Iceland Roundup #E66: Drugs, Whales, Ivanka Trump & Human Trafficking

The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: 

The New App: Icebreaker

The Reykjavík Grapevine has teamed up with Einar Stef of Hatari fame and cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson with a new app called Icebreaker, which helps you, navigate Reykjavík, and eventually, the rest of Iceland. It features information from The Grapevine’s Best of Reykjavík, information about event listings, happy hours, cheap eats and more.

From Moby Dick To Moby’s Dick

Whaling is back on the menu this year, although the current minister of the fisheries has stated that this will probably be the last summer of whaling, since the minister is proposing a new law outlawing the practice. The whaling season this year has received a lot of domestic and international attention, not least because anti-whaler Paul Watson has sent his vessel, Bandero, to intercept Hvalur hf.’s whale boats Hvalur 8 and Hvalur 9, so for without luck. Footage of an employee of Hvalur hf. swinging a whale dick while being recorded on video, did neither make pro-, nor anti-whalers happy.

Gasoline Prices In Iceland

According to The Icelandic Competition Authority Icelandic oil companies have raised the prices for diesel oil by 50% since 2022 and 25% since 2022 and gasoline. The oil companies also raised their prices just prior to the so called milage tax in January of this year. The Icelandic Competition Authority also states that the price of fuel in Iceland has consistently been higher in Iceland than in 27 other European countries in the past decade. 

Amphetamine

Two men are in custody following an attempt of importing 14 liters of amphetamine to Iceland via an Icelandic transport vessel in April. The two men got two crew to help out with the smuggling. 

Cocaine

A 106 kilograms of cocaine were apprehended by the Icelandic authorities on a transport vessel named Koznitza, which arrived in Iceland on 22 June. The ship sailed from Brazil til Straumsvík in Hafnarfjörður, and was bringing materials for the Aluminum smelter located in Straumsvík. This is the largest amount of cocaine ever confiscated in Iceland and at least nine people have been arrested in association with the smuggling, of which at least three are Icelandic with a Romanian and Brazilians. One of the Icelanders arrested, Lárus Freyr Einarsson, was convicted of murder in Denmark in 2011, and arrested again in 2020 in relation to the production of amphetamines in a summerhouse in Kjós, near Reykjavík.

Weed

The police apprehended just under 800 cannabis plants at three different locations in Iceland recently. 200 plants were confiscated near the small village of Reykholt, and more in a summerhouse in Kjós. Maybe a different summerhouse than the amphetamines mentioned above, but we just don’t know.

Fisheries Investing In Unrelated Businesses In Iceland

Aðalsteinn Kjartansson has been writing investigative peaces for Heimildin on the investments of persons and companies who’ve made billions through the fisheries. The investments of the family of Guðbjörg Matthíasdóttir are extensive, and while holding a large stake in Iceland’s only daily newspaper, the family owns parts of import businesses, other media companies, and health industry companies. All of these investments, went underreported in a recent report on the investments of fisheries companies, the report was commissioned by the Icelandic Parliament.

Ivanka Trump Visits Iceland

Yeah. That happened. Who gives fuck.

Human Trafficking And Prostitution, In Iceland

The Icelandic police participated in a large international police operation in June, coordinated in 59 countries, targeting a Chinese crime syndicate which has been engaged in human trafficking and prostitution. Five purchasers of prostitution were arrested in Iceland, with another 45 recorded in the act on video, and 16 women, some of whom are believed to have been victims of human trafficking by said Chinese crime syndicate, were interviewed by the local authorities. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Hello and welcome to this summer episode of Iceland Roundup, where we finally show up after I don't know how many weeks off the air, just to not show up for another few weeks off the air.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

That's efficiency.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Yeah, I like we didn't even do any sketching before this.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

When are we available again? Just to touch the back of my head. It was just very sensual. Sorry, I got distracted there. What did we think?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Do we know what we can do as well? It's about pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Yeah. Today's theme will be one of pleasure. But uh we're still gonna talk about the news.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Is there an English word for Nuchtna Segur? The news give me great pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Uh yeah, there is. There's always an English word for almost everything.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

But like uh uh a pleasure sack. Pleasure sack. Yeah. Just a slippery sack of pleasure. That's how my wife describes me anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

Uh I was gonna so I have a few things I want to talk about. Uh we have we have uh don't tell my wife. We have wheat, cocaine, amphetamine.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

We have to ice showed up here for a reason.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Uh whaling, human trafficking, Ivanka Trump, Fisheries Investments, and it's all the same story. And uh and lastly, there's a new app, and we're gonna talk about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

New app?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Yeah, the Gray The Grayman team top is somebody to make an app.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Oh, okay, sorry. I thought it Okay. That's like the only app I would say yay to, so uh strike that and turn it into a yay.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I thought you were talking about the cat app. No, not the cat tap, which is apparently was in development for what, six years?

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yeah, he was like gathering data for six years.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

And it does what? Makes like a cat noise when you touch the button? Oh, so you it when your cat starts having sex with another cat, you can check if they're related.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

I mean that's I mean nobody uses Icelandic a boke for that. Really? Sleep with the p person who wants to sleep with you. You're not gonna check up on a relation.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

I I probably told you the story about an unnamed uh comedian who uh who was asked by uh some some producer type who's having you know some people over from the UK, some posh probably posh spice posh people uh probably like uh in some relation to the um epic embassy and he w he asked who was like could you cook them like traditional Monte food, which is like boiled fish and potatoes and talk to them at your house? Yeah. Did that and then they wanted to talk about the epic app that we all use to look up relations. And they're like asking have you ever used this app? Yeah. But what if you uh brought somebody home and and you use the app and and you turn on to be cousins? Oh, that's why we have condoms. Yes. Uh anyway. Quaint yarn with a straight face and then didn't explain it.

unknown 3:24

No.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

So the Reykjavik grape line teamed up with The more you explain it, the worse it gets. An RSTF uh Hataref and a few other people, uh Hulukaxon, one of them, the cartoonists, and created an app called Icebreaker. You can look it up on App Stores or Google Play or whatever they're called. And it's to help people navigate Reykjavik. Uh you can see our best of Reykjavik selection in there. You can find happy hours and where the nearest happy hours.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Why did you point at me when you said happy hour? And I don't I don't care for the inf inference here. Because this you have no proof that I drink. It's never happened. Because this show is an hour, and it's my happy hour. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's so sweet.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Um and then it has you know event listings, cheap eats, whatever. So iceberger, what cheap eats? Yeah, like lunch offers. Yeah, but use it cheap. Yeah, it's definitely fine in the garden. It's a relative term.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Uh it's like nothing is cheaper.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

It recommends uh songs you can sing for food.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Yeah, the thing is you show up at the bakery at four o'clock when they start baking, and then you sneak in while they're doing the dough and steal the produce from yesterday. Yeah. That's cheap. Uh but where do you guys want to start? Will we do you want to start with uh drugs or gasoline or whaling or you know Ivanka Tron?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

I think I'll need I think I'll need some drugs and gasoline before we tackle before we do any whaling, yeah. Well, we can we can tackle the drugs. Certainly I will need something far stronger to tackle Ivanka.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Yeah. Um so there there were three kinds of Not that I want to tackle her. So I'm just gonna compile the drug stories into one. There were like three drug stories in the news in the past week. One of them had to do with drugs. Uh I can see why you're in the journalism business. You pay close attention. Well, one of them has to do with the confiscation of uh up to eight hundred cannabis plants in three different locations in Iceland. Uh the most recent story was uh that 200 plants were confiscated in uh in the small town of Reykholdt, which is near where I grew up.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

It's like I what I used to do. I remember reading that and I just like come on.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Like if you're gonna grow up that far away. No, but it's like I mean it's close to Goodfotenkeze, let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Can I just say that, you know, if I were to say become a cannabis farmer, that perhaps maybe I would think of setting up shop somewhere that's not who called like Reik? Smoke Smoke Hill. Smoke smoke hole. Like that's smoke hill. Yes, smoky hill. It's like you know, I feel like even Icelandic cops would be like, we should probably check that out. Just in case they start with all the towns called Reake in the in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

I mean it's uh high heat, like uh somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Every place, including Reykjavik, which has that that smoke prefix. It's actually steam that they're referring to. It has geothermal uh stuff, which is also where where you grow stuff in greenhouses.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

So it should it shouldn't be smoky bay, really, it should be steamy bay. Should be steamy bay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Um there's a bunch of other ones. Uh steam steam grove, quirgare. Uh also used to be famous for their uh steamers. Excellent excellent wheat production, illegal, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yeah. So uh they call them steamers now.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

So I guess I'm I'm almost learning stuff.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

They don't. No one calls them that. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

So this part of the drug story tells us the fact that's like poop.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

A steamer is a poop.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Unlike the other drugs we're gonna be talking about, is is grown in Iceland. It's made homegrown. Yeah. This has been the case for a very long time.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

And uh obviously it's been grown uh in places where you have Yeah, it became so cheap to grow it uh after the financial crisis due to currency like excuse rates. Yeah. That we actually started to export wheat.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

This is also uh when people started uh And when I say we, I mean I guess people not rid of us.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

So but the other story I knew you know that your papers had money issues, but you know, this is uh Yeah, we thought about selling drugs.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

We thought about everything.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

It's the new app. Yeah, yeah, check the new app for for drugs.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

The new app is kinda it does a thing that is kind of nice, which is like it it provides you with the content we make, which is like like best of Rekovic is it's not paid for content, it's stuff we select because we like it. And we've never really been able to monetize that because we haven't sold, you know, who gets best stuff, but by using like these things, these places in the app and booking through the app, we actually get some revenue. So we finally cracked that uh knot, so to speak. So by using the app, you actually create revenue for the regular grip fine. That's how you afforded this fine couch. That's how I managed to carry this couch here with my wife, uh because it's our old couch.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

But it it gave you knowing that you might be making more money soon, it gave you the energy that you needed to do. It gave me the energy to move the couch.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

It was very hard to move the couch because it uh it just fit in the car if we moved the seats just to the front. So we drove downtown, me and my wife. Your wife, yes. Who did the driving because I couldn't fit in uh behind the wheel because of the seats being as far away. Yeah, okay. And you had to take legs. And then I spent uh the ten minutes it took to drive down here with my face just in the windshield. It was excellent. An excellent excellent experience, and this is why this sofa is here. You you didn't think marriage is full of wonderful adventures. Uh I no, I didn't didn't have the energy to do that. Uh so wheat is grown in Iceland. However, the other two drugs mentioned, amphetamines and cocaine is not made in Iceland. Famously, cocaine uh comes from South America.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Yeah, weed is one of the few things uh that has stayed roughly the same price for like 20 years in Iceland now.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Yeah, which is kind of incredible given the level of inflation over that same period of time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

So I I I think it's due to like these factors you were saying, right? There was uh the the the crash resulted in sort of currency devaluation. And also I assume that you know legalization abroad has something to do with it. I'm not sure if they offer competitive prices to smuggled.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

It just shows us, and this relates to the gasoline story, that the only uh uh uh uh competition market in Iceland that works to the benefit of the consumer is the is the unregulated one. Is the black market, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh but uh the other two drugs, they were confiscated on ships uh that were going to Iceland. And there's the uh a liquid amphetamine that was picked up in an Imsky transport vessel, like a container ship, uh in uh April, and there are like at least two men in custody because of that. And then there was the record confiscation of 106 kilograms of cocaine. That's the most the Icelandic authorities have ever apprehended. And that was in a transport vessel named Kostnitsa, which arrived in Iceland on June 22nd with supplies to the aluminum smelter in Hapnerville.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

They were gonna smelt a lot of aluminum, I'm sure. They were just gonna smelt the hell out of that shit.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

And it was it came there from Brazil, which uh is not a surprising uh country name coming up in cocaine relations when it comes to Iceland.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

And uh I think also where they they mine all the the the box the bauxite they have, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:43

That's the bauxite and the aluminum. Yes. The uh nine people have been arrested.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Nine people?

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Yeah, because of that. Three of which were syndicate. Yeah, three or three of them are Icelanders. A couple of Brazilians, one Romanian, the rest undisclosed.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Um one of the uh It's so nice to see people working across borders together, yeah, across border, yeah. This is really like uh like racism has no home in the drug trade.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Yeah, but yeah, the black market is less racist than you think. Yeah, yeah. Given its name. Yeah. What? That made no sense. Okay. Um so one of the Icelanders arrested is lower.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Do you do you feel excluded from the black market because you're not black? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

I don't know why this came up. I'm tired.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Appearances can be deceiving, you know. Just let it go. It was embarrassing. Just don't I don't know. I thought it was pretty funny.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

So one of these Icelanders arrested because of the 106 kilograms of cocaine moved here with uh what was the name of it? Bauxite? Bauxite? Yeah. Uh from Brazil is uh they ended up having to snort the bauxite. So Lauras Freire Enerson?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Who was it's like a huge ship, but the cocaine they had on board was probably more valuable than the boxes.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Than the bauxite, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Yeah, yeah. Probably. So one of the islanders that has been named is uh Laurus Freire Enerson who was convinced that the biggest thing is.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

That's how they make aluminum, by the way. If they just have a bunch of people like snorting it and and aluminum comes out at the other end. I've seen him do it. No, yeah, I was doing I was doing some bauxite with a friend.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Are the people who another? Are the people who do the snorting not people but elves and all of this happens at the North Pole? Just checking.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Well, I mean if they they can be. Like I said, the black market doesn't exclude anybody. If elves want to be part of it, they can. You know, it's a it's a merit it's a meritocracy, really. The boxide Yeah, yeah, the boxite huffing.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

So the highest snorting elf of the month is Megus. So anyway, one of the Icelanders arrested is Lauris Frey Enerson who was convicted of murder in Denmark in 2011. Do you remember this case?

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Of murder?

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, he shot his mother-in-law in Horse Sands in Denmark in 2011.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

I thought he was just like a tax evader.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

No, no.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

That was that was another guy. You can be both. And then he was arrested. There's no reason to limit yourself to the show. Yeah, okay, I see.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Then he was arrested again in 2020 in relation to the to the proxy production of amphetamines in a summer house in Kos. Oh, he wasn't one of them. Yeah, but uh speaking of summer houses in Kios, they also confiscated about two or three hundred plants last month in a summer house in Kos. Maybe not the same summer house. Or maybe. Or maybe, who knows?

SPEAKER_01 14:47

We really don't know.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

We really don't know. Uh but uh speaking of the black market prices and how they've stayed consistently uh what did I do in 2011?

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Like what like I went to India or something?

SPEAKER_01 15:00

That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Yeah. I'm just I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

I feel yeah, I feel like this guy is just I went to South America, but the that's that no.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

But that has nothing to do with the Did you import those huge logs from Brazil?

SPEAKER_02 15:15

I was in Ecuador.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Ecuador, in Peru.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

I always picture like Brazilian like when they say that they're mowing down the rainforest and selling it, I I can never I never picture like straight trees. I always picture like the jungle being like very crooked. So like how would you sell that for use? You know, but obviously I know that it's you know, if it was other zillions of acres of forest, there's gonna be a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

No, but if it's a big thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

If you're selling those trees on the black market, I assume you know those three trees don't have to be straight, right? Yeah. It's a forgiving market. It's an inclusive market. Yeah. I don't know. Uh I haven't seen any. Can you lower the mic a bit? You're you have it completely hiding your face. Yeah, I think. I like to see your face.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

This is like a you know, this is an audio program. I'm not I don't come here for for people to see my face. Look away from my face.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

So enough about drugs. I'm gonna put it. I guess.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

No, but it was like we have to talk about they did it in a way, like with the ship, the Brazilian ship. Yeah. It was like an interesting way. They hit it like onto the ship. Yeah. And they imported a specialized diver to retrieve the drugs.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

I think it's not the first time that's been done. No, I I mean uh obviously not.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

So they attach compartments to the outside of the ship?

SPEAKER_01 16:41

No, it's like uh I don't know what's it called in English. It's skip a kista in Icelandic. It's like uh a thing you can open. Oh, okay. Like under the ship. Okay. It's like a compartment or like the ballast or something? Yeah, something like that. Oh, okay. You can access it if you dive under the ship.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

Because uh one of one of the things I picked up is that the Lauris Freyer, the convicted murderer, there was a picture of him in 2018 or something on his social media in a diving suit in Strumsweek.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

I don't know he was doing research.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Pictured here wearing a diving suit for unrelated reasons. Or so the caption claims.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

But I mean w we are on an island and we have like uh these I don't know uh happening, like natural harpers harpers. Yeah, and the fjords. The fjords, and we have like ten customs officers outside of Reiki.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

It's like insanely easy if you have the money and uh once upon a time uh ten, fifteen years ago when I was a law school student, we went on a field trip to the the jail in uh Littlehorn. Yes. And we got to hang out behind the scenes and talk to the behind the scenes, behind the bars and talk to the uh prisoners. The inmates, yeah. And one of the inmates I talked to was uh Sounds like you were backstage at a show. Yeah, I mean speaking of uh speaking of backstage uh shows, I did run into people at the jail that I had run into at backstage of shows uh like Dr. Mr. and Mr. Handsome, I don't know if you remember that.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Right, yeah, yeah. Were they wearing diving suits?

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Uh no diving suits in the jail at the time. Yeah, one of them at least. But um so the kind of assuming Dr.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Mister lost his doctorate when they're not.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

No, I mean he cannot take his education right now.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

I mean you can't lose your misterate. That's the It's the magic of magic of a mister Mystery. Okay, it may be something else he lost. Unless he had a misterectomy. Do they do that at the jail?

SPEAKER_01 19:03

I'm not a specialist on that.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yeah, they do all kinds of stuff in jail. I know.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

I think they do what you ask them to do.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yeah. But you could call it surgery, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

I s I struck up a conversation with an inmate who was kind of like Did you start it sorry with like what are we in for? Kind of. Um undisclosed individual had been involved in transporting, importing drugs via uh sailboats. Really? Yes. And I was kind of asking him about it. Sailboats? Yeah, it's nice. Speedpodrin, speed scoot on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Uh like an actual sail? I think. I thought the idea was to decrease visibility.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

No, I mean uh I don't think they show up on like rator systems that they use to monitor the open seas.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah. They and they they come at night in winter, I'm assuming, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

No, I think you can basically come anytime you want because they don't have like anyone patrolling the What do we have?

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Uh two coastal vessels, one airplane, yeah, one helicopter.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

It's reassuring, isn't it? How much unspoiled nature there still is, really, when you think about it.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Yeah, but uh like what came out of that conversation was the un Like I was asking him about this thing. I knew the case because I'd been I'd read the case. And it came kind of like he didn't really say it out loud, but he heavily sort of indicated that this was not his first bowdale. So I think that's kind of his first thoroughblood. Not his first thoroughblood, no. So I guess I mean it's a common thing. And I mean given that uh SOL, the uh I don't know, the the clinic of rehabilitation here in Iceland was talking about it recently in the news that they're seeing a massive increase in cocaine admittance, like people who are trying to quit cocaine. So I guess even though they busted 106 kilos of that boat, I think we're still getting enough cocaine.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

When is enough enough?

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Who is affording all this cocaine? Like it seems to be like, you know, I I'm gonna the the the kind of people who never go to jail are the only people who can still afford cocaine. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and because we were talking about how the black market has actually worked as a competition market for the benefit of the consumer, and uh the Icelandic gasoline market has not been doing that. So maybe the people benefiting from that very similar markets though. Yeah, that maybe the people benefiting from that have been buying all of that cocaine. Yeah. Because they've been making a lot of money. Uh according to the Icelandic Competition Authority, Icelandic oil companies raised the prices for diesel oil by fifty percent since twenty twenty two, and it's excluded excluding like taxes and stuff. Yeah. And and just straight up gasoline was. Has increased by twenty five straight up gasoline percent since twenty twenty two. It's not since the Icelandic oil companies also like raised their prices significantly just prior to the uh the mileage tax, which was a new tax levied uh on the first of January, where the the Icelandic state decided that we had so many sending the fucking coke dealers and weed growers to jail.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

It's like we chose these people.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Well the the Icelandic government decided that since we had so many EVs, it would make more sense to levy a tax to maintain the roads, not on the gasoline itself as it had been doing in the previous decades, but on you know every driven mile or kilometer in our case. And just prior to like that happening and the tax obviously being removed from the gasoline prices, they upped the prices a bit. And then, according also to the Atlantic Competition Authority, uh, the price of fuel in Iceland has consistently been higher in Iceland than in 27 other European countries since 2016. Hence, they've been screwing us the whole time. I am shocked. Yeah, I can't believe that. Something like this can never have happened before, can it?

SPEAKER_01 23:12

No.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Famously in 2003 or 4 it came out that the Icelandic oil companies, all three of them, had been secretly holding meetings in uh Ushkulith to collute on oil prices. Do you remember this?

SPEAKER_00 23:29

Okay, so an important distinction to make here because Ushkulith has two sub-sort of places within that definition. There is the you know, there is a lot of trees there where you could like hide, and there's like a car park, and you know, you know, and and yeah, and then sort of a a concealed sort of place. And then there is an incredibly visible object on top of this hill called Pertlan, which is like made of like glass and very reflective aluminum and glass. And I'm gonna guess that this secret collusion meeting happened within the dome that is visible from fucking space.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Uh probably, but it makes for a better image if like the three of them were like crouching behind a tree, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Wait, I'm sorry, I forgot. There used to be a bowling alley there. So did they meet at the bowling alley? No, they're either.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

This is in the in the uh like late 90s early.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Whoever gets the highest score gets to set the price.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

No, it's actually it's prior to the bowling alley being there. The score sets the price. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like really good at bowling. So it's very high.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

So uh they were importing bowlers from around the world to like represent them, like are they champions?

SPEAKER_02 24:39

The the lobbyists who who represent uh these companies via uh you know the association of this and that uh in Iceland have been in the media full of indignation about these claims of the competition authority, but uh we'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah, it's yeah. I I have complete faith in the oil companies. They have uh not giving me any reason to doubt they've never lied to me or cheated. No, no, no, no, never. Uh but an interesting fact, we might have uh mentioned this before. It's like if you go to uh Skeljungur or Anetn or any of these places, you're buying oil that comes from the exact same ship uh and provided by uh the Norwegian like stat oil. Uh-huh. Or Equinoor or what's it called?

SPEAKER_02 25:39

It's the Norwegian, I don't know what they call it anymore, but it's yeah, it's kind of like buy the same oil from the same company.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Shipping it in the same ship.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

It's like it is like uh uh you know, if you ever wonder why foreign companies, even though they are legally allowed to not compete on the islanding market, it is because it's basically not a competition market and it's obstructed.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

So like Yeah, it's like a giant monopoly like everything else in this country.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

And this applies to a few other uh sectors of the economy that have to do with consumer it's not yeah, it's only the fuel. I believe this would never happen in like you know, groceries or no no.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

I mean, there we have two different companies.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Three.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Can you believe these sad, you know, sensationalist, semi, you know, nationalist people complaining about how if we enter the European Union, you know, like European oligarchs will control our economy. It's like they fucking already do. Well, yeah, I mean they're they're are you saying that we're European? Uh well, some might. This is a controversial take, I know. But you know, we are you know we are islanders. I mean geographically you could argue that we are on North America right now. But if you go east of the east of the big crack, then you're once you're east of the crack, then you're in in Europe.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yeah, I'm going east of the crack.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

East of the crack, north of the sack.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Yeah, I'm going north of the crack, east of the crack. Yeah. In like 10 days or something. Yeah. And then I will go further east of the crack.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Have a nice ride.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah, maybe I should just buy a house east of the crack.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

I'm told the weather's better there.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah, I mean the weather is better there, and yes, it's like the most staple uh geological part of Iceland. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Yeah. I think like logistically.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

We are moving slightly closer to to North America.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

Yeah, but if we if we were like if we if we Well politically No.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

No. But yes, but also no.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

So if we would do something, say like let if we hired like a bunch of Danish architects and and city planners, yeah, and got them to plan a new city in the Eastfords.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Or or just take old Eelstad.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Yeah, in Aystaders, say Eysth. That's a great idea for a city. Uh helpers nearby, a lot of flat grounds.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Give the Danes Ailstadt back.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

No, no, so you get the Danes to do this because they can actually organize cities and uh architecture, yeah. And then build a new capital in in Aesthet. East of the Crack. East of the Crack.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

And then close down this complete utter mess that Reykjavik has become. That would be something. It'll be kind of expensive, but it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

I feel like most cities I go to, it's just like after being there for a a few days, I feel like this whole place needs to just like shut down for like ten years, completely reboot everything, and just come back with a better except for Copenhagen.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

I was just there. Oh yeah? It was an incredible experience because I hadn't really stayed in Copenhagen since 2003. It's nice. And when I was there in 2003, it was dirsty. I was I stayed at Istegade, which was basically Why?

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Did you stay at Istigade this time? No. I actually stayed there uh back in like October or something. It's really nice. Really nice hotel, really nice restaurants.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

In 2003, it was prostitution and heroin. Yeah. Mainly. So they were like literally like needles scattered all over the place. And I ended up getting kicked in the face by a gigantic Dane in a small store on Eastergai. He came up to us and realized we weren't Danish, started screaming at us, and then did like Ulendulentoff, Kikilani Koff, which is like Lenikoff.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

It sounds like you had a long time to run away.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Yeah, but I didn't understand what was going on. It was me and like five other guys from the Great Pun, actually.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

This sounds like you deserved it. Yeah, you want me to move my face closer to your feet?

SPEAKER_00 30:05

I like that this is your anecdote to describe how much you like Copenhagen.

SPEAKER_02 30:09

And then I got then he just kumfooed me in the face with his foot. Damn.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Is that why you have this?

SPEAKER_02 30:16

No, that's just the way I am. I'm sorry. Uh I I should have actually said yes to that. Come think of it. But uh and then because I because I just still still stood there after he kicked me in the face, still conscious, there was like a kicked you again. No, there was like a moment of confusion. I got kicked in the face. Uh you got kicked in the face. Yeah, and then uh I guess the guy was so confused by the fact that I was still standing that we in that momentary like in those few seconds of confusion, we managed to like put managed to push him away and then run out laughing, because this was hilarious, obviously. But did you like hurt yourself?

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah, even when they're like trying to commit violence, Danes are just like clowns.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Yeah, well, uh I mean I think I partly broke a tooth and was kind of swollen, but no. But they like so international, you wouldn't know that Dan is don't really hear that they're speaking uh when they're speaking English, it sounds like it's uh real English. Yeah, it's amazing. So amazing. Uh but so the contrast is that I I came there last month.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

How do cowboy books a poor?

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Uh and do they still call genes that? Uh they not just say jeans.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

They probably do. Yeah. Cowboy bookser. Cowboy books are can you do DJ?

SPEAKER_00 31:32

It's it's can cannot be a real place.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

But uh Copenhagen has been cleaned up. Um and they've even cleaned up the canals so you can actually just swim in the canals.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Yeah, it's so nice.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

And they built a subway system, and it's freaking amazing. Yeah. It's perfect. Like if you look at the problems we have here, which on a scale are way smaller, uh this is just unfair. And then you look at the architecture and everything looks great. It's like built like buildings built for humans to live around.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

But to be fair, I mean those brick buildings wouldn't survive Icelandic weather.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

No, probably not. But you know Never m never not to mention Icelandic earthquakes. But that wouldn't stop us building them though, if they were cheap enough.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

We actually tried to let everything stops us from doing anything of of worth. It's just like it's not even worth trying here. It's like everything is just stuck the way it is, and we will never do anything, you know, anything that remotely smacks of progress.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

But uh it was uh it was an amazing uh demonstration in how you can make a city a better place in 20 years efficiently and I would argue uh that Reykjavik is a lot better play now than it was 20 years ago. It's a lot less interesting, but yeah, maybe better. No, it's worse in many ways. Do you remember like if you you have to like commute by car, do you remember how it was to commute by car 20 years ago? It was excellent. There was nobody here.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Yeah, I mean uh the tourists obviously have like made it worse, but it's just like the guy, the guy who sort of more or less runs the paper called Reykjavik Grapefine and has for the last 20 years this like Reykjavik is worse in every way than it was 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

I don't see the I mean the gentrification gets like great deals.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

People will still come, you know, because they can they're not what is their option? They go back in time? Like you're not saying it sucks now, you're just saying it's worse in every way.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

No, uh, it isn't worse in every way.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

No, that's yeah, it's not. I mean, like the gentrification from for downtown, downtown Regio Big was disgusting 25 years ago. It was like run down and shitty. And that has definitely still kind of it's better, like it doesn't look as as dodgy.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

But with the gentrification, you like the the aspect I really liked about Regio when I moved here first in 2003 was the sheer weirdness of the businesses downtown, which don't exist anymore because you can't run a weird business expensive space.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Property companies.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yeah, if you look at the root of everything wrong with this. Fuck this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

Well, yeah. Uh which, you know, don't hate the players hate the game, which is because of the legislative uh environment they operate in.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

You can hate both. Wow. I I hate both of the lawyers.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

I don't mention it.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

They say multitasking is a myth, but I hate the players and the game. Okay. Just for the representative. That's one way of doing it.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Uh speaking of players and the game, um uh I was reading your piece about uh the investments of Kudj Matthias Dottir and her family. Kudj Matthias Dotir became has become uh excessively wealthy through her uh fisheries company in the past twenty plus years. Yeah. Ooh, a Cinderella story. It's a Cinderella story.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

And uh I mean she moved from Reikerg to Westmaner.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Yeah, and then got rich.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Yeah, b well see yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Isn't it like in a Cinderella story you move from the periphery to the center, not the other way around, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Yeah. You just said it's gotten worse in every way. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

But she moved to the center of like the fishing industry. Yeah, you she did that.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

And married a man. I mean, I feel like everyone's always yapping at me about how awesome Vesmoner is. I mean, it seems like a step up, right?

SPEAKER_01 35:24

I've actually never been to Esmaner. Oh, it's a nice place. It's like one of the I'm like probably the only like village or have you been to uh Rise? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Uh the one up north. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

Have you been to uh Grimsey?

SPEAKER_01 35:44

No, probably not Grimsey.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

No. Grimsey is that the one just here off in in town? No, no, Grimsey is uh Northland.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

So uh I've never been to Grimsey, I've never been to Rise. I get my A's mixed up. Uh I've been to the Westman frequently, but there is one town aside from Rise and Grimsey I've never been to, and that's uh Vaugar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

What? You've never been there? Nope. I was there like ten days ago. I plan on never going there, actually. Yeah, that's my thing with Westmanette.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Uh the band Ham wrote a song about Vogar, so I feel like I never have to go there. If I think about going to Vogar, I just listen to the song and uh I feel like I'm already there.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Are you talking about the the the the the song Partipar or Party Bar?

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Good song. Yeah. Is that about Vaughn? Yeah, uh it it on the original release uh it it had the a subtitle in parentheses Party in the City of Vogar. Party in the City of Wagar. Uh so and his lyrical flourishes. Uh you know, what poetry can he not conjure up in his own?

SPEAKER_02 36:51

Yeah, or I mean, or just straight up inaccurate descriptions. I mean it's not a city. Yeah. Okay. But if it's poetry, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

It's not the only thing he's inaccurately described, I guess. But you know, it's uh what's it? It's an artistic license. Uh yeah, that's better.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Uh so basically your piece is a critique on this uh parliamentary uh whatever report commissioned by the parliament from the university which was supposed to map out the ownership of the fishing industry in the unrelated sectors, but it somehow came short of basically mapping anything of any value. Yeah. Uh because it ignored the uh personal investments of the owners of the fisheries companies, right? So you know, these fisheries companies have been like paying out dividends in ranging in billions of croner a year over twenty years, so these people have gotten excessively wealthy. They've obviously put their money to work in something else than building themselves new houses and buying cars, because you can't Well, they have done that. Yeah, but yeah, they've done that, but uh other things. Gee, I wonder, who's buying all that okay? Owns uh uh a portion of Morgumblad, the only daily newspaper in Iceland.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

Yeah, both through the company and through uh holding company that's personal property. Yeah, but it's all or family property. Yeah. She's at the helm of the family conglomerate.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

And then they've also been investing like they have they have shares in SIN, which is the other big media company in Iceland. Yeah. And then they've been investing in Iceland, isn't it? Private healthcare somewhat. Yeah. And then as you've have mentioned on this podcast, they've also been involved in in investing in these companies who import uh consumer products.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Diapers and cigarettes.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

Diapers and cigarettes. The only thing you will ever need. Betty Crocker crocker cookies. Betty Crooker.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Actually, not Patty Crocker.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Say that five times fast.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

Yeah. She's she owns Scooping Matters that owns parts of Eastlandsk America, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Well, yeah, she owns half of Eastlandsk Amrichka after uh she bought Eastlandsk Ambriska, which is an import business. Yeah, and then they merged with another like import business uh called O Johnson and Cobra. Oh, yeah. And they have it like 50-50 Kulberg and the heirs of O. Johnson and Cobert. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

So she hasn't met. Monopoly, she doesn't are.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

I I think she's still the biggest single shareholder of Dominus Pizza. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Dominus pizza ever popular. So it is like Almirgrad, do they import like General Mills products like Cerios?

SPEAKER_01 39:44

No, that's not an old damn it.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

Okay. Like the two most consumed things in Iceland, Domino's and Cerios. I guess it's yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

Well, I mean it's good to I mean the competition authorities would definitely intervene if that were the case and dominoes would like be on the Would they?

SPEAKER_00 40:02

I mean, how are we defining intervention here? Like a sternly worded email?

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Like you really should not do this.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Yeah. This is uh this is a crime against uh morality, God, and people.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Yeah, but it's interesting that the parliament is trying to uh get a like a a roadmap to uh how money monies are flowing from the fishing industry and into all these unrelated businesses and industries. And of course, like any other wealthy individual, they have uh this planned out, it's not all in a single halting company. So uh the the example of Gutberg and her family, because now she has actually gifted her sons uh or children like majority halting of these companies. Uh but the money flows from the fishing up through the structure and then they can move it to and they have uh split the companies into two uh and the wealth that they use to buy up companies in in import or dominoes or private health or something uh that's now run in like uh unrelated company. So they're they're not directly uh connected to the fishing industry. And it's like the in in this parliamentary report that they just like willingly ignore the fact that Gudberg is Gutburg herself. I mean what I mean with this whole thing is.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

If the idea is to map uh the Well, you have to follow the money, right? And they're not following the money. One would assume, yes. Yeah, if the idea is to map out what you know what do they need this metaphorical map drawn up for them?

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Can't they just read your fine publication?

SPEAKER_02 41:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

I yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Maybe they maybe they do.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

They suggest talk about willful ignorance. I mean, you know, I don't I don't think you can even call it ignorance, because they know, because it it's the same people.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

Yeah, but they're always like this is the second report that is commissioned by the Parliament. And b both reports have been. Uh crap. Quite useless uh to explain the things that they're supposed to explain. Yes. And it's because they they try and find the narrowest definition of the thing that they're looking for. So it's like they're never gonna get the complete picture.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Interesting choice.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Yeah. Who's in charge of things? Like well, I mean it's it's given how small Iceland is and how much money is in this sector excluding uh the like private investments of people who have been benefiting from running these companies for twenty to thirty years, getting billions of cronos in dividends is uh uh both stupid and mad because it doesn't tell you.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Yeah, but it's like the fishing industry, uh the laws that govern the fishing industry are like really amazing because they allow you to be unrelated to yourself.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

Yeah, that's pretty cool. It's like when you when they go when they go fuck themselves, it's not incest.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

No, yeah. They don't need the content.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Even Islandinger book will tell you if you go if you look for yourself, they will tell you like everyone is related to themselves.

SPEAKER_02 43:42

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean except people in the fisheries.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

If you look up Grip Matthias, it just says, when she looks up herself, it's like this impossible tangle of networks. Yeah, this this person is not related to you. Yeah, her own you know sex with her own children and it would never, you know.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Well uh never use a condom.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Thank you. This is all metaphors. I'm not actually saying I'm not actually telling her to do anything. Yeah. No. No. So Ivanka Trump. I'm learning about this libel thing. I want to learn before before the bad stuff happens, not after. So Ivanka Trump was in Iceland uh was it last week? Oh, with uh Jared Kushner? Steamer. Kushner?

SPEAKER_02 44:29

Kushner.

SPEAKER_00 44:30

And we failed to kill them, is what you're saying. They left here alive.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

We failed to invite them to the part.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

Yeah, we could have done that. I don't think they would have showed up.

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Billy Long and Ivanka.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

That's why you bought the couch, right?

SPEAKER_02 44:44

Yes. It's Billy's safe. Yeah, they were at the hotel Dappler in Trottleskay, North of Iceland, like every other kidzy line there that comes up. Yeah, Dappler Farm. Um Justin Timpleck was there at some point. So is uh the other Justin musician also? Yeah, and then uh Bill Gates was there, etc. Yeah, like they were here, nobody gave a fuck. Um I had forgotten that. Yeah, Jared Kerstner has my favorite sort of quote about Donald Trump I've ever read because it's uh it's a Lewis Carroll quotation. You know, the guy who wrote wrote Louis Alison Monteland? Yeah. He said about Donald Trump you know, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. And that's amazing. He said that about his own father-in-law. And it's a Lewis Carroll quote. Yeah. And that's that's a perfect description of Donald Trump, isn't it? Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. Well, that was Donald Trump 1.0, now he's just grifting so heavily that that's I guess where he's going.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

Oh, so this is like an old description.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Yeah, yeah, it's 2016, 18, 20, I don't know. Um you know, when the world was less matte. Back when he was relatively harmless.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

Relatively. Except to all the people he raped.

SPEAKER_02 46:17

Uh but uh yeah, he got convicted for some of those things.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

It was like recently upheld.

SPEAKER_02 46:26

Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

This is not just conjecture.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

Speaking of uh human trafficking and prostitution, uh the Athletic Police participated in a large international police operation in June, coordinated in fifty-nine countries targeting a Chinese crime syndicate which has been engaged in human trafficking and trafficking and prostitution. Did you see this story? So five purchasers of prostitution, I guess is the term, were uh arrested in Iceland.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

And I thought you said Kushner was allowed to leave here.

SPEAKER_02 46:59

And forty-five people were caught on video doing buying prostitution, and sixteen women, some of whom were believed to have been victims of the this Chinese crime syndicate, were like interviewed by the police and whatnot. So I don't know. I mean it's uh the whole human trafficking uh thing has uh been a nightmare we've just recently woken up to here in Iceland. It's I guess the first big case was what, four years ago now with what's his what's his name? Kwang Li? No. Kwang Li. Kwang Li. And then there was a whole thing yesterday last year or this winter about the uh all these the the human trafficker formerly known as Quang Li.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

Yeah. Formerly known as Quang Li.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

No, he's like he changed his name back.

SPEAKER_02 47:56

Oh, okay. Yeah. It's currently known as Quang Li. Okay. Uh I guess he felt like the oldest.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

He's so devious, no one will ever catch him.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

Well, I I think he felt like that the the branding of the old name had kind of gotten some dust on it. Rust, whatever. Uh there was also a roof ran a whole thing about all of these sort of nail saloons in and around Reykjavik that turned out to be basically human trafficking and or prostitution, I don't know. So we apparently have this pretty extensive problem that we're I we don't seem to be equipped to deal with because we didn't believe it would happen here. So we didn't prepare. Sounds familiar. Um how do you feel about it?

SPEAKER_00 48:39

So what did we prepare for? What is the thing that we like what are we ready for? Snow. Snow. Well, except not really. No, except for the city of Reiki Wake, but otherwise, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:50

Uh yeah. Earthquakes. Kinda. Yeah. I think we're like we're kind of prepared for earthquakes. Yeah. Yeah. We've built houses for that. We built the city on earthquake-proof material. And roll. On rock, too. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

Yeah. See, I I've never thought about it, but the, you know, that doesn't really make a lot of sense. It's like we built the city on rock. Okay, sure. And roll? Like roll is like a verb. You can't build on a roll. Not like a sausage roll. No.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

I mean, it's like they built it like really fast. They were on a roll on the rock. They were on a roll.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

It's got it was Jefferson Starship, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:31

I believe so.

SPEAKER_02 49:32

Yeah, they probably rolled it on a roll.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:37

Or uh or a napkin.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

I mean, it's just a a funny, a funny story. How Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson. Became start Starship.

SPEAKER_02 49:47

It is a funny story, yeah. Well, uh I think this was pretty good for now.

SPEAKER_00 49:53

Uh before we put Alice to sleep with our rock band.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Yeah, do we have any idea when we'll uh have the um the scheduling uh availability of doing another show, guys? Uh no. Alright.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

We will do another show when we'll send you like both our listeners' emails or something. Call them. Through the app. Can we like do it? No, we can't do that. Not yet. We can't do that? No.

SPEAKER_02 50:18

Not yet. Because you don't want us to do that? No, no. I don't think you can message the users of the app at this point.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

But it would be a great feature if we could call simultaneously one way to do that.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

Perhaps someone should figure out a way in which one can telecommunicate with one another through these phone devices in our pockets.

SPEAKER_01 50:42

It would be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 50:44

If only such technology existed.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

What? But it would be cool.

SPEAKER_00 50:48

In all seriousness, though, like if there's not a soccer game on, I'm I'm free. Like we could we could do another podcast tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Yeah, what are the-east of the crack. You're going east of the crack.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:01

I like the crack, though.

SPEAKER_00 51:03

Is there not somebody we can drag out of the gutter to sit in for him? Yeah, please do.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

I mean, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 51:13

The problem with the gutter of of journalists is that.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

So the gutters are a lot cleaner now, he's he claims, than they were 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 51:19

No, and it's it's uh as in there are fewer journalists in that gutter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

Well, yeah, they all went to rehab.

SPEAKER_02 51:26

No, they all went into PR.

SPEAKER_00 51:28

Ah. The other cocaine. You should do that.

SPEAKER_01 51:32

What we should do that, go into PR.

SPEAKER_00 51:38

The money is good, but how would you feel about it? Have you ever written like PR copy? I would like most likely like wither away. Yeah. Soul death is the term I would use.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

No, this is why instead of that, we're just gonna go build a roof on my garage, you and me?

SPEAKER_01 51:59

Hey. Okay, let's talk about it. What are you doing this weekend? Yeah, what are you doing this weekend? Because I need you to help me with the roof of my turn into like a DIY podcast.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

Yeah, we'll we'll go on vacation with a camera. I can be like the goofball stepping on a rake or something.

SPEAKER_01 52:16

I'm uh like uh licensed carpenter. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm not DY now what's it called? D UI? D U D D U D U Y I think it's a D distance between our house I could like have a few of them drive.

SPEAKER_02 52:35

I've actually the only time I've been stopped uh I just wanted to say out loud that I'm uh like the license covered. The only time I've actually been stopped and asked to like breathe into a breath laser in the last 20 years, except for that one time I went to a bakalod Christmas concert. You were asked to okay. Which I mean everybody had to really yeah. I mean, what do you expect? It's a bakaluder Christmas concert. You know everybody's gonna be hammered.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

So yeah, they'd have to be. It's a sit-through. Yeah. Isn't that allowed?

SPEAKER_02 53:05

No, then you yeah, at the concert, but then you leave the colour. I think it's mandatory.

SPEAKER_01 53:09

Ah, I thought it was like when we were entering it.

SPEAKER_00 53:13

You're at risk of brain damage if you attend a bakaludur concert without having alcohol in your system. It's like it's an Icelandic staple. Uh I love Bakaludur. Like many other very unhealthy things.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

And uh so uh the only time I've been stopped, it was on a Tuesday night. I had just come from the I had just come from the gym. It was like nine o'clock in the evening. Uh Tuesday night, literally, who's drinking on a Tuesday night? And they stopped me.

SPEAKER_01 53:39

Like those who have a problem with drinking and driving are probably doing it on a Tuesday night.

SPEAKER_02 53:44

And I was stopped uh at the intersection of Alfemar and our road, Lanclesur. Really? Yeah. And I was like, I couldn't believe it, because it was so random and surprising. And I was trying to like make sort of conversation with a police officer, having been one myself. Yeah. And uh Mr. Policeman, have you ever been to the West? And what amused me was that he was in such a bad mood. Yeah, it it was like a chore, and he must have like drawn the shortest stick. I don't know what he was doing, but uh he was just like he was not into this at all. It was like like it was it was maybe like the police, maybe he'd done something wrong, and his as you know, his boss had made him do this, and like his boss made him do his job. And don't let me see you again until you the last time I was stopped.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

And a long, hard day arresting weed growers.

SPEAKER_01 54:43

Yeah. The last time I was stopped, I was driving a hop car. So it was like every every second that I was stationary, I was paying.

SPEAKER_00 54:54

And I was like, You think hop calls the cops on their own cars?

SPEAKER_01 54:58

They're like, you should pull that guy over. I was like, why are you stopping? I was really annoyed. Yeah. I was like coming from work late on a like Thursday evening or something, and he would stop me. I was just like, why? It's like, yeah. I mean, are we looking for you? It's like, are you looking for me?

SPEAKER_00 55:19

I hate the cop head games always like, oh, you're oh you're so far ahead of me, nothing I can say, you know.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

Like, are you looking for me? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:28

I feel like that's always at the time I was like under investigation by the police up north. Oh. So maybe, no, you're not, but your colleagues up north are looking for me. Is that what you said to him? Yeah. What do you say about that? He didn't have an answer.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

I guess he wasn't expecting a yes. I guess that's the whole like you he wasn't expecting a yes to the question, are we looking for you?

SPEAKER_01 55:52

But this like cost me 1,500 crones to be stopped. And it's like I did nothing wrong.

SPEAKER_00 55:59

Yeah, I mean the police cost us I don't know how much in taxes. They managed to arrest absolutely nobody who's making this country a worse place.

SPEAKER_01 56:06

Yeah, but but the thing there was like this third-party private company that got my 1500 crones.

SPEAKER_00 56:13

Yeah, it's that middleman transaction. Yeah. Well. Well, the Yaya moment.

SPEAKER_02 56:20

I'm sorry to hear that. Um well, let's talk about the roof when this show is over. Thank you for listening and watching.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

Uh and if you're interested in some home repairs, just contact Fior Arfialis. That's him.

SPEAKER_00 56:33

And if you're interested in me saying golding, here's me saying gun. So that was that. Uh like I said. Now that Nikas is dead, I have the monopoly on on that voice.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Doing that incredibly tasteful voice. Yeah. Um maybe you can like it.

SPEAKER_00 56:51

It still sounds less disturbing than his actual voice.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

People being able to download this as a ringtone. Yeah, that would be fun. Go on time! When you get an SMS, it's like go on then.

SPEAKER_02 57:06

Um all right, uh we'll try to be back with you as soon as we can. Otherwise, I guess our vacation in August, right? Uh if not, we'll get somebody to to uh fill in for him. You. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 57:21

Bye bye. Bye bye.