Sunday, August 30, 2009

Michael Hudson Interview on Iceland

Here is an interview with Michael Hudson ,a financial economist and historian ,on the Icelandic economic crisis.
The last video is a interview with Michael Hudson on the Icelandic state TV station.







Friday, August 28, 2009

Icesave account approved by the Goverment of Iceland

The Icelandic Althingi passed legislation authorising a state guarantee,to pay up the the Icesave account in England and Holland.
There are preconditions and criteria, so Iceland can get its financial stability in order.
The vote whent as follows : yes --- 34
no ----14
did not cast vote -- 14

Strange that the ones that did not vote - for or against,where mostly members of the Independence party.
They where in control when the banking system collapsed last year.

Now it is up to the goverments of Britain and Holland ,will they accept this state guarantee,with the preconditions.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Protest today in Reykjavik - Iceland - video

Today ,at noon,there was a protest in front of the Icelandic Parliement building.
PArliement is now about to agree to pay up the Icesave account - to Britain and Holland.
It is in the amount of 700 billion kronas .
A Proffesor at the Icelandic university,mr. Hannes Holmsteinn Gissurasson,and member of the independence party,and great supporter of the financial system that collapsed last year,was also at the protest.
Protesters stopped him,as he was about to be talked to by a Icelandic news paper.
He had to enter parliement and go out the back,for his sequrity.
Here you can see a video from the protest .






Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Protest planned tomorrow in Reykjavik at noon

Tomorrow ,Icelandic bloggers are planning a protest at 12:00 ( noon ) in front of Parliement.
They are protesting ,that the parliement is going to pay the Icesave contract ,to England and Holland .
The plan is to make lots of noise for about 20 minutes.
It has been talked about ,in the Icelandic radio all day.

The photo below is of Hofdi - the building where Reagan and Gorbashov met in 1986.







Sunday, August 23, 2009

Bankers cars destroyed in Iceland


Since the banking crisis started here in Iceland,unknown people,have been throwing paint on the Bnakers houses and automobiles.
Police have been investigating this,but nobody has been arrested.
Last night ,Bjorgulf Thor Bjorgulfsson car ( Hummer ) was covered with red paint.

Last week ,the car ( Range Rover) owned by Stefán Hilmarssonar ,finacial director of Baugur, was burned .
That is also under investigation.

Strange thinking at Kaupthing bank

A video that is said to be have been shown at a pep rally meeting at Kaupthing in the French Riviera, in 2005 ,is now going around in the blogworld.
It is now on the Danish news paper ,Berlingske Tidende.
In the video ,wich is in english,the question is " What is Kaupthinking ?"
Here is the video and you can see what the thinking was at Kaupthing Bank,before the collapse.


Saturday, August 22, 2009

Biggest festival in Iceland today

Today is cultural day and night in Reykjavik.
Great festival, with lots of things for everybody.
It started this morning with the Marathon,and other running activities.
About 11.000 signed up for the running events.

And all around downtown reykjavik there is music everywhere,and festivals for the chirdren and grown ups.
The goverment ministers had their offices open today for the public,and they greeted everybody that came for a visit.
I visited the Foreign secretary and the the Prime minister office.
I took photos in the goverment building ,where the Prime minster has her officve.
One of the photos is of a gift ,a broom,she got ,tho sweep up the courruption .

Also ,i visited the foreign secretary,and he shook hands with everybody , and when i went outside again ,he stopped me - and asked " Didnt you have a chocolate ? "
His office was offering chocolate and more.
And he insisted that people have some chocolate.


I took photos of him ,Mr, Ossur Skarphedinsson,the Foreign Minister,greeting guests.

Click on the photos - and the will be larger.









Festival in Reykjavik - Iceland august 2009

Today there is a big festival in Reykjavik.
It is the annual cultural night.
This morning it started with the Marathon run .
There is the full marathon,half marathin and 11.265 had signed up for the run.
And later ,there will be a Lazytown,run for the children.
Also ,there is music ,and lots of fun all over town,and it all ends in a big fireworks display tonightat 23:00 hours .


Thursday, August 20, 2009

Kaupthinking is beyond normal thinking.



The greatest blogger in Iceland ,that blogs in Icelandic ,has on her blog ,a video,that she says is a insider video .
Its a video that Kaupthing made for its employees ,to make them work harder.
It is in english, and is the first video here on this link .
And it says -" Kaupthinking is beyond normal thinking "

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Bloggers in Iceland are angry .


Today there are 16.001 unemployed.
The goverment hopes that it will not go above 10% .

Blog world in Iceland got very angry today .
One fishing king in Iceland mr. Magnus Kristinsson ,and who also ownes the Toyota car dealership,got 40 Billion krona loan ,written off,according to the newspaper DV , in Iceland today .

Many bloggers are talking about, how much patience can you have , and is it not time now,for a real revulution ?

People are very angry ,when they read news like this.
In the meantime ,the public is suffering ,and they all have to pay loans.

Looks like it is going to be a dark winter ahead.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Citizen meeting in Reykjavik august 13 2009

Last thursday ( august 13 ) there was a citizen meeting in downtown Reykjavik.
Speaches where made,and about 3000 attended.
Many members of parliement attended and the former CEO of the Central Bank,mr. David Oddson was also there.

Einar Mar Gudmundson ,an Iceland write, held a speach.
He was angry, and in his speach,he talked about,why should the public in Iceland pay for the crash of the private banks.
Icesave account,is about to be accepted at parliement next week.
And Einar MAr ,askes ,why is the goverment paying for Icelandic private bankers blunders .

Still ,nobody is being held responsable,even though it is known ,that the bankers made strange loans to themselfes ,with no sequrities.
And lots of money was being moved to offshore accounts in tax havens.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Iceland reporters investigated

Five news reporters in Iceland,are being investigated in Iceland by special prosecutor.
This is the special prosecutor about the Banking collapse.
The reporters are from two newspapers and the State TV.
Investigation is about the reporters using Bank information, and therefore breaking bank secrecy laws.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Gay Pride Festival in Iceland - august 8 2009- video and photos

Today is the annual Gay Pride walk in Reykjavik - Iceland.

It is a great and big festival,with parades,music,and lots of fun.Today there attended more thatn 90.000 thousand people.

And that is pretty much,since the total population of Iceland is just above 300.000 thousand people.
There was lots of music,trucks,driving with people on board,flame throwers and dancing and music.
And Icelands prime minister , Johanna Sigurdardottir,is openly gay.
The weather was great ,sunny ,warm and a little cloudy.

Click on the photos - and they will get larger.











Police arrests Saving Iceland protesters

Saving Iceland, where protesting last week ( august 7 ) ,at the goverment building where the minister of Industry is .
There was the minister signing a deal with Century Aluminum Company ,for a new aluminium company. happenend.
Saving Iceland protesters ,where there protesting,throwing milk products at the building and on the Minister car.

Police came there quikly ,and arrested a few.
But now they are saying that the press,did not say about the arrests , what really happened.
Police had said,in the press,that they where attacked,and police men where beatened and hurt by the protesters.
Saving Iceland is using this video clip ,with no sound to prove there point.
In it you can see police arrest a protester - and many bloggers ,are saying that the police is using to much force .



Friday, August 7, 2009

Big Sailship in Reykjavik - the Kruzensthern

A big boat is in Reykjavik these day .
It is a Russian Sailboat ,one of the ,or maybe the biggest sailboat in the world.
The boat is quite immpressive .
It is of russian origin and its length is 108,6 meters. The ship was built in 1926.
The ship is called the Kruzensthern ,that was built in 1926 in Bremerhaven-Wesermünde, Germany.
She was given to the USSR in 1946 as war reparation .

On the video ,you can see a fishing boat backing ,and nearly hitting the Kruzensthern .

# Length: 114.4 m (376 ft)
# Width: 14.02 m (46.0 ft)
# Height: 51.3 m (168.3 ft)
# Depth (draft): 6.8 m (22.1 ft)
# Sail surface: 3,400 m² (36,600 sq ft)
# Crew: 257
# Tonnage: 4,700 tons
# Engines: 2 x 1,000 hp (diesel)
# max. speed: 17.3 kt (32.0 km/h)





Hiroshima Bombing remembered in Iceland

Every year on the 6th of August ,people come together at the pond in downtown Reykjavik,and light candels and put them to float on the pond. This is done to remember the peopla that died ,when the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima on the 6th of august 1945. Speaches where made ,and many people lighted candles ,grown ups and children too.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Something completely different from Iceland

Last weekend ,there was the annual Mud Soccer tournement in Isafjordur - in Iceland.
It is held every year,the first weekend of august.
It the Europian Mud Soccer tournement .
Teams compete in the strange sport ,and here is a video clip from this event.
Hope you enjoy .

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Serious Fraud Office investigating Kaupthing bank in Iceland

Since the top secret loans information from Kaupthing Bank leaked to Wikileaks.org,
the Serious Fraud Office ( SFO ) in Britain, is gathering inteliigence about the Icelandic banks.
SFO has been working harder on it ,after the leak at Wikileaks.com .

SFO has been searching for individuals,who where or are connected to the banks,to come out and give information.
SFO is doing this ,without contacting Icelands Special Prosecutor ,or anyone else in Iceland.
Due to the connection between investigating parties in Iceland ,and those that are thought to be responsable in Iceland , the Special Prosecutor is looked on ,like a joke here in Iceland.
He was appointed by the Justice Minister,who was in charge ,when the Banking Crisis hit ICeland ,last september.

Here you can see this story on the Telegraph in the UK

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Kaupthing Bank robbed by its owners ?

In a German edition of the Financial Times ,the headline reads " Owners robbed Kauthing ".
The foreing press has got interest in these news,and are saying ,that it is strange to lown to owners ,big sums of money ,and with little or no sequrities.
This was front news on ,The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph.

In the Danish newspaper ,Berlingske Tidende, there the headline reads " A buffet for Icelandic Tycoons ".
In the nowegian news ,E24, they use " Bank blunder " about this.

All are talking about ,what looks like a big insider trading blunder.

Here is a video clip from last october ,and in the middle of it ,ther is an inteview with Glitnis Bank representative,in English.
There you can see ,that he has trouble answering questions,that Ielandic media does not ask.

Kaupthing bank backs down against the media in Iceland

Kaupthing bank ,is going to back down from the injuction they got last saturday,against news coverage of the loans Kaupthing bank was handeling last september.
This is probably due to great pressure from the public in Iceland.

RUV was planning to cover the news about Wikileaks top secret information about loans from Kaupthing bank ,just before the banking collapse ,last september.
The injuction,was only against the state media ,RUV,but not any other media in Iceland.

This was also on the Guardian in The Uk ,and you can see that here.

News reporters protest the injuction against news in Iceland

News reporters at the state TV and radio station,RUV and the press union,have protested the injunction that was ordered by the Reykjavík District Commissioner against the state TV news media.

They say that the injuction is " ludicrus " and against public interest.
RUV was planning to cover the news about Wikileaks top secret information about loans from Kaupthing bank ,just before the banking collapse ,last september.
The injuction,was only against the state media ,RUV,but not any other media in Iceland.

They also say,that if the courts confirm the injuction,then Parliement must change the laws about news in Iceland.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Freedom of the press in danger in Iceland ?


Lots of discussion about the the injunction that was ordered by the Reykjavík District Commissioner against the state TV news media ,RUV .
RUV was planning to cover the news about Wikileaks top secret information about loans from Kaupthing bank ,just before the banking collapse ,last september.
The injuction,was only against the state media ,RUV,but not any other media in Iceland.

Kaupthings leagal team tried to get the information removed from Wikileaks.
But the sent the leagal team a letter,that wikileaks made public.
The answer to Kaupthing is as follows :

No. We will not assist the remains of Kaupthing, or its clients, to hide its dirty laundry from the global community. Attempts by Kaupthing or its agents to discover the source of the document in question may be a criminal violation of both Belgium source protection laws and the Swedish constitution. Who is your US counsel ?

Icelands blog pages have today been on overdrive .
People are very angry, and words such as ,revolution and more have been used.

The son of Reykjavík District Commissioner Rúnar Guðjónsson , is head of the Icelandic Financial Service association and one of the top banker at the failed banks.

Another revulution in Iceland ?


Bloggers in Iceland,are very angry today .
Since the Sheriff of Reykjavik ,stopped the state TV ,Ruv ,from using information about money transfers at Kaupthing Bank ,just before the banking collapse last september.

This information is on a foreign web page ,Wikileaks.com
The sherrifs two sons ,are both connected to the banking crisis,and one of his sons,was working for Kaupthing Bank,and got a loan from the bank,with no sequrities.

Many news reporters ,are very angry,and say that next fall,there will be a revolution here in Iceland.
Only the State TV ,was banned from talking about and using the information,but not other media .

Saturday, August 1, 2009

News stopped by Icelandic courts

The Icelandic news channel RUV was ten minutes before the news time at 19:00 hours ( local ) ,stopped by the sheriff of Reykjavik,to use the information,that is on wikileak.com,about the strange money transfers from Kaupthing bank to themselfs.

Blog pages in Iceland are now all ,with critics against this action by the Sheriff,and showing the what is on Wikileaks.com.

The other tv station ,Channel two ,was not stopped ,and they used the information,at their news tiome at 18:30.

Did Kaupthing bank give billions to friends ?


Just before the Banking crash in September 2008 ,there was lots of money movement at Kaupthing bank.
Slides with information about loans,where shown at board meeting at Kaupthing bank on the 25th of september 2008.
These slides where leaked to the wikileaks.com.
You can see them here at Wikileaks.com

The Icelandic tv station RUV,had this on the news last night.
Kaupthing leagal team sent Wikileaks a letter ,threatening them ,and asked them to take this information out of the web page.
Wikileaks said no to Kaupthings leagal team..
Here you can see the threat to Wikileaks.

Kaupthing bank loaned ,and wrote of loans in the billions of kroans.
At wikileaks you can see who got this special treatment.