Author: - The Reykjavik Grapevine

The Clash Of Simplicity

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Ever since the global economic meltdown, a vitriolic tide of populism has arisen around the world to ensnare and beguile…

Moral Stewards

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Professor Hannes H. Gissurarson wrote a piece in the Grapevine on July 2, arguing the case for sustainable whaling. He…

Pour Out Thy Wrath

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“The compulsory transfer of the Arabs from the valleys of the proposed Jewish state could give us something which we…

I Am Curious (Yellow)

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I recall reading an interesting tale from an old, crusty book a couple of years ago.  The author was an…

The Silver Spoon Revolution

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After the events of the past few days, it is hard not to think of Goya’s painting of Saturn Devouring…

One Little Nigger

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“We never [were] niggers, that is a word used to describe our own wretchedness. And we perpetuate it now.”(1) Who…

Big Business vs. Icelandic

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Last month, the board of Reykjavík Energy, a publicly owned company that supplies Reykjavík citizens with energy, accepted a merger…

Awakening the Couch Potatoes

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In retrospect Iceland has never lacked activism, and many prideful moments of Icelandic history are examples of social disobedience. In…

Fight for Your Right to Party: Fight Club

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Political discourse is the same universal language, full of silly fights and childish talk, just like an enormous kiddie sandbox….

“Translating” the “News”

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Here in Iceland there is a phenomenon called ‘gúrkutíð’, which if translated directly from Icelandic means ‘cucumber season’. Every summer…

A Peter Parker Conforms: “The Truth Is Out There?”

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A great philosopher once said in a rather cryptic manner that nothing changes; one could say that our naked, tame…

My Opinion

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A French poet once wrote “A gray city, sad as a tombstone with chrysanthemums”. To be honest, these words might…

Down and Out in Alcoa(Alcan)land!

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At the time of this writing, I have just witnessed a weekend of utter beauty. My enthusiasm for the solstice…

How Not to be Icelandic

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There are few things more exhilarating than visiting a foreign country for the first time, that liberating spark of childlike…

L’Étranger in downtown Reykjavík: “Waiting In Line Is For Pussies”

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Ever since I was a child here in Iceland, I have been a silent spectator of my own “strangeness”. Due…

To be Green or not to be Green

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I remember when being Green, or whatever it is called nowadays, was generally referred to as being: an environmentalist, a…

Be my Valentine “Lost”

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One of the worst things you can go through is an anti-climax, because it is important enough to make you…

The Fisherman’s Burden – too many fish in the sea?

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After reading a recent Liberal Party advertisement in the papers, shockingly not a joke despite being printed on the first…

No Love for Porn!

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One of Iceland’s main selling points has always been “purity”, a trait on which Icelandair has capitalized with the tantalizing…