Eyjafjallajokull Smoke Screen

Only two days after a shocking report on the banking crash in Iceland, wherein many senior members of the Icelandic government were indicted, accused, and the Iceland central bank chairman, the former prime minister, and others sundry were formally charged with "mistakes or negligence" by the Truth Commission - is it really a coincidence that Eyjafjallajokull chose this moment to spit up fire and lava?

Speaking as a PR professional, it would seem to be the single biggest public relations smoke screen since the 9/11 bombers saved Bush and Cheney from Enron. Bigger even, since one could link 9/11 to a series of human decisions while the Eyjafjallajokull stunt needed a geological conspiracy as well.

Once a third of the glacier covering the Eyjafjallajokull volcano melted under the massive explosion, and after smoke and ash blacked the skies and downed planes all over the north Atlantic and Europe, who was worried anymore about who loaned how much to whom in the banking crash? The broken "rules about risk exposure" seem rather trivial in the face of the natural disaster causing air dangers, flooding, and the evacuation of people's homes.

Apparently they have all started going back home now, but when they tune in to the news, my guess is they don't care what David Oddson, Geir Haarde, and Árni Mathiesen were up to back then. The scathing financial report pales in comparison to the volcanic upchuck in which little Iceland upset a big chunk of the world.

Very clever indeed.

If I were the Truth Commission in Iceland, I think I would be fuming as much as Eyjafjallajokull! Think of the weeks and months of efforts to uncover these deep truths and errors leading to personal accountability in the financial crash - all eclipsed by the craterhead, all covered in grey ash, and all robbed of significance.

Between the report and the volcanic eruption, they had one day in the sun - I hope they used it well because their thunder will not be heard again. After everything settles, they will be lucky to get a little rumbling and uncomfortable shifting in seats.

Ok... we cannot credit the political class of Reykjavik with the ability to control seismic and tectonic forces, but consider this: the volcano has been grumbling and complaining for more than a month now. Geologists and seismologists have been issuing warnings and advisories for all this time that Something was Going to Happen. A few engineered delays of the commission, a little nudging of the media, and the report could easily have coincided with the eruption. Also, they say that the explosion came after a conduit in the volcano became blocked.

Hm...

Maybe it was blocked by mounds of shredded loan papers.