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Welcome To Vilcabamba
"The Sacred Valley of Longevity"


This Is A Privately Circulated Blog, scribbled exclusively for Friends & Familiars, that peers into and pontificates about Expat life in the hinterlands of South America. If your eyesight is less than optimal (like mine), then just click the type size up a notch on your browser..


Here you will find a series of curmudgeonly commentaries that I've posted from atop my rickety old soapbox for the past few years. And yes, there are indeed political rantings, so place your seats in the upright position and fasten your seat belts .... it may be a bumpy ride.






7/29/09

On The Beach ... again.

An allegorical tale:

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Hawaiian beach full of tourists, enjoying themselves so much that they could not ever imagine life without such a wonderful place in which to relax.

One day, an incredible thing happened. The water started to pull away from the beach out into the ocean. The beach became even more beautiful, and everyone was thankful that even more people could now enjoy the larger expanse of sand.

But, one old man had been studying what many experts had observed when the same thing happened on other beaches in years past. He tried to warn all the people that they were in danger; that the incredible thing happening was not what it appeared to be, that soon everyone could be in danger.

Everyone laughed at him, saying he was just a foolish old man and did not know what he was talking about. There had never been great danger at this beach before in their lifetimes. How could he be so negative? After all, how could he know more than all the people on the beach? Also, if they were in danger, the news media would have already warned them.

The old timer tried to tell them he had learned that throughout history there was a cause and effect pattern on every beach when this happened, and that all the people were in grave danger. But, the people insisted that this beach was different. This beach was special. This beach was only for having fun and not worrying about anything else. After all, this beach was full of people with such incredible talents, that they would most certainly be able to find a way to stop any danger of the ocean, should such exist. And in any case, wouldn't the government be there to save them, should anything really be amiss.

The old man eventually walked away with a heavy heart, having been able to convince only a handful of people that they were in danger. He hurried to the local airport, boarded an airplane that would take him far away, safe from the danger unfolding back on the beautiful Hawaiian beach where he had long made his home.

Just as he climbed his way to safety, he turned to look out the airplane's window and see the ocean let loose the full fury of its tsunami, swallowing all the people who would not listen to him. If only they had listened, he cried .

But alas ........

What about you? Are you wiling to listen to the old man? The same tsunami is threatening you and your loved ones even now Come to safety, before it is too late. Please!

And, friends, if you would like to learn more about exactly how to get to safety, click HERE .

That link will take you to my colleague David MacGregor's FREE report titled The Great Escape. Believe me, you'll be glad you did.




7/11/09

The Reading Of Joe Bageant's Screeds

OK, I'm about to get myself in a heap of trouble here. I am going to recommend that you leave this Blog of mine long enough to check out a guy who word-paints the reality of Notre Americano working class folks in essay form. It's Joe Bageant I'm talking about. You'll find him here:

http://www.joebageant.com ...... just click on the link.

And don't be put off by his populist monologues, he's worth the read just to become aware of what the other 250,000,000 of your fellow citizens are thinking about these days. So hide the women and children, pull down the shades and get REALLY risque in your reading habits. Check out Joe. Just don't blame me when you start nodding your head in agreement with Joe's dangerous outlook on life in the good ole' US of A.

7/7/09

A Different View Of Living One's Life

One of my neighbors, a wealthy retired gringo from the US, was talking to Jorge, his gardener. He asked Jorge what he did with his day, when not working for him.

The gardener said … "Well, I get up in the morning, take my boat out into the ocean and catch some fish for my breakfast. Then I go home and take a
siesta. When I wake up I come and work for you. At the end of the day, I go into the village and play some music and drink beer with my friends. Finally, I go home and make love to my wife and take my sleep."

So my neighbor said: " Wait a minute, Jorge. If you give up your nap and spend that time in your boat, you can catch even more fish. Then if you get another boat you can catch twice the haul. And with the extra income that means you can get another couple of boats, and before long you will have a whole fleet. Then you can go to the US and incorporate. If you then do an IPO, you'll have enough money to retire and come back and live here a wealthy man, like me. So how would you then live out your retirement?"

The gardener thought for a moment and replied: "Well,
, I would wake up and take my boat out into the ocean to fish, then take my siesta. Afterwards, since I no longer need to work for you, I would go into the village earlier and make music, drink some beer, then go home and make love to my wife and then take my sleep."

The neighbor said: "Wait a minute, Jorge, that's what you do now!"

Jorge smiled and replied: "
"Si, senor. So why do I need more fish?"

7/3/09

Honduras Coup ...right next door?

A few of my readers have asked if I was OK, "what with the Honduras coup taking place right next door". First, a little history lesson. Honduras is a Central American country, not South American. And the governmental structure of that very poor country is vastly different than in peaceful Ecuador. Here, the people bang pots to show their displeasure with the government, not shoot guns or set off bombs!

Another big difference is the part played, historically, by the military establishment in Honduras AND the symbiotic relationship between the military hierarchy and the United States military, which has trained most of their senior officer corps and equipped the army - supposedly as a needed bulwark against the "communist" Sandinista-led country of Nicaragua right next door. Remember the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration?

Anyway, what's currently being reported in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times is simply NOT a correct analysis of the situation. Rather than me trying to explain it, let me suggest that you go directly to original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/06/ and read the political/historical ruminations of one Justin Raimondo who will wrap this up for you in a hurry. Justin is always, despite his "antiwar" connections (or perhaps because of it) an excellent and articulate reporter of facts.

So, I'm fine, the poor beleaguered people of Honduras are not!