This is a picture of the Dettifoss Waterfall. It is located in Iceland, and it is the largest and most powerful waterfall in all of Europe. To think that you had probably never heard of it! Well now you have.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Dettifoss Waterfall in Iceland
This is a picture of the Dettifoss Waterfall. It is located in Iceland, and it is the largest and most powerful waterfall in all of Europe. To think that you had probably never heard of it! Well now you have.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
I, for one, welcome our new masters
Interesting:
Google, developer of the largest performance-based search engine, today announced that it has acquired the island nation of Iceland, deep in the middle of the northern Atlantic ocean. The purchase has business leaders around the world scratching their heads, as no one can figure out exactly why the privately-held company would spend billions to acquire a small island nation.
...
Iceland is not known for the strength of its information technology sector. It is, however, a forbidding, sulfurous, isolated place which would be perfect for a secret fortress, say industry observers. Many suspect Google of seeking a sutiable location in which to build a high-technology hideaway "with dark and pointy towers," free from international law.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
I'm important, give me cash!
Crispus writes about subsidized political party conventions:
Even that difference, however, is vanishing as Bush's Medicare package, and the Tories' "We don't want to abolish welfare, we want it to work better" aproach have shown. As for the Icelandic IP - they've always been socialist, only less so than the social democrats and communists.
I'm not sure if the Icelandic state subsidizes political party conventions here, or if so by how much. Will find out, so stay tuned.
Update:
According to the last budget bill the Icelandic state gives cash grants to those political parties which got at least 2,5% of all votes cast in the last general election. This year the grant total is to the tune of 180 million icelandic krónur, about $2,5 million.
As Americans are about 1000 times more numerous than Icelanders, we might (if we care nothing about the careful use of statistics) infer that this is as if the US governmental bodies gave $2,5 billion - every year - to Americal political parties.
U.S. taxpayers give $15 million apiece to Democrats and Republicans for their conventions. Taxpayers in host cities and host states pay even more. This doesn't include the $50 million that each party gets for convention security in a post-9/11 world.Conservative parties may be a little better than fully-fledged socialist ones, but as the British Tories, the American Republicans and, closer to home, the Icelandic Independence Party have shown, they can be pretty grabby when in comes to doling out taxpayer money to pet projects. The real difference is in which projects they want to fund.
...
Yet Democrats claim to be for the "common people" and Republicans feign concern about our tax burdens - while both put the squeeze on us taxpayers.
Even that difference, however, is vanishing as Bush's Medicare package, and the Tories' "We don't want to abolish welfare, we want it to work better" aproach have shown. As for the Icelandic IP - they've always been socialist, only less so than the social democrats and communists.
I'm not sure if the Icelandic state subsidizes political party conventions here, or if so by how much. Will find out, so stay tuned.
Update:
According to the last budget bill the Icelandic state gives cash grants to those political parties which got at least 2,5% of all votes cast in the last general election. This year the grant total is to the tune of 180 million icelandic krónur, about $2,5 million.
As Americans are about 1000 times more numerous than Icelanders, we might (if we care nothing about the careful use of statistics) infer that this is as if the US governmental bodies gave $2,5 billion - every year - to Americal political parties.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Rotten to the core
From the Adam Smith Institute blog:
Glen Whitman at Agoraphilia discusses the Theory-Practise argument in a recent post and quotes Arthur Schopenhauer:
"...many ordinary people see communism as something that just cannot work in an imperfect world - even though it has good at its centre.When you say that "Communism is good in theory, but doesn't work in practise" you are in fact saying that in theory it's good to use violence and force to make people live their lives according to the wishes of the state, but that such a system breaks to pieces the very things that make human society work. Is that really what modern-day socialists believe?
They are mistaken. There is nothing moral about communism. At its centre is the idea that it is legitimate to force people how to live and where to work - turning citizens into mere pawns. Communism's failure in practice derives from its rotten centre."
Glen Whitman at Agoraphilia discusses the Theory-Practise argument in a recent post and quotes Arthur Schopenhauer:
"'That's all very well in theory, but it won't do in practice.' In this sophism you admit the premisses but deny the conclusion, in contradiction with a well-known rule of logic. The assertion is based upon an impossibility: what is right in theory must work in practice; and if it does not, there is a mistake in the theory; something has been overlooked and not allowed for; and, consequently, what is wrong in practice is wrong in theory too."Hat-tip: Catallarchy.
Helter Swelter
The weather in Iceland at the moment is draining my will to live. It's simply too hot. I know that to people living in Louisiana or the Middle East might think it odd that a pale-faced lad in Iceland is complaining about the heat, but I simply wasn't made for high-temperature environments. My ideal temperature is about 18°c with a light breeze. 25°c with little or no wind is too hot for me.
Judging from the apparel of my coworkers at the newspaper I'm not alone. I'm not sure if journalists at the business sections of the NYT or WP are allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts at work, but quite a lot of them do here today - although I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt, as a business journalist I have to maintain some modicum of standards.
In other news, the PM has undergone extensive surgery and had his gallbladder and pancreas removed along with one of his kidneys. Cancer is a bitch. He's getting better though, or so his doctors tell us. Maybe it's for the best that he's giving up the job in September. He might need a little R&R.
Judging from the apparel of my coworkers at the newspaper I'm not alone. I'm not sure if journalists at the business sections of the NYT or WP are allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts at work, but quite a lot of them do here today - although I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt, as a business journalist I have to maintain some modicum of standards.
In other news, the PM has undergone extensive surgery and had his gallbladder and pancreas removed along with one of his kidneys. Cancer is a bitch. He's getting better though, or so his doctors tell us. Maybe it's for the best that he's giving up the job in September. He might need a little R&R.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
The Quotation
From the Mises Institute:
"'Need' now means wanting someone else's money. 'Greed' means wanting to keep your own. And 'Compassion' is when a politician arranges the transfer."Hat-tip: Pragmatic Libertarian.
Immigration in Iceland
Booker Rising did two articles on Iceland recently and then Molotov asked if I could comment on Icelandic immigration policy. Keep in mind that as a libertarian I would like to have all barriers on immigration and emigration everywhere dropped. Freedom is the answer in this as most other matters. Reality, however, often lets the ideal down.
I would like to write some more about the matter in the future. Recently there was a big discussion in Iceland about immigration as the immigration act was amended to make it more difficult to enter the country. The libertarian society to which I belong was at the forefront in the fight against the changes, but sadly we lost. That post has to wait, however, as my employer has first dibs on my time at the moment.
Sadly it's true that there was an unofficial "no black servicemen" policy until the mid-sixties. Iceland has no military and relies on the US for protection. The racist policy was never put in writing, but it seems that the demand was made verbally around the time of the signing of the defence treaty in 1951. President Kennedy was instrumental in changing that.
Icelanders are mainly white, although recent genetical studies seem so indicate that we are more celtic than Norse in origin. The Vikings took more Irish slaves with them on the trip than was previously thought.
This homogenized nature of the population has made Iceland somewhat of a promised land for Nazis and skinheads the world over. This is not something that I, or most Icelanders are happy with. God knows there are few people I would less want as neighbors than the Klan.
This is changing however, and changing fast. Numbers of immigrants - almost all of them legal as it is rather difficult to get illegally in here - are rising with every year. The largest numbers come from Denmark and Poland, but South-East-Asia is well represented with immgrants from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia becoming more numerous.
Immigration policy is rather strict, and was made more so with the passing of a new immigration law last spring.
There are no quotas on immigration, but you have to have a work permit before you get a residents permit. The work permit is held by the employer, not the immigrant, and that puts the immigrant in a very precarious position.
I imagine that the largest number of Blacks in Iceland are US servicemen. I don't know of any special immigration treaties between the US and Iceland, but since the Icelandic constitution does not allow any discrimination based on race or color Black Americans would get the same treatment from the immigration authorities as whites. (The small size of the country has kept transparency high and corruption low).
The small size of the population also means that changes in nationwide attitude are faster than in larger populations. Although racism was probably much more prevalent a couple of decades ago - and there still is racism in Iceland - there is much less of it now. The same goes for other prejudices, for example as regards homosexuality.
On the whole I would think Iceland is a fine country to live in - for Black Americans as well as others. I would think that most people would regard Black Americans as Yanks first and Blacks second (or third, fourth or whatever). Also the more people of different colors and creeds we have here the faster the country is bound to lose its remaining prejudices.
Also I would welcome with open arms any good fiscal conservatives/libertarians of the American School. So get on over here!
I would like to write some more about the matter in the future. Recently there was a big discussion in Iceland about immigration as the immigration act was amended to make it more difficult to enter the country. The libertarian society to which I belong was at the forefront in the fight against the changes, but sadly we lost. That post has to wait, however, as my employer has first dibs on my time at the moment.
Sadly it's true that there was an unofficial "no black servicemen" policy until the mid-sixties. Iceland has no military and relies on the US for protection. The racist policy was never put in writing, but it seems that the demand was made verbally around the time of the signing of the defence treaty in 1951. President Kennedy was instrumental in changing that.
Icelanders are mainly white, although recent genetical studies seem so indicate that we are more celtic than Norse in origin. The Vikings took more Irish slaves with them on the trip than was previously thought.
This homogenized nature of the population has made Iceland somewhat of a promised land for Nazis and skinheads the world over. This is not something that I, or most Icelanders are happy with. God knows there are few people I would less want as neighbors than the Klan.
This is changing however, and changing fast. Numbers of immigrants - almost all of them legal as it is rather difficult to get illegally in here - are rising with every year. The largest numbers come from Denmark and Poland, but South-East-Asia is well represented with immgrants from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia becoming more numerous.
Immigration policy is rather strict, and was made more so with the passing of a new immigration law last spring.
There are no quotas on immigration, but you have to have a work permit before you get a residents permit. The work permit is held by the employer, not the immigrant, and that puts the immigrant in a very precarious position.
I imagine that the largest number of Blacks in Iceland are US servicemen. I don't know of any special immigration treaties between the US and Iceland, but since the Icelandic constitution does not allow any discrimination based on race or color Black Americans would get the same treatment from the immigration authorities as whites. (The small size of the country has kept transparency high and corruption low).
The small size of the population also means that changes in nationwide attitude are faster than in larger populations. Although racism was probably much more prevalent a couple of decades ago - and there still is racism in Iceland - there is much less of it now. The same goes for other prejudices, for example as regards homosexuality.
On the whole I would think Iceland is a fine country to live in - for Black Americans as well as others. I would think that most people would regard Black Americans as Yanks first and Blacks second (or third, fourth or whatever). Also the more people of different colors and creeds we have here the faster the country is bound to lose its remaining prejudices.
Also I would welcome with open arms any good fiscal conservatives/libertarians of the American School. So get on over here!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Blogging frenzy!
Haven't been as productive a blogger lately as I would have wanted but work has been crazy and after ten hours of writing about bonds and the Housing finance fund I have simply been all written out.
People who want to know more about Icelandic society and nature should check out these two websites. On the one hand is Iceland Review - a news website in english - and the other is Icelandic Geographic, an annual publication which deals with Icelandic nature and wildlife.
People who want to know more about Icelandic society and nature should check out these two websites. On the one hand is Iceland Review - a news website in english - and the other is Icelandic Geographic, an annual publication which deals with Icelandic nature and wildlife.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Censorship in Maple country
From The Wall Street Journal (emphasis mine):
Not that Icelanders in general considered themselved bound by the law - illegal production of schnapps was enormous, and the traditional Icelandic Schnapps, "Black Death", was born during those years.
The funny thing was that a majority voted for prohibition in a referendum in 1915. Another classic case of "I think it's a good idea that X should be banned. I can partake, of course, but it's bad for others who don't know how to handle it".
When it comes to Canadian identity, Fox News Channel is apparently a threat. Al-Jazeera, on the other hand, is just another point of view enriching Canadian culture. That's the message sent last week when the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) granted the Qatar-based, anti-American al-Jazeera a Canadian license. Fox has wanted into Canada since 1999 but has so far been shut out -- except in Ottawa, at the Canadian Parliament, which requested and got a Fox feed last August.Isn't it delicious that the Canadian politburo thinks ordinary Canadians can't handle Fox, but the politicians deem themselves able to withstand it's dreadful propaganda? This is what happened during prohibition here in Iceland. There were errand-boys employed by the Althingi (parliament) whose main job was to run back and forth between the parliament building and the pharmacy, where they bought pure ethanol for the legislators - who didn't consider themselves bound by the same laws as the rest of Iceland.
[...]
The darkest interpretation of all of this is that Canada's liberal political elites find al-Jazeera's view of the world more compatible than Fox's. The Arab network is always putting the worst face on U.S. policies, while Fox doesn't mind suggesting that it is rooting for America to win when it goes to war. We prefer to think better of our neighbors to the north, but it would be nice if they gave Americans the same benefit of the doubt that they give to our enemies.
Not that Icelanders in general considered themselved bound by the law - illegal production of schnapps was enormous, and the traditional Icelandic Schnapps, "Black Death", was born during those years.
The funny thing was that a majority voted for prohibition in a referendum in 1915. Another classic case of "I think it's a good idea that X should be banned. I can partake, of course, but it's bad for others who don't know how to handle it".
CPI in the Telegraph
Amusingly, or incidentally - however you want to put it - Roger Bottle writes in the Telegraph about CPI and the question of wether it is worth anything. With the huge reservation that he IS the manager of Capital Economics, and therefore not a novice when it comes to these matters, I would venture to point out that what he sometimes calls inflation is really changes in purchasing power. That said - the quotes:
Click image to enlarge
(image nicked from the Telegraph, but hosted by me - I only steal intellectual property - not bandwidth)
Hat-tip: Prestopundit.
"Since there are no prices for the output of the public sector, estimating this index involves taking the increase in government spending and adjusting that for the "real" increase in what public spending buys. And if you think it is easy to measure that then you are a better man than me, Gunga Din.
"Even measures which restrict themselves to household spending show quite a divergence. The overall household spending deflator, which covers a wider spectrum of household spending than the CPI, shows inflation at 1.8 per cent, not that different from the CPI, while the retail sales deflator, which covers a narrower range of household spending than the CPI, shows inflation at minus 1.1 per cent."
Click image to enlarge
(image nicked from the Telegraph, but hosted by me - I only steal intellectual property - not bandwidth)
Interesting stuff this."Yet widespread scepticism about the CPI cannot entirely be put down to an illusion. When different things are rising at very different rates, what does "the" inflation rate mean? The statisticians who compile the CPI attempt to measure the overall increase in prices by weighting the increase of each individual component of the index by its share in overall spending.
"Of course, very few people will have an expenditure pattern which exactly mirrors this average weighting. Each person effectively experiences a different inflation rate, depending upon their own mix of expenditure. If you are a heavy buyer of clothing and footwear, CDs and household furniture you should not be complaining. On the other hand, if you have children at private school and are a heavy user of hotels and restaurants your own personal inflation rate is in a different parish from the official CPI measure."
Hat-tip: Prestopundit.
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