In case you've been under the Arctic ice, Valley hospital ERs are getting hammered by flu, aches and all manner of suffering patients. And nobody is under the hammer more than -- surprise! -- one of the nation's busiest emergency rooms and the only combined burn and Level 1 trauma units between LA and Sacramento. If you read the front-page story ...

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 ...