Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.02.2006, Blaðsíða 8

Membership in National
Church Decreases
Parishioners in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Iceland have
decreased in the past decade. Accord-
ing to RÚV, 84% of the country is
registered as parishioners for Decem-
ber 2005, down from 92% ten years
ago. Over the same period of time,
registration into “free churches” has
increased from 3% to 4.5%.
DV Editors Replaced
Jónas Kristjánsson and Mikael
Torfason resigned last month from
their position as editors of Icelandic
tabloid daily DV. Their resignation
comes in the wake of public outcry
over a story DV ran that featured the
photo and name of a man accused
of rape, who committed suicide that
day.
According to Morgunblaðið, over
32,000 people - over 10% of the
country - signed a petition calling
for the owners of DV to review the
editorial office. The new editors, Páll
Baldvin Baldvinsson and Björgvin
Guðmundsson, have sworn that DV
will from now on follow the guide-
lines of journalistic ethics outlined by
the Icelandic Journalists Union.
Þingvellir Hotel to be Rebuilt
Hótel Valhöll, known to many as
the hotel at Þingvellir National Park,
will soon be torn down to be replaced
by a new structure. According to
Vísir, a committee formed by Prime
Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson has
determined that the structure is unfit
for habitation. A design competition
is expected to begin soon.
Priest for Immigrants
Receives Threat
Toshiki Toma, a priest who spe-
cialises in assisting immigrants in
Iceland, received an anonymous letter
last month telling him to quit or face
consequences. Toma has taken the
matter to the police, who are inves-
tigating. According to Vísir, Toma
says that he has received many SMS
messages and e-mails from Iceland-
ers, offering their support. Toma
once received a death threat in 2001.
Woman Counter-sued by Employer
A woman was sentenced to pay Ing-
var Helgason hf. 225,000 ISK (a little
over 3,600 USD) in legal fees after
she attempted to sue them for being
fired without warning. According to
Vísir, the woman went on maternity
leave on 1 January 2004 with the in-
tention of returning to work one year
later. However, in the intervening
time the owners of Ingvar Helgason
hf. changed and she was fired.
When she asked for an explana-
tion, she was told her termination
was due to “organisational changes.”
She then filed a suit against the com-
pany for 700,000 in damages, apart
from legal fees.
Sale of Alcohol Up 8.6%
Alcohol sales for the year 2005
totalled 13.1 billion ISK (almost 212
million USD), an 8.6% increase from
2004, with about 1.7 billion ISK of
those sales coming from December
alone. According to Morgunblaðið,
17.2 million litres of alcohol were
sold in 2005, with nearly 2 million li-
tres sold in December. In other news,
while the sale of snuff - powdered
tobacco that is inhaled - increased by
9.22% between 2004 and 2005, the
sale of cigarettes and cigars decreased
by 6.38% and 0.72% respectively dur-
ing the same period.
Woman Runs Over Boyfriend
The state prosecutor charged a 20-
year-old woman with assault and
driving under the influence for driv-
ing over her boyfriend last summer.
According to Vísir, the incident took
place at Flúðir, where the woman
had been drinking and then went to
her car to drive. When her boyfriend
came out and stood in front of the car
to prevent her from driving drunk,
she ran him over. Her blood-alcohol
content was three times higher than
the legal limit.
Reykjavík is World’s
Third Most Expensive City
According to a new study by the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU),
Reykjavík has moved up from
eighth place to number three on the
list of the most expensive cities in
the world. Oslo sits on top of the
list, with Tokyo barely beating out
Reykjavík.
The list is compiled by compar-
ing the price of goods and services,
and creating an index rating in which
New York receives 100 points (27th
place). The top ten list looks like this:

1. Oslo, Norway, 140 index points
2. Tokyo, Japan, 136
3. Reykjavík, Iceland, 135
4. Osaka-Kobe, Japan, 130
5. Paris, France, 130
6. Copenhagen, Denmark, 127
7. London, England, 125
8. Zurich, Switzerland, 123
9. Genf, Switzerland, 116
10. Helsinki, Finland, 115

The high number of European cities
at the top of the list is indicative of
the high exchange rates of European
currencies against the American dol-
lar according to EIU.
Icelandic Short
Nominated for Oscar
The Last Farm by Rúnar Rúnars-
son and Þór Sigurjónsson has been
nominated for the Academy Awards
to be held on March 5 this year.
The film, which is nominated in the
Best Short (Live Action) category,
tells the story of an old farmer as he
reacts to the possibility that he will
no longer be able to remain on his
isolated farm. This is the second time
an Icelandic film has been nominated
for the Oscars; Friðrik Þór Friðrikson
received a nomination in the category
Best Foreign Language Film in 1992
for his film Children of Nature.
Little Whale Meat Sold in 2005
According to a survey conducted in
Iceland by the International Fund for
Animal Welfare, very few Iceland-
ers purchased whale meat in 2005.
The survey, conducted in October of
2005, showed that only 7.6% of Ice-
landers bought the meat once, 3.9%
bought it twice and only 2.5% bought
it three times. The survey further
showed that only 22.2% of Icelanders
believe there is a great demand for
whale meat, while 64% believe there
is little demand for it. Whale meat
from 2003 is still sitting in frozen
storage, despite being sold for as little
as about 600 ISK (10 USD) per kilo.
New Fréttablaðið Editor to Stay on
Constitutional Reform Committee
Þorsteinn Pálsson will not resign
from his position on a key commit-
tee charged with reviewing Iceland’s
constitution. This is despite his
recent appointment as editor of Frét-
tablaðið.
The committee, which was estab-
lished in January 1995, is primarily
concerned with reviewing the role
and power of the head of state and
has seen its importance increase after
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson’s
refusal to sign a controversial media-
ownership bill in the summer of
2004.
Mr. Pálsson is adamant that his
new editorial duties will not conflict
with his position on the constitution-
al committee and has stated that he
does not expect the situation to have
any effect on Fréttablaðið’s coverage
of the committee’s work.
Gallup: Most Icelanders
Against Dam Project
According to the results of a recent
Gallup poll, most Icelanders are
against the proposed Norðlingaöldu-
veita dam project in the north of
the country, which would be built
on the edge of a national park. On
the whole, 65% of those polled
were against the project, with 70%
of women and 60% of men saying
they opposed the idea. In addition,
72% of those opposed have univer-
sity educations, while 47% of those
with primary school educations were
against the project.
Social Democrat
Withdraws Candidacy
Þórir Karl Jónasson, initially running
for Reykjavík City Council for the
Social Democrats, has withdrawn his
candidacy. According to Morgun-
blaðið, he had last winter redeemed
a narcotics prescription for a friend.
The prescription turned out to have
been falsified. Jónasson told reporters
that while he had no idea the pre-
scription was false, he was withdraw-
ing his name so as to not sully the
reputation of the Social Democrats,
adding, “I have confessed my part in
this and bear full responsibility for
my actions. I thank my supporters for
all their assistance and wish the other
candidates all the best.”
Man Goes Berserk
in Tanning Salon
Employees of the tanning salon Ibiza
alerted police when one of their
clients burst from his tanning booth
naked and went berserk. According
to Vísir, the man arrived with some
friends and apparently fell asleep
while undergoing a tan. When his
friends attempted to wake him, the
man, who was having a nightmare,
sprang from the tanning bed, threw a
trashcan at employees, knocked over
displays of merchandise and ran out
the front door. Police were called to
the scene and arrested the man.
News in Brief
by Paul F. Nikolov, Gunnar Hrafn Jónsson and Sveinn Birkir Björnsson

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