Polish Website about Iceland

A website in the polish language about Iceland seems to be doind very well, the site has an active forum and It is a place where Poles all over Iceland can get in touch and share information, stories and just to say hello in their own language from time to time.

 

On the site the Icelandic anthem, Lofsöngur, has been translated into Polish, information about the Icelandic public and service sectors are listed in Polish and even Iceland Express has posted a commercial banner in Polish on the site. 

 

If there are Poles reading this who didn't know about this site check out the link below, Icelanders should check it out as well as It could shock you to see the efforts they are making learning our anthem, system and way of life.

 

Polish website about Iceland: Iceland.pl

 

New Caps for Icelandic Police

The Icelandic Police will look veru different in a few weeks as they plan on changing their police caps from the standard Icelandic police "baseball caps" and white dress uniform caps to a cap or hat that looks more like the British police version.

 

The new version will see the police of Iceland wearing a black dress cap with a black and white checker ring design around the middle of the hat, a design most people know from british television dramas or who have been to Britain will recognize.

 

 

The reason for the change is unclear but It has been thought by some that the traditional Icelandic white dress uniform cap was too large and looked to much like a Russian military officers cap with the front part of the hat where the crest of the police sits reaching to high into the air.

The Killer Shot Himself

The police say that they have found the man who shot and killed a 35 year old on Sæbraut, Reykjavík just before noon today.

 

The suspect, in his 40's, had been following the victim it seems for some time and found his chance when the victims car blew a tire, It is not known if the suspect fired at the tire. The victim was changing a tire on his car when the suspect drove up to him and fired a single 22cal. rifle shot at point blanc range to the victims chest. The victim managed to get into a car that was driving by and the driver of that car made his way to the Laugardal swimming pool in order to notify the police and medics.

 

Medics transported the victim to the University Hospital in Reykjavík after trying their best to keep the victims condition stable for transport, according to doctors the victim passed away at around 1pm local time.

 

According to police the suspect drove his car following thr shooting to Þingvellir and walked, armed with a rifle, into the Almannagjá were he shot himself. The suspect died of his self inflicted wound.

 

The police forces of the Capital Area and Þingvallir County are now investigating  both deaths.

 

The police say that the suspect and the victim were connected as the victim had been dating the suspects ex-wife for some time, neither men had ever been arrested for a crime before and had no criminal records. It is therfore not a drug related crime as it was thought at first, said the police.

 

The police say that the case is still being investigated as they do not know if there is a second suspect but do consider it unlikely as the weapons used in both cases was a 22cal. rifle, the police can not confirm this without testing the rifle found in Almannagjá in order to see if the same weapon was used in the murder on Sæbraut this morning.

 

According to police the suspect who was found dead in Almannagjá due to an unconfirmed self inflicted bullet wound left a suicde note addressed to the police, in it the suspect does make the connection between the two dead men clear.

Murder in Reykjavík

Today is a very sad day indeed, a man was shot to death in kold blood in Reykjavík, Iceland while he was changing a tire on his car.

 

The man, born in 1972, was shot once in the chest at close range on Sæbraut, Reykjavík. The police say that no suspects have been arrested but are searching the area for any hints as to who the man might be.

 

This sort of news is normal in most foreign nations but in Iceland it is almost unheard of, It is a great shock to the nation as a whole and perhaps now we have seen the full and very real end to the days of unlucked doors and an unarmed police force.

 

Icelandic law states that for murder with intent the murderer will most likely see a maximum prison term of 18 years with 3/4 served before he or she will be placed on parole. To make you even more disgusted the time spent in prison before being sentenced in a court of law, you know...the time the killer spends in prison in order to keep him or her from harming others while are very slow justice system works to process the case is almost every time seen as time served so if the criminal is in prison for 6 months before the case is put before a judge those six months are deducted from the sentence given. 18 years become 17 1/2 years. We have our brilliant lawmakers to thank for that.

 

Armed police is what we will see in the future, not only so the police officers can protect us the people but also themselves from such a brutal crime. The government will need to change laws so that such criminals as the one who killed this man will see a life term in prison and not a sad 18 years.

Garðakirkjugarður; Innrás og Ómetanlegt Tjón

Frumskipulag Garðabæjar er varðar Garðaholt gerir ráð fyrir 2-4 hæða hús beint fyrir neðan kirkjugarðinn við sjóinn og mengar þar með útsýni frá kirkjugarðinum.

 

Gert er ráð fyrir að 5,5 ha svæði beint fyrir neðan kirkjugarðinn verði að verslana- og þjónustuhverfi og íbúðahverfi. Einnig verða ýmsar stofnanir þar til húsa. Gert ráð fyrir því að svæðið í kringum og fyrir ofan sjálfa Garðakirkju verði að skólahverfi fyrir unglinga og lóðirnar meðfram kirkjugarðinum verði að auka þjónustu- og verslunarhverfum.

 

Inni/Úti Arkitektastofa sá um skipulagsmynd núverandi ásamt stjórn Garðabæjar.

 

Þetta hefur vakið upp reiði margra sem eiga ástvini sem hvíla í garðinum og hafa margir kallað þetta innrás, svæðið hefur alltaf þótt fagurt og hafa margir því viljað vera jarðsettir þar. Fuglalíf er mikið á þessu svæði og fagurt útsýni yfir sjóinn er ómetanlegt. Þessu verður öllu breytt ef nýja skipulagið haldist óbreyttu. Sorp mun flæða yfir garðinn, hljóð- og sjónmengun mun vera daglegt brauð fyrir þá sem eru að heimsækja ástvini sýna í garðinum enda mun kirkjugarðurinn verða eins og Hólavallagarður við Suðurgötu í útliti.

 

Margir ættingjar og vinir þeirra sem hvíla í garðinum  benda fólki á að hafa samband við bæjarstjórn Garðabæjar og Umhverfisráðuneytið ef þeir vilja koma í veg fyrir þessi nátttúrspjöll.

 

 Deiliskipulagið má finna hér: www.gardabaer.is/default.asp?cat_id=203

Scotland Wants to be a Republic

Labour and Tory MP's have united to downplay a new opinion poll that puts the desire for Scottish independence in the majority for the first time in a decade.

 

51% of voters in Scotland say that they favoured independence, the first time a majority had been in favour since 1998.

 

The SNP, Scottish National Party, - emerging from a difficult few years have seized on the opionion poll, wich appears to reveal a Scottish desire to break from the United Kingdom.

 

The nationalist party has said that while Gordon Brown is busy wrapping the Union Jack around himself, more and more Scots believe that It's time for the parliament in Holyrood to have the same powers as the parliaments of successful independent countries such as Norway, Ireland and Iceland.

 

"Scots want a real parliament that can effect positive change on their lives, their families and our communities, not one stuck in the past, wed to remote control in London" an SNP spokesperson said.

 

Gordon Brown has travelled to Scotland to pin his colours to the union mast while lauding the achievements of devolution. 

Danes to be Bombed

Four men were yesterday given jail sentences ranging from four to six years over last years protest in London outside the Danish embassy.

 

Three of the men, Mizanur Rahman, Umran Javed and Abdul Muhid were found guilty of soliciting murder during the march outside the Danish embassy in London early last year.

 

During the march, some of the 300 protesters called for terrorist attacks in London and Europe. Rahman called for the soldiers to be brought back from Iraq in body bags.

 

Javed was recorded on video by the police shouting "Bomb, bomb Denmark. Bomb, bomb USA".

 

Muhid was seen leading a crown chanting "Bomb, bomb the U.K.", and holding placards calling for annihilation.

 

The fourth man, Abdul Saleem, was convicted of using words likely to stir up racial hatred and sentanced to four years in prison, the other having recieved 6 years for their actions.  Salleem was heard chanting  "7/7 on It's way" and "Europe you will pay with your blood".

 

After today's sentencing, Cheif Superintendent Ian Thomas of the Metropolitan Police said "We have a long history of facilitating lawful demonstrations, taking into account freedom of speech, a right which we are fortunate to have, and this applies across the board. However, these people stepped over the line and broke the law".

The Troubles Are Over

DUP leader Ian Paisley has said he believes a corner has been turned in Northern Ireland and that the Troubles are now over.

 

The Stormont First Minister was speaking at a press conference following today's first North-South Ministerial Council in County Armagh.

 

Dr. Paisley said he believed "the conflict in Northern Ireland now over" and that it was now "up to the politicians to consolidate the peace".

 

He said one reason for this dramatic change of thinking on his part was the recent meeting  between the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and PSNI chief contable Hugh Orde.

 

The Democratic Unionist Party is the leading unionist party in the north of Ireland and has had known ties to loyalist paramilitaries such as the Loyalist Volunteer Force, Ulster Volunteer Force and others who have all murdered Irish Catholics and hindered the peace process in the past when in fact Sinn Féin was willing to talk.

 

Dr. Paisley  has in the past refused to sit at the peace table with Sinn Féin due to their connection with the Provisional Irish Republican Army and all the while turned a blind eye to the loyalist secterian attacks on civillians.

 

Dr. Paisley is and will be remembered more in history for his outburst at a EU meeting when he called the Pope John Paul II the anti-christ but not for his "heroic" stand at the peace table.

 

Dr. Paisley waited to long to grow wise, many more people would have been alive today, on all sides, had it not been for his refusal to commit to peace as he does now.