Declarations – West

Risky

“You have to get every risk in the pool – the healthy risks and the less healthy risks – to keep insurance affordable. Without the individual mandate that will be very difficult to do.”

—Susan Pantely, principal and consulting actuary with Milliman, Inc., and member of the Society of Actuaries, commenting before a pending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold or overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

NRC Speak

“The phenomenon that we think causes this tube-to-tube interaction is definitely proportional to the power. At least in some theoretical sense, that might be part of the answer.”

—Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regional Administrator Elmo Collins talking about design flaws that appear to be the cause of excessive wear in tubing that carries radioactive water through California’s troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Tragically Historic

“We’re really just at the start of our severe fire season. Given our fire danger I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a tragically historic season.”

—Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, commenting on two wildfires in Colorado and New Mexico in June – one considered the largest, and the other the most damaging. in each state’s history.

Haboobs

“Haboobs blow through town / In one instant it is dark / Pull over and wait.”

—Phoenix resident Mindy Lee’s haiku submission in response to the Arizona Department of Transportation’s call for Twitter users to tweet haikus around the theme safe driving in haboobs – severe dust storms that hit Phoenix in the summer.