One of the great cosmic jokes of our times.

When one gets fired these days we rush to offer them a chance to continue their health insurance shrouded in something called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act is also called COBRA. I find this a remarkable example of government-inspired gallows humor. Cobras--for the non-Herpetologists in my vast readership--are both vicious and venomous. They are the world's largest poisonous snake. What is more, some cobras can even spit venom. And that projectile venom as Bob & Ray might have said, "can render a man senseless" on contact.

We name that which helps protect us in our unemployment after a deadly reptile. Nice marketing.