Travel Safety, and The Continuing €uro Saga

By Jamie Douglas
If you are reading this, while getting ready to take a trip on the world’s largest aircraft, the Airbus A-380, you can do one of three things:1.       Keep reading and call me a paranoiac2.      Stop reading and ignore the article3.      Read this then immediately re-book onto a different  type of aircraft (suggested)It was exactly two weeks ago that I alerted my readers to a problem concerning cracks in the ribs of this airborne behemoth. Now come new warnings, this time issued by EADS, the parent company of Airbus, announcing that in all probability, by the week’s end or early next week, the European Air Safety Agency (EASA) will issue directives to the type operators requiring more frequent inspection cycles and repair/replacement guidelines for the affected parts, which are apparently used on every hull manufactured so far.The total wing surface of the Airbus-380 is 18,212 sq ft, with a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 590 metric tons, or about 1,298,000 pounds. That is equal to a static load of 71.27 pounds per square foot, with the wings constantly flexing, particularly during takeoff runs and unstable weather conditions.These cracks appearing in relatively new models on a very critical part of the wing are significant in more ways than one. The parts affected are L-shaped support brackets that hold the ribs of the wings to the skin. Each of the 60 ribs has between 30 and 40 of these brackets, measuring about 8 inches each. In my opinion, the failure of one of those ribs could lead to a catastrophic chain of events, where the wing of an affected aircraft will disintegrate while in flight. Just my opinion, mind you!EADS spokesperson Stefan Schaffrath confirmed the findings, stressing that it has only been found on “a handful of aircraft” and that the cracks have been found “in non-critical parts!” I am so relieved to find that the EADS spokesperson finds the wings to be non-critical.Carlo Ponzi, the Italian dishwasher who conned so many people out of their savings, would be so proud to know that those running the world’s economies today borrowed very heavily from his early success. To his credit, his scheme involved taking money from new investors to pay off old ones, Bernie Madoff style. While both Carlo and Bernie went to prison, the mechanics of the schemes have become incorporated into the way a modern capitalist society finances its unaffordable lifestyle by constantly refinancing its debt and accumulated interest, in the process creating new unearned wealth on paper and in computers. This system, known as “The Great Scam” to me, is a self-perpetuating doomsday machine, which will eventually bring down even the greatest industrial nations, such as Germany, China, and California. The big difference between the private Ponzi scheme and institutional debt and is that the victims are just plain stupid and greedy in the former, while we are all semi-unwilling victims in the latter.After a country has been completely bankrupted and it’s time to pay the piper, those responsible just leave office and move to a secret service guarded compound near Dallas, pretending that nothing is wrong. Blame the predecessor or successor! That scenario of course is not unique to the U.S. It has since repeated itself in Italy, Greece, and Spain, with many other aspirants. The sad fact is that our so-called leaders can never be held accountable for all the fiscal fraud they perpetrated, with the willing assistance of their victims, of course. We all wanted to feel the power and wealth that our nations projected. And hardly anyone cared that we were leaving a disastrous mess for our descendants, for generations to come. Europe could not wait to follow the self-destructive behavior of the U.S., which has since become a global financial disaster in waiting. Emerging nations like the BRIC’s (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) immediately followed the example the moment they started to have large GNP’s. It followed, of course, that the bigger your GNP, the more you could borrow against it; and they did.I have previously compared Europe’s economy to a snowball, and it is that more so now than ever before: During this year, European banks will have to come up with about €725 billion, with more than one third of that, €280 billion coming due in the first three months of 2012. Unable to secure the required amounts from the private equity sector, they are now on life support by way of the European Central Bank (ECB), which is creating billions out of nothing by merely adding a few zeros here and there in the computers while acquiring almost worthless bonds from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece, with others yet to pop up on the horizon.The €440 billion bailout fund is insufficient to cover the accumulating negative wealth. €159 billion have already been earmarked for Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, and now the Euro finance ministers decided to “leverage” that fund, in other words, to borrow more against that which they have borrowed. Italy will have to cough up €160 billion in the first four months, with a total of €300 billion to come due in all of 2012 while suffering more downgrades and rising basis points for their cost to borrow those zeros (100 basis points=1%).The United States alone, with a hopelessly deadlocked partisan congress, owes its creditors $15 trillion, more than one quarter of all of the nation’s debt combined, which currently stands at about $55 trillion.Who is to lead the world out of this mess? Will it be the first nation to start another major war to stimulate the economy? The simple fact is that the United State’s GDP is about equal to its debt; ...so all that hard work since the end of the depression has left the country with nothing?While the populace at large is now complaining about the current state of affairs, not much was heard from the electorate when huge capital outlays were being made, which benefited their regions by creating hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs, allowing the average citizen to get as much credit as they needed for their self immolation. Mission accomplished![image: Carlo Ponzi, via Wikipedia]I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.comSee more expat articles by Jamie at

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