Thousands take to the streets of Reykjavik as anger erupts over the impact of the financial crisis

Vatic Note:  Remember, Vatic did a segment on "The Mouse that Roared".   It was about how that small tiny country kicked out all the bankers from IMF, WB and their bankers and sent them packing.   Something we 300 million people could not do for some unforseen reason.   The first bail out is when it should have happened and I believe if it had we would not have had the second one nor the horrible universal health care bill and soon the carbon tax.  Sometimes, striking when the test is being conducted is when it stops all the action we are angry about.  Lets hope we can withstand whatever they do have planned for us now.  Remember, we also just published about riots in Spain and other european countries, with 80,000 soldiers on our soil, waiting for us to do the same.   If we do it we must show the most united front ever.  Leave no doubt in the soldiers and law enforcement mind that we are together and united. 

Thousands take to the streets of Reykjavik as anger erupts over the impact of the financial crisis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/01/iceland-politicians-flee-protesters
Jill Treanor, guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 October 2010 20.12 BST

Protesters took to the streets of Reykjavik today, forcing MPs to run away from the people they represent as renewed anger about the impact of the financial crisis

The violent protest came amid growing fury at austerity measures being imposed across Europe. Disruption in more than a dozen countries this week included a national strike in Spain and a cement truck driven into the Irish parliament's gates.

Witnesses said up to 2,000 people caused chaos at the state opening of the Icelandic parliament, with politicians forced to race to the back door of the building because of the large number of protesters at the front. Eggs were said to have hit the prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, other MPs and the wife of the Icelandic president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.

Árni Páll Árnason, the minister of economics affairs, who was caught up in the protests, said: "We have a difficult economic situation and this is something to be expected in a democratic country."

A UN agency has warned of growing social unrest because of a long "labour market recession"  that could last until 2015. The International Labour Organisation revised down its forecast and estimated that 22m new jobs were needed to return to levels before the banking crisis.

Juan Somavía, director general of the ILO, said social cohesion would be at risk, adding: "Governments should not have to choose between the demands of financial markets and the needs of their citizens."

The protests came in same week as demonstrations in Greece, Portugal, Slovenia and Lithuania.

According to the writer Hallgrímur Helgason, anger has flared in Iceland because of the increasing numbers losing their homes and fury that only the former prime minister Geir Haarde has been charged with negligence over the financial crisis. The parliament voted this week to charge Haarde, who has said he is confident he will be vindicated, but not three others facing similar charges.

Iceland was at the centre of the financial crisis and took out loans from the International Monetary Fund and its Nordic neighbours after the collapse of three main banks in 2008.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir,  one of three MPs to join the protesters, said: "There is a realisation that the IMF is going to wipe out our middle classes."

Árnason said that while the economy was still difficult, the government was convinced it was taking the correct measures to put the county on track for a balanced budget by 2012. "We expect 3.2% growth next year and we believe unemployment has peaked at 8.3%," he said.

---

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.