Free Republic

Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country's banking system and introduce a parallel currency to pay bills unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands. Sources close to the ruling Syriza party said the government is determined to keep public services running and pay pensions as funds run critically low. It may be forced to take the unprecedented step of missing a payment to the International Monetary Fund next week.

Who knew that the revolution would start with those radical Icelanders? It does, though. One Frosti Sigurjonsson, a lawmaker from the ruling Progress Party, issued a report today that suggests taking the power to create money away from commercial banks, and hand it to the central bank and, ultimately, Parliament. Can’t see commercial banks in the western world be too happy with this. They must be contemplating wiping the island nation off the map. If accepted in the Iceland parliament , the plan would change the game in a very radical way. It would be successful too, because there is...

THE Eternal Love of The Father Virtue upon virtue , line upon line of My Word is truly a River of Life as you walk in My Love and not your own for as your Father in Heaven I AM with you always even onto forever but it is My desire you carry My Heart and not your own for your love can be injured But My Love for you ,in you and through you is an unstoppable Truth that sheds off the lies of the enemy and before which all condemnation Must Fall! For My Love is Sovereign and...

Morrissey has scrapped a gig in Iceland due to the venue refusing to not sell meat on the night of the show. The famously vegetarian Morrissey insists that any venue he plays goes meat-free on the night of his performance. However, as confirmed by fansite True-To-You, the Harpa Concert Hall in Rekjavik would not agree to the terms and the gig is now canceled. "I love Iceland and I have waited a long time to return, but I shall leave the Harpa Concert Hall to their cannibalistic flesh-eating bloodlust," Morrissey said in a statement. Morrissey tours the UK next month....

Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age. Worship of the gods in Scandinavia gave way to Christianity around 1,000 years ago but a modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in Iceland.

Give climate change credit for one thing: it’s endlessly versatile. There was a time we called it global warming, which meant what it said: the globe would get warmer. It was only later that we appreciated that a planet running a fever is just like a person running a fever, which is to say it has a whole lot of other symptoms: in this case, droughts, floods, wildfires, habitat disruption, sea level rise, species loss, crop death and more. Now, you can add yet another problem to the climate change hit list: volcanoes. That’s the word from a new study...

If Patrick and Lee from Fstoppers and landscape/travel photographer Elia Locardi‘s goal was to get our hearts racing, they’ve succeeded in spades with the drone footage they just released from their time in Iceland. A “quick cut” of the best drone footage they’ve captured while in Iceland filming one portion of a much larger project, all of the video you see was filmed with a DJI Phantom 2, GoPro Hero 4 Silver and Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal.

Two major groups of Arab sates questioned Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas in Gaza, in addresses to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday in Geneva. Describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as self-defense is both “legally incorrect” and “morally abhorrent,” said Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. […] Switzerland, Ireland, and Iceland were among the few Western countries to address to address the UNHRC under Agenda Item 7. Ireland condemned both Israel and Hamas as unacceptable for attacking innocent civilians during the Gaza war. With respect to Israeli attacks in Gaza, Ireland said,...

Officially, the first day of winter in Iceland is not until October 25 this year. Someone does not seem to be aware of this, since it started snowing in some places in north Iceland this afternoon. The accompanying photo was taken on Þverárfjall on the way from Sauðárkrókur in Skagafjörður.

OK, calm down everyone, nothing to see here. Au contraire in fact, plenty of cuteness here. Not only do they post cute images of themselves with cute kittens, they also aren’t afraid to show their more jovial side like skateboarding down the street and showing off their ‘Hello Kitty’ cuffs. As one viewer in Imgur put it ‘Fudge the police. Seriously, that’s a very attractive police force’ whilst another wants to know ‘Why are their clothes so tight fitting?’

n the sur­veill­ance flig­ht yester­day the ice-surface at Bárðarbunga was mea­sured with the radar system of Isa­via’s aircraft. The mea­surements show lar­ge changes on the ice-surface. Up to 15 m su­bsi­dence has occur­red in the centre of the caldera, which cor­responds to a volume change of 0.25 km3. The shape of the su­bsi­dence area is in accor­d­ance with the elevati­on of the caldera floor having low­ered by that amount. o Su­bsi­dence of this or­der has not been obser­ved in Ice­land since mea­surements of crustal mo­vements started around the middle of last cent­ury. o No signs of erupti­on or increa­sed geot­hermal...

Robert Robertsson and Simon Johnson, ReutersAug. 31, 2014 STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A small new fissure eruption in an ice-free area of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system prompted authorities to raise their warning of the risk of ash to aviation to the highest level on Sunday. Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert. In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in...

AFPAugust 24, 2014 Reykjavik (AFP) - Iceland removed a ban on air traffic around the nation's largest volcanic system on Sunday after fears of an imminent eruption subsided. The Icelandic Met Office said there had not been a small, subglacial eruption on Saturday, as previously announced, and lowered the alert over the Bardarbunga volcano from red to orange. "Presently there are no signs of ongoing volcanic activity," the IMO said on its website. A major explosion at the Bardarbunga volcano, located under a glacier, could signal a replay of the global travel chaos triggered when another Icelandic peak blew four...

Iceland raised its aviation alert to red Saturday as a subglacial eruption began at the restless Bardarbunga volcano, which has been rattled by thousands of earthquakes in the past week, the country's Meteorological Office said. Seismic data indicated that lava from the volcano was melting ice beneath the Vatnajokull glacier, Iceland's largest, Met Office vulcanologist Melissa Pfeffer said. She said it was not clear when, or if, the eruption would melt through the ice — which is between 100 to 400 meters (330 to 1,300 feet) thick — and send steam and ash into the air. The eruption led Iceland...

BRITAIN could freeze in YEARS of super-cold winters and miserable summers if the Baroabunga volcano erupts, experts have warned. Depending on the force of the explosion, minute particles thrust beyond the earth’s atmosphere can trigger DECADES of chaotic weather patterns. Tiny pieces of debris act as billions of shields reflecting the sun’s light away from earth meaning winter temperatures could plunge LOWER THAN EVER before while summer will be devoid of sunshine. The first effect could be a bitterly cold winter to arrive in weeks with thermometers plunging into minus figures and not rising long before next summer. The Icelandic...

Iceland on Tuesday began evacuating areas close to its largest volcano after warnings of a possible eruption, four years after millions of air travellers were grounded by a huge ash cloud from another peak. Scientists believe the ash from an eruption at Bardarbunga, a huge volcano under Iceland's largest glacier, the Vatnajokull in the south of the country, could disrupt transatlantic and northern European air traffic. They also fear floods from melting ice could cause serious damage to the country's infrastructure. On Tuesday, police announced that they had "decided to close and evacuate the area north of Vatnajokull as a...

August 18, 2014Myles UdlandThere's a (increased) chance a huge volcano in Iceland could blow.Lorcan Roche Kelly at Agenda Research tipped us off to the news that the Icelandic government on Monday changed the status of Bardarbunga, a volcano in Iceland located under Europe's largest glacier, to "orange," meaning there is a heightened risk of eruption and ash cloud. A report from Reuters on Monday noted that this is the second-highest risk level on the government's five-level risk scale. "Presently there are no signs of eruption, but it cannot be excluded that the current activity will result in an explosive subglacial...

I just shocked the MSM hasn't reported on this yet. After all, the way they writeheadlines to mislead people, it's a story just waiting for MSNBC to jump all over.

Authorities reluctant to renew passport of Harriet, 10, as name is not on approved list of 3,565You can be Aagot, Arney or Ásfríður; Baldey, Bebba or Brá. Dögg, Dimmblá, Etna and Eybjört are fine; likewise Frigg, Glódís, Hörn and Ingunn. Jórlaug works OK, as do Obba, Sigurfljóð, Úranía and – should you choose – Vagna. But you cannot, as a girl in Iceland, be called Harriet. "The whole situation," said Tristan Cardew, with very British understatement, "is really rather silly." With his Icelandic wife Kristin, Cardew is appealing against a decision by the National Registry in Reykjavik not to renew...

Plans to build a new road in Iceland ran into trouble recently when campaigners warned that it would disturb elves living in its path. Construction work had to be stopped while a solution was found. From his desk at the Icelandic highways department in Reykjavik, Petur Matthiasson smiles at me warmly from behind his glasses, but firmly. "Let's get this straight before we start - I do not believe in elves," he says. I raise my eyebrows slightly and incline my head towards his computer screen which is displaying the plans for a new road in a neighbouring town. There...