|
|
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | '''Europe''' is the western end of the Eurasian land mass, usually defined as being west of the Ural mountain range.
| + | arab pride |
| − | | + | |
| − | ==Old Europe==
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | "Old Europe" was a fictional "talking point" used by the [[Bush]] administration to just act stupid in the world of politics. It should be noted that, in terms of the thankfully departed Bush administration, "Old Europe" ([[Germany|Saddam appeasers]] and [[France|Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys]]) are not to be confused with "Our European Allies" who gallantly stood shoulder to shoulder with the US to defy <s>the United Nations and International Law</s> Saddam and the <s>non-existent</s> very real threat he posed to <s>oil prices</s> the Free World.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | Members of "Old Europe" include:
| + | |
| − | *The [[United Kingdom]]
| + | |
| − | *[[France]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Germany]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Spain]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Portugal]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Italy]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Holland]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Switzerland]]
| + | |
| − | Never mind that ''all'' these countries are democracies, and most of 'em don't even require passports to travel between them. Hmmm, hello, [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]?
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | In general, "old Europe" has wised up to the stupidity of war as a solution to human problems, having fought them on their own land for too many centuries. Europeans now leave it to the [[United States]] to intervene in European genocidal conflicts such as the one in Serbia and [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]].
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ==New Europe==
| + | |
| − | "New Europe" is manifested in the European Union, an economic bloc comprising virtually the entire continent now. Many of them use a single currency, the euro (except for refuseniks and new members), which since its launch at parity with the US dollar, initially rose risen to over USD 1.50 before falling back. With a combined population of almost 500 million people, and relatively open borders to movement of people and money,<ref>Contrast this with NAFTA, where the money is free to go wherever it buys the most cheap labor, but the people have giant fences built to stop them from crossing the borders.</ref> the EU was thought to be on its way to becoming the strongest single economy in the world. Despite these successes, there is still a strong current of [[Eurosceptic|scepticism]] towards closer integration amongst people of a [[Conservative|certain political orientation]], especially in the UK.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | In an interesting side note, Turkey is trying to join the EU. If certain legal, social and being "predominantly Muslim" hurdles can be cleared, they would be the first country ''not in Europe''<ref>Depending on your definition of "Europe".</ref> to join the European Union. Who's next, Egypt? Canada?
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | As a further interesting side note... why does the [[United States]] no longer seem to encourage peoples and places it conquers/buys/otherwise pwns to become states of the Union? Answer: rather than incur the expense of supporting the infrastructure of a developing country that it has defeated in war, the United States prefers to develop them as markets for American products.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ===Another interpretation of New Europe===
| + | |
| − | New Europe is a conglomeration of widely disparate and dispersed ex-colonial territories, including but not limited to:
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | *Nova Scotia (Translation: "Do not go to Scotland")
| + | |
| − | *New South Wales
| + | |
| − | *New England/New Hampshire/New York/New Jersey<s>/New Mexico</s>/New ''a lot of places in the US''
| + | |
| − | *<s>New France</s> (sold and renamed)
| + | |
| − | *<s>New Spain</s> (lost and renamed)
| + | |
| − | *<s>New Amsterdam</s> (misplaced and renamed)
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | This is a neologism we just made up, so don't expect an article on it at [[Wikipedia]] any time soon.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ==Some other bits of Yerp==
| + | |
| − | '''[[Sweden]]''' is a large country in Scandinavia. Usually considered a stronghold of social democracy, Sweden is a welfare state, and consistently ranks in the top 10 in the UN Human Development Index.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | They make Saabs, Volvos and hot tubs.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ABBA were great.{{fact}}
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | '''Rockall''' is <s>an island</s> a rock about halfway between Britain and Iceland, and geopolitically important because... "There may be oil/Under Rockall".<ref>The [[conservapedia:Gang of Four|Gang of Four]]</ref>
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | No one from Rockall has ''ever'' won the Eurovision Song Contest, and probably never will.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | '''Daneland''', also known as "Denmark", or the Great Danish Empire, rules over many smaller, less interesting breakfast pastries, including but not limited to the donut and the muffin. It is one of the few empires to survive intact after the end of the Second <s>World</s> Donut War.
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ==Footnotes==
| + | |
| − | <references/>
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | [[category:politics]]
| + | |
| − | [[category:geography]]
| + | |
| − | [[Category:Europe]]
| + | |