ng cities?

September 28, 2005

,

There is a lot of that here in the US too. People are just so lawsuit happy many will sue for anything. At my mother's school they require permission forms before a child goes on a field trip. That makes sense though because it shows the parents know the child will be going. Of course, many of the parents also like to go and are allowed to buy tickets too.

What surprises me is that historic sites, theme and amusement parks, and even parks are still open. Right now I am working on getting my ancestral place set up as an historic park. You would be surprised how involved that is. I've had to "repair" some foundations that were a little spongy but not dangerous, add railings and such to keep people out of certain places, and so on. We've had to walk all around the buildings looking for uneven spots in the ground that people might trip over, same with roots sticking up. Perhaps most of all, I have had to set up a limited liability company (LLC) to protect myself and my assets in case of a lawsuit. Now if one happens, the LLC will get sued and not me personally. With all the places I mentioned above, and the greater resources they have, its a wonder they haven't been sued to death.

I put the blame on there being too many trial lawyers and corrupted politicians that won't clamp down on they. In the 1990's, Bill Clinton wanted to close medical schools to tighten the supply of doctors. What he should have done was close law schools to tighten the supply of lawyers. Fewer lawyers would mean they'd charge more for their services and lessen access to them (same would have happened with doctors BTW). Instead, many states are very favorable to trial lawyers, so favorable in fact the doctors and businesses are fleeing those states because it is too expensive to stay because of insurance and that they are just a lawsuit or two away from going out of business anyway.

This is something that has caused so much trouble in Louisiana and Mississippi. Both of those states are very favorable to the tort bar. For example: in Mississippi, an obstetrician has to pay $100,000 per year in malpractice insurance for up to 125 deliveries. If they deliver more than 125 in a year, the rate rises rapidly. That figure is actually about 5 years old so I can only imagine it is much higher now. Many of those doctors have gone out of state because they can't afford the premiums. And people wonder why health care costs have gone up so much.

But back to the zero-risk idea. We do indeed seem to be there and it is little wonder. WE make cars safer and safer. However, studies show that the safer cars are, the wilder people drive them banking on that extra safety to save them. Thus we have demands for safer cars. Some automakers are even designing cars to be safer for pedestrians that are hit. Given what I just said, I think that is a terrible mistake.

In schools, most games have been banned not only because the physical ones might cause injury, but because any game might cause self-esteem injury to those who don't win. Many schools have stopped honoring top students because it might make the others feel bad. I think the reason so many schools have stopped having physical education and recess isn't because they have "so much" to teach in a day but for fear of lawsuits.

So, what we have is a combination of amoral vampirous lawyers working with corrupt lawyers to make life miserable for the rest of us.

September 28, 2005

I can't believe that they have decided to rebrand where I live and

the amount of money spent on it too, check out

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/New%20Leeds%20brand%20is%20revealed/page.aspx?

style=

I think at the moment most people associate Leeds with bombers -

'come to Leeds - home of the bombers' :-(

'Leeds live it, love it' just doesn't cut it for me - I live in Leeds

and don't particularly love it!

On a tenous(sp?)link I watched a programme last night exploring the

idea that the UK is becoming a nanny state (I have noticed) and that

we're also creating a culture of risk avoidance - with schools not

daring to take kids on school trips for fear of being sued etc.

My son has told me many times that they will not let him climb trees

at school - where is the harm - really? Surely climbing trees is part

of childhood and if they allow him he can burn off excess energy and

they can keep a close eye on him to make sure he is okay - I don't

stop him trying to climb trees - infact I encourage him.

September 28, 2005

I think if visitors to Leeds like the city, word will travel and

more people will visit.

If the city needs a slogan and a campaign to promote itself, it

means people aren't spreading the word, for whatever reason, and not

as many people are visiting as it wsas originally hoped.

I also get indignant when a few people get together for a while and

make a decision that affects a whole town.

Where I live, they bulldozed an auto dealership, a buch of nearby

buildings, and ripped out the water resovoir in the downtown area.

They city has hired a developer to fill up the newly vacant space

with condos, row houses, and shops.

Most residents don't like this idea and two have sued to stop it

from going through. But the city barely gave time for residents to

respond and state their minds, and so now we are going to destroy a

small town atmosphere, and a bonafide town square, with housing

developments and a shopping district that no one will go near or

patronize.

Tom

I can't believe that they have decided to rebrand where I live and

the amount of money spent on it too, check out

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/New%20Leeds%20brand%20is%

20revealed/page.aspx?