Economic Crisis

Proof Bar Is Turning 7

Proof Bar

William Pilgrim and the All Grows Up Find New Hope and a New Home

The band's creator, Ishmael Herring, goes from life on the streets to life in the studio

President Barack Obama's Official Remarks in CdM--with Applause and Laughter Breaks

​The White House has released an official transcript of President Barack Obama's remarks at a breakfast fundraiser in Corona del Mar this morning--complete with laugh and applause breaks.Admission to the event started at $2,500 and rose to $35,800 depending on what kind of access one wanted to The ... More >>

The Relative Strangers

Detroit Bar

Downgraded S&P Rating, China, Cuba, Obama, The Illuminati and Their Scary Ties to Newport Beach

​As Republicans in Congress and Democrats in the White House argue over whose role in the debt-ceiling crisis led Standard & Poor's for the first time ever to downgrade U.S debt from an AAA to AA rating, evidence mounts that the cause for this possible push into a double-dip recession was bor ... More >>

Nurses Rally Against Government Healthcare and Social Security Cuts

​Just to be clear, the more than 100 registered nurses huddled around Irvine's Civic Center Plaza at high noon today are not there to implant a conscious into Larry Agran. The RNs are joining community activists to rally against any cuts to Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.

How Do You Fill the Empty Toll Roads? Raffles!

Rush hour​The country's economic woes have reportedly extended to Orange County's toll roads, where ridership is down as once-paying drivers opt to ply the public lanes and apply the savings to offset rising gasoline prices.The agencies that operate the toll roads have responded with raffles and d ... More >>

Will Michael Steele Still Be RNC Chairman When He Keynotes Financial Forum in Irvine?

​Despite Republicans gaining 63 House seats and six Senate seats in the November elections, its National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, the USA Today says, had a worse year than President Barack Obama, MSNBC and the National Review agree Steele is a baffoon and all indications are he ... More >>

Explaining the Shitty Economy Through LMFAO's 'Shots'

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​The Great Recession may have been long declared over, but the pain continues for many everyday people. For the curious, the bottoming out of the U.S. economy prompted inquiry into what the hell went down. The subject of economics, however, is all too often unnecessar ... More >>

OC's Trillion Dollar Man Worried USA is Heading for a Double-Dip Recession

0 to 60 in 2.6 seconds​All those daily Obama Administration assurances that the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction might just be wishful thinking or cynical public manipulation.Dr. Mohamed Abdulla El-Erian, the chief executive of Newport Beach-based investment house giant Pimco--t ... More >>

Is the April Fools' Joke Democrats' Dana Rohrabacher Not-an-April-Fools' Joke?

​The following just arrived from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose "House Republican Hypocrisy Hall of Fame" now includes Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach). Sounds like a certain Surfin' Congresswoman is going to have to shop for an evening gown to wear to the inducti ... More >>

Obama, Economy, War, Swine Flu, Iran Election Crack Alamanac's Top 10 News Topics of 2009

Here are The World Almanac and Book of Facts Top Ten News Topics of 2009:​1. Obama Presidency Begins. With the U.S. at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Barack Obama swearing in as the nation's 44th president Jan. 20 in Washington, DC.her ... More >>

Free Dinner at Savannah Chop House; But Read The Fine Print

​My fascination with what was once David Wilhelm's might Culinary Adventures dining group continues since I keep getting unsolicited e-mail newsletters from them (I ate at one of his restaurants once and took advantage of an offer where I'd get a discount on the meal if I signed up for it, which I ... More >>

The Dark Room

Nomadic Image Gallery

Not Another Crappy Orange County Teen Reality Show . . . Oh, Wait, Yes It Is

Poor? What you talking about, Seth?​Can you smell that?No, not the smoke from the inland wildfire of the week. That other, more ghastly odor. Go ahead, take a big whiff.SNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNORT!That, dear friends, is the smell of another lame TV show focusing on Orange County teens."WEALTHY TEEN ... More >>

How to Save Time, Money and Get Wall Street Journal Coverage for Cutting Your Own Hair

How do you get yourself written on Wall Street Journal online? If the nation is gripped by an economic recession whose bad ju-ju has spread even to the usually immune hair salon industry, and you're Dana Point's George Trimm, you start a Facebook group called "I Cut My Own Hair."

Fun

Fingerprints

Tale of 2 Police Forces: While Irvine's Fumes, La Habra's Bites the Bullet

To protect and serve . . . for less.​While their counterparts in "Safest City in America" Irvine fume over an employer-proposed wage freeze, officers who belong to the La Habra Police Association seem to have gladly accepted a deal that imposes what is essentially a 5 percent pay cut. "Although di ... More >>

On Sale Saturday: The Killers at UCI's Bren Events Center

​Las Vegas' own the Killers are performing Sept. 15 at the not-used-very-often UCI Bren Events Center. I saw Al Gore speak there about a decade ago, but this was way before he invented global warming.Anyway, tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. and cost $47.50. Wait, what? $47.50? Am I crazy or ... More >>

Running Dry in the Cove

Crystal Cove

Taxing Pot Would Generate $1.4 Billion in California: State Board

President Obama, Governor Schwarzenegger and other esteemed politicos may routinely distance themselves from the potential windfall that would accompany legalizing and taxing cannabis, but amid California's latest and deepest financial crisis the state Board of Equalization has tagged a whopping rev ... More >>

[Summer Guide] What Not to Do When You're Desperate and Hungry for Money

[Summer Guide] Proposed Theme Park Celebrates OC's Part in Bringing the Global Economy to Its Knees

Moyers Picks Brain of Last Socialist (and Weekly Pal)

Saturday Night Live had this skit years ago where they presented a Fugitivesque TV show called The Last Liberal. With all the talk on Fox News and conservative talk radio about the rise of Socialism in Obamerica, Bill Moyers decided to go out and find The Last Socialist to get the other side of the ... More >>

Ya Gotta Hang On

Annie Jr.

Believe the Investment Advice From the Man With No Mustache

In mock congressional testimony, Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), said today the U.S. should only nationalize banks as a last resort, that focus should instead be placed on shoring up lending and staving off foreclosures a ... More >>

It's Official: This Recession May Make You Fat

Today is Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday), so it's fitting that I'm writing about how unhealthy we're becoming as a nation - indeed, as a planet. According to the Guardian, the number of new cases of diabetes being diagnosed in the UK is growing at a faster rate than in the US. Now that is depressing. A ... More >>

Days of Yore

Hollywood's Golden Age

Blow a Rack

Spin Tuesdays

It's Gonna Get Bad, Then Really Bad, Then Really Really Bad ...

Chapman University's annual economic forecast has been known to be overly sunny, but even this year's had to acknowledge that it'll suck huevos through the end of the next year. However, as they faced a crowd of 1,200 huddled in the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Esmael Adibi and ... More >>

Out-of-County Experience: Dim Sum at New Capital in Rowland Heights

If we're in a recession, someone forgot to tell the Chinese. Yesterday, the dim sum crowd at New Capital in Rowland Heights was as crazy as always.  Judging by the number of people milling about outside waiting for a table, this go-to place for dim sum in the eastern part of San Gabriel Valle ... More >>

MUSINK Tattoo & Music Festival: Totally Canceled!

Curse you, recession! The MUSINK Tattoo & Music Festival, which was birthed from a three-day event this past February at the OC fairgrounds, has been completely scrapped; official word is that it's, unsurprisingly, "due to the current economic climate."The tour was planned for 25 cities, includ ... More >>

Blues State

Southern California Blues Competition

OC Register to Lay Off 30 Newsroom Employees

Just received word from an anonymous but reliable source that the Register is going to announce the elimination of 30 newsroom positions tomorrow. The paper is hoping to avoid direct layoffs by getting volunteers. Stay tuned for updates on who jumps the ship(wreck).* *Update #1: Apparently, Freedo ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Chris Cox Says He's a Tough Wall Street Regulator, SEC Record Proves Otherwise

J Flynn Gallery Goes Bye-Bye

Weekly art critic Greg Stacy writes: "It is my sorry duty to report that we recently lost yet another fine local gallery, the J Flynn of Costa Mesa. Recent months have seen far too many local galleries close up for good, as the art world continues to suffer the effects of the ailing economy. In a t ... More >>

Burning Bush

The Adventures of John Moorlach

Rate Rape

Its Official!

Dailies report whats been obvious all along: toll roads are in trouble