The Fine Print & vote now! (really)

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

You have the chance to vote, NOW! for the most idiotic warning label on a consumer product. I am not kidding.

Must. Touch. Sign. Edge...

http://www.legalreforminthenews.com/wwl_11/wwl_11_2011_finalists.html

Go vote. I did. I chose the face mask warning.

Now as ludicrous as these warning labels are in this most litigious society on the planet the warnings are necessary. (and people wonder why I hate lawyers).

That said, I like the warnings. Even if the warnings were not necessary to estoppel lawsuits, I'd still like 'em. I'd also support the right of such private companies to post those kinds of warnings on their products and their packaging if they so choose.

Yassee, it is a private decision, by a private company taking an action without being ordered to by government authorities.

Which now brings me to today's point.

What's in your wallet?

In my state (of confusion mostly) Georgia, we have laws stating health insurance companies must cover certain procedures. Requirement of the law.

I object to this.

We also have a new law which allows Georgia residents to buy health insurance from companies based in other states with licenses to sell insurance in other states but not Georgia. These other companies do not have to follow Georgia law.

I like all of that.

There are people in Georgia who are objecting to this.

Why?

Believe I'd rather go to New York City.

One of the chief objectors said "People are not accustomed to reading the fine print."

And this is government's fault how? It is government's responsibility to make sure people understand fine print how?

It's the nanny state.

People are not interested in taking care of themselves and prefer to put themselves in the hands of government, let government make the decisions, direct their lives and pretty much run everything.

I object.

Government provides a FREE education to everyone. In Georgia this goes further. If you have good grades, our state lottery will pay for the bulk of a college education up to an including a bachelor's degree. After that yer pretty much on yer own, but still this is an awesome deal. It's even good at technical schools.

That some people choose to ignore this free education is, despite the nanny state's protestations otherwise, not my responsibility.

If you can't read (and YOU can, else you'd not be reading this) then I will go to great lengths to help you. I go so far to say that if you can't read, someone else needs to have a limited power of attorney over you and the ability to make some critical decisions for you. Where the limits are, I'm still deciding.

Now if you won't read, tough. That's your problem, not mine. Don't come whining to me (or government) when your stupidity lands you in deep kim chee. You get through it on your power cause I'm not gonna help you.

Now some of you are not going to see a difference in the above two statements. That's cause you are not paying attention.

A person who can't read is unable to do so owing to some kind of condition or lack. Stating the obvious, you can't read if you have nothing to read. IOW, if you want to read a book, you need a book. Duh.

Sometimes a condition prevents a person from reading. My great buddy Doc (DOC I MISS YOU!) cannot read these words. Doc is also quite literate, has a doctorate and routinely reads text to make audio books.

"Huhn? Baker you just lost me," you say.

Doc is blind. He cannot read these words. He has a computer program to read them for him. He can read Braille. Until he lost his vision to Macular Degeneration, he was a voracious reader of the printed word.

"Well why didn't you say that to start with?"

Can't or won't?

Because I'm making a point. Which I continue - my son cannot read. Much, anyway. He has good vision, albeit he does wear glasses. But he has Down Syndrome and the resulting mental retardation which limits his cognitive ability. He loves to take books and pretend to read. Give him a book with plenty of pictures and he will tell you a story, in great detail, about the pictures and the book.

Following me yet?

I have worked with people in who will not read. Their mental capacity might not be genius caliber, but they function well enough in society to get various licenses and permits, hold jobs and so forth. Yet, they will not read.

At some point they made a decision to abandon education and never pick it back up. They decided to become illiterate.

They will not read.

Spare me the whining about not being able to read now. Every community in the nation has FREE adult literacy programs. If reading is important enough, a person will learn to read. I have volunteered in such programs. Have you?

See the difference now?

Some people need to know this.

Those who will not read are not my responsibility. I will accept some responsibility for those who cannot read.

Those who can read, but have a limited ability to comprehend owing to their capacity for cerebration, I will also accept some responsibility. If I can, I will try to explain it to them in simpler terms, in language they can understand. This includes reading the fine print on health insurance contracts, mortgages and other very important paperwork.

In short, if you are trying and giving it 100 percent, I got yer back.

Those who can read but choose to not understand, they are on their own.

That goes to the power of infinity for reading the fine print.