This boomerang will come back

Giving the Tea Party folks something real to be angry over is a “gift” to Republicans, for sure.

The gift is a boomerang that will hurt the GOP’s prospects in a general election. What energizes the Republican fringe, weakens the Republican middle.

TEA PARTY RAGE: NOTHING FAILS LIKE EXCESS

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Conservatives have long pushed for catastrophic coverage — whereby folks pay out-of-pocket for ordinary care and insurance kicks in only for the major expenses. Examples would be kidney transplants, intensive care for newborns and advanced cancer treatments. It is an example of conservatives they approvingly call “consumer-driver health care.”

ObamaCare seeks to curb wasteful health-care spending in other ways.  Meanwhile, it expands Medicaid, a program that picks up medical bills large and small.

While the catastrophic coverage approach has its merits, it unfortunately assumes that patients can judge when their doctors are prescribing too much medicine and stop them from doing so.

But do we want to second-guess our doctors?  If we feel a doctor is ordering too many tests and office visits, isn’t the logical response to find another doctor?

CONSUMERS NOT THE BEST DRIVERS OF HEALTH CARE

But today, WSJ’s Dan Neil explodes in ecstasy over the new electric Fiat 500e, and he makes a quite a case for it:

The Fiat 500e is just awesome, a nutty electric elf of a car. All dressed up in Playskool aero pieces and available in Life Savers colors, the 500e feels like the big-kid toy the Fiat 500 always wanted to be, with an otherworldly electric hum to go with its whimsical aesthetics.

The new Fiat 500e

Having just leased a sensible Honda Accord, my automotive indulgences must stay on hold.  But do I now feel a bit of leaser’s remorse?  I do.

I adore Dan Neil for reasons other than his wacky wit. Hear my big-beating liberal heart quicken as he defends America’s and California’s energy and emission standards:

If corporations want to dance in the American discothèque, there’s a cover charge called the public good.

No apologies. That’s the way.

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Many changes have been made to my original column on the subject.  I’ll post a link to the new version as soon as it’s out.

Police now investigate how this house of torment went undetected.

But psychologists have the job of dissecting the twisted minds of the three brothers with the pathological need to control and degrade women — and taunt the public as they did it.

This story is unusual but, sadly, not unique.

THREE GIRLS LOST IN CLEVELAND

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Of course, she had to get the right address.

Shaheena  became the face of these women, when she tragically died after enduring several days in the ruins of Rana Plaza.  What was she about?

BANGLADESH AND US

I do know, that for all of the extraordinary demands it makes on diners, Saison delivers a meal that is at least as extraordinary.

Before we get here, Wells tells us of the extraordinary price ($298 for a tasting menu), extraordinary reservation policy (you must cancel at least three days in advance or lose your money) and extraordinary lack of hospitality.

This being his second visit to the restaurant, now in a new location, Wells notes gratefully

the staff this time was kinder and less cocky

What I want to know is did he leave a good tip?

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Thinking about working out

Reading about apps purporting to motivate exercisers?  Pondering whether another, niftier bicycle might get you to pedal?

Fewer activities are more delusional — or pleasurable — than contemplating fitness programs.  No hurry, though.

HOW TO GET FIT WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

LEGAL POT MEANS MORE MONEY FOR STATES, LESS FOR GANGS