Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2006, Síða 5

Bolungarvík fights waning population
with Love Week
The remote Westfjords town of Bolungarvík
has a rather unorthodox approach to tackling
the Icelandic small town’s ever-decreasing
population numbers, as their recent “Love
Week” indicates.
The week-long celebration is, in the words
of key organiser and Bolungarvík elementary
school principal Soffía Vagnsdóttir, “… an
attempt to get the fine people of Bolungarvík
to love more, and to make more love and thus
more babies – resulting in more residents for
Bolungarvík. We basically wanted to get our
town growing again.”
A reward is offered for those who show
cold hard results of Love Week’s effort.
According to Vagnsdóttir, those townsfolk
who submit a living, breathing infant in the
month of May and can prove they were in
Bolungarvík for the conception, can expect
monetary compensation and various gifts from
the town and its inhabitants.
“After the first festival, our very own love
princess was born here and her parents were
in turn showered with gifts and praise. Last
year’s festival did not bear any loin fruit, but
we are confident that this one got our people
busy in their bedrooms.
“We have to get more people in town by
any means, Love Week is thus also about
showing the outside world just how lov-
ing and caring us Bolvíkingar are and that
Bolungarvík is an excellent place to be,”
Vagnsdóttir told the Grapevine. She added
that Love Week has established itself as an
event Bolungarvík’s townspeople look forward
to each year and steadily attracts more visitors
from around the globe.
Numerous erotic events took place
throughout the week. The festival commenced
with the release of thousands of so-called
Love Balloons intended to spread Bolun-
garvík’s message of love and prosperity (not
to mention aluminium-based litter) across the
globe to those deserving. Funk band Jagúar
played their funky funk in an attempt to warm
up those tender country loins, love-based arts
and craft courses were held and townspeople
paid visits to Bolungarvík’s oldest and newest
couples. The festival was closed by an erotic
aphrodisiac jam-making session.
Security tightened at Leif Eiríksson on urging of
U.S. aviation authorities
In response to an announcement from British
authorities on Thursday, August 10, that a
terrorist plot to launch a wave of attacks on
airplanes f lying between Britain and the
United States had been thwarted, Leif Eiríks-
son International Airport issued a statement
on their website declaring that restrictions on
carry-on items would be implemented for all
passengers travelling to the United States of
America.
The statement explained that at the
urging of United States aviation authorities,
passengers travelling to the U.S. would be
restricted from bringing any type of liquid
on board into passenger cabins of the planes.
According to the release, liquids include all
beverages including water, liquor, sodas and
juices, as well as perfumes and all types of
creams (including shampoos, toothpaste, etc.).
However, NFS reported that security
restrictions had been amended to include
all passengers on international f lights. The
new rules state that most passengers will be
permitted to purchase drinks at the airport’s
duty-free stores, but that passengers travelling
to the United States must pick up their bever-
ages at the departure gate, and that the seal
must be broken before boarding.
Small quantities of food and milk will also
be permitted for passengers travelling with
children, as well as medications not in excess
of 240 ml for those with health complications.
Leif Eiríksson has not issued a formal news
release regarding this updated security plan.
Icelandair recently announced on their
website that because of the “changed condi-
tions”, checked baggage restrictions will be
loosened to allow each passenger 23 kg, as
opposed to the former 20 kg, and the price for
each additional kg will be reduced from 1,800
ISK to 750 ISK.
At security check-in, every passenger will
be asked to remove their shoes to be X-rayed
along with other carry-on items.
Passengers should plan to arrive at the
airport at least two hours before scheduled
departure, and should expect delays.
Independence Party ministers crash
journalist protest
Saturday, Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde
and three Independence Party officials were
escorted by local reporter and aviator Ómar
Ragnarsson on a day’s guided tour and f light
over the Kárahnjúkar dam project. Haarde
accepted Ragnarsson’s public invitation for the
trip in a late-night phone conversation earlier
that week, Ragnarsson told Morgunblaðið.
The ministers Haarde brought along for the
ride were Minister of Education Þorgerður
Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Party Chairman
Arnbjörg Sveinsdóttir and Chief of Parlia-
ment’s Environmental Council Guðlaugur Þór
Þórðarson.
The invitation to the trip, published in
Morgunblaðið earlier this month, called for
11 “inf luential Icelanders” to accompany Rag-
narsson on a day trip around the Kárahnjúkar
area in order to allow them witness “with
their own eyes, the [dam’s] structures and the
greatest part of the area affected by it, rather
than just a small portion [like the luxurious
wine-and-dine tours seemingly offered by
other parties of interest do].”
The 11 people Ragnarsson specified in
the letter were, along with President Ólafur
Ragnar Grímsson, Prime Minister Geir H.
Haarde, editor of Morgunblaðið Styrmir
Gunnarsson, editor of Fréttablaðið Björgvin
Guðmundsson, editor of Blaðið Sigurjón M.
Egilsson, director of Ríkissjónvarpið Páll
Magnússon, director of NFS Sigmundur
Ernir Rúnarsson, and director of Skjár 1, the
three Progressive Party ministers: Minister of
Foreign Affairs Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, Min-
ister of Industry and Commerce Jón Sigurðs-
son, and Minister for the Environment Jónína
Bjartmarz.
Reportedly, only four of the 11 invited
had responded to the offer in time for the
proposed deadline. However, along with
Magnússon (Ríkissjónvarpið), Egilsson
(Blaðið), and Rúnarsson (NFS), Haarde
accepted the offer on behalf of himself and
several uninvited officials of the (ostensibly
pro-heavy industry) Independence Party.
In his letter, Ragnarsson urged his invitees
to consider taking a look at the oft-disputed
dam project from a different perspective.
“You’ve previously taken the time to
acquaint yourself quite well with one side of
the case [presumably Landsvirkjun’s], but not
so much the opposing one. I am inviting you
to observe both sides with your own eyes in a
day, while there’s still a chance. […] I believe
it is my duty as a reporter to give you a chance
to get to know the area affected by the dam
in the aforementioned manner. It is now up to
you to decide what you believe your duties to
be.”
In an interview with Morgunblaðið,
Haarde said that while he’d greatly enjoyed
the tour, it would not affect the decisions al-
ready made concerning the Kárahnjúkar dam.
1.5 Billion ISK loss for Dagsbrún this year
Dagsbrún, owner of 365 Publishing, has re-
ported an approximate 1.5 billion ISK net loss
so far this year, with approximately 87 percent
(1.3 billion ISK) occurring in the second
quarter, according to Viðskiptablaðið.
The loss is considerably greater than what
News in Brief
by haukur magnússon and valgerður þoroddsdóttir photos by skari
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