Author: SupremeCmdr

Define “Celebratory” Please

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“Celebratory” of course refers to the practice of some insurance company underwriting departments to allow non-tobacco rates for applicants with occasional use of cigars and pipes.

Cigars, Pipes No ‘Healthy’ Alternative to Cigarettes – BusinessWeek

The study results show clearly that cigar and pipe smokers are exposed to toxins and run the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive destruction of airways than can be crippling. Emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis are the two major forms of COPD, which is a leading cause of death among U.S. adults.

Soft Drinks and Pancreatic Cancer – a Weak Link

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Medical News: Soft Drinks Linked to Pancreatic Cancer Risk – in Hematology/Oncology, Other Cancers from MedPage Today

Pereira and colleagues followed 60,524 men and women who enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study between April 1993 and December 1998 and were followed for 14 years.

At enrollment, the participants completed a 146-question food frequency questionnaire, which contained three items related to soft drinks and juice. The questions asked the participants how much, if any, they drank of soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and 7-Up, orange juice, and other fruit and vegetable juices.

The dietary data was later cross-referenced with records from the Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths, to determine which of the participants had died of pancreatic cancer and whether it might be related to their soft drink or juice consumption.

Overall, researchers found that 140 participants had contracted pancreatic cancer.

The results were largely consistent with three of four previous U.S. studies on the links between pancreatic cancer and soft drinks. Three of the U.S. studies found an association between soft drinks and cancer.

Watch That Paxil in Breast Cancer Applicants

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Medical News: SSRI and Tamoxifen Increase Mortality Risk – in Hematology/Oncology, Breast Cancer from MedPage Today

Overlapping use of tamoxifen and the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil) significantly increases the risk of breast cancer mortality, data from a large cohort of breast cancer patients showed.

The excess breast-cancer mortality risk ranged as high as 91%, depending on the duration of simultaneous use, researchers reported online in BMJ.

Oops.

Calcium Scoring May Miss CAD

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Medical News: Calcium Scoring Misses 20% of CAD Cases – in Cardiovascular, Acute Coronary Syndrome from MedPage Today

Contrary to guidelines, the absence of coronary artery calcium doesn’t rule out coronary artery disease in symptomatic patients, researchers found in a new study.

In a multicenter clinical trial, 19% of patients with a coronary calcium score of 0 had stenosis of at least 50% in one or more coronary artery segments, according to Carlos E. Rochitte, MD, of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues.

Likewise, 20% of vessels seen to be totally occluded on revascularization had no calcium on scans, they reported in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“The absence of coronary calcification should not be used as a gatekeeper and should not prevent a symptomatic patient from undergoing angiography,” the researchers wrote.

Oops.

Permanent Elimination of Jobs

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How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America – The Atlantic (March 2010)

The construction and finance industries, bloated by a decade-long housing bubble, are unlikely to regain their former share of the economy, and as a result many out-of-work finance professionals and construction workers won’t be able to simply pick up where they left off when growth returns—they’ll need to retrain and find new careers. (For different reasons, the same might be said of many media professionals and auto workers.) And even within industries that are likely to bounce back smartly, temporary layoffs have generally given way to the permanent elimination of jobs, the result of workplace restructuring. Manufacturing jobs have of course been moving overseas for decades, and still are; but recently, the outsourcing of much white-collar work has become possible. Companies that have cut domestic payrolls to the bone in this recession may choose to rebuild them in Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Bangalore, accelerating off-shoring decisions that otherwise might have occurred over many years.

The Contingent Workforce – a $425 Billion Market

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You’re Hired. At Least for Now. – Kiplinger.com

The job is not a timeless fact of human existence.  It is a social artifact.

William Bridges wrote these words over 15 years ago.  We need to fully understand this concept and decide what kind of future we want for ourselves.  Do you want to be in or out?  Nearly four years ago I started my business on a part-time basis.  One year ago, I became  100% self-employed. If you are an underwriter, the time to be an independent for hire has never been better.

If you’re in underwriting management your options for creating the right hybrid model to fit your needs has never been better.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

I have a mortgage, two kids in college, and a small fleet of cars to support.  Hire me please.