Iceland's PM Geir Hallgrimur Haarde announced today the immediate collapse of his government in the wake of the country's dire economic crisis; news that came as a shock to a busy world community that had entirely forgotten Iceland existed.
In a hastily called press conference, a spokesman amazed reporters with the information that, yes, Iceland has existed for centuries, and, no, not just as backdrop for the Icelander Sagas.
"Oh, aye," said Bijorgvin Sigur Sveinjornsonn, press secretary of the emergency interim scapegoat government which has taken control until permanent interim scapegoats can be elected. "We've been right here the whole time, electing our governments, running fisheries and stuff.
"We're just really, really quiet."
Icelandic banks owe around six times their country's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)and now that the world's credit markets have dried up, they are left in debt to pretty much the entire planet. Top-level emergency meetings have yet to provide answers.
Financial solutions being pondered in those snowy northern reaches are varied, but most involve fish and the barter system.
