Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Page 4

4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2017
The Top Stories
April 07 - April 20
Words: Paul Fontaine
NEWS IN BRIEF You might know
the Grapevine as the gold stan-
dard for journalism, but even we
fall victim to fake news from time
to time. Such as the case when we
reported that post-Euro 2016 co-
ital celebrations led to a “football
baby boom” in Iceland. Much of
the international media ran with
this story, but upon further exam-
ination, we discovered that this
was utterly false. So we ran a new
article refuting ourselves. None-
theless, the die has been cast, and
headlines purporting Iceland’s
post-Euro baby boom are still be-
ing circulated at the time of this
writing. Nostra culpa.
United Silicon, which runs the
plant in Reykjanesbær that every-
one loves to hate, could be looking
at the end of days. Despite United
Silicon’s repeated denials of any
wrongdoing, both the town coun-
cil and Iceland’s Minister for the
Environment, Björt Ólafsdóttir,
believe the plant has been a major
source of pollution for the area.
Residents have long complained of
respiratory ailments, and authori-
ties want to shut the plant down
altogether. Their constant pollut-
ing is ironic, considering they pro-
duce material used to make solar
panels.
Jailed banker Ólafur Ólafsson ap-
peared in the news again, when
the Parliamentary Investigative
Commission looking into the
causes of the 2008 financial crash
uncovered that—surprise!—he
was dishonest in his financial
dealings about a lot of new stuff.
The broad strokes are: he straight-
up lied about the identity of the
real investors in the Agricultural
Bank of Iceland when the govern-
ment sold its share in that bank
back in 2002. He also shuffled a lot
of money around in tax shelters,
and kept it hidden through back-
rooms deals and obfuscation. Óla-
fur, when confronted by reporters,
expressed deep and solemn regret
for what he did, and vowed to pay
back every króna that he hahaha
just kidding. He doesn’t care.
Some months ago, a social media
ragefest ignited when a young
woman was kicked out of a mu-
nicipal pool for going topless. Pool
employees said they were just en-
forcing their own rules and guide-
lines, while the young woman in
question asserted she had every
legal right to go topless—and
probably correctly so, it seems,
as Supreme Court lawyer Unnar
Steinn Bjarndal has reasoned that
there is no legal precedent for such
a ban, which most likely violates
Iceland’s gender equity laws.
It seems like pretty much every
Icelandic film or television show
is some kind of grim noir drama
these days, doesn’t it? Well, di-
rector Baltasar Kormákur has
decided to kick things up a notch
with ‘Katla’, a dystopian TV series
that takes place two years after the
massive volcano has erupted and
laid Iceland to waste. StudioCanal
recently agreed to co-produce the
series and handle its international
distribution. Fun! Icelandic tele-
vision, always keeping the sunny
side up.
In lighter news, Icelandic Music
Experiments (Músíktilraunir)
has been upon us once again. This
music contest has brought the
world many an international suc-
cess, including Of Monsters and
Men, amongst others. This year,
the winners were Between Moun-
tains, a duo comprised of two
girls, Katla Vigdís Vernharðsdót-
tir and Ásrós Helga Guðmunds-
dóttir, aged 14 and 16 respectively.
Will they follow in the footsteps of
the international stars who pre-
ceded them? Only time will tell,
but here’s hoping for the best!
SMJÖRFLUGA
The Minister for the Environment,
as envisioned floating above the
heavy industries of Iceland
Serially misunderstood
financier Ólafur Ólafson, being
misunderstood by National Radio
Some people in a swimming pool
Baltasar Kormákur
Photo by
Christian
Schulze
Between Mountains, as pictured
between a wall and a cupboard
Euro Cup fever turned coital
frenzy?
First
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