Iceland proposes citizenship for Snowden | Hacker News Reader

Iceland proposes citizenship for Snowden

newsday.com

161 pointsoption_greek14 comments

Just before adjourning Icelandic parliament for the summer, a vote was cast to put the bill before a parliament committee to be discussed further. That vote was defeated 24 to 33, 5 didn't vote and one was absent. Seems like this door has closed, at least for now.

Can't find news articles on this, except this piece http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=is&tl=en&js=n&prev=...

Also discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5991203

> the idea received minimal support.

Title here is slightly misleading...

It´s not the title so much as the reporting. A bill was indeed set before parliament to grant Snowden citizenship, but because it was put forward on the last day of parliament it didn't get voted on. Instead a vote on a parliament committee was made. The support of almost half of parliament is a little more than minimal.

38.1% isn't really half, but considered the small amount it feels closer. Still 38.1% voting yes to something probably not in their interests, because they're nice guys, is still a pretty good result. At least it is when you the world we live in.

Nope, title is misleading.

Using "Iceland" implies a majority consensus among some part of the Icelandic population, whether it be a public poll or a group of politicians.

In this case, the title should be more like "Icelandic Politician wants to give Snowden citizenship".

You know Iceland only has a population of ~300,000. I've wondered if a few tens of thousands of hackers moved there, they could have a pretty significant effect on the government.

Unfortunately, Iceland has a very difficult immigration policy. That's how it's maintained its relative wealth and prosperity.

what is the primary driver of Iceland's wealth? What is their principal industry(ies)?

My knowledge of this only comes from Michael Lewis' book, Boomerang, but in there he writes that Iceland got wealthy when they figured out how to securitize their fishing industry. They also starting smelting aluminum.

>They also starting smelting aluminium.

An energy intensive exercise made extremely affordable, because of very cheap geothermal energy sources.