Icelandic fitness - A Wednesday evening Rule 5 post - NSFW

Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Who's in charge of the UK?

This is not an anti-EU posting or even a rant about Peter Mandelson. This time it's a bit closer to home for Gordon Brown. Last week Downing Street let it be known that a failure by Iceland to repay loans could negatively affect Iceland's bid to join the EU.
In fact the Prime Minister's spokesman is reported to have said:

'The Government expects the loan to be repaid. We expect Iceland to live up to its legal obligations and repay the money.'

So it was a surprise to learn that Iceland's foreign minister said yesterday:

'I have spoken to Foreign Secretary Miliband and I have his permission to state officially that this will not affect the EU application.'

So who's in charge today Gordon Brown or David Miliband? Which of these two will be in charge next week, next month or after the election? Will Harriet Harman have anything to say?

How 2 weeks change views

On 24 September The Guardian published an article entitled:

"Ten of the best ... savings accounts - An unexpected bonus from the financial crisis is banks raising their savings rates to attract customer cash. Harvey Jones picks a selection of the best buys on offer"

Interestingly at Number 1 is "Icesave's easy access cash Isa" and at Number 7 is "Savings Account from Kaupthing Edge". So the financial geniuses at the Guardian were advising people to put their money in Icelandic banks almost to the end...



Thanks to Guido for the spot.

What ended the last depression?

The 1929 stock market crash and the "Great Depression" that followed was really only ended by the Second World War. With that in mind, why does the news in FT that:

"The government of Iceland is using the threat of a €4 bn loan from Russia in exchange for a 99-year lease on the airport at Keflavik - a former American air base - as leverage to obtain financial support from the West."

Might an economically desperate Russia try another military adventure to follow their Georgian incursion? Would an airbase in Iceland be of assistance? For what it is worth, I think any war would start in an altogether different place.

What have West Ham done to deserve this?

The credit crunch has not been kind to West Ham United FC; first their shirt sponsor XL Travel failed leaving the team playing with sewn on patches covering the XL.COM logo, now the Icelandic bank (Landsbanki) partly owned by their chairman has failed. What next for West Ham?


By the way, amid all the jokes about Iceland's bank accounts being frozen has anyone else noticed that West Ham's Icelandic vice chairman is called Asgeir Fridgeirsson?