Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.08.2008, Qupperneq 4

4 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 10—2008
LETTERS
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Dear Grapevine,

I am an devoted reader of Grapevine
and love the different approaches of
your paper to stories, people and hap-
penings. I feel compelled to write to
you now to congratulate you on your
last issue wich depicted Margrét Láru
Viðarsdóttir on the front page followed
by a litle coverage of her and the Ice-
landic football team in the editorial.
Margrét Lára and the Icelandic women
football team encompasses all that
we like to think of Icelandic women:
Strong, incredibly intelligent, beauti-
ful and succeed where Icelandic men
fail to deliver. All Icelandic men know
(whether they like to admit it or not)
that no group of men can finish a job
as well as Icelandic women can – all
things considered.

Yours,
Svavar Benediktsson.
Reykjavík, Iceland.
Dear Svavar,
Just for the record, the last issue did not
only cover Margrét Lára and the wom-
en’s team in the editorial, but also in an
article by Páll Hilmarsson on page 12.
That being said, we’re glad to hear that
you think men are inferior to women in
every way. Well, not really though. But
we get (what is hopefully) the point: The
women’s team is delivering in a way
the men’s team couldn’t and didn’t. And
they’re on our cover! Because they kick
ass!
Juli 11, 2008

As a recent visitor to Iceland I would
like to comment on the essay by Bjork
in the June Grapevine and the options
available to the Icelandic people in the
21st century. To her splendid analysis
and obvious depth of feeling I have two
small trinkets to add, and an important
warning.
Bjork mentions solar but I believe
Iceland’s future should focus on wave
energy. At a small fraction of the cost
of another hydro plant, the Icelandic
government could set up a technology
institute to study, develop, and com-
mercialize this enormous green energy
source. Currently the most advanced
explorations of this energy frontier are
taking place in the British Isles, par-
ticularly Scotland, but an immediate
and subsidized effort by the Icelandic
government could make Iceland an
important player in this untapped and
potentially limitless arena for decades
to come. While visiting the geothermal
power plant at Nesjavell this year I saw
an Arab delegation come to observe
and export the technology to their
home country. I do not know whether
floating or submerged buoys or shore-
line installations are the future of
wave energy, but the first company to
develop a reliable and efficient means
of harnessing the natural energy of the
oceans will have unlimited export op-
portunities. Which equates to jobs and
prosperity. That company should and
could be Icelandic.
Two polar bears were killed while I
was in Iceland and upon leaving Reyk-
javik I saw a sign in an apartment win-
dow across from my Hotel. It had a pic-
ture of the second bear with his bloody
white coat and it said “I was tired,
hungry, and lost. I received no peace
from the Icelanders.” As you all know,
two side effects of industrialization, the
melting of the ice flows and the accu-
mulation of toxins in their body tissue,
have the polar bear marked for extinc-
tion. While these were the first bears to
reach Iceland in 30 years, they will not
be the last. And yes, they can be dan-
gerous animals. But bears were a sa-
cred animal to the old European races,
both Celtic and Germanic, from whom
the Icelanders are descended. Could
the Icelanders not set up a large nature
preserve for them somewhere in the
sparsely populated northwest? Think
of the jobs it would provide for the vil-
lage people and the long term potential
for eco tourism. Even sheep farmers
could make money selling their sheep
to the preserve for food. I know the
idea sounds utopian and there would
be issues keeping the bears within the
boundaries of the Park, but in the name
of an old and honored totem, I ask that
you consider it. It is certainly a better
idea than an oil refinery.
Finally I want to issue you a warning.
There is a proposal by your Interior or
Justice Minister to set up an anti-terror-
ism unit with surveillance and police
powers similar to our FBI. This is the
first step towards fascism. The experi-
ence of the United States over the last
90 years shows that this force will be
used to spy on political opponents, po-
litical allies, and of course dissenters:
people like Bjork and Andre Snaer. No
element of people’s lives will be safe
from scrutiny. Not their finances, their
careers, their friends, their sexuality.
The information gathered will be used
for blackmail, to force acquiescence
and to stifle dissent. Iceland is a beauti-
ful place. Do not allow this to happen.

Peter B
www.cdbaby.com
Dear Peter B.
Although we agree that almost any al-
ternative (within reason) to aluminium
smelters and oil refineries would be an
improvement, we’re not sure if fencing
in polar bears is such a viable solution.
(Especially not if these zoos are run by
the Village People.) Icelanders aren’t
much for zoos, after all. Also, we agree
that fascism is bad, and that un-checked
surveillance used for unlawful purposes
would be a very bad thing. Thank you
for the warning. When the fascist coup
comes and we’re penning our tabloid on
toilet paper in jail, we’ll think of you.
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