Icesave passed in parliement - 33 - 30

Icelands guarantee on paying the Icesave debts , was passed last night.
The vote went - 33 for and 30 against.
Now the President has to sign the law into effect.
Protest where today at the Presidents house.
Here you can see photos from the protest at the President House PHOTOS

Here are photos from the protest yesterday and a video clip i took .

Protest in Reykjavik december 30 2009 - video and photos

Icelands Parliement is about to put to a vote, the Icesave account, Shall Iceland pay it or not.
It regards a account in England and Holland, by Icelandic bank .
Many where today at parliement building at noon, protesting, and demanding that the Goverment should not pay, for the mistakes of private banks.
And at 12:00 , the protesters lighted flares and shouted , at the parliement building.
One man climbed up ,the statue of Jon Sigurdsson, a Icelandic Independence hero .
And the temperature was minus 8 on the celcius
You can get more info on this Icesave account - in english here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icesave_dispute

Small protest in Reykjavik - video

Still there are some that are protesting in front of the Icelandic Parliement building in Reykjavik.
And inisde the parliement,members are discussing ,still,the Icesave account.
Tomorrow it will go to a vote in Parliement .
Then parliement will decide, to pay the , or not to pay.
Protesters are against paying, arguing, that why should the public pay for private banks mistake.
Others say, Iceland should pay all its debts, both domestic and and in foreign countries.

In the video you can see Parliement at work , and not many are there .
And outside there are protesters making noise.

News from Iceland - photos

1500 familys got assistance from the Family help center in Reykjavik before this Christmas.
Many thousands have left Iceland this year,and most of them have gone to Norway .
Iceland has been offered assistance from Africa.
That shows how bad things are in Iceland.
A Icelandic man who lives in London ,had his house and car ,painted by hooligans.
They wrote ," Pay People Back " ,and are meaning the Icesave account.

The Icelander,if asked,says that he is Scandinavian,not Icelandic.

Last day before christmas in Iceland - Video

Christmas starts tomorrow,at 18:00
And it is freezing and windy .
The shortest day is over ,and the sun still rises a little bit over the horizon,and the moon follows after the sun sets early.
The teenage girl is studying music and played for people ,two christmas songs.
And on the last day before christmas ,iit is tradition in Iceland,to eat a fish , that has benn cooked and worked,so that it smell bad and tastes strange.

Many do not allow it to be cooked in houses,that is why you can see that here it is cooked at a garage.




Either you love this or hate it.

Imagine a rotten fish,and mutliply that smell and taste with 97 ,and that is the smell and taste of this strange food.



Tonight is the longest shopping time in Iceland.
Shops are open to the late hours .
And everybody goes downtown,and shop,enjoy the music that is all over Reykjavik.
I went tonight and took a little part in it ,and enjoyed the Three Tenors in Reykjavik ,and also a group that is called - 3 Voices and Beatur -
That is a Acapella group ,and they where walking with the amplifier and singing for people in downtown Reykjavik.
The temperature is minus 5 on the celcius and windy ,but that does not stop us from going to have a festive evening.



I took video the singing and it was great to listen to this great music --
Hope you like it too

Flag burned at a protest in Iceland - and Eva Jolie signing book

Today there was yet another protest in Reykjavik.
People are protesting the Icelsave account,that the govermnet is about to agree to pay,to England and Holland.
And also,why the goverment is not doing anything to help people in money trouble, due to bad foreign currency loans.
People feel , that the govermnet is only helpin companys,and the wealthy people in Iceland.
Those that took part in the Banking fiasco last year,are still in good shape ,financially.
Many have left Iceland,are running companys in foreign countries.
Others are being helped with tax breaks,so that they can still run their companys,even though they took big part in the banking crisis.

And today , Eva Joilie , Norwegian-born French magistrate , who is a special adviser by the Icelandic government to investigate the banking crisis, was a few hundred feet from the protest , in a bookstore,signing here book.
You can see her ,at the end of the line in the bookstore.

A flag was burned at the protest today ,and it was the flag of one of the banks, Landsbanki, the bank that made the Icesave fiasco.
The flag was first walked on ,and when a singer started singing christmass songs ,they burned the flag.

Days get shorter in Iceland - photos

Days are getting shorter in Iceland.
Sun is just above the horizon at noon.
I took these photos today in Reykjavik at about 13:00 hours.
And it is COLD.
Minus 4 on the celcius and windy also.

Click on the photos and the will get bigger.

SWAT team in Iceland and a gunman in Iceland

Yesterday ,Police in Reykjavik was contacted,and informed that there was a man had been seen with a gun in the neighborhood.
Also that shouts and gun shots had been heard.
Icelands SWAT team was activated,and they closed the roads there,and a surrounded the house where the sound came from.

THe SWAT team got the man out ,and arrested him and a grild in the house.
But there was no gun there.
The person who called the police had made a little mistake.

A Extermninator ,working for Reykjavik City, had been walking there , with a big flash light,looking for a rat.

And the sound ? The people who where arrested ,had been watching DVD movie ,and had the sound very loud.

Here is a clip from the action . and also here if this clip does not work

Man of God leaves Iceland --- to Norway

One Priest in the Icelandic National Church, got a job ,as a priest in Norway.
He says,that he wants to give his children a better oppurtunity ,than they can have in Iceland.
Mr: Arnaldur Bardarsson,is a Priest in a Church at Akureyri .
He has resigned his job ,as a man of god, and is going to do his work in Norway.
The banking crash , has made him loose faith in Iceland society.
He feels that the huge anger amoung the public in Iceland , against the Icelandic goverment is ,for letting all this happen .

Maybe Norway needs more of gods help than Iceland - I dont know .

Protest today in Iceland video and photos

Protest was held today in Reykjavik in front of the parliement building.
People are demanding that the goverment help the people ,that are having trouble with their loans.
Also ,people are against the Icesave contract, that the govermnet is promising to pay to england and holland ,debt by one of the banks that crashed last year.
Now there are about 15.000 thousand people unemployed in Iceland

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.