October 27, 2008

Abuse of Power Gordon Brown has put Icelandic bank Landsbanki on his shit list, using anti-terror laws to freeze Icelandic assets in the UK. Icelanders are not terrorists.

It's about time we got rid of the shits who misuse our mandate to promote themselves. Oh wait, that would mean an end to democracy. Well, I'm getting around to the view that democracy is not necessarily better than other alternatives (ignore the appearance of Mussolini, et al. in the article, kthxby).

posted by Skrik 15 years ago
  • I mean, of course, Icelanders are not terrorists. (Damn preview button doesn't work!)
  • To play devil's advocate (he pays better): you freeze bank assets with the legislation you have, not the legislation you want.
  • Aren't the bank assets in Iceland already frozen? Cold, hard cash! Har har, I slay me.
  • Give a politician a power and he'll find a way to abuse it.
  • Anti-terrorism laws were never intended to have anything to do with terrorism. The 9/11 attacks were just a convenient excuse to expand government powers. Icelanders shouldn't take this so personally. They're not really being called terrorists.
  • Second on r88's comment. There was nothing about 9/11 that couldn't be handled within the existing legal framework. Hijacking was illegal, murder was illegal, destruction of property was illegal, money-laundering was illegal... And on the other side, surveillance of criminals was legal, wiretaps legal... In other words, nothing that the States couldn't have dealt with through an ordinary RICO investigation and prosecution, or something even more mundane than that. But what do I know?
  • Thirding. Of course the rules were going to be abused.
  • I think it's been pointed out that the legislation used wasn't anti-terror provisions but something to do with seizing assets deemed the proceeds of crime. Just happened to be part of the same portmanteau bill. Which was some jumbled nonsense largely covered by existing law, of course, with anti-terror knee-jerkery thrown in, but still. Either way, fuck you, people of Iceland. Don't want to be called names? Don't rob me gran's pension. Let's have a heated debate!
  • You can't negotiate with terrorists, this means war!
  • Monkeyfilter: fuck you, people of Iceland.
  • ...and that's just for giving us Bjork.
  • Pleased to see my closely-argued case has resonated with the assembly.
  • I can't believe we're at actually at war with a place called Niceland. Some say we should fight Noman - but I say bomb Nitaly: it's where nits come from. Nand hurry nup.
  • They hate us for our cod fillets.
  • You want to see banks holding terrorist funds? Look a little closer to home. With all the shit that's been going down in the last four years, money in the States is earmarked for just as much evil as anywhere else. Not to mention our Fearless Leader's ties to the Saudis--but wait! Where did those 9/11 brown guys come from?
  • The icelanders have discovered a new principle to go with 'too big to fail' - 'too small to be in the wrong'.
  • I reckon we take those jumper-wearing asset-freezers the fuck down, man!
  • Where did those 9/11 brown guys come from? Well, since they attacked a city that's anti-American, I guess it doesn't matter.
  • Yeah, I've been trying to figure that one out. If New York isn't part of the real America, should have mattered?
  • Iceland blames Britain (a bit).
  • Letter from Iceland. On collecting our daughter from her handball practice, I learnt the news that her club could not obtain the foreign currency it needed to release their new team shirts from customs. The city’s myriad sports teams rely on local sponsors and our daughter also brought the news that this source of funding for her team was likely to dry up in the months to come. Later that evening, Skype, our communications lifeline, would not renew our credits with an Icelandic credit card.
  • Iceland's banking collapse (and the conclusion, which I found interesting) Iceland’s circumstances were extreme, but there are other countries suffering from milder versions of the same fundamental inconsistent – or at least vulnerable - quartet: (1) A small country with (2) a large, internationally exposed banking sector, (3) its own currency and (4) limited fiscal spare capacity relative to the possible size of the banking sector solvency gap. Countries that come to mind are: Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and even to some extent the UK, although it is significantly larger than the others and has a minor-league legacy reserve currency.
  • Well, Obama has a choice of who he will be siding with. We hope it's the American people. If not... Hello Iceland. democracy or kleptocracy?