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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.






5/29/17

Egregious travesty of legislation



Once again, the Deep State seems bent upon disregarding our cherished Bill Of Rights. The congressional legislation called the "Patriot Act" has effectively over-ruled entire portions of our rights as citizens.

Forty-five days after 2001's 9/11 attacks, president George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, but Americans only learned of the anti-terrorism law's full consequences 12 years later through Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations.

Congressional debate was hurried, and many lawmakers acknowledged they did not read the text. The House of Representatives voted 357 for and 66 against the law, while the Senate approved it 98-1.

In June 2013, Snowden revealed the extent of the metadata program to the world. Several US lawmakers had been briefed on the secret operations of the bill, but many expressed outrage. That "expressed outrage" has done little to amend this egregious travesty of North American legislation thus far.