From Iceland — Governing Parties Unpopular, Kids Eat Buns, Pálmi Is Deceptive

Governing Parties Unpopular, Kids Eat Buns, Pálmi Is Deceptive

Published March 1, 2011

On the front page of Morgunblaðið, “The Icelandic Regional Development Institute continues to lose,” money and lots of it (come on, things don’t work this way…).
Below that boring familiar story of missing money and mismanagement is a photo of some cute kids at a table with over 300 baked buns including twelve varieties. The caption says friends were “[i]nvited by Ásdís Ármannsdóttir and Helgi Heiðar Stefánsson to quite the bun party yesterday in the summer cottage neighborhood in Reykjavík.” Bun Day will be celebrated on March 7, by the way.
There is a “great and serious problem of refugees fleeing Libya over the Tunisia border.” Director General of The Icelandic National Energy Authority Guðni A. Jóhannesson, “has concerns about overuse in the area” of Reykjanes (probably because geothermal energy can be used up so to speak if it is harnessed too much and too fast).
Foreigners are “[i]solated because of unemployment.” Unemployment amongst foreigners in Iceland is 15,5%. Even though they qualify for social services apart from unemployment benefits, some apparently don’t take advantage of them because it would prevent them from being granted citizenship for two years thereafter (…what a shitty situation).
Lastly, “the blue mussel thrives as a wholesome food,” a new diet food (fad) being eaten by the stars in Hollywood (´…So I ate like 11 and a half blue mussels and drank my Master Cleanse today, what did you eat?).
Meanwhile, Fréttablaðið reports if elections were held today, “the governing parties are far from holding a majority,” in parliament, according to a poll conducted by Fréttablaðið and Stöð 2 (TV channel 2).

The feature photo shows the female dog, París, at an international dog show held at Reiðhöllin in Víðidalur over the weekend. The rest of the caption reads, “París seems to be calm while the judge examines her derriere, but she does have the comfort of her owner Ágústa Péturdóttir by her side.”
Daði Einarsson “crafted Clooney’s movements” in pre-production for the film, Gravity. Daði works at Framestore Reykjavík, which is a post-production company.
And lastly, “[the energy company] Fallorka is waiting to hear back about a two MW hydro-electric power plant in Akureyri: [they] want to build another plant at Glerá.”
Wrapping up with DV as usual, “[p]urchase of shares in Fons: Pálmi’s record in Iceland was ignis fatuus” (Iceland needs to get out of all this fishy business). Miss Reykjavík Sigríður Dagbjört, “[f]eels good in her underwear” (that’s nice) and the “Russians [are] getting armed: Will be a superpower again” (that’s nice too).
Lastly, President of the Icelandic Federation of Labour Gylfi Arnbjörnsson’s “[j]eep worth millions [between 8,8 and 12,6 million] sank before the president” (note to Gylfi, it’s not a good idea to drive on thin ice).
Gylfi has incidentally fired back, saying that he will sue DV for misinformation, as he wasn’t driving a ‘brand new Land Cruiser’, he was driving an old Nissan Patrol.
There are also photos of “[t]hose that went to the VIP party,” inside (we didn’t bother looking).

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