Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.05.2012, Side 6

6
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 5 — 2012
News | Photo
Reykjavík, April 23. Former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde is red in the face following Landsdómur’s verdict: guilty of one of four charges of negli-
gence leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. He tells reporters that the verdict is “ridiculous and laughable.” PHOTO: SIGTRYGGUR ARI/DV
THE HAARDER THEy FALL... THE ANGRIER THEy GET!
News | Roundup Trivia | No prize
News In Brief: April Edition
Trivia Question!
Well, Hamborgarabúllan, one of Ice-
land's most treasured hamburger shops,
will soon be opening in London. Owner
Tómas A. Tómasson told the Icelandic
business paper Viðskiptablaðið that it
will open parallel to Oxford Street. “But
I guess it's best to say that it's close to
Debenhams,” he added “because every
Icelander knows where Debenhams is.”
Apparently the UK isn’t satisfied with
JUST our hamburgers. It wants our elec-
tricity too. UK Energy Minister Charles
Hendry will be visiting Iceland later this
month to explore those possibilities.
But this is dependent on construct-
ing that underwater cable, which one
Danish engineer says isn’t so simple.
The cable would be about 1,000 to 1,500
kilometres long, making it the longest
in the world. Furthermore, it would be
1,200 metres below the surface of the
sea. Today only one cable is deeper than
that.
In other news, a plastic cup that
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
drank from was auctioned off with pro-
ceeds going to a charity for chronically
ill children. The Visual Arts Centre in
Akureyri took it home for 105,000 ISK,
which really pissed off some artists who
feel cheated because the museum never
buys their art.
The saga of the plastic cup didn’t end
there. The Youth Organisation of the In-
dependence Party of Iceland (SUS) of-
fered to pay twice as much for it due to
its historical importance. The word for
“disposable cup” in Icelandic is “mál,”
but “mál” also means “matter” or “is-
sue,” SUS claimed that this was the only
“mál” that the PM has finished.
Meanwhile people are still pretty
unhappy with the government. A poll
conducted by daily newspaper Frétta-
blaðið revealed that the it has a 24% ap-
proval rating, which is what the previous
government enjoyed just before it was
forced out of office in 2009.
Then the Chinese Premier paid us
a visit. He brought an entourage of 100
people with him and left after signing six
“willingness agreements” with our gov-
ernment. More about that on PAGE 22.
Now, to the BIG news. Landsdómur
acquitted former Prime Minister Geir H.
Haarde on three of four charges of neg-
ligence and mismanagement leading up
to the 2008 financial crisis. He received
no punishment and the State will cover
his expenses.
You’d think he’d be happy, but Geir
was livid as he told reporters that
the verdict was both “ridiculous” and
“laughable.” He says he plans to take
this matter to the European Court of Hu-
man Rights as soon as he can.
Then the church elected Agnes M.
Sigurðardóttir, a parish priest from
Bolungarvík, as the next bishop. She is
Iceland’s first female bishop. HOO-
RAY.
What else? A small newspaper in
west Iceland reported that they have
reliable evidence that Iceland will re-
sume hunting fin whales this summer,
despite the International Whaling Com-
mission’s moratorium.
The majority of the Icelandic po-
lice, who are currently armed with
pepper spray and batons, would like to
have tazers or even handguns, as they
believe their job is becoming more dan-
gerous.
As Iceland continues in the EU ne-
gotiation process, the majority of Ice-
landers are still against joining the
union. A new poll conducted by a pro-
fessor of sociology shows that 54% of
Icelanders are against joining the Euro-
pean Union, and the greatest opposition
arises from distinct demographics.
Oh and then there’s Icesave…BOR-
ING, BORING. The European Free
Trade Agreement's Supervisory Author-
ity (ESA) says that Iceland violated the
basic principle of international banking
that depositors should be allowed to
withdraw the money they put into an
account, and that ultimately the govern-
ment of a country's banks are respon-
sible for making sure this happens. It
asks the Icelandic government to admit
it violated the treaty. Iceland has until
May 11 to respond.
And finally seagulls have been ter-
rorizing residents of Kópavogur ever
since meat pellets—used as a cheap
fertilizer—were strewn across the local
football field. OOPS.
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...
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ANNA ANDERSEN