Iceland.

[Icelander]

Hi everyone , I have been visiting this site for some time now , made a few posts and followed the discussions.

Thought Id introduce myself and give you some news from the Land Of The Midnight Sun.

Im Arnar, Im a musician /Audio Engineer and earn a living by writing music for Television.
I released an album in the US in 2005 and subsequently toured the east coast from Boston to Florida.
I loved travelling in the US and was very impressed by the level of hospitality and just how nice people were.

You guys are a decent bunch , don´t forget that !

Enough of that , back to the main issue at hand ...me and my country. :)

I dont know if you are aware of the fact that our country is on the brink of bankruptcy.
I mean that literally as all our banks have now been nationalized.
We seem to be the first real casualty of this global crisis as there are talks of IMF moving in ,god help us all.

Iceland played a role in the Cold War as its strategically located, a location we supplied for the US. :patriot:
The US has been our long standing ally and only just recently did the US remove their base in Iceland which has been here for decades.
In this credit crunch our government asked for assistance from the US , a €4 billion loan.

The US declined or in the words of an unnamed politician "They literally gave us the finger...Twice".
I realize the US has problems of its own and Im not even entirely sure why the US should lend us dough in the first place except maybe because we have been friends forever.. :sarcasm:

So why am I telling you this?

Well apparently Russia is willing to lend us the money!? :dilemma:
This offer comes from Russia as its looking to expand its influence in this region, relying mostly on global warming to do the job so they can move in on new territory/oil/gas and new sailing routes when the ice recedes. The latest news say that Medvedev (Russian President! ,although Palin has an obsession with Putin) is seeking to create some sort of European Security Pact and frankly since the US always goes all Mavericky on the rest of the world at the first sign of trouble it dont sound half bad at the moment , although.... I have to admit I cant see Russia from my house so what do I know?

It seems that Bush got real angry with his staff for not foreseeing the possible scenario, I guess €4 billion is not a lot to keep the bloody reds in line.

So thanks for that ... :banghead:

Also ....

The UK has frozen the assets of our biggest bank, citing ...get this.....ANTI-Terrorist laws!...! :woohoo:
All this based on the UK´s primeminister assumption that Iceland will not pay which is not the case, seems he´s playing a political game to divert attention from his own mistakes....but there you go, we are now terrorists.

Iceland apparently belongs with the Russians and AL Quada. :nuke:
Only a question of time until we got Sarah Palin shooting us Commie-loving Terrorists from her helicopter. :hide:

But here´s my point.

There are some real hard times in front of me and my family , Im hoping I´ll keep my house and my savings but when it really comes down to it is that I just want my family to be safe! Dont we all. :grouphug:

So when I go to sleep at night what do I hope for and think about.
I sincerely hope the US will have the good fortune to elect a person with a good heart for office this time.
Its that important to us (by "us" Im referring to the rest of the civilized world)
You have no choice , you owe us. :+


P.s Forgive the Smilie-Fest and the rambling, its almost 4 in the morning , got carried away.

[Orrex]

1. I won't believe that you're from Iceland until you sing us something from "Life's Too Good."

Seriously, welcome to DU!
:hi:

What a messed up situation. As screwed up as the US is right now, it's easy to forget that we're still entirely capable of screwing up other nations just fine.

[roguevalley]

40. I love Iceland, your language, your sagas, your good people. Take

care hon. you aren't alone.

[lovuian]

2. Just remember who you are a Icelander and proud of it

but remember you aren't defined by your house or how much money

You are beautiful you creative and talented and no matter what
you can make that song that charms the soul

that my fello makes you PRICELESS

Remember who you are

[Mojorabbit]

3. Let me apologize

for out govt's shortsightedness. Hopefully soon we will have a new president with some brains. I fear it may be too late though for all of us unless a miracle occurs.. Best of luck and welcome to DU!

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. bu$h Inc broke the World! I hope your Country comes out on top and sorry we played a part and won't

help you now. Hey that hideous little man won't help us out if we aren't among his base, the haves and have mores Take care and I hope the best for your family. :hug:

[jjanpundt]

5. I've been reading a lot about how Iceland got caught up in this

financial mess and how we failed to help out at all. Although, it looks as though we're not going to be able to help out ourselves as the moment. I'm really hoping that Obama is elected (if we have a fair election, he should be). I think he'll get some smart, compassionate people to help him try to find a solution to this mess.

If we get McCain through some crooked election system, I believe we'll land in the abyss. It boggles the mind.

I hope you and your family don't go through to tough a time.

[Warpy]

6. Iceland is one of the first, but it's not going to be the last

and it's all due to the derivatives every institutional investor bought in order to keep more money rolling in. Now they are starting to realize those were worth nothing by themselves, no matter what they paid for them, and all institutional investors worldwide are finding their balance sheets loaded with them.

That means it's not just going to be Iceland and Pakistan, it's going to be most governments all over the world looking at possible bankruptcy, along with banks, brokerages, insurance companies, pension funds, and some corporations not directly connected with the rarefied reaches of high finance.

There isn't enough wealth in the whole world to buy out these derivatives. Their collapse will likely take just about everything and everyone with them.

So far, only the ones based on bad loans are affected. However, institutional investors have realized just how big the problem really is and how temporary any bailout will be if the whole mess evaporates into the thin air it always was.

[Irish Girl]

7. Nice to hear from you

Hi Icelander,

I'm sorry to hear about your recent conditions and Iceland will be one of the first victims to fall into the clutches of the IMF, as I'm sure many other countries (including ours) will soon be led to the same point. We're trying very hard to get rid of the cancer in our leadership but please remember, they've rigged these votes before and may very well try to steal the election again.

There is a lot of great information that circulates on this website so if you can bring others here for support, it would be a great way to communicate and share ideas. The entire world needs to be aware to help ensure Bushco and his fascist cronies can't get away with duping the people and looting our nations any longer.

It's going to be an ugly period for everyone in the Western World but if we can help support each other, the people have the power to shift this mess around eventually.

God bless you and your loved ones, and please continue visiting.

[Tallison]

8. Welcome to the US and DU!

It's great to hear foreign perspectives, and I suspect that majority of the world shares your sentiment. Along with power comes responsibility to those at whose expense we earn it. That principal constitutes the heart of progressive foreign and domestic policy - one I expect Obama/Biden to uphold through 2016. It's time that those entrusted with power acknowledge that we're all in this together - Iceland, Iraq, Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, and Pakistan included. I was human before I was American.

[kickysnana]

9. Just remember to watch for new opportunities in times like these.

Wish I could have convinced more people that they were heading down a one way road that ended at a blind cliff by letting the Republicans run things. I did not foresee them ruining the entire world economy until this Bush, though.

Off topic: My 82 year old Dad told me he learned some Norwegian because his Mom 100% Norwegian played cards (in Norse) every week with the Icelanders in a small Minnesota town.

[rockymountaindem]

10. I've wanted to visit Iceland for some time

Best of luck up there. Is this a good time to come?

[Doctor Cynic]

15. Now's the best time. ;)

What with their currency almost worthless everything not imported will be a complete steal...

[CoffeeCat]

11. You're too cute...

...and we do owe you! And on behalf of my country, I'd like to apologize for the past eight years.

We're all working hard here, to get Obama/Biden elected, and we hope to God it happens.

I'm sorry about all of the hardship in your country, and I hope that our country will help
Iceland.

I'm glad that you are here, to tell us about what is going on with you. I think it's also important
that others in the world know that not every US citizen appreciates "mavericky" nonsense. So many
of us despise Bush and his policies. We are heartbroken about what they have done to American,
to Iraq and to the rest of the world.

We hope the nightmare will end soon, and that an Obama presidency can somehow make up for
the pain of Bush!

Best to you and your family. I wish you and your family nothing but peace and happiness during
these challenging times.

:)

[Gregorian]

12. Welcome! Considering Iceland is 100% petroleum free energy production,

I think you are in a better situation than others. And hopefully the new carbon sequestration projects will also benefit Iceland.

Sorry about our mal-administration. Hopefully we'll return to regular programming shortly. :)

[Usrename]

13. Nice ramble.

Welcome Icelander.

Don't you think we have enough pressure on us already? We're trying to focus on ending this monstrous regime in order to save civilization.

Thanks for the encouragement. :)

[orleans]

14. sorry. wish i could help. (i'm voting obama--that's about all i can do) n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

16. Hi Icelander!

So nice to read your perspective, and I'm glad you had a chance to travel here while things were still (somewhat) normal. As we all know, our government couldn't care less about us either.

I saw that interesting move by the UK. Geez. On the Russians, I'm afraid that sounds to me like the "foreclosure scams" we have here, but maybe not. I also don't believe most of the demonizing of other nations that the Repubs would like us to. I can see Russia's pov, but I think they have that "power thirst" our leaders have here too. That has to stop. It's really stupid.

Are you guys surviving day-to-day there ok? I mean are there ATMs working, paychecks being cashed, goods in the stores? I sure hope so.

Maybe all the world could pray for Obama to win, and for something right to happen here. Then we could all start figuring this out. It's possible that what solutions Iceland can find "small" might work for the rest of the world "big". Iceland might actually show us all a way out of this. I'm very interested in what happens there.

And btw, I'm not in favor of our government forgetting its friendship with Iceland. Not at all.

As for the IMF, I consider that part of the problem. A symbol of it, like the Federal Reserve. Global domination by, of, and for, the moneychangers has to stop.

Peace, Icelander. :pals:

[illuminaughty]

17. Iceland green, Greenland ice (sort of)

At least that's how I try to remember it. Welcome and now that we have helped bankrupt your nation (we've done it before to others, you know, CIA, Latin America and all) I'd like to apologize on behalf of our lameness.

Yes, I did see what UK was doing but don't quite understand it all. I know it's going to get interesting as Russia and U.S. fight over countries and pipeline positioning.

Seriously, I'm not sure we even have free elections. I worked really hard for the last election and I saw some pretty fucked up voting problems. But don't worry. We are currently getting our ass handed to us in this financial crisis also and unlike Europeans we are not good at roughing it.
I think the world can sit back and enjoy what's left of our sorry carcass as we slowly become dismantled. Just sorry we drug the rest of the world along for the ride.

Thanks for posting. I was fortunate enough to live in Europe and I kick myself daily for not staying.

[lligrd]

18. You Can Count On Us Electing Him But Preventing Another Theft

I can't guarantee. So sorry about what is happening there and still trying to understand how it could happen so fast. Rest assured you are not alone, we are all in danger of joining you. At least, you have some great natural energy sources. How the heck did Iceland get so caught up in banking?

[unblock]

19. maybe with all the changes a nice meal at vox will become more affordable!

i had the privilege to visit iceland earlier this year when the days were at their longest. it was fascinating, i wish i had more non-business time. the sodas have actual sykur instead of corn syrup, i loved that!

and here's the rest of my icelandic: thakka ther fyrir. sorry i don't know how to do the icelandic characters properly.

maybe my next vacation, i will bring the family!

:hi:

[HamdenRice]

20. I think they're pissed because Iceland became one giant hedge fund

That's the way it's being reported here in the US financial press, and there is little sympathy for hedge funds. Sorry, but I think that's the sentiment.

That said, it's foolish to throw you guys to the wolves (I mean bear).

But right now, I think the feeling is we don't have money to bailout Iceland given the somewhat exotic financial strategy it pursued.

Good luck!

[Romulox]

21. So take the money from the Russians. Why the need to post flamebait here?

[BooScout]

22. Good for Russia....

I have no idea where they will get the money from though. Once they lend your country 4 billion will you please send the £15 million that you have of my council's money? It seems it disappeared and that may just have a lil something to do with why the big bad UK froze the assets of your country's biggest bank.

If you're seeking sympathy from me....forgetaboutit.

[Icelander]

24. Im not seeking sympathy

At all. You must realize that apparently there seems to be a misunderstanding with regards to the money owed to the UK.
I have NOT heard that the government will not pay ?? Nobody over here understands why the UK chose to look at things that way.
And surely , there´s panic now...At least give us breathing room to figure things out and work for a diplomatic solution instead of attacking us while lying down with some terrorist law.

I mean surely we shouldnt let the leaders that failed us distract us by finding someone to blame and hate , thats just more of the same.

[BooScout]

26. Pay with what?

In case you haven't noticed Iceland has no money. Whilst your government has assured individuals will be reimbursed......they have made no such guarantee to our local councils, public bodies or charities that have investments in Iceland's banks. So think on that one and then understand why people are a tad hacked off.

I know who to be mad at.......the banks & the governments (take your pick as to which country and which level).

[Robbien]

27. Why are you so mad at Iceland and not just as mad at the US?

The rich elite here in the US are not going to reimburse your local councils, public bodies or charities that have investments in US banks.

Why be so mad at this new DU poster from Iceland?

I send him my hopes that he and his makes it through these tough times safely. I also send you my hopes that you and yours makes it through safely also.

[BooScout]

30. Who says I'm not?

I'm just as PO'd at the rat bastards in the US as I am the one's here and in Iceland. Generally, I'm madd at greedy rat bastards everywhere. And as to the OP.......he came in here with attitude so I gave him some back. The world does not owe Iceland a favor.

[Robbien]

32. There is probably a lot of history between your two countries of which

I am not aware. But I didn't see the OP post in the same way you did.

It is in the world's best interest if no one country goes under and if all it takes to help keep Iceland going is a $4B loan, the US should have stepped in. Iceland going under is bad for both your country's market and mine. It darkens the mood even more.

The OP is scared, just as we all are.

[Icelander]

35. I didnt mean to have an attitude N/T

But I do disagree , of course the world owes Iceland a favor.Why not ? If its at all possible?

If people think that we don´t deserve help as a nation , as a people, then perhaps we are being judged based upon the actions of our supposed "Leaders" and the Rich and thus the cycle starts again. And who´s stuck with the consequences?

Again I´m sorry that the UK had to be involved in this national disaster that has struck us.
Its troubled times indeed.

[Critters2]

46. I didn't notice any attitude in the OP.

Your post, yes. His, not so much.

It's Iceland for fuck's sake!! Hard to imagine how Iceland could do so much to piss you off so.

I'm thinkin' my Irish mother was right about Brits after all!

[Icelander]

29. Of course I have noticed.

Apparently there has been a discussion today between the UK and Iceland, they seemed to have at least toned things down a bit.
According to the Icelandic press Gordon Brown was not aware of a phone-call between our prime-minister and Alistair Darling when he made the comments on SKY news, but I don´t know what that even means.

Over here people are pissed off at our government first and foremost as well as the bankers.
People are VERY concerned about the British people and their savings,Id even say we are very ashamed.
Gordon Brown has said that there are suspicions of large sums of money being moved to Iceland in last few weeks , I dont know if that true but if so than that is an extremely serious matter , I hope thats not true.
Again, governments of the world have failed in my opinion .

But the average Icelander is also very offended by the fact that the UK applied terrorist laws against us.
In a world in "war on terror" that´s a very big deal to us and probably to any nation.
Seems like a very rash thing to do in this situation , we are not the ENEMY....

Some people here think that this decision to seize the bank essentially killed our chances of doing pretty much anything.
Everything had been put into keeping it going in order to actually pay people back and it got wiped out as well as any shred of trust we had left in the international arena. I dont know if that true myself I have no economic knowledge, just thought Id explain whats being discussed here as we haven´t really had a spokesperson on SKY news that I know of.

These are the first days of this disaster as well and Id hope that our leaders would calm the hell down and go the diplomatic route.
I for one think that while I understand people getting angry I think its very irresponsible of Gordon to create this atmosphere of animosity between the nations when everyone is looking to blame someone.I don´t think that´s what leaders should do unless all other options have been examined.

At the end of the day I´m just pissed that the people let themselves get dragged into this hate fest.
I have had enough of these people´s manipulation of our lives and telling people to hate each other.

The world situation certainly lends itself to an everlasting hate orgy , I hope we are smarter than that.

An Apology from Icelanders

[midnight armadillo]

23. Are the brennivin sales up?

Somehow, I suspect they are.

[aikoaiko]

25. Do you know Bjork?

:hi:


Just a little joke.

But do you?

[Cronopio]

34. It's Iceland. He's a relative. :) nt

[glitch]

41. lol! Aren't we all? :hug: nt

[Cronopio]

48. Back at ya.

:hug:

[Eurobabe]

28. Don't worry, apparently Germany is on the US shit list too

because we didn't support the bail-out. :grouphug:

[mainegreen]

31. Hi! Nice post. I nominate it for best use of smileys in a post for 2008

:D

[Cronopio]

33. You've got a beautiful county and wonderful people.

I met quite a few when I visited in 1995. If Vikings could make rotten shark a subsistence diet, I figure their descendants can handle anything.

If I end up with any savings after this has all blown over, I have every intention of putting a few tourist dollars back into your economy. Seeing as the lamebrain currently in the Oval Office won't even contribute that much.

Things are looking good, election wise, so far. So hang in there, best of luck to you and your family, and don't take Gordon Brown's political posturing to heart.

[bridgit]

36. Sup!

Welcome to DU, Icelander :)

[iamthebandfanman]

37. im suprised russia can afford it

doom is headed their way financially as well.


the whole world economy is on the verge of collapse(partially atleast)

[LeftinOH]

38. What do your fellow Scandinavians (Denmark-Norway-Sweden) think of

this development? ..And could they be of assistance?

[progressoid]

39. Ramble On Icelander!

:thumbsup:

[entanglement]

42. Your post completely omits any mention of the excesses of Iceland's financial elite

Brown and his cohorts are responsible for much else, but consider what Iceland's bankers and leaders have done. The Iceland govt. broke its TREATY obligations to cover the first 20000 euro of deposits. Many British savers have been hit really hard. And why was the Kaupthing bank allowed to grow to 8 times the size of Iceland's GDP? - A patently ridiculous situation, brought on by short-sightedness and greed.

And you definitely need a much broader definition of 'us' - the use of the term 'civilized world' smacks at once of narrow-mindedness and ignorance. Perhaps you'd care to name the peoples whom you consider 'not-civilized'? If your empathy is limited to those you consider 'civilized', perhaps you'd appreciate the fact that Gordon Brown's empathy extends only to the solvent and not the bankrupt?

[Icelander]

44. Im sorry..

But I thought it was obvious that we are all being shafted by the politicians and the rich.

The "civilized world" is a term I used when lacking a better one , english is not my main language.
What I was trying to express is that I have been all over the world and everywhere people seem to agree that 8 years of Bush is enough. I dont want to fight with anyone on this board or anyone else for that matter.
Didnt mean to offend anyone , you will just have to take my word for it.

Im not sure why you assume that Im narrow minded and ignorant ??

As for Iceland breaking a treaty then that is simply NOT TRUE!
The British press has been all over this in a one sided manner , its amazing to watch really.
We have our primeminister holding a press conference telling everyone that laws have been changed to help get payments to the british.
A couple of hours after that Gordon Brown says that we deny to pay and that the country is in default??

The country is not in default and we NEVER EVER said we wouldn´t pay , never.

By doing this Gordon effectively killed our chances as a nation to get back on track,practically kicking us while down.
I´ll be brutally honest, I think its a way for Gordon Brown to distract people from his own failures.
I cannot see Brown invoking terrorist laws if the US was in he same position we are in.
A lot of people perceive this as an extremely hostile act on the behalf of the UK towards a small county literally dealing with a national disaster.

In fact its interesting that he should choose to apply these laws to a country with no army, if we did he´d have a war on his hands.

And if I was a UK citizen id be very worried about their use of terrorist laws in a commercial environment.
Id be even more worried if i was conducting business in the UK, Im sure that will just hurt the UK in the long run.
-------------------------------------------

A quote from a fellow icelander.

"From an Icelandic legal point of view we cannot only save domestic savers. Simply can´t. We would have to abolish our constitution in order to do so. This is a very clear fact. We will in accordance with law gurantee the 16k and the british up to 50k. We can though decide to compinsate icelandic depositors extra, but there is currently no legal provision for that.

The recent change in law only put claims for deposits on the banks, at insolvency, in a higher rank than other debt. This means basically that salary and deposits are the first to get paid. No discrimination based on nationality allowed.

Foreign debt, not deposits (please keep a distinction of the type of claims), will probably not be paid in full, that is if assets after being sold from the banks to not cover them. This is the same as with any other type of company. British banks, which Lehman owed money, will get the same with that US bankruptcy. I don´t see Brown kicking them.

Nobody seems to care about these facts.

Using the terrorist act was the final blow for Kaupthing for various legal reasons. The bank was fully funded, but with this act many loans were defaulted at once. (and Kaupthing cannot default all the loans they have made to others, and cannot therefor pay).

[entanglement]

51. Sorry, I guess my post was a bit too harsh

I should have explained myself better and not over-reacted to your use of the phrase "civilized world".

First of all, I'm in total solidarity with ALL working people (American, British, Icelandic or anyone else ANYWHERE in the world) who are suffering the consequences of the excesses of the world's financial elite (whether in fear of losing jobs, homes, savings, or plain starvation as in poorer countries).

I agree that Brown's use of the anti-terror laws is blatant misuse of power (and highlights the risk of anti-terror laws). I also agree that he is using this situation to whip up nationalist hatred, and some of his actions have hostile overtones. But it is also equally true that Iceland's financial elite allowed the banking bubble to swell to unmanageable proportions while pooh-poohing warnings about the risks. My point is you cannot hold the capitalists and nationalists on one side guilty while exonerating those on the other side.

I must look more closely into the matter of treaty violations, and thank you for reminding me that the British press can be one-sided (I'm no fan).

:hi:

[Critters2]

47. I see nothing in the OP worthy of this flame.

Iceland may be suffering because of the excesses of its financial elite, but then, so are we. When it bites me in the ass, I'm hoping for a little sympathy. Until then, I'll gladly show sympathy to others getting bitten...like Icelander.

[TexasObserver]

43. I strongly felt that the US should have found the money for Iceland.

As I recall, Iceland needed about 5 billion US dollars, and that's two weeks of the running the Iraq war.

Iceland has long held a key position for US defenses, and I don't understand why that was not taken into consideration in Washington. I can remember when we had a military outpost in Reykjavik. Of course, that was nearly 40 years ago, but the location of Iceland makes it strategically important to the US.

You don't think the US abandoned Iceland in its hour of need because of Björk, do you?

[Icelander]

45. Now that you mention it

We did offer to send her to Russia to drive them insane but no luck.

[EFerrari]

49. I wouldn't feel too proud of you new terrorist status.

Our government thinks nuns and vegans and peace grandmothers are terrorists, too!

I'm sorry about the Bush Administration. We tried really hard. We're trying harder this time.

Money is crazy here, too. No one really knows what's going on but everyone seems to believe it will get worse and just in time for Christmas, too.

Good to read you, Icelander. Let's see how we do. :hi:

[brentspeak]

50. Any chance one of the other Nordic countries could supply money?

Much better for Denmark or Norway to reestablish a power base in Iceland than Russia.