October 2009

A Doddsson with cheese and a side of fries

October 31, 2009

As anyone will know who has been following the news out of Iceland this past week, the owners of the McDonald’s franchise have decided to drop it and open a new place, called Metro. As many of you will also know, it was old Davíð Oddsson, then-PM of Iceland, who scarfed down the very first [...]

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Power to the ants!

October 30, 2009

With all the negative news coming out of Iceland, it’s important to keep in mind that there are loads of positive and inspiring things happening on a daily basis that tend to get shoved aside by the REALLY SERIOUS ISSUES like, say, the closing of the Icelandic McDonald’s franchise. One such initiative is an upcoming [...]

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YT bids farewell to McDonald’s in The Guardian

October 27, 2009

Here’s a link to a short piece I wrote for the Grauniad this morning about – what else – the McOusting of McDonald’s. The Link. It’s a little more, shall we say, polished than the quickie blurb I posted here yesterday. For what it’s worth. Oh, and some of those comments below it… *long whistle* [...]

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Wave bye-bye to McDonald’s

October 26, 2009

Excellent news this morning: The McDonald’s hamburger chain has decided to pack up its frozen burger patties and over-processed fish sticks and say goodbye to Iceland. Huzzah!! Back in my North American incarnation, I used to be able to brag about the fact that in my home country there was not a single McDonald’s. I [...]

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So contrary to popular belief, it seems we actually do pay our bills

October 24, 2009

Interesting little news item on p. 14 of Fréttablaðið today. It seems that, of 192 countries that make up the United Nations, only 22 have paid their required contributions and dues for this year. That’s 11.4%. Iceland is one of those 22 nations. According to the paper, the 22 nations that are NOT in arrears [...]

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The kreppa saves the children!

October 23, 2009

Interesting findings of a new study commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture: Icelandic children and youths report feeling better today, in the midst of the kreppa, than they did three years ago during the “boom years”. The study was a continuation of previous studies in the same vein that have been conducted [...]

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Reykjavík’s dirty little secret

October 21, 2009

My country, Iceland, likes to market itself as a place with an endless stream of pure, clean air and pristine natural landscapes – all hyped up for the tourist brochures. Reykjavík’s dirty little secret is its air pollution. In fact, on calm winter days, when the ubiquitous wind isn’t blowing our smog away to the [...]

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Icesave dispute resolved

October 20, 2009

This just in from the Baggalútur* news service: The Icesave dispute has been resolved. Negotiators for Iceland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom presented the terms of the agreement this morning. They are, in brief: Icelanders apologize for having stolen the life savings of British and Dutch citizens for the purpose of buying SUVs, chocolate [...]

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Doddsson’s runaway locomotive

October 18, 2009

There is something strangely fascinating about the slow-motion train wreck that is Morgunblaðið, now that Davíð Oddsson has taken over as its editor in chief. First, a whole lot of people cancelled their subscription to the paper following the announcement that Doddsson had been hired. The paper has declined to say just how many people [...]

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Are the UK and Holland standing in the way of Iceland seeking its legal rights?

October 11, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in a blog post that our [then-] minister for health Ögmundur Jónasson had resigned over the Icesave issue. Yesterday we finally got the full details of why exactly he resigned. Those of you who have been following us for a while will know that we’ve got a nightmarish [...]

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