Skarpi, my dear friend, you and your countrymen are in my thoughts and prayers constantly. One lesson of the Mudcat, where we become family-friends, is that we realize how this big blue marble is really just a series of communities with kinfolk in each one. We cannot live in a bubble. What happens here economically effects what happens everywhere. What is done to the environment in one place effects another. Allowing workers to be abused in one place causes job losses in another...... and on and on. We must care about Iceland, because in doing so, we are insuring the future of our kids.

I hope the voters of my country will get this, and stop this arrogance and return to the status of being a respected ..... and respectful ...... member of the world community. Too many lives in too many places count on it.

Be well, good friend. Remember your proud ancestry and do what you must to survive and take care of your family.

All the best,

Mick