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This is a big storm, folks! But lucky for North Carolina, Major Hurricane Earl will not, or barely, make landfall. That means slight chance of big storm surge, and not the worst of the winds. And because of cooler waters up north and strong crosswinds, Earl will weaken before getting close to--or again, barely making landfall at--Cape Cod. Then again, a slight wobble to the left, and Long Island and Rhode Island could get smacked. Still stay tuned!

The saga of Sandy Blunt, former North Dakota workers' compensation director, continues. Blunt was convicted of a felony in December 2008 for misspending public funds. Now his attorney is arguing for a retrial or to get the charge dismissed because prosecutors purportedly withheld evidence. Our comp columnist Peter Rousmaniere argued in a past column that the attacks on Blunt were politically motivated.

For the first time ever, the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated and released data on the employment status of disabled people. For starters, it appears governments are the biggest employers of disabled people. But overall, only 19.2 percent of disabled Americans have jobs.

In Delaware, a derivative lawsuit was settled involving AIG and its former chief, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. The lawsuit stems from investor claims that Greenberg and other officials used accounting tricks and fraudulent schemes to disguise problems at the company. Part of settlement is that D&O insurers for AIG will pay $90 million to the company and set aside $60 million to cover the legal fees for Greenberg and other executives.

This editorial blasts the current flood insurance system. (Check out the link to USA Today's cover story on the number of repeat flood claims across the country to see why.) But the author's solution--a return to private insurers writing flood insurance--doesn't ring true. Didn't we end up with a government-backed flood insurance system because private insurers couldn't write the business without charging unaffordable rates?

Detailed financial information for six MLB baseball teams has been leaked to the media. MLB is investigating the link, and supposedly officials are checking out several insurers that provide coverage to team execs and directors. The names of these insurers has not been disclosed yet.

The U.K. Financial Services Authority hit Zurich UK with a record 2,275,000 pound fine, the most any one firm has gotten for data security failings--and that's 30 percent less than Zurich could have gotten had the insurer not settled early. The fine stems from an incident in Aug. 2008, when a South African subsidiary lost an unencrypted back-up tape. Affected clients were not told about the breach for a year.

Here's a valuable five-step list of how to take the psychology of risk perception into consideration when making risk-based decisions. Basic, maybe. Really designed to sell the author's book? Sure. But perhaps it can shed a little light on how human nature affects how risk management is done in your company.

Announced yesterday, the 4,340 workplace fatalities recorded in 2009 represent the smallest total since the federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics first began tracking the data in 1992. The total represents a 17 percent drop from 2008. The reason: fewer people working fewer hours.

Yesterday, the Sixth District Court of Appeal in California affirmed the decision of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board in the Guzman case. Employers fear such a decision will increase comp costs in the state, and the decision supposedly has already been factored into the recent rate increase filing of nearly 30 percent. Here is a copy for the Appeals Court's ruling.

Looking for a solid insurance company stock to add to your portfolio? Or just interested which insurance company has financial gurus' attention. Check out Travelers, which according to this blog post should continue to improve underwriting results and to capitalize on the flight-to-quality in property/casualty insurance market.

Medical inflation is driving up claims severity for workers' comp insurance and of course for employee benefits. But it's also what's driving costs for dog-bite claims. The cost of dog-bite claims is up 30 percent since 2003, to more than $400 million in 2009.

An inspirational story about a golfer and insurance brokerage employee from Albany, N.Y. He fell off a ladder 15 years ago, yet still now is one of the most popular golfers at his club.

It appears that senior finance executives at U.S. corporations view risk much in the same way as their insurance underwriters: through the rear-view mirror. A recent survey of corporate "top risks" suggests that companies focus their risk management attentions upon risks that were recently in the news headlines, such as supply chain disruption (volcano, anyone?) and financial exposure (heads up, 2008).

This year's rankings are out from U.S. News & World Report on which are the best colleges in the country. Here's the link to the top 10 undergraduate programs for insurance/risk management.