'Meeting of Minds' With Col. Qaddafi; Moorlach's Warning

Omar Turbi, chief executive of international chip-and-aviation-devices distributor Orbit Systems in Newport Beach, returned recently from 10 days in Libya. The first visit to his homeland in 27 years included an extraordinary 95-minute meeting with Col. Muammar Qaddafi, who had imprisoned Omar's dissident older brother Omran Turbi, for 18 years. Omar said Qaddafi looked healthy, but was more subdued than the gun-toting revolutionary who lectured Omar and other students three decades ago. As they leaned over a table to examine photographs, Omar said he found his head touching that of the "untouchable" Libyan leader-"It was a meeting of minds, I guess." Omar said his brother, a surgeon who was freed in 2001, is rebuilding his Libyan medical practice. Although a critic of the Qaddafi regime, Omar also has long advocated-including in testimony before the U.S. Congress-improved relations with Libya and eased trade sanctions. That might help to explain why the Libyan government treated him like a visiting dignitary. Does Turbi see future business opportunities for Orbit in Libya? "It's hard to say" ... Celebrity watch: Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett hanging out in Emerald Bay, Adam Sandier and Rosanne Barr (separately) at Harbor DeJi in Dana Point ... The plan by a majority of county supes to increase public employee pensions in lieu of hiking wages has OC Treasurer John Moorlach predicting another financial train wreck. "The claim that it will be cost-neutral is an obvious fallacy. The immediate up-front cost is $300 million," says the man whose warnings of the OC bankruptcy went unheeded. "It's ironic that while the private sector is eliminating defined benefit plans, the public sector is piling on massive benefits." Adds taxpayer watchdog Reed Royalty, "This contract doesn't make sense" ... Ernie Schneider has left engineering firm Hunsaker & Associates to become a VP for surfing buddy Craig Atkins' land brokerage O'Donnell/Atkins ... Bryan Murphy of TriEqua Pension Services and the OC Forum, is 50 ... New arrival for Jennie Reiff and hubbie OC Fire Capt. Steve Miller: Elias Stephen Miller, checking in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces, same birth weight as his grandpa EE RR.