For those who are not fluent in Icelandic, Skafti is the Icelandic version of Glenn Beck, albeit with a much smaller following, a blog site instead of a TV show and where he lacks in props he more than makes up for in derisory and outraged vocabulary.

Skafti thinks the idea of a constitutional congress is a waste of money and senseless in the current unstable environment. He has made no secret of this opinion, along with other opinions about the horrors of the current leftist government, protesters and special investigations. When Skafti first arrived on the blogging scene, people debated on Facebook whether he was real or not. His hatred of Jon Asgeir Johannesson, Baugur, the Social Democrats and professions of admiration in David Oddsson were considered too blind, too outrageous and too deep-seethed to be written by anyone who is not a comical character or a lunatic fanatic.

Others then begun pointing out similarities between Skafti’s writing style and the one used by his long time friend and libertarian ally Hannes Holmsteinn Gissurarson. But whoever wrote Skafti’s words, sure did not like the idea of Iceland holding a constitutional congress.

So Skafti did something unexpected. He ran for the congress with a mandate that the constitution should be left unchanged. Skafti was one of almost 500 people who ran and he did not win a place. But then he did something which was not so unexpected. He challenged the execution of the election on technical details. Of the 498 other candidates who ran, only Skafti and two other Independence Party members and supporters, Odinn Sigthorsson and Thorgrimur S. Thorgrimsson went to court attempting to get the result overturned.

The threesome complained that the voting ballots were traceable, that there was not enough privacy in the voting booths, that they were not allowed to have a representative present during counting. All debatable points in the first personal vote Iceland has conducted with so many candidates.

It is worth remembering why the constitutional congress was held in first place. Iceland had gone through a crash which was not only economic, but also moral, political and social. A political elite had abused the democracy and institutions of Iceland.  Icelanders have called for constitutional reform for decades but it has so far drowned in committees, assigned and arranged by the political parties themselves. The system of old was broken and finally after 2008, an opportunity to debate and enact necessary reform opened up.

So it was up to the Supreme Court to decide on the threesome’s complaints. To counter the threesomes’ argument they were presented with a precedent from previous elections where the result stood in spite of minor technicalities having gone wrong on the grounds that there was no evidence of malicious intent.

But the Supreme Court still ruled the election illegal. No constitutional congress. Skafti won, Odinn won, Thorgrimur won, David Oddson won and Hannes Holmsteinn Gissurarson won. Inga Lind Karlsdottir, the soft news television presenter who ran as a candidate aligned with the Independence Party and got in was immediately indignant in the media. Pressan.is owned by benefactors from the old system immediately questioned whether ministers should resign and debated the waste of money.

The supreme court ruling was performed by the following justices:

Arni Kolbeinsson and Jon Steinar Gunnlaugsson, both bridge partners of David Oddsson and Gardar Gislason, Gunnlaugur Claessen, Pall Hreinsson og Vidar Mar Matthiasson. All justices were appointed to the court in by justice ministers of the Independence Party during a period in Icelandic history which has been criticized harshly for corruption and bad governance, for example in the Special Investigation Report which Pall Hreinsson presented last year.

Constitutional reform is directed against the old system. The old system does not want reform.

Someone said in December 2008, “they will wreck havoc, and keep hold of their power and influence by any means necessary”.

It is indicative of the problems Iceland faces, that those responsible for the constitutional congress did not cover all their bases.

And using and abusing every little crook and nanny, legal or otherwise, Skafti Hardarson will inherit Iceland.

Related posts:

1. Real Reform Or Just More Of The Same?
2. First Law Against David Oddson’s Type Of Governance
3. Its All Gone Fucking Fuck In Iceland

Who was warned?

Interestingly very little has been written about this period. Except that former ministry director Baldur Gudlaugsson is on trial for selling his Landsbanki shares after a meeting with Alistair Darling in the summer of 2008.

Recent news suggest that former Icelandic national team goalkeeper and Glitnir private banking employee Birkir Kristinsson sold billions in Glitnir stock well in advance of the crash.

Interesting period indeed.

Related posts:

1. Who Got The Calls From The Invisible Hand?
2. Bankers Bonuses And Perspectives
3. Did Svafa Get The Call?

1. There was a demand of reform in the fishing industry. It was needed because the resource was gathering in the hands of very few who in turn used their wealth to borrow intensely against it and invest in other sectors. The profits of the sector have increasingly been disappearing abroad. Oh and the UN Human Rights Council had condemned the system and claimed it was in violation of human rights. The new government indicated that reform measures would be taken. Then it appointed a reform committee dominated by industry lobbyists and politicians whose career depends on the industry. The result..a fucking fuck solution which benefits the…fishing industry.

Finnbogi Vikar, a member of the committee delivered a special opinion. “As I have said before, the appointment of this committee was a mistake because from the beginning it was clear what the result of the majority would be. One needs only to examine the interests behind the members of the committee to realise that most representatives of the wage-earning public and employees in this country have long ago taken a stand with the representatives of the largest organizations of employers and against the public’s interests after the collapse of 2008. Together these parties form a formidable power-bloc which controls a great deal in our society with the bloated undemocratic pension funds behind them. It is unbelievable that there is no demand to be made of the political parties and the politicians on this committee that they reveal the amounts donated to them from interest groups in the fishing sector in recent years.”

2. There were demands of constitutional reform. Iceland copied the Danish constitution in1944 and then Althingi neglected review and reform for decades on end, despite promises and indications otherwise. Reform is for example needed in clearer seperation of the branches, re-examination of the role of the president and timely separation of church and state. Althingi is stuttering through with a constitutional congress for which elections are supposed to be held in the autumn. The way appears clear for demagogues, special interests and representatives of the politicalparties to deliver a loud and argumentative debate and a fucking fuck result.

3. There was outrage over campaign finances. Political parties and members of Althingi were awash in cash from the finance sector, the energy sector, the fishing sector to name a few that their loyalties were not just questionable but plain obvious. The way politicians bent over backwards to exploit public utilities for the benefit of shaky corporations and ignore regulation for the suicidal financial sector left a bitter taste in the mouths of voters stuck with higher utility bills and monumental sovereign debt. So a campaign finance reform committee was created and its results are an almighty erect middle finger in the fucking fuck direction of those voters. The party‘s don‘t want real change and have just made some minor inconsequential changes.

The Movement‘s announcement. “This issue is a clear example of how Althingi is not going to consider the work of the Special Investigation Committee and its conclusions. The eight chapter of the committee’s report is named “Morality and procedures connected to the collapse of the Icelandic banks in 2008”. In Chapter 2.3 it says “One of the most obvious tool of the business sector to influence politicians are direct donations, both to parties and individuals.” The conclusion of the chapter is where conlusions are drawn and the lessons of the past are examined. “Ways to draw a clearer line between the financial sector and the political sector must be found. It can not be tolerated that the guardians of public interest act on the behalf of private companies in such a manner as was done in the event of the banking collapse.” With this new legislation, Althingi has rejected the conclusions of the part of the Special Investigation report which criticizes harshly the connections of poltical parties to the business and financial sectors. Unfortunately the financial interests of the four parties are placed above the publics. Democracy and transparancy are of little use against the mixed up priorities of those in power.

4. There was great displeasure with the president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson who had opened the doors of the presidential office to the bankers and financiers who in turn jetted him around the world to open doors to global business. The president had become a caricature who had brought the reputation of the office down. Then he managed to somehow please the special interest group InDefence by approving their call for a national referendum on sovereign debt and won some credibility back with the increasingly xenophobic, scared and confused public. So he still occupies the office, trying to reinvent his damaged image to the amazement of observers. A president who owes his people is suspectible to participate in plenty of fucking fuck demagoguery.

5. It became clear in the banking collapse that on the global stage Icelandic politicians had neglected making friends, forming alliances and providing shelter for their citizens. Timothy Geithner laughed at advances made by David Oddson, the Nordic countries offered concerned but sound advice and Britain offered solutions. Instead Icelanders followed the lead of the Independence Party‘s leaders and decided to sulk, play the victim and accuse the international community of a siege. When things were coming to a heat, the Social Democrats delivered a plan that could restore Iceland‘s credibility abroad and solutions to the volatile currency and mounting public and national debt. An application was made to join the EU. And then the xenophobes, cold war relics, special interests and racists hijacked the debate to the point that grown up, educated people want the IMF out without any alternative solutions to Iceland‘s currency and debt problems, a national referendum designed to exit NATO without any alternative solutions towards Iceland‘s defences and to retract the EU application without ever having to offer alternative plans to restore Iceland‘s economic viability and international credibility. Meanwhile in the real world, Iceland recently dropped almightily the World Economic Forum‘s Report on Global Competetiveness as far as macroeconomic environment goes and is ranked number 138. The Independence Party, the Centre Party and the Left Greens have offered no solutions or propositions on how to restore Iceland‘s standing. They are currently getting away with spewing venom all over the only realistic and credible plan available. Oh and fucking fuck IceSave is still unresolved.

6. The media came under plenty of scrutiny for not delivering scrutiny at all. Now it is in the hands of Jon Asgeir Johannesson and David Oddson. Editor in chief David Oddson even has the nerve to accuse the State Broadcasting Channel of bias because a reporter there is the sister of Exista‘s CEO, implying that her media can not be trusted with delivering news. Apart from maybe DV, the media is worse than before. When investigative reporting was needed, Channel 2 cut theirs from the program and gave the nation cooking lessons from the wife of Baugur‘s head of finance. Agenda, propaganda and fucking fuck through your mailbox and television screen every day.

7. There were loud calls for debt reform through restructuring and write-offs. For a moment, people actually believed that those who had accumulated the greatest debts would have to pay the most. Then reality bit hard and cold. The government‘s promise of a fortress around Icelandic households ended up in solutions which benefitted those who had geared themselves the greatest. Those with a 100-200% mortgage were bailed out, especially if they could find members of Althingi willing to do their bidding within the banks. Those who had saved and put down payments on their homes were left to rot with their inflated debt. And what about Jon Asgeir Johannesson, Bjorgolfur Thor and their kind? Well they have so far managed to score deals with the banks on massive write offs domestically so they can manouvre deals where they can get back their companies abroad. And they have been granted stand-still agreements where their debt collects no interest and is not gone after either. Many of the same people are still main actors in the business sector. Bjorgolfur Thor has been seeking tax-exemptions while wage-earners are experiencing higher taxes and higher utility bills. Did you think Sigurdur Einarsson, wanted by Interpol a few months ago was here to be questioned the other day? No he was here in talks to buy a fucking fuck financial institution.

8. There was need for someone to hit the refresh button in the political arena but so far it seems like the old guard has gotten away with a restart. The Social Dems were and still are unable to find anyone with remotely the same political credibility as Johanna Sigurdardottir. The ladder below is crowded with wallflowers and followers of men. If Johanna has enough then it does not bode well for the only party with a plan for the nation. Meanwhile the Independence Party, Left Greens and Centre Party are ablaze with infighting. All three parties are currently letting the monkeys run their circus and if it were not for Steingrimur J. Sigfusson‘s incredible turn from idealism to realism then all bets would probably be off. But it says all about the unruly waters of Icelandic politics that isolationist xenophobe Ogmundur Jonasson has had to be brought in to the government again to appease his followers. The Centre Party is currently in suicidal mode as requests for rampant demagoguery is fully provided elsewhere. And then there is the Independence Party which freed from the oppression of David Oddson almost managed to start a self-examination and reconciliation process, only to fall prey to the rampant partisanship and playground politics of their great leader again. The party‘s ladder is also crowded with hungover leftovers from the heady days. The only realistic challenger to the madness is former vice-chairman Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarssdottir who has the financial freedom thanks to the former banks and little political reputation left to lose. New pretenders on the political scene have been pushed out by the Citizen‘s Movement which collapsed in record time and the Best Party‘s moves are under relentless attack from the four parties. It is not just an economic crisis anymore but an all out fucking fuck political crisis.

9. According to rumour there are people preparing to take the law into their own hands this weekend if the parliamentary committee charged with determining the responsibility of the elected officials named in the Special Report this spring comes up with a fucking fuck whitewash. It is to the Icelandic nation‘s outstanding credit that not one of the politicians or the businessmen most responsible for the ponzi economy which collapsed has been physically hurt so far. But it is to the incredible detriment of the political system‘s inability to appropriate blame that ordinary Icelanders are being heard in private conversations saying that “If I do it alone then it is murder, but if a group of us do it then it is a revolution. I am too angry.” The government and Althingi apparently now must be careful. An indebted and outtaxed public might cross new boundaries if they continue seeing Jon Asgeir and Bjorgolfur Thor parking their Range Rovers in Laugavegur, if Sigurdur Einarsson returns to Icelandic banking or if David Oddson claims his kingdom back. Lady Justice is in a fucking fuck pickle in Iceland these days.

10. The public is currently in an all-encompassing state of fucking fuck delusion. Serious, well meaning, well educated people are discussing between themselves in “revolutionary” terms. Yet, they still buy Morgunbladid, access Jon Asgeir‘s cable TV, vote for the Independence Party and nod when Ogmundur Jonasson talks of Nazi Europe. Currently letters are going out to 1.000 Icelanders selected for a National Meeting on constitutional reform. Yet again, a simulated process is given priority over weighty substance in the national debate. The public has already been lead on a ride by the Citizens‘ Movement (guilty), the National Meeting (not guilty), national referendum on IceSave (not guilty) and the Gudmundur Franklins‘ of Iceland are only beginning. Instead of taking responsibility for getting to know the issues of today, voting responsibly and holding their elected officials to their words, people are talking revolutions, Right Green parties and secession from NATO, EEA and the civilized world. Good, sensible people seriously need to start taking a stand in the fucking fuck that is Iceland.

Related posts:

1. The Icelandic Discourse in A Nutshell
2. Blue Handballs and Tackles From Behind
3. Iceland Will Say No To The EU

The award is called the Kjartan Gunnarsson Freedom Award and it was presented by the youth association of the Independence Party at the party’s headquarters.

Kjartan Gunnarsson you may recall was the CEO of the Independence Party who simultaneously sat on the board of Landsbankinn, the bank responsible for IceSave. You might also remember how the Independence Party government of David Oddson handed Landsbankinn to its preferable owners, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and Bjorgolfur Thor.  And you might not have forgotten about the 25 million ISK donation that Landsbankinn gave the Independence Party days before it enacted new campaign financing laws.

Amongst the guests, Independence Party MP Petur Blondal, the proud father of one of InDefence’s most active members.

It hardly gets more absurd than this crowd.

Related posts:

1. Independence Party = Enron
2. An Independence Party Split?
3. The Independence Party’s Successful Projection Of Baugur and IceSave

Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge points out this video of Columbia University economist Fredric Mishkin who has changed the title of his 2006 pen-for-hire paper on Iceland’s economic state from Financial Stability in Iceland to Financial Instability in Iceland.

Some time ago we penned a post, titled”Mishkin On Iceland: “Nothing Is F*#&ed Here Dude” which discussed the former Fed director’s March 2006 analysis “Financial (IN)stability in Iceland”. Those interested in our original observations of Mishkin’s horrendous analysis (of what proved to be the first bankrupt European country of the new century, but certainly not last) can find them at the original link. Yet continuing with the Duderino references, today, new shit has come to light, which once again confirms that not only is the Fed populated by the most intellectually incapable and corrupt people, but that anything coming out of Columbia University (and the Ivy League in general) is not worth the paper it is printed on. Watch the attached clip to see a former Fed director go from comfortable, to fidgety, to stuttering, to thoroughly discredited, to in dire need of diaper change, in under 2 minutes. Last but not least, here is the soundbite of the year: “You have faith in the central bank.” No further comment necessary.

Why would a noted professor who wants to be taken seriously do such a thing?

Probably because he should try to distance himself as far away from the reality that his report was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce in Iceland as a false reply against an avalanche of criticism which hit Iceland financial world in 2006. Mishkin got paid $124.000 to write the report with then Independence Party economist for hire Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson. If Mishkin had done any independent research he would have quickly been aghast at the foreign debt accumulating, the bubble forming

My belief is that he actually only lent his name. The wording of the report looks suspiciously like it originated from the Chamber of Commerce’s spin machine. It would be

interesting to hear how much time Mishkin spent on the report, which documents and statistics he researched and who he spoke to.

Like Transparency International and the damned ratings agencies, Frederic Mishkin failed enormously in getting below the surface of Icelandic politics, history and financial markets.  Danske Bank, Merrill Lynch and the IMF did not. They rung the alarm bells.  Robert Z. Aliber and Robert Wade did as well. The analysis of the former lead to the chairman of the Icelandic Financial Services Association threatening professor Thorolfur Matthiasson that he would never get any grants from the group again for bringing such a man into Iceland.

Hopefully Mishkin held on tight to his $124.000. Within three years they had doubled in value in Iceland.

Let us hope Mishkin’s students grill him on the subject if anyone is still listening.

Here is a check-list which they would be well advised to bring to class.

1. How much time did you spend on the report?

2. Which documents and sources did you use to reach your conclusions?

3. Did you know that your co-author Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson was a trusted member of the ruling Independence Party?

4. Did you know the IP had appointed its former head as Central Bank governor, with no background in economics at all?

5. Did you understand the close ties between the movers and shakers in the IP government, the Central Bank, the Financial Authority, the Chamber of Commerce and the banks? If so how could you reasonably claim academic integrity behind the report?

6. Did you understand the power struggles between the Central Bank governor and some of the largest owners and executives of the Icelandic banks?

7. Why did you report contradict noted researchers at Danske Bank, Merrill Lynch and IMF? Was the report made to order?

8. Why did you not reveal the large payment you received from the Chamber of Commerce in the report? Did you get any other amenities paid for, such as reindeer hunting trip in Iceland with your co-author?

9. Why did you change the name of the report on your CV from Financial Stability in Iceland to Financial Instability in Iceland? How would you react if your students did such a thing?

10. As a professor how would you grade the report in light of recent events in Iceland?

The report:

Related posts:

1. Frederic Mishkin’s Role In Iceland’s Collapse
2. Mishkin for sale
3. MP’s Two Million ISK Payment For Mishkin Report

It could turn out to be an outstanding achievement, on par with the Special Report.

Or it could turn out the way things did in the aftermath of the report’s publication. It could wither and die in the hands of Althingi. Remember how the report implied that there were people of high positions who should be made responsible, as their actions and inactions had contributed to the economic collapse? David Oddson, Geir Haarde, Bjorgvin G. Sigurdsson and more. As soon as Althingi had to act, it did not and exonerated these individuals.

Icelanders have  difficulties grasping democracy. Does anyone remember how the world was supposed to turn to our side with the national referendum on IceSave? After all the hullabaloo it turned out to be the most useless national referendum ever held.

And currently Icelandic voters are extremely susceptible to demagoguery and all sorts of snake oil.

Who is going to be trusted for the necessary task of reforming our constitution? The Special Committee was chastised and made suspicious by the right wing while it was doing its job. The left wing cooked up all sorts of conspiracy theories when it delayed its publication date twice.  Both sides are going to dry their darnedest to get people favourable to themselves elected. And the interests of the parties do not align with democracy, but control in the form of an undemocratic voting system and a control over the branches. My guess is that there is going to be plenty of people running for all the wrong reasons.

Trust is so low at the moment in Iceland that a few news items in the last couple of days have sprouted several conspiracy theories. A fire in the money pit concert hall being constructed downtown gave rise to claims of insurance fraud on behalf of the contractor. People are seeing ghosts everywhere, and it would seem like only madmen should be inclined to step in front of the firing squad at the moment?

Personally I would be more in favour of an appointed committee of academics and foreign specialists instead of a popular vote deciding how the constitution is supposed to be reformed. The voters of Iceland have repeatedly shown that they are generally uninformed and do not have their own best interests in mind.

Related posts:

1. The President’s Statement (PDF)
2. Failing Democracy Again: This Time With A National Referendum
3. Wake up Iceland!

But why did all those Icelanders take on these risky loans? Simply put, the Icelandic krona has been walking dead since early last decade when the Central Bank decided to implement inflation targets on the miniscule floating currency.  As the government proceeded to fulfill all its campaign promises in a couple of years as Geir Haarde was quoted saying, the ever rising interest rates attracted an influx of hot money which created an illusion of wealth, fuelled speculation and a bubble economy to rival all bubble economies.

Ordinary Icelandic consumers soon felt the pinch when the rising inflation started morphing their consumer price indexed loans into double/triple repayment monsters. It started to make sense borrowing in dependable currencies like the Euro, US dollar or the popular basked of Yen and Swiss Franks. The interest rates there were unheard of in Iceland and unavailable to ordinary citizens. That is until every bank in sight begun offering them around 2004-2006. The appeal was obvious and although most consumers balked at the risk involved in paying off their car-loans and mortgages in a currency different from the one in the one they were earning, many jumped on board. The krona would never fluctuate more than 15-20% would it and it would still be worth it?

Well, no…and the consequences were disastrous…

from M5.is. Click to enlarge

Astthor Skulason, a farmer paralyzed below the waist needs special farming machines and equipment to run his farm. “It looks like I have paid them much more than I borrowed”, he said talking to DV.is about Lysing, the financing company which still repossessed the machines. Astthor says the machines not only help him out with his work, but also provide him with much needed exercise as he tries to live with the handicap which he got from a car accident in 2003. An intervention and a collection on behalf of a couple of MP’s managed to allow him to keep his farm equipment.

Curiously, after the economic collapse voices started being heard about the supposed illegality of the currency loans. That was a new and unexpected angle, not heard while consumers were enjoying the benefits of the foreign interest rates. But now they had doubled and suddenly there were entities sprouting which had been unneccessary in the previous years of milk and honey. The Houshold Alliance and Borrowers Alliance as well as the office of the Consumer Spokesman claimed that it was illegal to tie payments of capital in Icelandic kronas to a different currency. This could not possibly be? Yet that was what happened when such a case hit the courts. The financial product had been illegal all along.

Currently the discussion has been about what minister of economic affairs, Gylfi Magnusson said or meant in Althingi last year when he seemed certain that the loans were in fact legal. The government had in fact sold off a couple of banks (Glitnir and Kaupthing) and taken majority ownership in one (Landsbankinn) based on such an opinion.  It then turns out that his ministry and the Central Bank all sat quiet and acted indifferently on legal advice which claimed the loans were illegal. The government stood idly by when people‘s lifes were torn apart becaue of these loans. The fortress promised for the households became the banks‘.

Even more curiously and telling of the political cesspool that is Iceland anno 2010 is that the MP‘s and media calling for Gylfi‘s head on a plate did not raise an argument with his stance at the time. The nerve of the Independence Party knows no limit as they call for Gylfi‘s resignation when lead by failed Central Banker David Oddson and bailed out businessman Bjarni Benediktsson.

In fact, the political elite and Althingi‘s collective shame is all the greater considering that former minister of commerce and industry Valgerdur Sverrisdottir of the Centre Party has stepped forward and claimed that she knew all along that the loans which just about all financial institutions in her nation were making were illegal!

Did you get that? The minister responsible for the banks in Iceland working properly turned a blind eye for nine years on them selling an illegal product which at worst in many cases ruined people‘s lifes or at best changed them completely. She even sponsored a bill in 2001 where it was made clear. The members of Althingi‘s economic committee which should have discussed the bill at the time included Johanna Sigurdardottir, now PM for the Social Democrats and Margret Frimannsdottir who at one point was the party‘s vice chairman, Ogmundur Jonasson, now Left Green xenophobe, Kristinn H. Gunnarsson and Hjalmar Arnason from the Centre Party, the former who has written inspired columns about the potential damage the banks would face if the loans were deemed illegal. The Independence Party had four representatives on that committee, including corrupt Kopavogur mayor Gunnar Birgisson, Fisheries minister to be Einar K. Gudfinnsson, Sigridur A. Thordardottir and the current chairman of the Confederation of Icelandic Employers Vilhjalmur Egilsson.

Where have all these people and all these political parties been sticking their heads for the last decade?

A truck driver in his sixties, Olafur Jon Leosson took his own life in October 2009. Olafur had not been able to make payments of the currency loan he had taken with financing company Lysing to finance the purchase of his truck. Olafur left a letter to his family where he claimed unemployment and debts had left him with no other way out. A big source of desperation was that his good friend Nathaniel B. Agustsson had signed a guarantee for his loans. “He obviously feared that I would be in trouble because of this. He was really affected by being unemployed for a long while and I could feel how the worries were breaking him down”, said Nathaniel to newspaper DV. Ten months after Olafur‘s death, the Supreme Court of Iceland ruled that the loans had been unlawful. Olafur‘s son Gustaf commented to DV that things might have turned out differently for his father if the ruling had come earlier. “The top managers of these companies knew this. It just has to be. When you run a company you have to be clear about what you can and can not do”.

Related posts:

1. The Currency Loans Were Legal – The Dark Side Of The Government’s Inept Solutions
2. In All Fairness: The Currency Loans And What Now
3. The Benefit of The Doubt

What does it take to maintain ablog which is read by a few more people than your mother? A bit of time to write, inspiration and a whole lot of enthusiasm for your subject.

And I am totally lacking any of the above.

In October 2008 I thought that finally something was going to change. An enormous veil had been lifted off a society so plagued with flaws and corruption that large numbers of its citizens had convinced themselves that everyone else had got it wrong.

The culprits fought to stay in power. Of course they believed that only they could adjust what had gone wrong on their watch. And their interests at stake were so great that they had to be chased out with pots and pans. They should have been grateful that this was not Southeast Asia or Latin America. They might not have been able to use the back doors.

And suddenly there was a breath of fresh air. Journalists actually wrote critical stories and bloggers started telling the truth. The fear of expressing ones opinion in Iceland had been temporarily lifted. Facebook was teeming with groups calling for a “New Iceland”, thousand joined the call for a better society. They wanted a new constitution, better policies, more transparancy, better justice and a more equal society.

And typically for Icelanders they thought it would happen overnight.

At first we heard a lot about our “abundand resources” and “strong pillars”. Even more typically for Icelanders the quest for quick fixes manifested itself in politicians repeatedly talking about possible oil resources in the Dragon Area. We heard about justice and retribution. That the people most responsible for the situation the country was in would have to pay with jail time and cold hard Caribbean-stored cash. A new government was elected on an almighty swing to the left after decades of sheepish adherance to the right. The PM was gay and there was even a new party in town which promised it would do things differently. An application was made for membership to the EU, better late than never. The new government promised reform in the fishing industry and a famous fortress around Icelandic households.

And then…what the hell happened?

Funnily enough we don’t hear that much about oil anymore. Living in Iceland today is like being stuck in a bad dream. When it was time to clean house the maid went to sleep and the urchins took over. Everything is in limbo! It is like that time after 6am on a Sunday morning when the nightclub has closed, everyone is worse for wear but they thought it would be a good idea to have an afterparty. And that is when the bad things happen. People pass out, things get damaged, stolen and raped. And nobody knows when the zombie-state is over because no one is really in control. It is hard to make cohesive plans in this environment because even the loons start to make sense for many participants in this drunken state.

There are still too many relics left over in the coalition parties to think differently than before. The fortress promised to the households was delivered to the banks. The resources we were going to use to turn things around were distributed to the bullies. The banksters and the politicians got theirs first. The former have equities which outstrip their liabilities, the latter help their own with employment through the state. The public has neither. It has been plunged into debt and unemployment has been at a record high. The US seems to be waking up to the fact that its middle class is shrinking. Iceland is getting there. The government seems to have decided to demoralize its population between 30-50 by throwing the chief burdens there. Higher taxes, less service, no real debt reforms.

Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson meanwhile still drives a Range Rover and lives in a mansion.

Demagogues, racists and extremists are having a field day under these conditions. Ogmundur Jonasson’s faction within the Left Greens seems to have decided to … well what is it that those people want? Accusing the EU of having Nazi-like intentions and likening Icelanders to the native Americans who were brutally murdered and chased out of their lands is not only insulting to history but also potentially destructive for the future. The government needs Ogmundur and his folk to help it steer the state into a save haven. Instead they are ripping down the sails and not replacing them with anything but spite, hate and rageful rants. This meanwhile delays the call for reform within the two most rotten political parties north of the Alps. The Independence Party and Centre Party which ruled Iceland with a corrupt fist for decades have allowed the madmen to take over. The two billionaire who lead those parties have been happy for Ogmundur to do their biddings. As things don’t get done, the necessary reforms in the fishing industry have been delayed and might be put on ice for a long time yet. As the government maintains a hands off policy towards the banks, old friends serve each other valuables from their collapsed ruins. The scavengers are having a field day and the Independence Party and Centre Party old guard probably can not believe its own luck.

And meanwhile they have not been required to provide the nation with any answers, visions of the future or policies to strenghten Icelandic society. Even if many of them do not know it themselves, the citizens of Iceland need a plan for the future and they need answers to questions like what is the currency going to be in the next ten, thirty, fifty years? What sort of interest rates can we expect? What would Iceland’s position be if the IMF had not stepped in? How will it be if the IMF is kicked out? What is Iceland’s place in the world going to be for the next ten, thirty, fifty years? Is it EU membership or something else? What exactly is that something else going to be? If there is no EU membership what will happen to the Iceland’s EEA status? What will happen to our exports/imports if we are out of the EEA? How is Iceland going to participate on the international stage in the next few decades?

The Independence Party, the Centre Party, The Left Greens and the Movement have all failed their nation in providing realistic and meaningful answers to these questions. The Social Democrats have proposed EU membership as means to provide Icelanders with a road map to the future. The others have only provided diversions, road-blocks and general jibberish.

In this we have a thriving atmoshpere for scaremongers such as the new Right Green party, misleading entities such as the Isafold coalition of young people against EU membership, Young Farmers Association, Heimssyn and Raudur Vettvangur. The media is paralyzed by special interest ownership and proximity to people and issues. When blogger AK-72 revealed the astonishing similarities between Glitnir bank’s operations before the economic crash and Magma Energy’s operations this week, the mainstream media played ignorant. One of the most prolific bloggers, Lara Hanna Einarsdottir quit this week in a plea to be able to make a living out of her research and material. For a twenty-something journalist or TV reporter on a paltry salary and short on resources it is easier to call Ogmundur or Sigmundur David for an ranting soundbite than to get to the bottom of complicated issues. The rabble rousers are taking over. The only mainstream media trying its darndest is DV, still smarting from being a trashy yellow press a few years ago and the editor’s frightened stance towards Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson at one point after the crash. Morgunbladid is propaganda trash, Frettabladid suffers its owners. Trust is low in Iceland.

Even the church finds it hard to navigate the narrow path. The state church asked to cut its budget by 9% refused on the grounds that it is a “seperate entity” which must not unilaterally accept cuts proposed by the state. It will offer a 5% cut in Iceland’s worst recession in memory. It then refuses to hand over numbers on sexual harassement cases. Icelandic priests who get their salary from the state, who through relentless lobbying have come to receive almost double the pay of policemen, nurses, teachers and firemen have no shame. One really should propose that the State Church should be privatized into the hands of some proper Independence Party members and then it will be bankrupt and gone in five years max.

A clean up is needed on so many levels but the after-party is still going on. At this point, Iceland is at its most vulnerable.

So while Bjarni Armannson, Bjorgolfur Thor, Hannes Smarason, Larus Welding, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, Sigurdur Einarsson, Lydur and Agust Gudmundsson, Karl Wernerson et al drive their shiny black Range Rovers into Euroland, Jon and Gunna are facing a record number of foreclosure sales and a welfare system coming to a halt.

Where is the inspiration and enthusiasm in that?

Related posts:

1. For Iceland To Get Back On Its Feet Important Reform Is Needed Within Independence Party
2. InDefence Honored By Young Independence Party Members
3. Independence Party Tragedy

She displayed astute business sense by selling off her 1.71% share in Glitnir worth 3.5 billion ISK on the last day before it collapsed.

She then partnered with a few other fishing magnates to buy the financial wreck that was Morgunbladid, after a 4 billion ISK write off from Glitnir.

Gudbjorg’s long-time lawyer and personal advisor is one Gunnlaugur Saevar Gunnlaugsson who has served in several high-profile positions on the behalf of the Independence Party while David Oddson was its party leader.

She then took part in hiring disgraced former prime minister and central bank governor David Oddson as editor in chief, pumping money into turning the paper into a fishing lobby propaganda tool, designed to avoid reform in the fishing industry and keep Iceland away from the EU. Which has been a great success so far as the government has had to fall back on its promise of fishing industry reform and that 70% of the nation believes that bad foreigners in the EU eat poisoned food, can not wait to rob us blind, want us to speak German and eat straight cucumbers.

And now she is the tax queen of Iceland.

Related posts:

1. The Icelandic Discourse in A Nutshell
2. Economic Disaster Area
3. Morgunbladid: The Beacon Of The Free Press

Related posts:

1. Silly Debate On IceSave
2. It had to happen
3. A lot can happen in a month