Sabtu, 18 Februari 2012
In what may be excellent news for U.S. expats and other holders of U.S. dollars, Standard and Poor’s rating service on Friday downgraded nine nations of the Euro common currency zone. Most important of them all is France, which has been in the crosshairs of the ratings agencies for several months now, so much so that when the actual downgrade came, it almost seemed like a relief. Austria also lost its precious AAA rating, like the U.S. did last August, and Slovakia, Malta, and Slovenia were downgraded by one notch each while Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, and Spain lost two marks each. This singular action by the ratings agency probably most responsible for the U.S. mess created when they gave AAA ratings to what essentially were junk bonds sold by the Lizard of Lies, Angelo Mozillo, of Countrywide Mortgage Company, and his unindicted but willing Wall Street co-conspirators, will have widespread consequences for the future of the financial outlook of not just Europe, but the entire world, while temporarily helping to stabilize the dollar. Furthermore, S&P gives most of the European currency zone nations a very negative outlook, stating that not enough is being done to improve the outlook and that more than likely the nations affected will face further downgrades as their aging and spoiled populations will tire of the austerity measures imposed on them.Spain will have to suffer huge setbacks in the artificial prosperity that was created out of thin air and currently is still rated A, in spite of having lost two points from AA minus. The Iberian nation’s new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stated on Saturday that “the government I preside over knows what it has to do to improve Spain’s reputation to grow and create employment!” I wish him the best of luck! I always wonder why there are certain politicians, such as Rajoy and U.S. President Obama, that are so willing to take the helm of a sinking ship of state after the previous captain has recklessly run it aground, perhaps (let’s hope) not deliberately, but certainly with a flair for lack of skill.As if the above was not enough bad news for a Friday the 13th, I also saw a black cat crossing under a ladder being used for the removal of a broken mirror, said ladder sitting smack across a crack in the sidewalk, occupied by the antichrist of the day – yeah you know who! I of course immediately withdrew from life as I knew it, came and sat in front of my computers, waiting for the Russian satellite re-entry to destroy the world with all the tons of hydrazine as well as enough plutonium to kill the entire population of Uranus. The Phobos Grunt did re-enter, but fortunately landed way off the coast of Chile in the abundant waters between New Zealand and Chile. It re-entered sometime before 13:00 hrs ET, or 18:00 hrs GMT. (I am using the 24 hour clock merely to show off how smart I am.)Then there is the too big to fail principle. We have all learned, the hard way, I might add, that certain things were “too big to fail;” things like the financial institutions that had created about US$50 trillion worth of wealth on paper only, sending the public and private sectors as well as individuals on spending frenzies like drunken house flippers. With all that money being freed up by refinancing millions of mortgages, the (thought they) haves lit out on an unprecedented buying spree that included luxurious vacations and cruises with the entire family, so that suddenly cruise lines had to go into overdrive to build bigger and more luxurious as well as more youth-oriented cruise liners where you would find all the modern amenities to entertain the families blowing their short lived fortunes on the bigger and better “unsinkable” Titanics being built in record times at shipyards from Finland to Italy’s Sistra Ponente, Fincantieri shipyards. This time it was named Costa Concordia, to be owned and operated until 21:00 hrs local time, when it hit a submerged rock formation off of Italy’s charming Isola del Giglio, slit it’s double hull wide open, and within a very short period of time rolled over and died right there on the rocks while the over 4200 souls on board struggled to get off the sinking and dangerously listing vessel. As is usual with Greek and Italian ships, the captain and first officer of the ship left before all passengers were saved, to coordinate the rescue from land I guess, and maybe change into some non-white clothing (to hide the embarrassing stains).Unfortunately there have been fatalities and many injuries, as well as a number of people still missing. I am glad that the outcome was not as disastrous as it could have been, while lamenting the loss of life. The vessel was at the time of its launching the largest Italian Cruise ship ever built, 952 feet long with a beam of 116.5 feet. The ship is owned by Costa Cruise Lines, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.By late Sunday night, the Costa Cruise Line Company rightfully threw their captain under the bus, issuing a statement declaring that significant errors had led to the sinking of the vessel on Friday. In a statement release by Costa Cruises late on Sunday, Italian time, they revealed that “… the route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and that the captain’s judgment and behavior in handling the emergency ‘appears’ to not have followed standard Costa procedures.”The captain, Francesco Schettino meanwhile is in police custody, charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship while passengers were still on board. From the looks of it, there are a whole lot of people in Europe who should have checked the calendar before making plans, and that includes the over 500 million living the European Union.[image: Costa Concordia Disaster, 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 atView the original article here
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By Jamie DouglasOn the same day, January 6, 2012 there appeared in the Telegraph from London two articles, one touting the great life in Hong Kong, while the other bemoans the fact that so many expats are leaving the big former British enclave in China because of a lack of schools. The number of British expatriates arriving in the former crown colony has more than doubled in the last two years, leading to shortages from housing, to schooling, to parking, and a general reduction in the quality of life. The number of U.S. citizens arriving there is only about half of the number of British expats, but combine all the anglophiles and other European immigrants arriving in this crowded space, many of them bringing with them families, and you can certainly see where there is a crunch in the spaces available in the preferred schools to prospective pupils. While the availability of spaces in higher quality schools has remained relatively stable at in the mid 30,000 pupil range, many highly rated schools have seen a large increase in applications from all the newcomers by up to 50%, a situation which, in spite of the high salaries and benefits earned by expats, has created family situations where either the mother and children remove themselves back to their native lands, effectively splitting the family unit, or the entire family unit repatriates back to a withering economy, in other words, not just back to square one, but to a place they abandoned with glee, selling all their belongings, but now having to start all over again like newlyweds, minus all the presents, and with one or more kids.There is of course another solution. Since you obviously will not be the only ones in that situation, pooled homeschooling is a very viable, attractive, and affordable option. My own daughter in the 1970’s suffered from nomadic parentage, but we realized early on that she needed to be taught a good curriculum in the very necessary essentials of education that she could not get in the little one-room country schools in the backwaters of the world. After searching out several home schooling programs that were advertising themselves in the back of National Geographic Magazine, there was only one logical choice left. The Calvert School is a comprehensive, accredited, non-denominational correspondence school that is now well over one hundred years old.After recently recommending this venerated institution to a friend, she opted to enroll her child in it, and I must say, we are all amazed at the depth of instruction provided. Neither Expat Daily News nor I receive any compensation from this endorsement, but if you find yourself in Hong-Kong or Timbuktu, you will be glad to know that they exist.Now about once a month or so, I find these purpose driven lists of “the best places in the universe to live!” And usually they are created by multinational real estate or relocation services trying to make the places they are invested in look like a Shangri-la. Take the current list in the Telegraph produced by Sotheby’s International Realty, where they are suggesting that a reasonable unit to rent in their number one rated city, Hong Kong, will cost you £5000-6000 to rent for a month, and that is for an apartment on a lower floor (not desirable, not enough prestige but good views into thine neighbors’ private lives) will start out at £800,000 and go up to £1.25 million for a more desirable floor level. #3 is the area around Auckland New Zealand #6 Maui, Hawaii, (But they feature a picture of Waikiki)And rounding it out at # 10 is Cape Town. Needless to say, your friendly real estate professionals in all these locations will try to sell you your dream home. Better yet, stay home and send me the money, and I will go there and send you frequent updates on all the problems to be confronted, from hurricanes to crime to the real cost of living to lack of schools. Just please press the PayPal donate button conveniently located on this site, and I will make sure to keep you updated.Where I will make a deal with the devil to keep from going to Buenos Aires 
