concentrations of people increase.
the car insurance industry is coming to be dominated by big players competing heavily against each other, keeping prices down in a great example of the best of capitalism. yes there are bad people everywhere, but we have to work on those issues, not look for conspiracies that don't exist.
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aarons12December 19th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
and by the way, i think the level of intelligence and knowledge at this site in the comments is amazing!
yay us!
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December 20th, 2006 at 12:25 am
Another option would be to have all licensed drivers pay for liability as part of their licensing fee. That way not only car owners cover the cost. Collision and other coverage would be a separate policy held by the vehicle owner.
Oh wait, I just described the auto insurance model in Quebec.
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December 20th, 2006 at 3:13 am
I'm an offended Libra! ;)
28 years of driving and not ONE SINGLE accident where I was at fault.
And in that time period only two accidents:
I had a lady run a light and hit me. I had a teenage girl rear-end me in traffic. In both instances I could see the accident coming and could not escape due to traffic circumstances… in otherwords, I had to take the hit to avoid a worse accident (like a head-on.)
So what about being a Libra makes me somehow more dangerous? Perhaps it is because inattentive women are attracted to me and my cars? ;)
Oh, and Johnny, I have a turbo on my car at no extra insurance cost. Of course that turbo makes a 45 HP motor into a 90HP one… cause I'm driving a Diesel. ;)
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tlcastleDecember 20th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Insurance is crazy, and you people are getting ripped off. I drive an IS300 and a 2006 Impreza, I've caused 2 accidents (albeit 10 years ago) and recently had 3 speeding tickets, two of them 20+ mph over the limit.
For full coverage insurance, plus insurance on my whole house (which is 75 years old with original wiring), I pay $98 a month.
I'm very happy with this arrangement, but it defies reason to say it's fair. The only thing I can think of is that my credit rating is very high. If I had to pay $500 a month to insure a truck I'd kill myself.
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satireDecember 25th, 2006 at 4:10 am
Insurance is not a god given right. They provide a service and try to make a little profit. Unlike, say, the oil companies who provide a product and make a BIG profit. Why aren't we bitching more about them?
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tlcastleDecember 26th, 2006 at 5:08 am
Who said it was a right? I don't think that was the point of this discussion. The question was whether it makes any sense.
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Stephan WilkinsonDecember 28th, 2006 at 12:23 am
People who buy car insurance from a company that avidly advertises with lizards and cavemen–hey, it's cute, and cheap–get what they deserve. I have Travelers, have for 35 years on cars, house and airplanes, and they've never let me down.
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RyanDecember 28th, 2006 at 3:42 am
satire, at least big oil screws everyone over equally. Insurance is selective about who they screw over, and how hard they do it.
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by: Carling Jackson, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
When will the road to EQUALITY be the road most traveled?
quote by: Irene Nicola, Sarasota, Florida
The man on the left is composed of six different shades of skin from Brazilian to African American to African. Inspired by my own experiences of living in Southern Louisiana and studying black history at a historically black college. I created a piece that not only speaks to the history of these interlinked cultures, but also symbolizes the existence of a separate but equal racial ideology of different shades of skin that exist in many different cultures. On paper we are all equal, but people don't realize that they are contributing to a separate but equal mentality based on differences in skin. The boy on the right was at Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I wanted to create something that reminded people to dream again. My goal is to make you feel what words can't describe by bringing to life emotion, passion, love, pain, and beauty through art. I want to use my art as an instrument for change giving a voice to those who can only whisper. It is intended to invoke a deep feeling bent on change: whether it be changing oneself, changing the world, or helping people in general. It is art for the sake and betterment of HUMANITY.


text: Watercolour painting without fear. Well, that was the theory! The other week I spent quite a while painting a view that I've tried a few times before, but have yet to feel that I've cracked it. Sadly, this remains to be the case. I reached a point where theoretically, it was about 90% complete, but… Read More


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Eva Lee Yager, 96, of Centralia, passed away Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018 at Monroe Manor in Paris.
Services honoring Eva Lee's life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 18, at Maple Grove United Methodist Church in Rowena with visitation one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow the service at East Lawn Memorial Park in Mexico, MO.
Eva Lee was born on Jan. 16, 1922 in Rowena, a daughter of Arthur Preston Yager, Sr. and Ethel Lee Campbell Yager.
She was employed as a Licensed Practical Nurse at Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, MO and as a nurse at Dr. Ward's and Dr. Bradley's practices in Centralia for many years.
She enjoyed making crocheted Christmas decorations to give to patients at the doctor's office, especially children. She assisted her family by caring for her parents for many years at their home while also working as a nurse.
Eva Lee was a life-long member of Maple Grove United Methodist Church in Rowena where she was a member of the United Methodist Women. She especially enjoyed getting ready for Maple Grove's Lord Acre sale each fall by helping quilt, serving the meal and supporting the auction. The homemade peanut brittle she made for the auction for decades always brought a premium price. Although Eva Lee, Pearl and James, and Leona had no children of their own, their home was where multiple generations of the Yager family, church family and neighbor kids always had adopted parents and grandparents to care for them. She was also a member of the Goodwater Extension Club and enjoyed working outdoors in the yard and garden.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Arthur Preston and Ethel Campbell Yager; four brothers, Stanley (Marie) Yager, Edwin (Anna Mae) Yager, Elmer Graham (Nina Mae) Yager and A.P. (Edna) Yager; and by two sisters, Wilda (Russell) Beamer and Pearle (James) Armstrong; a special family friend, Leona Foreman; and by three nephews, Arthur Lee Yager, Earl Beamer and Carl Beamer.
Survivors include, a niece and nephews, Jack Beamer, S. Vernon Yager, Roy Preston Yager, J. R. Yager, Edna Nichols, Bill Yager, Donald Yager, Kenneth Yager and Carl Wayne Yager; their respective families and Arthur Lee Yager and Earl Beamer's families.
Memorial contributions suggested to Maple Grove United Methodist Church or Maple Grove Cemetery.
Condolences may be shared at www.bachyager.com.
Arrangements entrusted to Bach-Yager Funeral Chapel, Columbia, Missouri.


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COOPERSTOWN, NY — On the HBO series Game of Thrones, things are often not what they seem. There may be no better example than the three-eyed raven – which in Bran Stark's dreams and visions is a bird. But as Bran discovers in the season four finale, the raven is actually a mysterious old man whose body is fused with the roots of a weirwood tree beyond the wall. Just like the mythical creature, the next beer in the Game of Thrones series from Brewery Ommegang is not exactly what it appears to be. Three-Eyed Raven Dark Saison Ale is a saison, but it's also a dark ale. And it will be available spring 2015 when the hit show returns for its fifth season.
Three-Eyed Raven is the fifth beer in the partnership between HBO and Brewery Ommegang. Like its predecessors, the beer is inspired by themes and plot points from the award-winning HBO series. As season four wound down, the storyline of Bran and the three-eyed raven reached a shocking climax that portends dark and momentous events in store for the people of Westeros. A dark take on the classic saison style seemed most appropriate for the latest beer.
"A dark saison is a style that we've been intrigued with for a while now and one that's open to a broader stylistic interpretation," said Mike McManus, Brewery Ommegang's Innovation Manager. "When we zeroed in on Bran's storyline with HBO, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to brew something with many different characteristics and attributes – a beer that's not truly one thing or another. It is definitely the most unique beer in the series to date, which is very exciting."
"Going into season five, Game of Thrones is bigger than ever, and we've learned very quickly over the past four beer releases that fans of this show are thirsty for Ommegang's innovative and carefully conceived brews," said Josh Goodstadt, Vice President of Global Licensing at HBO. "We're certain those fans will be just as surprised by the complexity of Three-Eyed Raven as they were by Bran's discovery at the end of season four."
Three-Eyed Raven is brewed with a carefully crafted mixture of specialty malts, including malted rye, midnight wheat (provides depth of color but not the roasty flavor of a dark beer), and dark candi sugar. It's hopped with Hallertau Spalt Select, Tettnang, and Bravo hops, which give the beer a spicy, fruity character. A fair amount of late-addition hops are added for character. Three-Eyed Raven is fermented and bottle-conditioned with Ommegang's signature house yeast.
Saison qualities dominate Three-Eyed Raven with fruity esters, clean floral hops aromas, a light malt character with just a hint of roast and a pleasant yeastiness in the taste, and a crisp finish with lingering herbal hops and dry rye notes. The label art, which features the three-eyed raven, was created using an actual concept design illustration from the series.
Previous beers in the highly successful collaboration include: Valar Morghulis Dubbel Ale (available now), Fire and Blood Red Ale (spring 2014), Take the Black Stout (fall 2013), and Iron Throne Blonde Ale (spring 2013.) The first three beers in the series completely sold out and Valar Morghulis is well on its way, despite being brewed at nearly 4x the volume of Iron Throne.
Three-Eyed Raven will be available nationally this spring (exact launch date still TBC) in time for the season five premiere of Game of Thrones. The 7.2% ABV ale will be available on draft (sixth-barrels) and in corked bottles (25.4 ounces). The recommended retail price is $9.50 per bottle.
About Brewery Ommegang
Brewery Ommegang, part of the legendary Belgian brewery Duvel Moortgat, opened in 1997 to craft-brew fine Belgian-style ales. Ommegang brews seven ales year-round, as well as an extensive and imaginative range of seasonal and specialty ales. The beers have won a national following by connoisseurs of fine beer and are distributed in 43 states and internationally. Ommegang is located on a 136-acre farmstead in Cooperstown, New York, USA and offers free daily tours and inexpensive tastings as well as a 100-seat café, a well-stocked brewery store, and an annual calendar of public events. Ommegang is open every day of the year except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com, call 1-800-544-1809, or visitwww.ommegang.com. Follow Ommegang on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ommegang, Twitter: @BreweryOmmegang, and Instagram: @BreweryOmmegang
About HBO Global Licensing
HBO Global Licensing officially licenses the HBO® brand for the development and merchandising of innovative product lines inspired by the network's award-winning programming. With products created around hit series like Game of Thrones® and True Blood® as well as classic series like The Sopranos®, Sex and the City®, and Entourage, items include fashion apparel, figures, jewelry, digital and CD soundtracks, prop and costume replicas, games, books, and beverages, as well as exclusive, premium collections in partnership with upscale, designer brands. Merchandise can be purchased in retail stores nationwide, at http://store.hbo.com, and at the groundbreaking HBO retail hub, the HBO Shop®, located at 42nd and 6th Avenue in New York City. HBO Global Licensing products are also sold internationally across Europe (www.hboshopeu.com), Asia and Australia.


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Shearling's a big thing this season and I've already dreamed about the perfect outerwear since the beginning of the colder season last year (more here), but everything I liked was way out of my budget. Talking Acne Studios, you know the deal. Now when I spotted this fluffy exemplar at Bram in Luxembourg, with a respectable price tag, it was love at first sight for sure . Being one of the few stores in town that I consider worth stopping by, because of their overload of well-selected brands and the quality service, it sometimes gets overwhelming to make a choice while browsing through this season's trends. But not this time, since I was immediately drawn towards this suede,faux shearling coat.
Best thing is that it doesn't just look super cozy, it's also surprisingly soft,warm and looks great in combination with winter whites. I'm seriously trying to avoid wearing too much black as winter-days are already dark enough, so white skinny jeans, a fluffy turtleneck and military boots in a soft khaki shade.
Shop the look
Coat-Vila,Jumper-Zara, Jeans-Topshop
Boots-Zara,Bag-Celine,preloved here
This post contains gifted products,but all opinions are my own