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The California dream ends in empty reservoirs and homeless tents

Many years ago, sometime after Ronald Reagan replaced Pat Brown as governor of California, I was driving up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco and visited Hearst Castle, William Randolph Hearst’s epic mansion in San Simeon. It was state property then, donated by the Hearst family, and the uniformed guide struck me as knowledgeable, competent and proud of her work. Some time later, I wrote articles arguing that California, not yet the highest-tax state but never a tax haven either, was proof that big government could provide competent services. For a generation under Govs. ...

Lie at heart of Trump’s slush fund

The Orwellian ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ Trump has created — the legal equivalent of twirling the combination lock on Fort Knox and driving off with gold bars — purports to be righting a wrong. The bogus (and badly written) “settlement agreement,” which is laughable as there was no true lawsuit, claims to be compensating those who were victims of the “sustained use of the levers of government power by Democrat elected officials.” It goes on like that, accusing Democrats of “lawfare” and “weaponization.” Even more than usual with Trump, this foul fund represents a ...

Man with hemicrania continua requires indefinite therapy

DEAR DR. ROACH: My future son-in-law was diagnosed with hemicrania continua several weeks ago by a neurologist and is responding to indomethacin. Could you provide a prognosis for this illness? The internet says that it can take anywhere from weeks to months to years. Is this likely the case? — M.I.L. ANSWER: Hemicrania continua is an unusual type of headache syndrome. It’s often misdiagnosed, with 50% of people not receiving a correct diagnosis for eight years. The pain is on one side of the head (hence “hemicrania”), and the pain severity can be high, with over 70% of ...

Dear Annie: Father feels invisible in fight over inheritance

Dear Annie: Dear Annie: My 90-year-old father has been married to his third wife, who is 85, for nearly 33 years. Between them, they have five adult children: two are his and three are hers. For their entire marriage, they have relied largely on my father’s retirement account to pay their day-to-day living expenses. His wife does not have a retirement account of her own. They also have two homes. One is a summer cottage that was in her family before they married. The other is a winter home they purchased together. Recently, as they began revising their wills, my father said he ...

Dear Annie: Mocktails today, martinis tomorrow?

Dear Annie: My granddaughter allows her son to order mocktails — drinks that sound like the adult version but don’t have liquor in them. Even though they are virgin drinks, I’m afraid this will lead him to drinking real alcohol at a young age. What do you think? — Concerned About the Message Dear Concerned: Your worry comes from a loving place. To you, these mocktails feel like “training wheels” for real drinks, making alcohol seem glamorous before your great-grandson is old enough to understand it. Still, a Shirley Temple with a cherry in it is not the same as handing ...

Antique games can command significant interest

Tennis, anyone? How about table tennis? The tabletop version of the sport is believed to have begun in Victorian England as a parlor game played by the upper class. Early equipment was improvised; instead of a net, players are said to have lined up a row of books across a table and hit a golf ...