S.O.S from Iceland

[rojo]

Oh dear. I wish you the best of luck, falcon1. I hope things start to improve, the sooner the better.

This thread seems to have settled down a bit, but let's not disrespect falcon1 any further by using this thread as a personal sounding board for opinions on the economy in general. There is a thread devoted to that topic here-

http://www.magle.dk/music-forums/4952-world-economy.html

Also, I remind you all that no personal attacks are permitted; take those kinds of comments to PM please.

 

[falcon1]

update: The Icelandic Currency is no longer registered at the EU central bank. Last currency rate was 305 ISK for 1 EURO! The difference is 260%

 

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha Falcon1,

I do empathise with you and about the dire straits Iceland is going through. It is so sad anywhich way one looks at it. The State of Hawaii where I live has a big problem: We have only two main sources of income - the Military which through its personnell and their families provide 60% of the economy and Tourism which provides 40% of the economy. The Tourism industry is already in the dumps and the consensus is that an Obama Administration will seize up the Military. Do the math - Hawaii will be in receivership(Bankruptcy Law Chapter Eleven or even Chapter Seven) in short order.

My goodness - 260%??? How much do you pay for a litre of milk or a loaf of bread? And all the blame is now on the former prime minister David Oddson of Iceland?

Be strong, industrious, and take care.

Humbly,

CD <8 -|

 

[falcon1]

Hi CD,

wow is the military so big in the state income? Talking about putting all egg's in one basket. I hope that your state will be manage to go through these times without much trouble.

The prices of everything has gone 20-30% up and rising... hopefully something will happen before prices of food etc. will reach that 260% number!

However, today the outlook isn't very good for us though.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha falcon1,

The really crazy thing about Hawaii is that all the political leaders from governor on down, and the dogcatcher have been democrat. They've had supermajority since 1959 in both the State Senate and Legislature and democrat Congresspeople and Senators in D.C. So, they can't blame local Republicans for failed policies since the democrats have had supermajority locally and Statewide. However, Linda Lingle the republican governor, has valiantly tried to balance the books for the fours years she's been in office.

Yep, the military is big here because it is the seat of the Pacific Command. If hell breaks loose on the Korean Peninsula, we'll get the brunt of it. Yes, it would have been nice if there were more diversified industries here but the voting constituency in Hawaii is more-or-less content with the status quo. Many Japanese and Okinawans live here since they wanted to get away from the Meiji Period - they had no trust in the Emperor!

Be well dear sir,

CD

 

[falcon1]

Photograph from protests which were held last saturday to get the chairman of Central bank of Iceland to resign.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Dear Falcon1,

Will the *political beheading* of the Chairman cause an immediate betterment of the situation for the Icelandic People or is it just a *Band-Aid* or *Retribution*?

Humbly,

CD

 

[falcon1]

Hi Corno Dolce, it would sure be step in right direction because the Icelandic central bank has zero trust from foreign countries and the chairman did cause the UK gov. to use terrorists law on one of our bank which eventually brought down our biggest bank which was in the best situation to survive this nightmare but because of his words and misunderstandings between the finance ministers of the countries that bank fell too!

People here are still waiting for something to happen to improve the situation but if nothing happens then we will see the first bloody revolution in Icelandic history since the year 1 thousand and something. According to unofficial poll where the question was "do you support armed revolution" the answers were

[33.93%]Yes, absolutly

[17.86%] Yes, very soon

[44.64%] No

[3.57%] Don't know

So if nothing happens you will probably expect to see some fighting in the streets of Reykjavík in next few months.

I hope that some solution will be found before all this happens but I'm not very optimistic about that.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Dear Falcon1,

Blood flowing on the streets of Reykjavik??? I seriously doubt that. The peoples of the Scandinavian countries has been so socialistically pacified that they'd rather take to the bottle than take to arms.

Sure, there will be some *minor friction* between *Der Rote Fraktion* and the police, but once enough people have had a taste of mace, pepper spray, tear gas, water cannons, flash-bang concussion grenades, and night sticks the situation will return to an uneasy calm that will be mollified by alcohol, suicide, and drug abuse.

I really do empathise with the Icelandic people who suffer under the burden of a new economic situation. My prayers go out to you and your countrymen.

Cheerio,

CD < 8 - |

 

[falcon1]

Corno... this situation is unlike anything the Icelandic people has experienced before, we are really facing a bankrupt of the nation! Companies are on the brink of bankrupt as well as most people who own real estate... people here are already started to buy one way ticket from Iceland and those who haven't are investigating if they can find job in another country.

The police here are short numbered and will be easy for angry people to run over!

 

[Corno Dolce]

Dear Falcon1,

I grieve with you and the Icelandic people over the precarious situation that Iceland is in. Probably Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark will provide police SWAT teams and other methods of mass-crowd control if the situation becomes too unstable.

Humbly,

CD

 

[falcon1]

Corno Dolce, all will be over before any "possible" reinforcement from nordic countries will arrive and in fact it is highly unlikely that they will ever intervene in local battle.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Dear Falcon1,

I just read that Iceland has received $2.1 Billion from the International Monetary Fund. Methinks that the situation is being solved for as we speak and that the blood won't be flowing anytime soon. Have heart, noble one and take stock in what you have instead of worrying about what you don't have.

Respectfully,

CD

 

[marval]

Here is the latest about the IMF loan to Iceland. I just hope than the country can be put a a more stable footing.

I wish you and your country well falcon1.


Margaret


http://askothernews.myway.com/article//20081024/B37487321224863840A0.html

 

[falcon1]

Few photographs from the latest protest...

 

[JHC]

The loan sounds good and it will provide a short term fix, but it has to be repaid within 2 yrs and perhaps that will not be a problem, does it come with any strings??

 

[falcon1]

j.h.c. - we haven't got 100% confirmation that this loan will go through, the board of IMF has to agree on it. The IMF board will meet 5th of November to decide on action.
Public in Iceland doesn't know anything about if any strings are attached or not, the gov. just don't wants to inform the public about anything!

There will be protest today and I will be there to protest as well as using my camera to document the protest... I will let you know what will happen today.

 

[falcon1]

6. Nov 2008 - Icelanders still don't know if IMF will lend Iceland money to recover from this economy collapse, I don't want to think about how the situation will be if IMF will deny us of assistance - which is probably less likely but still possibility. IKEA the famous swedish company has broken it's habit of publish pricelist and have it valid for a year, this they have done in Iceland for 30 years or so - but they increased their prices up 25% and it's only about 2 months since they published the pricelist which normally would not been changed until in August 2009.

There was also in news that the prices of food has increased about 50% past year.

PayPal and my online stores are my lifeline to the world and if that fails my situation will worsen dramaticly!

 

[Corno Dolce]

Dear Falcon1,

You are a GrandMaster in photography - Hopefully you are busy honing your craft and expertise even more - Have you ever thought about including excerpts from the rich heritage of Icelandic Sagas into a book containing photos of the Icelandic people, flora, fauna, geography, and architecture? The dramatic coastline and fjords of Iceland are spellbinding.

Humbly,

CD

 

[marval]

I agree with CD, you have taken some beautiful photographs. The book idea sounds very interesting, something I am sure you could do.

I hope you get good news soon about the money situation.


Margaret