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from the there's-always-money-in-the-banana-stand dept.
"Iceland is the king of the banana republics!" host Stephen Fry once declared confidently on the popular British game show "QI."
That sounds implausible: Just look at the island nation's pitted igneous landscape and brutal climate. But the claim isn't as ridiculous as it sounds. A rumor has circulated for the last 60 years proclaiming Iceland to be the banana capital of Europe.
Spoiler alert: It's not. But where did this rumor come from? Can Iceland even grow bananas? With average temperatures registering between 32 Fahrenheit in winter and a tepid 50 at the height of summer, Iceland's climate seems most suitable for growing mold and frostbite.
But Iceland's secret to agricultural innovation lies beneath the surface — way beneath.
Now we have all we need to colonize Antarctica.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:32PM
Some of the many reasons Iceland is a fantastic place:
- They run almost entirely on geothermal energy, so they aren't hooked into the global oil / gas system in anywhere near the same degree as almost everybody else in the developed world.
- They had a democratic institution, the Althing, going all the way back to 930 CE (with a 45-year hiatus at one point, but still quite impressive).
- When the financial crash of 2008 happened, their government's response is what other country's response should have been: A. We'll protect depositors. B. Investor's and bank management's problems are their own damn fault, and C. Those who committed fraud and insider trading are going to jail (which some did). And as a result, they've come a lot closer to recovering than almost everybody else affected.
Oddly, they still believe in elves [theatlantic.com].
But yeah, I've never heard of them growing tropical fruit before. The key elements of Icelandic cuisine have always been animal products: lamb, dairy, and fish.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Thursday December 01 2016, @02:40PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:36PM
Bugger all that. How are the girls?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:47PM
Well, they're white Scandinavians.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Thursday December 01 2016, @05:37PM
On the upside - Bjork. On the downside - Bjork.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday December 01 2016, @06:52PM
Does it matter? They have a mid-winter festival that translates to "fuck fest."
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday December 01 2016, @11:19PM
Bugger all that. How are the girls?
beard-y?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 02 2016, @04:42AM
You are confusing Icelandic girls with jewesses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 01 2016, @04:02PM
Geothermal is actually a significant part of their energy, but most power comes from hydro.