Asbestos plaintiffs are greedy bums

Some of the cases I work on concern claims that asbestos caused a disease.

However, given that most truly ill asbestos plaintiffs are old and have died or brought their suits long ago, the typical asbestos plaintiff in 2008 has no disease other than shadows on an x-ray that only crooked doctors can see. Most of these older white men are greedy who think they are entitled to even more of our country's largesse.

These guys typically had high-paying union jobs, were able to pay nice houses, send their children to school, always had health coverage and retired with good pensions (hell, many sue while they are still working) and now want more.

Most of the retirees have moved to conservative rural counties and I have no doubt they are Reagan Republicans. Big government was good while it rewarded them.

These old guys are lucky and should shut up and go quietely into their retirement.

The work they did in the 50s and 60s is now being done for less money by immigrants who can't afford to rent an apartment in the Bay Area. The new guys have it hard--the old guys mostly had it pretty good.

College is Coming! College is Coming!

Middle-class kids used to be able to attend college without too much anxiety about financing their educations. No more.

When I went to Cal in the early 1980s, fees were less than $1,000 a year and the cost of living for me was less than $15,000 a year. Today, the fees are more than $6,000 and the increase in the cost of living in the Bay Area (and elsewhere) is obvious to all.

Law school fees were less than $3,000. Today, UC law schools charge in excess of $20,000.

The saddest part of the increase in costs is that poor Americans are being priced out of a good education. The ability of Americans to overcome poverty is being dimished in so many ways, but the increasing costs of higher education is particularly horrendous. If you have an affluent family, like mine has become, your children will be able to go to a good college without the stress of making ends meet.

If you are poor, or even middle class, your kids will settle for less. Their opportunities will be less. The American Dream becomes a little harder to achieve for a large swath of our society.