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06 Jul 2011 14:09

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World: In Iceland, you might need a prescription to smoke

  • Your doctor may have to give you the go-ahead if you want to keep up the habit. Officials are hoping to do this as an effort to get people to quit. Recently, they’ve raised taxes on cigarettes and they’re on the way to banning them in many public places. Under the proposal, smokers would have to go through treatment programs to try to kick their habit. If they couldn’t pull it off, they’d get prescribed cigarettes. This seems like a bit far to reach, if you ask us, and it could create a black market because it’s so restrictive. Regardless, it should help people quit, should this measure pass —because that’s a lot of trouble to go through for a smoke. (photo via Flickr user mamagrrl) source

24 May 2011 11:17

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World: Ryanair flies plane through Iceland’s volcanic ash to prove it’s safe

  • How badly does Ryanair want to fly in this mess? Well, the ultra-cheap airline, which is trying to argue that the air plume from the Iceland volcano isn’t that bad, just sent a test plane through the thickest part of the plume for an hour. To put it simply, the plane got through OK, which means that now RyanAir is really arguing that officials allow airlines to fly their passenger planes through this murky soup. Look, we know your entire business model relies on tight profit margins, Ryanair, but is this really how you want to save money? (amazing eruption photo via NASA Goddard Photo and Video’s Flickr page) source

12 Apr 2011 14:50

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Offbeat: 95-year-old man dies, donates penis to museum

  • People are always donating some organ after they died. It’s no more remarkable to donate a penis than it is to donate an organ like a kidney. He liked to be in the limelight, you know? He was a funny guy. He was a boaster, a braggart… he liked to be provocative.
  • Sigurdur Hjartarson, head of the Phallological Museum in Iceland • Talking about his latest acquisition, the penis of the late Pall Arason, a 95-year-old Icelandic man who had agreed to the donation. He penis was pickled for preservation following his death, and despite the museum having had similar pledges from other people throughout the years, Arason’s phallus is now the first and only successfully donated human specimen at the museum. Of course, you go for the human penis, but you stay for the 67-inch sperm whale penis. source

26 Jun 2010 15:51

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World: Jón Gnarr: Reykjavik, Iceland’s comedy mayor serious about his job

  • Just because something is funny doesn’t mean it isn’t serious.
  • Reykjavik, Iceland mayor Jón Gnarr • Regarding the numerous silly campaign promises he made prior to his election. See, Gnarr won election as mayor last month on the strength of a comedy party with a hilarious campaign video set to the tune of Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best.” Now, with the Best Party in office, he was unwilling to form a coalition government with any other party unless they had watched every season of “The Wire.” And the free towels? Yeah, he got those taken care of. source

31 May 2010 01:00

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Offbeat: Icelandic politics so bad, comedy parties are winning elections

  • Reykjavik better hope these jokers actually bring Disneyland. Tina Turner, eat your heart out. This commercial is not only laugh-out-loud hilarious, it was incredibly effective, too. Jón Gnarr of “The Best Party” got more than he bargained for when his just-created party won 34.7% of the vote in the city’s local election, topping everyone else and securing six out of the 15 city council seats. Gnarr has the comic sensibility of Ricky Gervais without the use of the letter C. (And more promises of towels.) source

09 May 2010 11:59

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World: #(&@(&! volcano: Iceland’s ash causing more airline problems

Italy, Spain and Scotland, among others, have had to shut down their airspace as a result of Iceland’s continuing ash problems. source

27 Apr 2010 11:22

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World: The final tally: Iceland’s volcanoes and the resulting financial cost

  • 10
    million
    number of people who
    couldn’t fly for six days as a result of the clouds of volcanic ash
  • $3.3
    billion
    the amount this will cost
    the airline companies, according
    to estimates source
  • » Who foots the bill?: It’s inevitable that refunds (or worse, lawsuits) will come out of this whole situation, and EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas says that the airlines should foot the bill and keep in mind the rights of consumers, but maybe with the help of European governments to soften the massive blow. Thanks again for nothing, Iceland!
 

19 Apr 2010 10:24

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World: Iceland to Europe: We swear, we don’t mean to cause drama

  • It seems we’re getting pretty good at exporting our disasters. I think people might get funny ideas about Iceland. … We’re not to blame for an eruption.
  • Icelandic political commentator Egill Helgason • Regarding the country nicked by multiple crises in the last couple of years – crises that have hit Europe as hard as the tiny island. The country, however, has reason to feel a bit of relief about the volcano. Despite its continent-grounding air drama, the country itself isn’t affected by it too much. Flights are even getting out of the capital, no problem. Maybe we should hate Iceland. source

18 Apr 2010 21:36

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Tech, World: Norway’s Prime Minister currently running country with an iPad

  • We want a leader this awesome. While some countries like Israel act like the iPad is the next coming of the black plague, Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (who’s been stuck in New York City because of the volcano and the airline kerfluffle it’s created) has been using one to RUN A FREAKING COUNTRY. We’d like to see Obama do this. source

18 Apr 2010 20:37

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World: In Europe, airlines want to work around that #(&#(&@ volcano

  • 63,000 number of flights that have been canceled since Thursday
  • half number of flights airline officials hope to get in the air tomorrow source