Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2021, Blaðsíða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talking About?
The topics that are getting people
banned from the comments
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine
Good news and bad news:
the good news is, for a
few days we had a respite from the
endless stream of coronavirus-
related news. The bad news is, it
was because of the white suprema-
cist insurrection at the US Capi-
tol that dominated headlines
worldwide. Numerous Icelandic
pundits weighed in on the events,
with Prime Minister Katrín Jakob-
sdóttir calling the riots “an attack
on democracy” and political scien-
tist Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir astutely
pointing out that they were a
symptom of the divisiveness in the
United States, which she predicts
is not going away any time soon.
Other Icelanders were concerned
about a Trump supporter at a
Sacramento protest carrying
the Icelandic flag, with specula-
tion swirling about whether or not
this person is Icelandic. The US
embassy has, at the time of this
writing, been completely silent
on the matter. Reporters would
later learn this was because they
had been ordered to refer all press
inquiries to a tweet by US Secre-
tary of State Mike Pompeo or an
overseas infodesk.
Most entertaining of all has been
Icelandic conservatives liken-
ing the Capitol riots to the 2008-
2009 Pots and Pans Protests.
Yes, a bunch of far-right insur-
gents storming the legislature
with the intent to kidnap and kill
is just like Icelanders of all stripes
peacefully demonstrating for the
government to resign in the wake
of total financial collapse—you
literally can’t tell them apart!
Don’t worry, though; the corona-
virus is back in the headlines—
and most of the news has been
quite positive. The rollout of the
Pfizer vaccine has been going well
and the first shipment of Moderna
vaccine arrived on January 12th,
with a deal with AstraZeneca
expected to be finalised by the end
of the month. Health authorities
have been prioritising vaccinating
the elderly and frontline work-
ers, but it appears as though the
vaccine should reach nearly every-
one by some time this summer.
We say “almost everyone,” because
there is still a very small minority
of people who have no interest in
getting vaccinated.
Lastly, Minister of Justice Áslaug
Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir has been
asking for public feedback on a
special page of her official website.
There, people can give a smiley
face, a thumbs up, a thumbs down
or an angry face in response to
her job performance. Those who
react positively are thanked, those
who react negatively are asked to
explain what she can do better. She
is, as far as we can tell, the first
and only government minister in
Iceland to try this.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01— 2021First
NEWS
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
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