Basket Star - Euryalid Ophiuroid-Gorgonocephalus sp. from Sea Mount on Mid Atlantic Ridge. Dive 175 Station No. 43. Depth around 800m

I urge the authorities to stop the sale of HS Orka and for Alþingi to hold a national referendum on the ownership and the utilisation of our energy resources.

www.orkuaudlindir.is

"freedom of speech". photo from the web www.bjork.com

Today is the national day of France and a good opportunity to remember the words: Freedom, egality… and Democracy!

Yesterday, Björk submitted a Formal Proposal to the Public Representative of the Icelandic Parliament, concerning the sale of Iceland’s natural resources to the company Magma Energy. The Proposal, signed by Björk and Jon Thorisson, icelandic assistant of EVA JOLY and writer Oddny Eir,  aims to initiate an open discussion and encourage reconsideration of this sale, ensuring that the interests of the public are being protected and that clarification is achieved on all aspects of this decisive case concerning the future of Iceland.

In addition to the Proposal, Björk publishes on her web  several questions they feel must be asked by the government, by the parliament and by the public before this business exchange can continue. About the resources, about democracy… see www.bjork.com for all details and documents.

Björk will hold a press conference with a performance on Monday 19th July at 4.00pm in the Nordic House, Reykjavik.

Photo: www.bjork.com

Here are some articles on the scandalous selling of Icelandic resources:

http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Letter-From-Bjork-About-Magma-Energy

http://www.savingiceland.org/0520/magma-energy-takes-over-hs-orka/

http://www.grapevine.is/News/ReadArticle/Foreign-Company-Set-to-Buy-Icelandic-Energy-Company

http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Feature-Blame-Canada

http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/think2/post/the_battle_is_on_for_control_of_icelands_geothermal_energy_fields/

http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/News-Magma-Energy-Lied-To-Us

"I can no longer remain silent on the very pressing subject that is the selling off of Iceland's nature..."

The other day Björk sent this letter around and to the Icelandic government as an ALARM ! Wake up and do something about this ! Now the post boxes of the parliament members are overloaded and the debate is still on… : should we sell all our natural resources away or not? NOT!

Dear friends,

I can no longer remain silent on the very pressing subject that is the selling off of Iceland’s nature.

I hereby challenge the government of Iceland to do everything in its power to revoke the contracts with Magma Energy that entitle the Canadian firm complete ownership of HS Orka. These are abhorrable deals, and they create a dangerous precedent for the future. They directly go against necessary and oft-repeated attempts to create a new policy in the energy- and resource management of this nation.

Warmly,

Björk Guðmundsdóttir

http://grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Letter-From-Bjork-About-Magma-Energy

marímó þanghnöttur sem er án kjarna en verður til úr þráðum sem greinast í sífellu og sameinast aftur við snúning kúlunnar á vatnsbotni

Eftirfarandi áskorun hefur síðustu daga verið send í pósthólf Ríkisstjórnar Íslands af ótalmörgum einstaklingum fyrir hönd Náttúrunnar og  Íslands:

Ég skora á Ríkisstjórn Íslands
að gera allt sem í hennar valdi stendur
til að rifta samningum um kaup
Magma Energy á HS orku.
Þetta eru forkastanlegir og fordæmisgefandi samningar,
sem brjóta í bága við brýna og ítrekaða viðleitni til að
skapa nýja stefnu
í orku- og auðlindamálum þjóðarinnar.

hér að neðan eru netföng stjórnarliða, fengin af vefsíðu Alþingis, en netfang Gylfa vantar. Orðið á götunni segir að nethólfin séu orðin full enda er mælirinn fullur fyrir alla þá sem bera hag lands og þjóðar og heims fyrir hjarta. svo mætti senda áskorunina á sveitastjórnarliða og alþingismenn og ýmsa þá sem kannski eru búnir að gleyma því að í lögunum stendur að auðlindir og orkunýting eigi að vera í höndum ríkisins. (more…)

http://www.ruv.is/hekla

Just before one o’clock tonight started a volcanic eruption in glacier Eyjafjallajokull in South Iceland. People in the danger zone are leaving their houses and the scientists are coming over in a helicopter to estimate the eruption. Nobody knows for sure now where exactly the eruption but the ashes are falling to the east and floods and lightnings are expected.
Last time there was a volcanic eruption in this glacier it was in 1823 and scientists and volcano amateurs have been “waiting” for this eruption for some time now, and the glacier has been watched intensely last few weeks.

About the glacier from skymounaineers.com: Eyjafjallajokull is a large stratovolcano topped by a 1.5 mile (2.5 km) diameter ice-filled caldera, with several major outlet glaciers pouring through gaps in the caldera rim. It is located directly on the south coast of Iceland, and its name means “Island Mountain Glacier” after the nearby Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) just off the coast. Like many of the volcanoes of south and west Iceland, its climbing history dates back to the 1700’s. Access to the south and east flanks is very easy from the coastal highway. It is supposedly a very fine climb (with alpine ice climbing possibilities on several routes) and also a great ski ascent/descent.

Male sheep, still from the Dreamland

Rein-deer running away. Still from the Dreamland film

We’ve waited for this film to be released and now it’s happening: tonight is the opening night of the Dreamland, see all infos and press-kits on the film’s web: http://www.draumalandid.is/dreamland/ And find a poster in pdf-format: dreamland

Dreamland is a truly epic film about a nation standing at cross-roads. Leading up to the country’s greatest economic crisis, the government started the largest mega project in the history of Iceland, to build the biggest dam in Europe to provide Alcoa cheap electricity for an aluminum smelter in the rugged east fjords of Iceland. The mantra was economic growth. Today Iceland is left holding a huge dept and an uncertain future.

Dreamland is a film about exploitation of natural resources and as Icelanders have learned clean energy does not come without consequence. Iceland is a country blessed with an abundance of clean, renewable, hydro-electric and geothermal energy. Clean energy brings in polluting industry and international corporations. (more…)

The old icelandic way of building houses, turf-houses, green houses. image from skagafjordur.is

The Robin Hood memorial in Nottingham

Today at the Háskólatorg, the new coffee/lecture/library-house of the University of Iceland, there is a conference on the heavy industry policy of Iceland. One of our greatest economists, Sigurdur Johannesson, which has written on the costs of the heavy-industry for Icelandic future economy, and John Perkins and others will be lecturing. All welcome, free of admission.
John Perkins is in Iceland because of the premiere of the documentary Dreamland, which is based on the book with the same title by Andri Snær Magnason.  John Perkins is interviewed in this documentary. John Perkins worked for a number of years as an Economic Hitman with a large consulting company in the US.  Using his own words economic hitmen are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.  They funnel money from the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet´s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, exortion, sex and murder.  They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization. During the past 40 years Iceland, a small nation in the North Atlantic, has sought large solutions for both employment and economics.  In this series of talks we investigate whether this plan has been as fruitful as expected.

Sigurður Jóhannesson is an economist. He has researched energy contracts between Icelandic authorities and international industrial organizations.    (more…)

The Iceland Design Centre presents the first DesignMarch this year; to become an annual event. The first DesignMarch program is splendid and diverse, with over 150 events reflecting a wide range of design.

DesignMarch aims to imbue the city with life, with design at every step: vacant shop premises will be filled with Icelandic design; cafés will serve their refreshments in Icelandic crockery; impressive exhibitions and installations will be seen all over town. Not to mention shops outside the city center, exhibitions and open studios.

DesignMarch also includes a series of lectures, a seminar, film screenings, and a new approach to city sightseeing, guided by architects.

Further details are available here on the Iceland Design Centre website and the 150 events presented in the program are available here, in Icelandic.

The Design Centre hopes that as many people as possible will seize the opportunity to see, hear and enjoy Icelandic design.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

DesignMarch Lecture Series

27.03 at 13:00 | The National Museum of Iceland, Suðurgata, 101 Reykjavík
Paul Bennett, IDEO |  Design Thinking
Paul Bennett, managing partner, Europe and chief creative officer of IDEO, gives the opening lecture of the DesignMarch Lecture Series. (more…)