Political Corruption in Iceland - investment fiasco

One of the Insurance company in Iceland , Sjova, had a property investment plan in Macau in the far east.
Another company ,Vafningur, bought the investment plan,through a cpmpany in the British Virgin Islands.
The plan , was about buying 68 luxury apartments in Macau , near Hong Kong.
According to a Icelandic news paper , DV, Independence Party chairman ,and member in parliement ,Bjarni Benediktsson,was in control of this invesment.
Bjarni,his father and Karli and Steingrími Wernerssons,invested with the Insurance company money in Macau.

Now ,that the Insurance company is now in govermnet hands,the insurance company,Sjova, has had to pump billions of kronas ,to get out of that investment.
Bjarni ,the Independence party leader ,has denied having taken any part in this investment .
Bjarni was chariman of the company that took part in this Macau investment.

Two stock brokers sentenced in Iceland

Two employes have been sentenced to 8 month in jail , for market manipulation.
They where minor stock traders.
One was a finance officer at a money market and the other a broker.

Now there are 15.777 unemployed in Iceland

Imagine Peace Light turned of tonight - photos

Today ( dec. 8 ) is the date when John Lennon died.
And that is the date,that the Imagine Peace Light is turned off.
It is on ,between the birthdate and death date of John Lennon.
Yoko Ono, put up the light on a island in Reykjavik Iceland.
And it is to promote peace.

Here are a few photos i have taken of the light.

Push on the photos ,and the will be bigger.

Iceland banking crisis news and more: Protest in Iceland december 5 2009 - video and photos

Iceland banking crisis news and more: Protest in Iceland december 5 2009 - video and photos

Protest in Iceland december 5 2009 - video and photos

Protest was yesterday in Reykjavik.
People are still protesting what the Goverment is NOT doing for the public.
Taxes are vbeing raised,income tax,VAT, Gas tax and so on.

Many are loosing their houses and cars, due to bad debts.
People bought ,and the old banks told them that the foreign currency loans,would always be lower than the loans in Icelandic krona.
But now, when the Icelandic Krona has fallen, the loans skyrocket.

And the price of the house has also fallen down, but the loan goes up.
Many have moved to other countries, but many have to beg for food at varius charities in Iceland.
More than 4000 thousand had to be assisted to have food on their table last week.

They goverment is also saving money, and that means , less paternity leave, and less money for the elderly and disabled.
But , the do not save on their end, Parliement still pays political parties hundreds of millions, and members of parliemenet get still the same amount in dayli money , tax free for food and other essentials

Many are afraid that the protests could get violent , like last winter.
The public is angry.

Banks win in courts in Iceland today

Reykjavik county judge sentenced a man to pay his, currency loans, to a finance company .
The man claimed that it is illeagal to loan money in Iceland , and base the payments interests rates on foreign currency.
And that is illeagal in Iceland.
But since the man new about the interests rates where based on foreing currency , he lost the case.
Blog pages in Iceland are now angry claiming , that the goverment is protecting their men in the banks.

It will be interesting to see , if this case will be appealed to the Supreme court.
All judges in Iceland are hired by one man , and that is the justice minister.
There is a committie , that goes over those that aplie for the job, but the minister, does not have to follow their ruling on who is the best judge for the job.
So all judges in Iceland are politically hired by the JUstice Minister.

And today ,16.007 people are unemployed in Iceland .

Below you can the Icelandic prime minister walkin in support of stopping violence against women.

This i took on November 26 - 2009 -

Familys need help in Iceland

There are now hard times for many familys in Iceland.
Financial situation for many familys is very bad.
Family Help organisation, has helped 430 familys with food donations.
Church is also helping familys with clothes and such for familys that dont have any money.

Now there are 15.922 people in Iceland unemployed.