California: Orange County

Its finances are shaky, according to one of the few financial pros who figured out Orange County was headed for ruins in the early 1990s. Danger lurks in the more than $1 billion worth of interest rate swaps held by...

• According to the OC Register More O.C. borrowers ignore credit-card bill(s).  Maybe a better way to put it is, they can't afford to pay them anymore.
• I loved a piece at the OC Weekly entitled Top Five Latinas in Orange County History! Sí, se puede !
• Another heartbreaking tale of how the economic downturn is hurting so many, even in "The OC".  OC's Motel Residents is a piece by the New York Times via the OC Liberal.
• Hm, Gay Bowling Night at The Block in Orange Strikes Out and it's not because it wasn't popular but because the local police "faxed Lucky Strike to inform the bowling alley that it lacked a conditional use permit allowing it to function as a nightclub.

Does Moorlach want higher venereal disease and birth rares among Orange County teens? What else can you say about a boneheaded move to eliminate funding for age appropriate education about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases for teens?

Supervisor Moorlach will ask Orange County Supervisors to pull nearl $300,000 in funding from Planned Parenthood at their Tuesday meeting, according to the OC Register.

Saying that taxpayers shouldn't fund an organization that offers abortion services, Supervisor John Moorlach plans to push his colleagues on Tuesday to terminate two county contracts with Planned Parenthood, an aide said.

At issue are contracts approved last year with the nonprofit healthcare and advocacy organization that total $341,788.

SANTA ANA

Relative of Al Qaeda figure pleads not guilty

An Orange County man arrested for failing to disclose that his brother-in-law is a close associate of Osama bin Laden pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he lied on his citizenship and passport applications.

Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, an Afghan who became a naturalized U.S. citizen five years ago, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on five counts alleging fraud and perjury in his dealings with the U.S. government. He could go to prison for up to 35 years if convicted on all charges.

FBI Special Agent Thomas J. Ropel III told the court last week that an informant who infiltrated Orange County mosques had recorded Niazi discussing holy war and plans to blow up abandoned buildings.