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.

Protest in Iceland today - video

Protest season started again today in Iceland.
People are protesting , why is the Goverment not helping the public, in their debts.
And why is the goverment going to pay the Icesave account,that one of the banks messed up in England and Holland.
Why should the goverment pay the debts of private banks.

Now the goverment is increasing taxes, income tax,VAT tax,gasoline tax and son on.
At the same time the goverment is helping big companys ,with bailout money .

It was very cold today ,but a few hundred people attended in front of the parliement building.
Members of parliement looked out the windows of parliement to see the protest.
Another protest is planned next saturday .'
And of cource - this was a peaceful protest , few police officers where seen at the protest

Prime minister taking a walk with fire - video

Yesterday,was the International day of the UN, on stopping violence against women.
And here , Icelands prime minister,Johanna Sigurdardottir, leads a walk , from the culture house in Reykjavik ,to the seaside.
There they watched as the Imagine Peace Light ,was lit as they arrived.
The finance minister ,Steingrimur J. Sigfusson , and the vice cahirman of the Independence party ,Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, ,wich is in the oppositiun in parliement ,where also ther.
This is a day where everybdy shows their support and are friends.
In the end , a small accapella group sang the old Coka Cola song.
The prime minister is in front, blond and with a blue scarf .

News from ICeland - corruption

Ministers that might have taken part in the corruption , and may have taken part in the banking collapse,may not have to worry about that they might be held responsable.
According to Iceland law about Goverment ministers, every bad thing or neglect in using their powers, can not be prosecuted after three years.
After three years , you can not prosecute a former minister.

A local newspaper DV.is , says today ,that 30 billion kronas of Jon Asger Johannesson debpt has been written of by Kaupthing bank. ( its name is now - Arion .)
Jon Asger Johannesson ,is the owner of Bonus stores ,tv station,newspapers,and more here in Iceland.

Photo: Jon Asgeir.

The Icelandic public will pay ,goverment raises taxes

The goverment is going to pay the banking debts, and to get more money ,it will raise taxes on the public.
Income tax ,VAT tax , and raise tax on what people have to buy .

Like they say ,if banks are doing good, the stockholder earns more money, but if Banks are not doing good, then the public pays.

Yesterday, people attended in front of the goverment house ,to protest ,that Iceland should pay the Icesave ,account,that was made by a private bank.

IMF - the kiss of death ?

New book has been published about the banking crash in Iceland last year.
The author is mr. Styrmir Gunnarsson, former editor of the newspaper ,Morgunbladid.
In his book , mr. Styrmir talkes about when tyhe CEO of the Icelandic Central Bank, mr. David Oddson ,met mister Timothy F. Geithner Secretary of the Treasury, USA.

They met , in the middle of the year 2008, and then mister Geithner ,was one of assistance directors of the US central BAnk.
Mr. Oddson asked Geithner ,if the US central Bank could lend Iceland 2 - 3 billion dollars.
Mr. Geithner reaction later, was that the amount to lend Iceland was not an issue, because Icelands financial problems where overwhelming.

The author of the Book,mr. Styrmir also said that Mr. David
also told mr. Geithner that the CEO of the Europian central bank had suggested that ICeland talk to the International Moneytary Fund ( IMF )
Mr Timothy F. Geithner then assistance ceo of the US central Bank and now Secretary of the Treasury, USA. reaction to what mr. David Oddson ,CEO of the ICEland Central Bank ,last year,was, Quote: " Aha,he offered you the kiss of death."

In the later part of 2008 ,Iceland was not sure about seeking help at the IMF.
Then mr. Paul Thomsen ,head of an IMF mission in Iceland,came to Iceland and had a meting with the Prime minister ,Mr. Geir H. Haarde.
Mr. Haarde told him that the IMF could not treat Iceland as a third world country.
Mr Thomsen promised that the IMF would not do that.
And after that meeting , mr Thomsen is supposed to have phoned his superior at IMF ,and said , quote: " I Got Him "

Now mr. David Oddson is the editor of the newspaper ,Morgunbladid.
Mr. Styrnir,who wrote this book,with this information ,is a former editor of the Morgunbladid.
Photos .

Top : Timothy F. Geithner Secretary of the Treasury, USA.

Middle: David Oddson

Bottom . Paul Thomsen ( in center )

Iceland not corrupted ?

Transparency International ,rates ICeland as the 10th least corrupt country in the world.
Iceland was number one in 2006.
Here you can see the list of Transparency International

National assembly in Iceland today

Today ,there was a national assmebly, 1500 hundred people,discussing what values should be in ICeland.
They where selected from every part of ICeland,through random selection,using the national registry.
Nine inidviduals,where on every table,and they had all,special discussion .
Some had education,others had democracy and so on.
This assembly ,is by a independent group, and every thing to hold this assembly,was donanted by inidviduals ,and companys.

Integrity is the value the representatives of the National Assembly considered most important for society.
Equal rights, respect and justice follow. Next are love, responsibility, freedom, sustainability and democracy.
The family, equality and trust are also high priorities.

Spirits are high and participants and staff are focused on delivering good results for the country.
The participants are divided into groups working at 162 tables.
Nine people are at each table and their first task this morning was to agree on values.

What comes from this assembly,will be put online,and goverment ,individuals,goveremnt,and everybody ,can use it for their own purposes.

Protest in Iceland today -- video

Due to the banking crisis and economy problems here in ICeland ,everybody has to save money.
And the towns and city must save to.
One town near just south of Reykjavik ,Hafnarfjordur,has been cutting down expences, and when they decided to cut down on service for the young and teenagers,then the teenagers got angry.
The town council decided to cut down on the teenagers social center, the center where teenagers can come after school .
Today teenagers in the town protested , and went in front of the town hall ,and the mayor came out,and promised to talk to the teenagers at a meeting.
And teenagers always protest peacefully.
Speaches where made and they asked the mayor ,why cut down expences on the young .
Media was there ,so the mayor answered the questions,and ,of course ,promised to go over the expences and the savings .
And he promised to speak to the Teenagers representives , and not in closed rooms .

Some Schholmasters gave the kids the the afternoon off,so the could protest,but others did not,so their parents had to call the school,and ask for permission to attend the protest.

Iceland corrupt - poll in Iceland

According to a opinion poll,made here in Iceland ,by The University of Bifrost , Iceland is pretty corrupt.
The asked 1350 individuals,and and 63% answered the poll.
67 % of those that answered ,think that Icelands politics and goverment system is very corrupt .

But according to Transparency International,Iceland is one of the least corrupt nations.

Strange sentences in Iceland - probation is popular

A 38 year old man ,was sentenced yesterday by a county court in the sout part of Iceland.
He was sentenced for giving alcohol and sexually abusing two times, a thirteen year old girl.
He used her inexpieriance and that she had drunk alcohol ,and his strengh and age ,and sexually assoulted the girl two times.
The girls mother went berserk when this happened last year ( september) at the mans house.

He was sentenced to 8 month - and all on probation.
He will not have to serve any time in jail.
According to Icelandic law, the minimun sentence is 1 year in jail.

A few months ago , a man was sentenced for 8 months in jail ,no probation.
He had stolen meat in a shop .

Kaupthing bad loans to Kaupthings bank CEO.

6 of the former CEO´s of Kaupthing Bank,got 400 millions in loans from Kaupthing,to buy land properties in Iceland .
The loans where in Japanese yens ,and are now around one billion krona.
The former CEO´s are Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, Ingólfur Helgason, Magnús Guðmundsson, Sigurður Einarsson, Steingrímur Páll Kárason and Þorvaldur Lúðvík Sigurjónsson.