The owner of A Flickering Light has every-so gallantly jumped to YT’s defence in the [now all but forgotten] Jack M. vs Iceland saga, and what’s more has crafted a lovely post in the form of an apology to Iceland for writing – at the age of ten – an article denouncing Iceland’s efforts to extend its exclusive fishing zone to 200 miles.
For those of you who don’t know, Iceland and the UK were involved in three separate disputes known as the “cod wars” between 1958 and 1976. Basically, the disputes centred around Iceland’s efforts to extend its exclusive fishing zone around the country, first from 4 to 12 miles, then to 50 miles, and then to the current 200 miles. The conflict became bitter and, at times, hostile, with shots being fired and Icelandic Coast Guard ships snipping the trawls off UK trawlers with giant scissors. Eventually it escalated to the point that Iceland threatened to withdraw from NATO, which would have been inconvenient to say the least since during the Cold War this was one of the best places for the US and its allies to keep a close watch on the Russians.
In any case, the UK backed down in the end and Iceland now guards its fishing grounds with a vengeance. After all, the amazing prosperity of this country in the last 50 years is almost exclusively due to the abundance of fish in the immediate oceanic regions, prompting the oft-quoted Icelandic quip: In Cod We Trust. Our two countries are now the best of friends, save for two sticky points of contention: whaling and the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant [which YT actually got to tour during her stint as the Press Officer at the British Embassy, an experience that would make excellent story material and may in fact lead to a separate blog entry after I’ve scoured my files to see if I actually signed anything at the time to prevent me from opening my mouth about my impressions].
Incidentally, the above-mentioned post also has an English translation of our National Anthem, which plainly illustrates this nation’s tenuous hold on survival throughout the ages. Just beautiful.
THE WEATHER
Woke up to snow on the ground this morning [will the real spring please stand up?] and sub-zero temperatures. However, weatherman promises warmer temps just around the corner and today the outlook is for sunny skies in the capital with slowly climbing temperatures. Yay. Currently we have 1°C and daybreak came at 05.05 whereas nightfall will be at 21.54 (same as yesterday, oops!).