Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.09.2017, Side 4

The Top
Stories
Aug 24th – Sept 8th
Words: Paul Fontaine
Júlíus Vífill
NEWS IN BRIEF Our top story:
someone has finally had to an-
swer for what was found in the
Panama Papers. Júlíus Vífill In-
gvarsson, a former Reykjavík city
councilperson for the Independ-
ence Party, is now being inves-
tigated for money laundering
and tax fraud. As the leaked data
from financial company Mossack
Fonseca revealed, Júlíus’ company,
Silkwood Foundation, had a Pana-
manian account with the Swiss
bank Julius Bär. There, he hoarded
money that he never reported to
tax authorities. And that may be
just the beginning. Well, someone
had to pay the price for what the
Panama Papers revealed. Couldn’t
have happened to a nicer person.
Angry bird, in happier times
Have you ever been in some peace-
ful part of Iceland, just enjoying
a quiet natural setting, when all
of the sudden the tranquility is
broken by the distinct whining
buzz of someone’s drone? Didn’t
that fill you with rage? Icelandic
geese understand. A pair of tour-
ists recently lost their drone to
a flock of angry swans, which
remote footage revealed had been
disturbed by the drone, prompt-
ing them to gang up and attack it.
Training swans to attack drones
may be an impractical solution
to the drone problem. We recom-
mend learning how to use bolas
instead.
Pets will no longer have
to hide out in speak-easies
Bright Future, a political party
in the ruling coalition that simul-
taneously puts forward frivolous
parliamentary proposals and com-
plains about getting made fun of
for putting forward frivolous par-
liamentary proposals, has submit-
ted a new parliamentary proposal:
allowing pets in restaurants. It’s
the kind of proposal that you could
agree with, on some level, but
nonetheless prompts you to ask if
there aren’t maybe more pressing
matters a ruling coalition party
might have to deal with first. And
you’d be right: they do. But Bright
Future gonna Bright Future.
Not-so-happy family
Are immigration authorities
deliberately trying to incite the
greatest amoun cisions? You’d be
forgiven for thinking so. Over the
course of the past two weeks, they
have denied asylum to a survi-
vor of human trafficking and
her family, a father and daugh-
ter on the run from Afghanistan,
and a Hazara youth facing con-
certed persecution in the same
country. This is all despite Iceland
having passed laws and being a
signatory country for numerous
international agreements that are
supposed to protect such people.
Maybe immigration authorities
didn’t get the memo about the rule
of law? Who knows.
A cat, in happier times
If your cat gets stuck in a tree, do
not attempt to rescue it yourself.
This point was made plain when
a young woman climbed a tree
to rescue her cat, only to get
stuck herself. Police and the fire
department arrived on the scene,
and ultimately a cherry-picker was
used to retrieve them both. Your
cat might appreciate your efforts,
but it needs you alive to fill the
food bowl. Leave cat rescue to the
experts.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2017
In our re-enactment of the cat and woman in tree story,
the two principal characters have been merged into one.
First
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