Wednesday 13 August 2014

ICELAND: CLOSE NEIGHBOUR, GOOD FRIEND, BEAUTIFUL PLACE, SENSIBLE COUNSELLOR

17 comments:

  1. Or...Iceland - like Farmfoods but without quality control...

    Only joking!

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    1. Ha ha

      If you offered me a day in Iceland, or a day in Iceland, I know which one I would choose!

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    2. Joking aside, the Icelandic government put people before profit when it mattered, unlike our (supposedly Socialist) Labour government of the time. Peoples party? Puh-leeze!

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    3. Yes they helped the people and hot the politicians and bankers. This is why bankers and politicians will think twice about doing that again to Iceland. Unless you like prison, or unemployment, it doesn't pay.

      The UK helped the politicians and bankers and hurt the people. That's why they are still at it here. i does pay.

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  2. Iceland looks lovely. It's also part of the NATO strategic GIUK gap. Greenland, Iceland, UK (which is actually the Scotland bit) "guarding" the North Atlantic. Which is why iScotland without nukes will be welcomed into NATO.

    Over in the Guardian for a campaign claiming they'll win by 60% to 40% the gonnae naws are getting rather shrill. Bad winners or kideology?

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    1. Slightly concerned about the number of postal votes being sent out. 700,000.

      http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/13/second-scottish-independence-debate-live-uk-bbc-alistair-darling-alex-salmond

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    2. I have a postal vote Tris. They are not necessarily a bad thing. My "local" polling booth is a 25 minutes walk and there is no direct bus. One historical problem is old dearies letting someone else mark their ballot paper and they sign the form not checking it.

      Another possible issue is folk pretending they live in Scotland. But if they do that they are on the register anyway and could just bus up from wherever on the day and vote anyway.

      But the observers (each registered participant) can have them should look VERY closely at them for any sign of fraud. WOS will have them in most areas.

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  3. Iceland was the only sensible country involved in the banking crisis. Banks, like most things need to be small, small is good but large is bad. They have not learned any lessons either, just repeating what caused the last crisis. We must vote YES before this happens then fix things so it cannot happen in an independent Scotland.
    My son has some Icelandic friends and loves their music festival. I have never been but he says it is amazing.

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    1. Yes I agree. Small is better.

      Large companies, large organisation and large countries are far less easy to manage.

      Iceland is a nation of largely sensible pragmatic people who haven't perhaps the easiest of lives. The climate is even less welcoming that Scotland's and the terrain is difficult.

      And yet this nation has built a modern, functioning, rich welfare state, with free education adn first rate healthcare.

      I'd certainly not have been displeased with my lot had I been born Icelandic.

      Ísland mun gera góða vin fyrir Skotlandi og ég vona að presdient þeirra verður meðal fyrstu boðsgesta til sjálfstæða land okkar.

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  4. Small Government is indeed beautiful, why because the people are in charge not the politicians. I think Iceland has been the only country so far to gaol Bankers for dishonesty and they were right to do so. Contrast us with them, not only did they get a get out of gaol free card, they got rewarded. We are keeping them in business, not for our own sakes but for theirs, I doubt any one of them have learned one lesson. I also bet they are still gambling like mad and if we do not get away from the whole set up it is doomed by history to repeat itself. Scotland had an admired Banking system, Canada copied ours whilst the English system was used in the States. The Banks in the States have routinely failed, not so the banks in Canada.
    I have never been to Iceland, nearly just chose to go somewhere warmer, but it seems a nice place and a good place to live I think they top the list over most places.

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    1. The deal really with Iceland was that they listened to what the people wanted.

      The people were incandescent with the corruption and incompetence of the government and of the banks.

      They gathered in (for Iceland) huge numbers to protest... and action was taken.

      The government fell; there was an election; the bankers were tried, found guilty, and jailed. The ordinary people who had lost out were compensated.

      Iceland went tail between legs to the IMF and received help. It also received help from its Scandinavian partners. The UK branded it a terrorist state (Gordon Brown doesn't seem to care for democracy.)

      By comparison, although we complained, no one listened. Darling and Brown bailed out the bankers and took a couple of meaningless junior aristocratic titles away. How awful.

      The bankers stayed in charge; the people, particularly at the bottom were penalised, their benefits taken away, and when they protested they were imprisoned for 6 months for breaking a window or two.

      The bakers' bonuses stayed in place. The banks continue, despite being found guilty time and again of cheating, lying and stealing, Libor and a whole pile of other scams in markets.

      They have been given billions of money so that they could lend, and they have given themselves massive bonuses. And no one will touch them because the politicos are in hock to them.

      What a despicable corrupt country the UK is by comparison with Iceland.

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  5. How refreshing to see common sense prevail, Iceland jailed their corrupt bankers, and let their defunct banks go under, the UK poured billions into their banks at the cost of the public, to ensure the factcat bankers didn't suffer.

    Which system should Scotland follow? Its a no brainer.

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    1. Indeed.

      I'd be happy if the Icelanders would send a delegation to help us with setting up our constitution.

      They seem to be rather good at it.

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  6. It's really worth having a look at how A Darling and G Brown shafted Iceland in the whole Icesave / Landsbanki issue.

    Iceland told Darling that it would look after account holders in Iceland first, and would then address investors' interest in overseas branches. Darling and Brown declared Iceland 'terrorists', froze the accounts of the UK branches, which meant funds couldn't be transferred to Iceland to pay out.

    Three years later, at the Eurpoean Courts, Iceland won the day and was cleared of all charges, the onus to pay UK account holders was the UK.

    Which brings us back to 'bank bailouts' of iScotland, the Iceland case proves, under EU law, that the liability rests with where the accounts are, not where the banks are.

    Oh, and Iceland did the right thing in letting the banks fold and jailing those concerned.

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    1. Well summarised there.

      As a lover of Iceland I could never forgive them for that.

      Imagine the UK government calling any other government terrorists?

      Iraq anyone???

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  7. Yes they were sensible after they went broke, unlike Britain which was not.

    They jailed the rich sacked the government and bailed out the poor.

    I suppose it is fair to say that eventually the Brits changed their government too. Well done them. They got one that was moderately more loonie.

    Whichever "colour". They bailed out the criminal banks; they cut benefits; they put regressive VAT up. They stopped pay rises for people at the bottom, but allowed those at the top to put up their salaries as much as they wanted. They capped benefits and allow landlords to increase rents to as much as they wish.

    And you;re worried about not being able to call somebody Harry?

    For god's sake get a grip.

    There are rules in the UK too incidentally.

    And iceland has a very distinctive and ancient way of naming.

    If my biggest worry was that i couldn't call my child Gideon, I think I'd be a happy man.

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  8. As you won't be living in the country Niko, you are voting out of malice for the lower paid and the poor. You will be living somewhere else.

    yes, there are some people who absolutely hate Alex Salmond.

    Presumably they must really like David Cameron.

    I have no earthly idea whether Salmond wants to be First Minister of Scotland.

    mr Cameron believes it is his right as an Eton and Oxford graduate and a relative of the queen.

    Not entirely sure what Miliband thinks. But I assume that he wants to be Prime Minister.

    No one in the world cares what Nick the Pledge Clegg thinks.

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