Subject: Personal Finance

• Indonesian Earthquake Relief

  For anyone interested in helping the victims of the massive earthquake in Java, globetrotting raconteur and author of the forthcoming Prisoner of Trebekistan, Bob Harris has helpfully posted on his blog a list of charities assisting the survivors. Bob's post also touches on some of the questions you should ask when deciding which charity to entrust with your money. Questions like WGWCWJGIAMVW? and HMCJLP?

  May 30, 2006

• Arnold's New Era Begins

  In his inaugural address last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the beginning of a new chapter in California history, the "post-partisan" era, explaining, "The question is not what are the needs of Republicans or Democrats? The real question is what are the needs of our people?… Post-partisanship is Republicans and Democrats actively giving birth to new ideas together." So, how's that going to work in practice? One answer can be found in the Los Angeles Times today, the first fu

  January 8, 2007

• Healthy Skepticism

  The first thing to notice about Governor Schwarzenegger's plan, which is being billed as a universal healthcare plan, is that it isn't a universal healthcare plan. It's a mandatory health insurance plan. It will not make sure a sick person gets the treatment he or she needs-- the treatments, drugs, doctors and hospitals, an insurance carrier or HMO are willing to pay for are still left up to the corporation the person buys insurance from. Anyone who has spent hours on the phone with an insura

  January 9, 2007

• Everything Old is New Again

  See if by reading its opening paragraph you can guess what sets this story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Greg Lucas apart from the raft of other stories about universal health care that have been appearing in the papers. Trying to forge a consensus among dozens of powerful special interests, the Legislature will begin work next week stitching together a plan to extend health care coverage to 5 million uninsured Californians. Answer:  it's from 1990.  Seems very familiar for a 17 yea

  January 17, 2007

• Is the Medical Malpractice Insurance "crisis" over?

  A group called Americans for Insurance Reform has issued a study that concludes there has been a "wholesale decline of medical malpractice insurance rates nationwide" and that the so-called medical malpractice insurance "crisis" is over--whether or not states enacted restrictions on patients such as compensation caps. You are now free to get sick. AIR's study, which is supposedly based on the most recent Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers survey of market conditions, shows average medical

  February 27, 2006

• Beach Break: Cheap drugs

  Who doesn't like cheap drugs? Nobody that's who! So lets all jump up and click our heels together in glee because the city of Long Beach has introduced a drug card program that will reduce prescription medication costs by up to 75 percent for its residents! Oh the joy of it all! The UNA Rx Card is valid at over 50,000 national and regional pharmacies! Rapture! It can also be used to cover prescriptions not covered by personal health insurance! Gaiety! It counts toward some pet meds, too!

  August 20, 2007

• OC Homewreckers Hung Out to Dry

  According to a Department of Justice press release and reported by the Register, Charles Head, a 33-year-old from La Habra and several accomplices have been charged with illegal activities purportedly using the latest mortgage scam to come through the pipeline. One can only expect more scams to surface soon in the wake of the "mortgage crisis," (otherwise known, at least by me, as the most shining contemporary example of both the greed and stupidity of the American people and the relentless

  March 25, 2008

• Chris Gaffney has liver cancer

  Chris Gaffney, who for years has been pretty much OC's go-to guy for quality country music playing, singing and songwriting, has been diagnosed with liver cancer. And, like far too many musicians, he needs help to pay for his very costly chemotherapy treatments. Even though Gaffney has health insurance, it's still not enough, and an additional $60,000 must be raised. As former OC Weekly columnist and music editor Jim Washburn writes: (H)e's never been that well off, but he's always been the fi

  March 25, 2008

• OC Weekly Not Alone; Village Voice Media Cuts Widespread

  As editor Ted B. Kissell's "A Bad Week at the Weekly" post about layoffs at OC Weekly continued (and is continuing) to generate comments, newsroom staffers received a memo about the matter this week from our Village Voice Media overlords. Now, before I reveal what was in the memo, let me iterate and now reiterate that I was directed it was okay to divulge this information, that other VVM papers have already posted the memo without fear of repercussions and that, man, I really need this job

  January 6, 2009

• Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Foreclosures Are Up and Mortgage Delinquencies Are WAY Up

  Home foreclosures continue to wrack the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine area, increasing 0.40 percent in December 2008 compared to the previous year. The rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans rose from 0.90 percent in December '07 to 1.30 percent 12 months later, according to First American CoreLogic, "the largest provider of real estate, property and ownership data and advanced analytics for information on foreclosures, delinquencies, median home prices, home price indices, hom

  February 10, 2009

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

  June 4, 2009

• Welcome to the Poorhouse: From My Bank to Your Ears

  Every thirteen seconds, an American loses his/her home. In 2008, more than 2.3 million families faced foreclosure. If the government doesn't intervene in a muscular way, an estimated 6 million owners will lose their homes in the next three years. Those sobering stats begin a Nation piece that actually may help folks trying desperately to stay in their homes. Teaming up with John McCain and conservative talk radio's favorite group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)

  March 9, 2009

• Welcome to the Poorhouse: Problem Makers Become "Solvers"

  One reason I find myself in the financial fix I am in is because I took took a gamble. The plan hatched with my mortgage broker was to temporarily pay a low, low mortgage--that did not lower my principal--to free up enough cashflow to pay down my credit-card debt. This would improve my credit score enough that, in a year or two, I could refinance one last time into a low, comfortable, fixed-interest rate. Yes, people were talking at that time about the housing bubble possibly bursting, but it wa

  March 10, 2009

• It's a Quick Read 22: Weekend and Monday Edition

  Orange County Register: Robbins: The chance of dying in Orange County from a natural disaster is relatively low. This is based on a study Fox News cheerily lables "the death map." . . . Wisckol: A 59-year-old Aliso Viejo woman's description of kissing President Barack Obama on his cheek at the March 18 Costa Mesa town hall drew a firestorm of criticism on the Reg Buzz blog. . . . Lansner: The gap between rents and monthly mortgage payments is narrowing. Maybe a glimmer of hope for a ho

  March 30, 2009

• Drink Up

  February 5, 2009

• Holiday Art Sale

  December 4, 2008

• Venom, Venom

  January 10, 2008

• Re-drawing the Line

  January 10, 2008

• Fabulous!

  December 6, 2007

• Taken to School

  Judge dismisses a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by professors alleging class-hour fraud against Chapman University

  November 8, 2007

• Gifts for the Starving Student

  December 14, 2000

• SXSWXOC

  Our annual South By Southwest report

  March 25, 2004

• Atrophied Wife

  November 11, 1999

• Welcome to Jesusville

  February 21, 2002

• Letters

  January 30, 2003

• It's the Economy, Stupid

  August 8, 2002

• Reform-School Congress

  July 25, 2002

• A Systematic Rip-Off

  March 1, 2001

• Account Dracula

  August 24, 2000

• Tourists Trapped

  December 10, 1998

• Pablo Escobar, Other OC Tax Delinquents Snared

  Pablo Escobar, now dead and probably not of Huntington Beach.The LA Times reports today that Burt Reynolds, Dionne Warwick and Sinbad are among the 250 folks who owe $143 million in back taxes, according to the California Franchise Tax Board's list of the top state tax delinquents.Orange County may not have the same celebrity firepower on the list. I mean, come on, LA's got Sinbad! However, our contingent of dodgers does include  a prominent Laguna Niguel attorney who went after the assets

  April 10, 2009

• Even Swanky Hotel Owners Can't Afford Their Mortgage

  Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a San Clemente-based real estate investment trust, will default on the June mortgage payment for its swanky W Hotel San Diego property and turn over the 258-room downtown hotel to lenders, after failing to lower interest payments.The hotel has been hurt by "significant and continuing deterioration in demand for luxury lodging" as well as the opening of luxury boutique hotels nearby, Sunstone officials say in their Sunday announcement carried by the Associated Press

  June 8, 2009

• Comedy Juice College Night

  January 10, 2008

• Thinking Outside the Box for a Cal State Education

  At 7:31 a.m. on the KTLA Morning News, reporter Jennifer Gould was at Cal State Long Beach talking with Students for Quality Education members who'd been camped out since 5 p.m. Sunday to protest tuition and fee increases university board members may implement Tuesday afternoon. To counter a $580 million systemwide deficit, the board is considering enrollment freezes at all 23 Cal State campuses and, after having already raised student fees 10 percent in May, increasing them

  July 20, 2009

• Gettin' Made: Craft Workshop Wednesday at The Kids are Alright

  Crayon Fawns by, you guessed it, Crayon FawnIf you don't have plans Wednesday night and are tired of the summer re-runs on tv, you should make haste for The Kids Are Alright in downtown Long Beach. Kim Kessler, owner of bridal boutique Kiki's Originals, will be teaching a do-it-yourself leather cuff workshop and it's not to be missed!

  July 20, 2009

• AG Jerry Brown Goes After OC Mortgage Loan Modifiers

  AG Jerry Brown and his suede-denim secret police are coming after OC loan modification companies. ​ California Attorney General Jerry Brown is cracking down on 133 Orange County-based home loan modifiers, reports Orange County Register "Mortgage Insider" Matthew Padilla. Anyone who read Clockwork's Welcome to the Poorhouse: Problem Makers Become "Solvers"--which was about loan companies and officers who helped facilitate the mortgage meltdown now being in the business of helping modify the loa

  August 13, 2009

• Consumer Confidence Reports Reach Opposite Conclusions

  ​According to Associated Press economics writer Chrstopher S. Rugaber, "Consumer sentiment rose more than expected in August and expectations hit the highest level since the recession began, indications that Americans' pessimism about the economy may be lifting."Rugaber cites findings from the New York-based Conference Board that show the Consumer Confidence index rose to 54.1 from an upwardly revised 47.4 in July. Economists had expected a slight increase to 47.5.That seems to fly in the face

  August 25, 2009

• Rally Tonight Opposes Obama and Town-Hall Criers in Health-Care Debate

  All for one and one for OC Healthcare for All.​OC Healthcare for All and other groups peeved about the current health-care debate march to the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in downtown Santa Ana tonight and rally in support of the following message:Both sides--the ones personified by President Barack Obama and town-hall protesters--are dead wrong about how to cure our ailing health-care system.

  September 14, 2009

• Heath Insurance or Bust: Why You Might Want to Think Twice About Relying on that Student Health Plan

   ​They are nicknamed the "Young Invincibles." Thus tagged by the health insurance industry, they are the demographic of strapping 19- to 29-year-olds who, at 13.7 million strong, constitute the largest group of uninsured in America. Among the least likely to be able to afford coverage, Young Invincibles are more likely not to buy iinsurance for another reason: it simply has not crossed their minds.But what happens when an uninsured student's blurry vision is suddenly diagnosed to be the o

  October 22, 2009

• Comedy Juice College Night

  October 29, 2009