The Pirates May Be Running Iceland

The radical Pirate Party, headed by Birgitta Jonsdottir, was asked to form a government with other parties by the country's president, Gudni Johannesson, AP reported Friday, citing the president's office.

The two parties who came first and second in the parliamentary election in late October, the Independence Party and the Left-Greens, respectively, had already held talks to assemble a coalition, but to no avail.

[...]

According to Jonsdottir, the main issues on the agenda for the island nation are health care reforms and fishing rights, which have become sticking points for the lawmakers trying to form a coalition. The country has also suffered from troubles in its economy, after its banks collapsed during the 2008 global financial crisis.

  RT

Just a reminder that our banksters didn't just ruin our own economy.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Go Pirates

The Pirate Party may sound like a novelty political outfit, but this former ragtag bunch of internet activists may be on the verge of winning Iceland's parliamentary elections Saturday.

The party was founded less than four years ago and promises a radical platform.

[...]

Its origins can be found in 2006, when a Julian Assange-style figure named Rick Falkvinge founded the Swedish Pirate Party with the radical agenda of tearing up internet copyright laws.

Falkvinge chose the name as an attempt to take ownership of the term "piracy," which he felt had become an unfair slur against people who shared music and movies online.

Now there are pirate parties in more than 60 countries — although before this weekend none has threatened to take a seat in government.

[...]

Its main aim is to involve Icelanders far more in the country's democracy, shifting power away from what it sees as an unaccountable political elite. To do this, all of its policies are crowd-funded, with members suggesting, debating and voting on each manifesto pledge through an online forum.

[...]

Its members insist that all decisions should be based on evidence — rather than religious or cultural traditions — including their pledge to legalize all drugs. The party wants all government information to be readily available to the public, allowing "the powerless the power to monitor the powerful."

[...]

The majority of polls over the past 18 months have predicted the party will win the most votes on Saturday — a radical pirate victory in the land of the Vikings.

  NBC

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.