*Written by Weekly intern and UCI New University student paper managing editor David Nicolas...

The UC Irvine Anteaters baseball team put down the Fresno Bulldogs in the first game of the Irvine NCAA regional playoff series, edging the 'Dogs 4-2. UCI's starting pitcher Daniel Bibona quieted Fresno's pingy metal bats and put in seven and two-thirds innings of work, giving up just five hits and striking out 14 batters. It was Bibona-mination!
 
This is UCI's third-straight appearance in the College World Series regional tournament and the first time it has hosted one. The team was ranked number one at the end of the regular season, holding on to the spot longer than any other team this year. The team's performance wasn't enough for the big name-favoring NCAA, which gave Texas the number one seed in the tournament. For most of this season, the 'Eaters have gotten no love from anyone, not those hacks on ESPN, not the County, not even the student population. Yes, ESPN cameras were there last night, but it focused on the matinee match up that featured Virginia and San Diego State. San Diego fireball thrower Stephan Strasburg's golden arm was not enough for the Aztecs as they dropped a game. But, according to those "sports analysts," a big name loser is all a top highlight video needs. The success of a number one team? Not so much.
 
Last night's victory for UCI, though, was a testament to how baseball is supposed to be played, a reputation that the program has built ever since its 2002 resurrection. UCI stayed patient at the plate, laid down the bunt when it had to, made clean defensive plays, and most importantly, got the clutch hits. So, in good Anteater fashion, here are some zot highlights. Why zot you say? Because it's the sound an anteater makes when it sticks its tongue out, silly.

Zot 1: Bulldog fans hiding in embarrassment after UCI scored four runs with two outs in the fourth inning.

Zot 2: Some drunk ex-'Eater player talk about getting cut from the team, and then seeing him share the same sob story to a fellow female fan. He got her name, but not her phone number.

Zot 3: The gigantic "Thank God I'm an Anteater" banner hung on the parking structure next to the ballpark in all of its gold-and-blue glory.

Final Zot: Hearing a 13-year-old UCI fan say he had post-game plans with the mother of an obnoxiously upset Bulldog after Fresno lost. Your mother raised you right, kid.

UCI will play Virginia tonight at 8 p.m.

For some reason, your blogger spent half an hour yesterday purposefully getting yelled at by Orange County elected officials. The cause was Save Your City, a nifty-looking website that aims to stop the state government from diverting funds from municipalities to shore up the budget.

They've got a gallery of YouTube videos, featuring city council members across the state ranting into the camera about why Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to get away from city coffers. Most of the videos are essentially the same: 10-40 seconds of an uncomfortably angry middle-aged local politician telling off state lawmakers. Officials in Tustin, Lake Forest, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley and San Juan Capistrano are among the municipalities signed up to participate so far.

A stellar example is Tustin Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Amante's uncanny impersonation of Larry H. Parker:



I say this stuff provides a perfect excuse to get schwasted. So here's a game. Go to the Orange County section of the website. Start watching videos. Take one drink anytime the following occurs:

- The speaker in the video references the state legislature's "hands."
- The video brings back painful childhood memories of livid parents fighting in the kitchen.
- You are overwhelmed with a feeling of hopelessness when it dawns on you that Grover Norquist's dream of starving the government of funds until it was so small you could "drown it in a bathtub" is frighteningly close to becoming reality.

In other words, just drink. All the time. Maybe when you come out of your stupor, Arnold will no longer be threatening to end all welfare payments in the state, and Jerry Amante's mustache will have stopped haunting your nightmares.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Yeah yeah yeah, it's a Long Beach thing, but look where the Museum Express bus, which starts running June 2, goes this year: the Bowers Museum; California Science Center; Museum of Natural History; Getty Museum; Getty Villa; Griffith Park Observatory; Hollywood Museum; Huntington Library and Gardens; Descanso Gardens; Laguna Art Museum and Festival of the Arts; Los Angeles County Arboretum; Mission San Juan Capistrano; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Norton Simon Museum; and Skirball Cultural Center.

A lot of those are in Orange County! The brochure for the bus isn't available at the moment for some reason (hey Long Beach, fix your links!), but it looks like rides cost $7 and you can register by mail ahead of time. Call the Long Beach Transit at 562-591-2301 for more info.

Hat tip to Seal Beach Daily for cluing us in.

On Feb. 21, FBI agents arrested Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, an Afghan immigrant, and charged him with lying about his brother-in-law's status as an alleged Al Qaeda terrorist. A few days later, Craig Monteilh, a convicted con artist, held a press conference to announce that he was an FBI informant and had helped the FBI bust Niazi. Over the next few months, Monteilh made numerous claims in published articles--including this one in the Weekly--asserting that he had been recruited by the FBI to snoop out terrorists at the Islamic Center of Irvine (ICOI), the very mosque where two years ago, an FBI assistant director promised that the bureau would never do any such thing.

Until he stepped forward to take credit for the Niazi arrest, Monteilh's only claim to fame was being reported to the FBI by the ICOI for making terrorist threats. (He later served several months in prison for grand theft). So far, the FBI--which did acknowledge that Monteilh had provided a tape recording of Niazi praising Osama bin Laden as an "angel"--has refused to confirm or deny Monteilh's claims that he was a highly-paid informant who helped the bureau stymie terrorist attacks in Orange County. Meanwhile, ICOI officials have also refused to comment, citing Monteihl's legal effort to have the mosque's restraining order against him lifted. (A judge recently vacated the restraining order after Monteilh signed a voluntary agreement not to go near the mosque).

Although ICOI has passed on interview requests from the LA Times, Associated Press, Al Jazeera and CNN, yesterday two of its officials, Imam Sadullah Khan, the mosque's religious director, and Asim Khan, an ICOI executive council member, agreed to an exclusive interview with the Weekly. In a two-hour interview, which was also attended by ICOI's attorney, Omar Siddiqui, ICOI officials provided an in-depth account of Monteilh's appearance at the mosque, his conversion to Islam and the complaints that other congregants eventually made about him, complaints that ultimately led ICOI to report Monteilh to the FBI and Irvine Police Department for making terrorist threats.


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Gustavo's always ragging on Laguna Niguel as being the lamest city in the county. I live in a neighboring town, and I gotta say, it's not so bad. Laguna Niguel has some good fast food!

Real people do live in Laguna Niguel, and they do like it. How do we know? Twitter, duh. Here's a not-so-random sampling of recent tweets re: LN. Let's see what we can learn.

Less one: It's pretty.

SimplyJavi Good morning my lil twitters... Such a beautiful day in the hills of Laguna Niguel :)

alieinna What I love about Laguna Niguel is that you can hear birds chirping outside at all times.

ljmorefield Gorgeous day in Laguna Niguel...cool breeze, sun coming out from the morning fog. And Golf today!

Lesson two: These people like their burritos.

djchuang: yes! Chipotle coming closer to me neck of the hills (Laguna Niguel) this September http://bit.ly/T2dg

 
Lesson three:  Ok, actually, this is less of a lesson than a question. Why would our mom's generation's premier lesbian comic ever perform somewhere off Moulton Parkway?

KimFBlevins @TheEllenShow Ellen, can you come to Laguna Niguel in Orange County??

Lesson four: A plurality of the Twitter mentions of Laguna Niguel are in connection to the St. Regis Laguna Niguel -- which is actually in Dana Point.

JonetteJordan I knew this question was coming. Not married, but if I were 2 get married..hands down The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel! My fav location EVER!

Lesson five: The official Laguna Niguel Twitter account (LagunaNiguelCA) is crazy proactive. Whoever runs it is quick to message new followers, retweet positive mentions of the city and pimp out info about the new anti-mooning ordinance.

LagunaNiguelCA @KimFBlevins @theEllenShow We think thats a great idea!

LagunaNiguelCA RT @timebandit: Dog walking in Crown Valley Community Park, Laguna Niguel is always fun. (Thanks! What other parks in LN do you like?!)

LagunaNiguelCA @CapoDispatch - thanks for spreading the word on the new ordinances for the mooning event! more info can be found on our website as well!

Lesson six: Aww, dreams come true in Laguna Niguel.

RayStendall Am very happy that I found a great house to live in Laguna Niguel 5 miles from the ocean...so happy what a house! OC here we come

Lesson seven: As is the case with all boring places, residents liven things up with libations.

ssoun126 Friends inviting to laguna niguel for another nite of drinking. I'm fucking tired butvim also bored- what to do what to do.

Final lesson: There are... drawbacks.


drewrx Laguna niguel....so ghetto, I cud die.

In anticipation of the Barrio History Symposium held this Saturday morning at Golden West College by the Orange County Mexican American Historical Society (I'll lecture on the 1936 Citrus War), here's a blast from the county's Mexican-hating past. From the Sept. 6, 1918 Los Angeles Times:

Ask a Mexican to work, and if he refuses, arrest him. That sentiment, promulgated by [Orange County] Dist.-Atty. L.A. West and Sheriff C.E. Jackson, has been O.K'd by a labor investigating committee of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce also proposed this be a statewide measure, but haven't done the research yet to see if this idea went anywhere--oh, wait, cheap Mexican labor has been the state's main engine since time immemorial...

And now, the Simpsons in Spanish!

Is it just me, or does this commercial make the Anaheim Abilites Expo look kind of cool?



I mean, a dude in a wheelchair flips off a half pipe!

The event starts today at 11:30 a.m. and runs through Sunday. It's intended for anyone in the "disabled community," including caregivers, vendors and people with disabilities. But... it's free, and there's a "wheelchair lacrosse" demonstration. Sounds a little bit like the totally crazy sport of wheelchair rugby that starred in 2005's acclaimed Murderball documentary. I don't know why you wouldn't want to witness that in person, even if you're not in the market for a new mobility-enhancement device.

Plus: wheelchair fencing, soccer, dancing and tennis demonstrations are on the schedule. Could be a recession-proof way to spend an afternoon. Details here.

This could be nothing, but the media-watching folks at The Atlantic and Gawker seem to think it very well could be something big. The executives of the nation's top newspaper companies -- Register-owning, Irvine-based Freedom Communications among them -- met yesterday in Chicago to talk about the future of their troubled industry.

The Atlantic's James Warren writes:

Here's a story the newspaper industry's upper echelon apparently kept from its anxious newsrooms: A discreet Thursday meeting in Chicago about their future.

"Models to Monetize Content" is the subject of a gathering at a hotel which is actually located in drab and sterile suburban Rosemont, Illinois; slabs of concrete, exhibition halls and mostly chain restaurants, whose prime reason for being is O'Hare International Airport. It's perfect for quickie, in-and-out conclaves.

There's no mention on its website but the Newspaper Association of America, the industry trade group, has assembled top executives of the New York Times, Gannett, E. W. Scripps, Advance Publications, McClatchy, Hearst Newspapers, MediaNews Group, the Associated Press, Philadelphia Media Holdings, Lee Enterprises and Freedom Communication Inc., among more than two dozen in all.

The conference reportedly includes presentations about charging online aggregators for the news they appropriate from newspapers, and about charging for access to online news.

As horrible as the idea sounds to anyone accustomed to reading newspapers from all over the world on the internet without paying a dime, there's a substantial contingent of industry-watchers who believe that newspapers made a fatal mistake in the 1990s by making their content available for free.

And Gawker points out that the only way for a switch to an online pay model to actually succeed would be for most of the industry's competing news sources to do it at the same time. This meeting might be a step in that direction. Or maybe not.

Lee

The American media is abuzz and aTwittering with reports about how an Anaheim woman who calls herself the Rev. Brenda Lee was removed from LAX this morning after she tried to give President Barack Obama a letter about her opposition to gay marriage. All reported she calls herself a Catholic priestess; the Orange County Register interviewed Lee, who said she's aligned with St. Julia Falconieri in Fullerton and that there's 60 such priestesses worldwide. None reported on what a harmful lunatic she is.

Proof? Try to read through this column. One excerpt:

On what grounds does Rev. Lee speak for GOD? Her credentials out weigh that of Benedict XVI and every other Christian, or religious leader in the world. They have not heard the VOICE of GOD and they do not have the gift of prophecy or healing. None are willing to meet her face to face and call upon the name of GOD, as of the days of old because they know that she ranks with John the Baptist and Saint Peter.

CU-CKOO! CU-CKOO! CU-CKOO! She also claims that former Diocese of Orange Bishop Norman McFarland refused to allow her to become a priest, a claim as believable as that McFarland was friendly to sex-abuse survivors.

The worst part about this is that Lee, by virtue of her actions, has just defamed a great group. There are about 60 Catholic women who call themselves priests loyal to the Vatican. They belong to an organization called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Lee is not listed among their members and didn't mention them by name, but it's apparent it's this group, as it's the most prominent such organization in Catholicism. Lee also says a relative works in mental health; where's a big net when you need it?