Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2005, Page 11

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Icelandic Racist to Sue Gov-
ernment Over Fischer Matter
Icelandic white supremacist Hlýnur
Freyr Vigfússon told Grapevine that he
plans on suing the Icelandic govern-
ment over the Bobby Fischer matter.
He contends that while he was sen-
tenced to pay 100,000 krónur or spend
10 days in jail over comments he made
during a newspaper interview in 2002,
Bobby Fischer has yet to be charged
with the anti-Semitic statements he
made during his first press conference
in Iceland last March. Unless charges
are pressed against Bobby Fischer,
Vigfússon will file the suit on June 1.
Vilhjámur Vilhjálmsson, an archeolo-
gist who asked that charges be filed
against Fischer, told Grapevine that
he received a letter from the Icelandic
government stating that they would
not press charges against Fischer.
Majority Against Aluminium
Smelter
According to a Gallup poll
conducted for the Ministry of
Industry across northern Ice-
land, the majority of people from
Skagafjörður are against building
an aluminium smelter near their
community, with 37% for and 45%
against. Ársæll Guðmundsson, the
local councilman for Skagafjörður,
told Vísir that the numbers didn
‹t surprise him.
Women Progressives Fight for
Equal Pay
Members of the National Association
of Progressive Women have initiated a
camaign to close the wage gap between
men and women. Una María Óskars-
dóttir, chairman of the association,
says that the difference of pay between
men and women is well known, and
measures must be taken to close it by
opening a dialogue with key figures in
the market place and with the Associa-
tion of Icelandic Municipalities.
Icelander Becomes World
Champion Taxidermist
Haraldur Ólafsson, a taxidermist from
Akureyri, has become the world cham-
pion in fish taxidermy. He competed
against several other taxidermists at
the Taxidermy World Championship
in Springfield, Illinois and came out
ahead of the pack. Ólafsson said that
while he was hoping for good results
at the competition, he never dreamed
that he’d become world champion.
Immigrants Sentenced
Three Latvians were sentenced to a
one month suspended sentence by
the South Iceland District Court for
working illegally. The Latvians said
that they weren’t aware that they were
working illegally; that they were sent
to Iceland by a woman in Latvia who
told them there was work for them.
This is the second time in nine days
that foreigners have been arrested for
working illegally. No word yet on any
legal action pending against any of the
employers in these cases.
Increase in Prejudiced Young
People
According to a study conducted by
Red Cross Iceland in 2003, 20% of
young people between the ages of
14 to 16 believe that immigrants to
Iceland should not have the same
rights as other Icelanders. 40% believe
that there are too many foreigners in
Iceland already. These numbers are
actually up from the last survey, which
was conducted in 1997.
For daily Icelandic news in English
– morning, afternoon and night –
and much more, check out
www.grapevine.is.
Our name is
My name is very old
Old Norse for “ancestral mother”.
Edda is the name of
a famous collection of
Norse-Icelandic poetry.
Edda means “very old”.
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The National Bank of Iceland
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