Lögberg-Heimskringla - 30.05.2003, Qupperneq 1

Week at a glance
The names of the participants in
this year’s Snorri Group are
announced Page 3
lceland is researching apple trees
that wil flourish
Page 5
Friday, 30 May, 2003 • Number 19 / Númer 19 • Föstudagur, 30 Maí, 2003
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
www.logberg.com
PAP Registration no. 08000
Agreement no. 14Q2161
117th year /117. Árgangur ISSN 0047-4967
President
of Iceland
Mames
PHOTO COURTESY OF MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
Prime Minister Davíð
Oddsson greets President
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
and Dorritt Moussaieff at
the City Theatre on the
occasion of the
President’s 60th birthday
On May 14th, 2003,
the President of
Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar
Grímsson celebrated his
sixtieth birthday. The
President received guests
at the City Theatre,
Borgarleikhúsið in the the-
atre foyer. A programme
and reception followed.
Later in the evening,
Guðmundur Sophusson,
sýslumaður in Hafnar-
fjörður, performed the
marriage ceremony for
Ólafur Ragnar and Dorritt
Moussaieff, his fiancée
since May 2000.
The ceremony took
place at the Presidential
residence at Bessastaðir.
The only guests present
were close members of
Ólafur Ragnar’s family.
Information from Iceland
daily news and
Morgunblaðið websites.
Davíð hættir á næsta ári og Halldór tekur við
Davíð Will Quit Next Year and Halldór Will Take Over
PHOTO BY JiM SMART/MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
Davíð Oddsson, Leader of
The Independence Party
Davíð Oddsson, Prime
Minister of Iceland says
that on September 15th, 2004
he will resign as the Prime
Minister, and will take on
responsibility for some other
ministry. The leader of the
Progressive Party, Halldór
Ásgrímsson, who has been
Minister of Foreign Affairs for
several years, will take over as
Prime Minister at that time.
Following the election, the
Independence Party, headed by
Davíð, and the Progressive
Party, headed by Halldór, met to
make arrangements for the for-
mulation of a government.
Although the Alliance Party
received the largest percentage
of votes, the Independence
Party followed by a very slim
margin. The Progressive Party
ran third.
In speaking with reporters
following the Independence
Party meeting, Davíð said, “The
parties have worked together
very well for eight years and are
beginning another four year
term. It is clear thafthe leader of
the Progressive Party has
served, with much distinction,
as a minister for sixteen years.
He has worked in many min-
istries and has a lot of experi-
ence. We feel it is a reasonable
argument that, after such a
lengthy and trustworthy collab-
oration, that the other ruling
party,, should also have the
opponunity to enjoy the same
paramount trust as the leader of
the Independence Party has
enjoyed,” said Davíð.
Following the Progressive
Party meeting, Halldór
Ásgrímsson said that as Prime
Minister he would first and
foremost stress those matters
emphasized in the new agree-
ment between the two.. parties,
to maintain the stability of and
PHOTO BY JIM SMART/MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
Halldór Ásgrímsson, Leader
of The Progressive Party
build up the Icelandic econo-
my and the Icelandic welfare
system.
Both parties accepted the
agreement, which was present-
ed at tlieir meetings on May
21st.
Information from Morgunblaðið, Á. H.
Icelandic National League of North America Future Directions
The debate was very enthusiastic. There seems to be a shared genetic make-up among people of Icelandic ancestry
that they need to argue about a point before there can be acceptance.
Alot can be said for the 84th
annual convention of the
Icelandic National League of
North America that was held in
Edmonton in the beginning of
May. The weather was not
great, but the criticism can end
there. The Fantasyland Hotel
venue was terrific, the hospital-
ity was superb and the organiz-
ing committee arranged for
some excellent presentations
and entertainment. The con-
vention was special for another
reason. It was the forum for a
presentation on a new direction
for the INL/NA.
A committee had been
struck at the 2002 convention to
look at organization and review
its goals, structure and function.
The Future Directions process
was chaired by First Vice-
President, Paul Westdal. With
his committee, he prepared a set
of questions to be addressed.
Throughout the fall and winter
of 2002-2003 members of the
committee crisscrossed the con-
tinent, meeting with the various
clubs and chapters. The com-
mittee members used the ques-
tions as a standard for leading
the discussions at each site. In
that way, each organization was
asked the same questions and
the committee were able to
evaluate the responses based on
a standard template.
After summarizing the
responses of all the discussion
sessions, the committee estab-
lished a set of fifteen recom-
mendations. These were pre-
sented to the assembly for reso-
lution at the 2003 Convention.

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W \ ' \

PHOTO BY ROBERT ASGEIRSSON
Paul Westdal, Chair of the
INL/NA Future Directions
Committee
As it is with all issues facing a
group of independent-minded
people, the debate was very
enthusiastic. There seems to be
a shared genetic make-up
among people of Icelandic
ancestry that they need to argue
about a point before there can
be acceptance.
The animated debate saw
many assembly members stand
up to made known their views.
Time ran out. Rather than cut
off debate, a special meeting
was called to continue the dis-
cussion. The-very tight-packed
agenda left only early, early
moming for a special meeting.
Delegates proved their concem
for the future of the INL/NA by
showing up in droves for the
7:00 am special meeting called
for Saturday morning. They
resumed the debate from where
it had beeri left the day before,
and by 9:00 am when the main
program resumed, the voices
had all been heard. Comments
on the recommendations were
taken into account and several
of the recommendations were
revised before the assembly was
satisfied with the direction. The
ratification vote was presented
at the Sunday business meeting
and passed by the delegates.
Please see Icelandic National
League on Page 5
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag