My dentist of 20 years calls me ''his dinosaur.'' I'm one of only a couple of his patients who gets teeth drilled and filled, crowns implanted -- dang near everything -- without an anesthetic. Anesthetic was never offered to me as a kid. And my Catholic upbringing suggested, ''Suffer in silence, offering your pain for the souls in ...

I can almost see February 14, touch it, smile at it. As long as I don't let my mind wander, all will be good. But it does wander. What parts of health care will suffer in California's $14 billion budget deficit? Does it make sense to push a $14 billion health care reform proposal when you're dismantling the departments that would implement ...