Plus Letters to the Editor &
American Idol: The Durb Watch
On April 11, locals, family and friends of Bryan Stow turned up to for a successful fundraiser at El Palomar in Downtown Santa Cruz. ($20,000 was raised.) The cantina and taco bar in the restaurant were packed and good wishes were extended to the local paramedic who was severly beaten by two men outside of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles several weeks ago. Stow suffered severe head injuries and was placed in a medically induced coma. Take note of a growing Facebook presence in Stow’s honor—“Our Prayers Are With Bryan Stow” or “Bryan Stow Family Relief” to learn more about how to pitch in and/or give support. A fund has also been set up at cuswirl.com.
As we move ahead into the weekend and that latter part of April—hard to believe—there’s plenty of upcoming events about to be unleashed. Hitting the top of the list is the Santa Cruz Film Festival, which kicks off May 5. It’s the 10th season of the fest, so expect some great parties and a fine crop of films. The opening night film, in fact, should capture your attention. Dubbed Prairie Love, the story unravels in North Dakota’s frozen plains and revolves around three people searching for love in the most curious ways. Think Coen Brothers or Wes Anderson. Catch up on all the film fest fodder at santacruzfilmfest.org.
But first, beginning April 21, is National Dance Week. Anybody that’s witnessed this passionate experience already knows what they’re in for—dance, yes, but truly riveting entertainment. The week is filled with many public performances, and local giants like Santa Cruz Dance and Motion Pacific, which are settling nicely in their new digs over at The Mill, in Santa Cruz, offers a slew of dance classes. Stay tuned for more updates. Meanwhile, go online and check out the complete schedule: santacruzdance.com/national.html.
Beyond that, there’s this week’s cover story, which certainly is a mindbender of sorts. Writer Damon Orion chats with local scribe—and “explorer” really—David Jay Brown, whose research and experience on consciousness, and more, is simply fascinating. Dive in.
Thanks for reading. More next time …
Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief
Letters to the Editor
Content? Really?
Dammit, whatever the merits of monetizable perspectives or behavioral advertising or real-time commenting, what Mr. Lamonica is talking about in his letter on the survival of newspapers (April 4), it is not “content.” Did anyone ever say “Hey, that was a great piece of content on the Huffpost today!” or “Gotta go—I have to file my content for the Times”? Possibly, but I doubt it, because no one who actually writes anything for publication thinks of it as “content.” It’s a story or an opinion or a poem or something recognizable by anyone literate enough to read it. And so long as the prophets of the new media continue to think it is content, no one who actually writes the stuff will ever pay attention.
The only “content” I actually know is material written to attract search engines. It’s commerce, yes, but it’s essentially meaningless.
Cliff Barney
Aptos
Bank Issue
Regarding the cover story on forecosures, we received the 2010 1099—a form from Wells Fargo. On the form, Wells Fargo listed Freddie Mac as our mortgage lender. After we verified with Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac confirmed in writing that our mortgage loan was not Freddie Mac’s mortgage loan.
A couple of weeks after we confronted Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo’s CFO and Freddie Mac’s COO both resigned just one day apart from each other. We highly suspect the resignations were triggered by irregularity of filings.
We are disputing that Wells Fargo originated us this fraudulent mortgage loan in 2005 and wrongfully foreclosed our home in 2010. Please refer to our fight against Wells Fargo’s mortgage origination fraud, wrongful foreclosure and predatory lending practices at our website wellsfargomortgagefraud.com.
Wells Fargo cannot lawfully originate a fraudulent mortgage loan and wrongfully foreclose a home based on the fraudulent mortgage loan in the State of Nevada under Nevada State Statute NRS 205.372.
After we presented the written email from Freddie Mac confirming that Freddie Mac was not our mortgage lender:
1. Wells Fargo first denied in its Feb. 23 letter that it falsified the 1099-A form by listing Freddie Mac as our mortgage lender.
In its Feb. 23 letter, Wells Fargo clearly stated that it found no error on its 1099-A form by listing Freddie Mac as our mortgage lender knowing that Freddie Mac has confirmed to us that Freddie Mac doesn’t own our mortgage loan. Wells Fargo also clearly stated in this letter that after it originated us a “fraudulent” mortgage loan, Wells Fargo sold our loan to a pool of investors which was managed by U.S. Bank.
2. In its March 7 letter, Wells Fargo updated its 1099-A form by changing the mortgage lender from Freddie Mac to Wells Fargo. However, in the written letter on Feb. 23, Wells Fargo has admitted that it sold our mortgage loan to a pool of investors which is managed by U.S. Bank.
Since the mortgage loan Wells Fargo originated was fraudulent and it was already sold to a pool of investors, how can Wells Fargo defraud us by issuing the 2010 1099-A form, and also defrauding all the taxpayers by writing off the taxes.
This is tax fraud upon us. This is tax fraud upon IRS and this is tax fraud upon taxpayers.
Wells Fargo refused to disclose the list of investors who owns our mortgage loan. We demand Wells Fargo to disclose the list of investors. All the investors who own our mortgage loan have rights to know the fact that Wells Fargo sold them a fraudulent mortgage loan.
It’s time to expose Wells Fargo’s predatory lending practices.
Donna & Nuno Vieira
Santa Cruz
James Durbin lives on on Idol. And our local rocker surprised many with another bold move. While other singers rocked out to sizzling songs that made Elvis or Aretha icons, Durbin went the opposite route—he sat on a stool and sang “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with hypnotic restraint. Always full of surprises, this one. Biggest jaw-dropper of the week, though, was that Pia Toscano, an amazing singer with stellar pipes, didn’t make the cut. She was sent home. But—surprise—rumors of a record deal surfaced the very next day. In the meantime, James Durbin continues to impress. Send us your thoughts and be sure to read an extended Durb Watch on Thursdays and Fridays at goodtimesantacruz.com.
