I Deplore Glenn Reynolds' Lack Of Vision

Glenn Reynolds links to a Business Insider story about the lies told by Team Obama during the recent contraception debate and closes with this:

Meanwhile, I think we should require every employer to buy every employee a gun. Otherwise, you’re being denied the right to bear arms.

Hmm, the gun-workplace connection is tenuous at best.  Postal employees may need a gun for self-defense, and I'm sure we can agree that packing a Glock would represent an uptick in customer service in many venues.  How many times have you muttered "Just shoot me" to some befuddled clerk?  Under the Reynolds Act you could add "Go ahead and shoot.  You'd be doing me a favor" and die content.  Well, assuming you do credible impressions.

However!  Guns are expensive and I am sure some lib somewhere will get all wee-wee'd up about the notion of an armed citizenry.  That's why this is the time to reintroduce my Wake Up And Smell The (Free!) Coffee Act of 2012.  That's right!  At JustOneMinute the Department of Good Ideas never sleeps (which may be the problem).

Since individual liberty and property rights are no longer an issue under Obamacare, here is a Big Idea - many studies document that caffeine enhances mood, cognition, and physical performance.  And what employer doesn't want happy, alert, energetic employees? 

So, the Wake Up And Smell The (Free!) Coffee Act of 2012 will require every employee to provide either a free coffee station (Keurig is fine!) for each twenty employees, or hand out vouchers for the local delis and Starbucks.  I have no doubt that our well-intentioned liberal friends in academia can gin up studies demonstrating that the enhanced employee energy will make this a self-financing effort, which is to say, FREE!.  Don't call it a Laffer Curve because there is nothing to laugh about - call it a Gulper Curve. Other than Mormons, there should be no religious objections, and what libs care about Mormons?  And clearly, we are talking about real money for the employees - by way of comparison, let's flash back to a Gutmacher Institute study on the financial obstacles to contraception:

Methods of contraception vary not only in their effectiveness, but also in their costs and the timing of those costs. Condoms are relatively inexpensive on an individual basis, but 50 cents or a dollar per use can add up to substantial amounts of money over a year, much less the 30 years that the typical woman spends trying to avoid pregnancy. Brand-name versions of the pill, patch or ring can cost upwards of $60 per month if paid for entirely out-of-pocket, although generic oral contraceptives can cost considerably less; these methods also require periodic visits to a health care provider, at additional cost.

$60 per month or less for pills?  $1 per day for condoms?  Has anyone a priced a cup of coffee lately?  I never get out for less than a buck fifty, which runs to maybe $30/month right there, and I am not even talking about the crumb cake or the mid-afternoon pick-me-up.  Poor women (and men!) who lack mental acuity and physical energy because they haven't had their daily Joe need this program.  As do their employers.

What do we want?  A mocha latte!  When do we want it?  NOW!

There is an umnet need here.  If only we had a community organizer-in-chief in the White House.

Comments

[centralcal]

Well, I am on board. Free Coffee. Now! I am sure it is in the Constitution somewhere.

[Joan of Argghh!]

Well, an employer needs to do something to offset the slacker-effect caused by all the federally mandated medical marijuana.

What? Just one minute, here. . . You mean my health plan doesn't have to provide medical marijuana?

[narciso]

Glenn does know at the Joyce foundation, that Obama spearheaded the attrition strategy against Gun Rights, the one they will allow us is 'victory gin'

[MarkO]

My hat is off to whomever in the Dems was smart enough to set off this distraction. Oh that we had someone smart like that on our side. Endless debates about contraception. Failed bills in Congress that are described as anti-woman. They are kicking our butts while we take it seriously.

Every word about contraception is a word not spoken against Obama's economic mess. At least be smart enough to call it, as he did, "a distraction" and shift the argument to something usefull. Or, we can estimate the overall cost of condoms.

[Old Lurker]

Free cigarettes for Janet!

[NK]

TM-- fantastic snark to start a friday morning. I'll have a second cup of "FREE" coffee in the office today.

CC-- the "FREE COFFFEE" clause in the Constitution is in the Penumbral Emanations, just under the abortion vapors.

[Porchlight]

I know this properly belongs back on the Breitbart thread but I wanted to share this awesome, funny remembrance of him by Matt Labash:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/breitbart-s-last-laugh_633067.html?nopager=1

It will cheer you up.

[narciso]

No, it's in their nature, to create a new entitlement, that tears down what's left of our institutions, that's what Obamacare, Dodd
Frank, EPA regulations are about,

[Gmax]

Nine months until we fire this incompetent and a lot of his buddies in the Senate. First round is on me.

[centralcal]

First round is on me.

Not, coffee, right? *wink*

[Threadkiller]

If less people is a good thing, let me go by myself in the carpool lane. Instead, government is forcing me to have a large family to take advantage of my equal rights.

Another Obama iniquity.

[Melinda Romanoff]

TK-

Mannequins. Invest in mannequins. I see a booming rental business.

[centralcal]

uh oh.

Drudge Report ‏ @Drudge_Report
Japan invents speech-jamming gun that silences people mid-sentence...

[Chubby]

TK and Melinda, lol

[Threadkiller]

If the govt would provide mannequins it would solve both the carpool and the contraception problems.

[Threadkiller]

It must Target teleprompters CC.

[narciso]

This old Havel speech is really reflective of
'breaking out of the cave'

http://vaclavhavel.cz/showtrans.php?cat=eseje&val=2_aj_eseje.html&typ=HTML

[Faith+1]

You are behind the curve, not ahead of it--at least in my industry. I work in technology and it has long been known that caffeine is a vital member of the primary food group of programmers. In my 25+ year career I've never worked anywhere that didn't provide free coffee.

[matt]

Jane;

Your re-post of the Morning Jolt piece was beautiful. Thanks.

DoT, was that your ass-kicking knee that was repaired? If so, get it back in shape quick.

Isn't free coffee (Starbucks in particular) a platform of OWS?

[Jane]

Well, I am on board. Free Coffee. Now! I am sure it is in the Constitution somewhere.

Harrumph! Does that include free delivery?

[Melinda Romanoff]

Faith+1-

You need to work at an exchange, just once. Nothing is free.

[Janet]

Free cigarettes for Janet!

Here, here! Will the government condoms have pictures of people with STDs on them? You know, as a warning to be careful.

[Captain Hate]

Well, I am on board. Free Coffee. Now! I am sure it is in the Constitution somewhere.

Maybe it's being taught in the publik skoolz that the Boston Tea Party was led by coffee drinkers.

Faith+1 has it right on coffee being indispensable to IT work with a lot of it being provided gratis at the workplace. But it was rarely of really high quality; I used to add a hot chocolate container to the regular sludge and call it a mocha on the cheap.

[NK]

There was a discussion yesterday about unemployment, and jimmyk may have been right about February unemployment numbers; Gallup is projecting BLS comes up with 8.8% including 'seasonal adjustments' Link below. My bottom line on Obamanomics (and its evil twin QEII) is that in the fall 2009 140M people were at work in America, and unemployment was 10%; In January 2012 140M people are at work in America, and we have 8.3% unemployment. Huh? Obamanomics is all about BLS dropping the worker particpation rate in the household survey to hold down the top line unemployment number. THE REALITY is that there is NO Greater number of jobs and food and fuel prices are skyrocketing. The indy voters know that reality and that reality won't change between now and November. Bye Bye Barry. http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/gallup-predicts-jump-88-unemployment/405926

[Tom Maguire]

You are behind the curve, not ahead of it...

I am so far ahead of the curve I am lapping the field!

It must be more than thirty years ago that a friend showed me a ROTC training manual extolling the morale and efficiency benefits of coffee for the troops.

That manual was not exactly classified, either. It's fair to say that with my caffeine coverage I am breaking more wind than news.

[I R A Darth Aggie]

I would love to have my employer provide me with a firearm (of my choice).

It would be doubly fun, since I work at an institute of higher learning, and as such is a "gun free zone".

Since someone else is doing the buying, make mine a Sig-Sauer.

[Janet]

From Cuccinelli's team on FB -
The EPA = Employment Prevention Agency

[Janet]

This is funny -

[NK]

And on cue Greek Guru Jim Pethokoukis runs the charts to show in detail what I described in my post about the employment and debt disaster that Obamnomics has caused. PS: I love that EPA=Employment Prevention Agency!

http://blog.american.com/2012/03/the-economic-case-against-obamanomics-in-13-charts/

[Captain Hate]

I'm surprised people still know what an Etch-a-Sketch is; I figured it was too low tech for any staying power.

[Sue]

At JustOneMinute the Department of Good Ideas never sleeps (which may be the problem).

I love, love, love, our dear leader.

[Sue]

Here, here! Will the government condoms have pictures of people with STDs on them? You know, as a warning to be careful.

Oh my sweet heavens...you are such a delight, Janet. You make me laugh so often during the day.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Still, a going concern, CH, it's a private company still from Ohio.

[Danube of Thought]

Hollywood Reporter on Act of Valor.

[centralcal]

Harrumph! Does that include free delivery?

Details, details. And that is why you are an attorney, and I am not! lol.

Yes, Janet - warning pictures on condoms!

[Ben Franklin]

24/7 eh, Maguire? We'd hate to see what happens if you actually, go to sleep.

Do you think, along with the coffee-maker we could have a condom machine, or would that be a perq too far?

[Sue]

There was even a screening for President Obama at the White House

I bet that went over well.

[NK]

Whoa-- TomM (master blogger and bud of Glenn Reynolds) comes down from Mount Blogger and comments. TomM you haven't lapped the Field you are the Field!

PS: are you going to the Andy Rooney Estate sale today? http://darien.patch.com/articles/andy-rooney-estate-sale-opens-in-rowayton-today-7e4788ee

[Captain Hate]

The Andy Rooney Estate sale sounds like the largest collection of worthless crap ever.

[NK]

BenF-- per comments above, government mandated condemns (NOT a perq, they are ENTITLEMENTS!!) will have STD symptoms printed on them and a warning label. Fair is fair.

[Porchlight]

We have an Etch-A-Sketch at home, Cap'n. It has a permanent place on the back of the couch with the two MagnaDoodles. Mr. Porch is an avid sketcher. This morning I woke up to a perfect MagnaDoodle rendition of the Girl Scout logo, copied from our cookie boxes.

[Threadkiller]

You know what really bothers me about estate sales...

[Porchlight]

NK,

Rowayton, haven't heard that town's name in a long while, probably since the last time I rode Metro-North.

[jimmyk]

Hmm, the gun-workplace connection is tenuous at best.

And the contraceptive-workplace connection is....

But if the goal is reducing the population, I'm not sure why the government wants to mandate those rear view cameras on autos. They should ban them, that way if people make a mistake with their contraception, there's still a chance their kids won't end up being a burden.

Or there's always this modest proposal.

[NK]

Sue-- ya know what-- I bet 'Bam loved Act of Valor. In his values adled brain SEALs and other Special Forces are GOOD warriors, he treats them like his own Praetorian Guard.

[Captain Hate]

Porch, Etch-a-Sketches strike me as less forgiving than water colors. Or maybe Mr Porch is good at them and I'm not... Have Magnadoodles been around for a while because I don't remember the Hatettes using them and I tried not to be a completely out of touch father.

[NK]

Porch -- I have been a MetroNorth rider for 21 years. It's a govenmental monopoly, managed by political cronies and run by union workers-- what could possibly go wrong? it's kind of funny to watch the 'repair crews' on the job, 4 guys sit in the yellow truck drinking coffee or playing fantasy sports on their cell phone, while one guy works. It's a beautiful thing.

[Sue]

NK,

I doubt it. It portrayed them and the USofA as the good guy. And Muslims, Mexico and Mexicans as the bad guy.

[Porchlight]

I think since maybe the '90s, Cap'n? They are much easier than Etch-A-Sketches. But for that reason the results are less impressive.

NK, yes, MetroNorth, what a classy operation. But I remember my rides fondly, beginning back in the days when CT parents would let a small group of 13-year-old girls take the train to the city on their own for the day. Wave to Fairfield next time you go by - our old house was just a couple of blocks from the station.

[NK]

Sue-- I'll have to go see it then!

[pagar]

I agree with Sue 10:57AM. NO WAY!

[Sue]

The Mexican military guys were also portrayed as good guys. Basically, it was a truthful depiction of the situation in Mexico. Which pretty much puts the cartel in charge with big guns.

[NK]

Porch-- I too am very fond of the New Haven Line, and all passenger trains. The 13 yo right of passage remains as a tradition. PS: I have been in the Town of Fairfield many times, my son is a Fairfield Prep alum, and I referee soccer matches there several times/month. Great town, although the Town was Madoffed and lost a bundle, and they are hoping the Picard Trustee gets a bunch of it back.

[Captain Hate]

Ahhh, the Hatettes were in their teens in the 90s and on to things like the New Kids on the Block, followed by hair bands and Guns & Roses.

[Sue]

I would never believe Obama liked a movie about the military that I liked. He can say he did all day long, but I will never believe it.

[Porchlight]

That's cool, NK. Between soccer and Fairfield Prep, you have probably driven by our house many times; it's on Barlow Road between Unquowa and Round Hill.

[Sue]

The magnadoodle has been around since the 70s, according to Wiki. My oldest daughter, born in 1977, had one so I knew they were around pre-90s.

Magnadoodle

The reason I remembered her having one was I recently found a letter to Santa that asked for it. Memories...

[Porchlight]

Good times, Cap'n. Especially G&R.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Sue, I had no idea! We have an "old" one but I think it's 20 years old at the most.

[Sue]

I wouldn't have remembered it had I not recently found her letter doing some pre-spring cleaning. She was probably in the 2nd grade when she wrote it, guessing from the spelling and handwriting.

[NK]

right = RITE of passage

[clarice feldman]

Sue, Santa gave your private letter to your parents?!?!?!?

[Melinda Romanoff]

NK-

You can't top work crews like that unless you're using "Hired Trucks".

[Danube of Thought]

The producer/directors said Obama had to leave after the first half hour. (They did not seem resentful about it.)

Had cocktails with "Senior" at my sister's house last week. Fine young man; very smart and funny.

[henry]

The New Haven Line, perfect for when local bars lost their luster. Plus we played U Fairfield in soccer and beat them every year. : ) Fairfield is a nice town.

[Sue]

My grandchildren had them when they were toddlers. We took them to restaurants so they could "doodle" while we ate. Some restaurants provide them instead of crayons and menus for kids to write on. Which is where we first got the idea. My daughter didn't like the kids using the ones provided by the restaurants. Germs, you know.

[Sue]

Clarice,

Busted?

[Danube of Thought]

Raz:

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who won the 2010 special election to finish the term of the late Ted Kennedy, holds a modest lead over his expected Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren in the first Rasmussen Reports’ look at his 2012 reelection bid in the Bay State.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% of the vote to Warren’s 44%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, while five percent (5%) are undecided.

[Gus]

Broccoli. Free is thy name.

[Sue]

DoT,

Adopt me. Please?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Etch-Sketch-Magic-Screen/dp/B00000J0HG

[NK]

MelR-- I didn't open your link, but I figured you'd comment about public union labor. I guess should be thankful that the MetroNorth workers are actually in the truck rather than being home and getting paid. There's probably alot of that no show in Cook County.

[jimmyk]

The New Haven Line: I was on the 9:02 from Grand Central to New Haven on the morning of 9/11/01. Don't think anyone knew (except I, whose hysterical M-I-L had somehow gotten through to me on my cell) what had happened till we got to Stamford.

[Ignatz]

--However! Guns are expensive.....--

Huh? One can buy a top line semi auto pistol for $1,000 which will last the average person approximately one lifetime.
An experienced shooter doesn't really need any practice time to stay proficient enough for the slim possibility of a shootout in the street, but even budgeting $500 per year for ammo which is vastly more ammo than most people shoot,amortized over the life of the gun, firearms are probably cheaper than contraceptives or coffee and considerably more useful when a biker on meth wants your wallet.

[NK]

Porch/Henry--

The amateur league games I do in Fairfield are at LudloweHS, the S.Pine park (beautiful coastal setting) and at the Tomlinson School, which Porch i gather must be close to your former home.

Henry, where did you play soccer in college? Fairfield U has upgraded soccer in the last decade, pretty good Div I program now. PS: we'll need reports from you about the June recall election!!

[Rocco]

How do you drink your coffee?

[Danube of Thought]

I was going to ask you the same, Sue.

[Captain Hate]

Good times, Cap'n. Especially G&R.

When the Hatettes would take a road trip with me to see friends or family in Maryland, it was back when cars mainly just had cassette players and we'd take turns playing things; the G&R's were some of my favorites and I think the Neil Young and Crazy Horse ones that I played were some of theirs (I tried to not play some of the extreme improv that I thought would irritate them; the sacrifices I made....) although I'm pretty sure I introduced them to the Ramones.

[NK]

Rocco-- LOL!! I thought the link would lead to a completely Politically Incorrect moment in the first AIRPLANE!!! movie

[Captain Hate]

I would never believe Obama liked a movie about the military that I liked. He can say he did all day long, but I will never believe it.

I can't imagine El JEFe liking anything that's not about him.

[Gus]

My last road trip to Maryland was last July ,I brought Cheap Trick, the Smithereens, the Who and to quote the famous commercial.
Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like THE BEATLES.

[Danube of Thought]

What could go wrong?

An environmental report issued by an agency of the United Nations last month has some critics sounding the alarm, saying it is a clarion call for "global governance" over how the Earth is managed. The report, “21 Issues for the 21st Century,” from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Foresight Process, is the culmination of a two-year deliberative process involving 22 core scientists. It is expected to receive considerable attention in the run-up to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Rio, Brazil, in June.

[henry]

NK, I played at Yale (DI, knocked off lots of ranked teams including a #1 but never got ourselves ranked). Fairfield was a DII tune-up game in the late 70s.

[rse]

Ah Tom. Those ROTC days are before the advent of Red Bull. Now the favored warrior drink.

jimmy-apparently that must have a camera is quite the boon to Sony. The CC global economy.

narciso-I suspect there will be some profs who will regret the tendency to pump each other's books. "I recognize the 2 of you, but not that 3rd name I keep running across. Maybe I should track down the nature of your work. Ding. Ding. Ding."

[Rocco]

Ahhh, the Hatettes were in their teens in the 90s and on to things like the New Kids on the Block

I use to tell my kids they called Greatful Dead fans Deadheads. Then I'd ask them if that made them Blockheads since they were fans of New Kids on the Block.

[Extraneus]

Just think of all the sex the armed and alert ladies of Georgetown Law could avoid having with the guys who refuse to chip in on birth control.

[NK]

Henry-- to quote the late great Jim Bachus as Thurston Howell III "Dear God Lovey, Henry's a YALE Man!!" Henry, Yale remains a just outside top 20 soccer program, on any given day they are capable of beating BC/UConn, or losing to Stony Brook-- colege soccer matches are a close run thing. Yale has magnificent soccer (and all sports) facilities when I used to do college games, Yale was a favorite venue, you got treated like a World Cup match official.

[MarkO]

"global governance"

Be still my beating heart.

[rse]

dot-

LUN is some post-surgical reading for you.

The pdf of that report you just referred to. Suggest copying as links go down fast when mentioned publicly.

[Melinda Romanoff]

NK-

Go back to the link, it's not a no show. Worthwhile, for edumacational purposes.

Also, in lighter news, Rep. Norm Dicks(D-WA) is retiring.

[Danube of Thought]

Thanks, rse.

In retrospect, are we certain that establishing the UN was a good idea?

[Porchlight]

NK, our house was about 1/2 block east of Ludlowe HS on Barlow. Well, still is, but my folks aren't there anymore, having retired back to MN.

Cap'n - Neil Young and Ramones - not too shabby.

Gus, I actually know a singer songwriter dude who claims to dislike the Beatles. Whatever.

I adore Cheap Trick.

[NK]

MelR-- I will read the link tonight. Stuff I've been waiting on is coming in so work beckons.

[henry]

NK, the soccer field was always outstanding, they built the stadium around it before my senior year (and improved it greatly since). When my recruiting visit confirmed Thurston Howell's fears, I knew that was the place for me. Anymore I am stunned to see my teammates' sons on the field, as long as they beat Harvard the rest doesn't matter.

[Captain Hate]

Btw, I haven't gone to Facebook in over 24 hours because if some of my lefty acquaintances say something stupid about Breitbart, I probably won't resist getting into it with them; so I'll ignore it from afar.

[GMAX]

Jim Geraghty yesterday in a longer passage speaking of Breitbart concludes this way. Can I get an "amen"? Here:

Right now, this country’s being run into the ground by the president who got elected by all of the folks who chose to dance a jig at our friend’s passing. Like Hell are my boys going to grow up in a country where these losers set the standards of behavior and their juvenile sneers at the recently deceased are normal.

If this is how they want to play this game, then game on.

As Ben Howe put it, “Dear Republican primary candidates: freakin’ draw straws or something. We’ve got work to do and you’re slowing down the works. . . . Dear Left: I’m coming for you.”

I am onboard Zero and this progs must go.

[narciso]

No, Danube, next question,

[Captain Hate]

No, DoT; it was not learning from the League of Nations disaster. Mankind is doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

[Gus]

Porch, I've seen Cheap Trick 65 times! I know, it's freakish.
I have one of my favorite guitars signed by Cheap Trick. They laughed at the beat up case backstage in Milwaukee, and when I opened the case, Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen stood up and asked if they could check it out and play it. Later during the show, I stood the guitar case up and gave Rick Nielsen the thumbs up for signing it.
He gave me the finger!!! My friends will never let me forget it.

[Sue]

I swear, if they do something to the military personnel that burned that blankety, blank, blank, blank, book that some blankety, blank, blank, blank, pedophile wrote, I might just go blankety, blank, blank, blank on someone.