Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.04.2012, Blaðsíða 6

6
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 4 — 2012
News | Photo
Reykjavík, March 12. Disgraced former billionaire tycoon fancypants man Björgólfur Guðmundsson (once estimated as
worth $1.4 billion by Forbes) arrives to testify at Landsdómur court’s criminal trial over disgraced former PM Geir H. Haarde.
Proceedings in the state’s case against Geir ended on March 16, and some sort of verdict is expected from the panel of fifteen judges presiding
over it in the coming weeks. PHOTO: SIGTRYGGUR ARI/DV
THE HAARDER THEY FALL...
News | Roundup
News In Brief: March Edition
March started off with some earth-
quakes with the largest measuring
4,2. Perhaps we’ll have another erup-
tion this year... And perhaps President
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will be there to
do some “damage control” for he has
FINALLY decided to run again!
Although he has been elected for
four consecutive terms now, he is by no
means guaranteed a victory this time.
The 37-year-old former broadcast jour-
nalist Þóra Arnórsdóttir is leading the
race, at least in a poll conducted by DV
in early April. The 58-year-old entre-
preneur Ástþór Magnússon is also run-
ning. He tends to do that.
So yeah, this should be exciting.
Our former Permanent Secre-
tary of the Ministry of Finance Baldur
Guðlaugsson began serving his two-
year prison sentence for insider trading
before the financial crisis. This is the
first time in Iceland’s history that some-
one is convicted for insider trading.
But by far the most newsworthy
event this month was the trial of former
Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, who
was charged with negligence over the
financial crisis. Amongst those testified
were politicians like former prime min-
ister and Governor of the Central Bank
Davíð Oddsson and bankers like for-
mer Chairman of Landsbanki’s Board
of Directors Björgólfur Guðmundsson
and former CEO of Landsbanki Sigurjón
J. Árnason. We’re still waiting for the
judges to deliver their verdict...
But does it even matter when Ice-
land’s real estate market is recovering
(defying odds again?), and we may just
have discovered a way to become filthy
rich after all!
Yes, we’ve discovered oil in the
Dragon Area. Let’s just hope that there
are tonnes and tonnes of it… As the
director of N1 said, Iceland could be-
come the richest country in the world
within 12 years. “I believe we should all
be smiling," he said.
We’ll see.
Meanwhile a bill proposing that
school nurses be allowed to give minors
the birth control pill without parental
consent has been creating a frenzy. "…
we know that the average age of sexual
intercourse for the first time among
girls is about 15, which tells us that we
need to help them protect themselves
against disease and unplanned preg-
nancies," Medical Directorate of Health
Geir Gunnlaugsson said.
The British government added “Se-
vere effusive (gas-rich) volcanic erup-
tions abroad” to its National Risk Reg-
ister of Civil Emergencies report. It cites
Icelandic volcanoes of course.
Despite the fact that it’s forbidden
to import inspects to Iceland, there’s
a pet store in Reykjavík selling cock-
roaches, millipedes and grasshoppers
as pets. We don’t understand why any-
body would buy a cockroach—even for
the small sum of 1.300 ISK.
In more appealing news, the mighty
Sigur Rós, announced details of their
impending sixth studio LP titled ‘Valtari’
(that means “steamroller”), which will
be released on May 28.
In a recent interview with Q maga-
zine, the band said that the tourists are
the worst thing about Iceland's eco-
nomic collapse, that there have never
been more, due to the failed króna, and
that these tourists are the only people
that bother the band for autographs.
So, if you are reading this, tourists
or potential tourists, do note that Sigur
Rós are not fans of giving out auto-
graphs.
It was probably wise of them to
make known their aversion as Iceland
will likely be getting a whole lot more
tourists now that easyJet is flying to
Keflavík. Yep, the airline will flies to and
from Iceland three times a week: Tues-
days, Thursdays and Sundays.
Finally, Icelanders are no longer the
happiest of people on the planet. And
we are amongst the most pessimistic
people on the planet on the subject of
world peace, according to a Gallup poll.
And we don’t even have an army!
A brief overview of some stories we published online at www.grapevine.is/news since our last issue—
go there for the full story on EVERYTHING mentioned...