The Baltic states refer to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which were controlled by the Soviet Union during 1940-1941 and 1944 (1945)-1991. From a linguistic standpoint, only the Latvians and the Lithuanians are "Baltic" peoples properly speaking, as the Estonians speak an unrelated Finnic language. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been members of the European Union and NATO since 2004. Today the three countries are liberal democracies and their market economies have in recent years undergone rapid expansion.
In the Cold War context, the three countries were considered a part of Eastern Europe and were generally treated as a cohesive cultural and historical entity. However, today it is often stressed that Latvia, Lithuania, and particularly Estonia have little else in common other than geographic proximity, similar small size, and a shared history of Soviet occupation.
Culturally and historically, it is perhaps more appropriate to view Estonia, which is Lutheran and Finnic-speaking, as belonging in the Northern European cultural sphere. Indeed, Estonians consider themselves a Nordic people rather than Balts,[1][2] because of strong cultural, historical and linguistic ties with the Nordic countries. Since regaining independence, Estonia has shown a strong desire to identify itself as Nordic, as expressed in a speech by former foreign minister and current president Toomas Hendrik Ilves entitled, "Estonia as a Nordic Country".[3]
To a lesser degree, northern parts of Latvia have also been influenced by Lutheran and Northern European traditions. The rest of the country, in particular the south east, along with its southern neighbor, Lithuania, are predominantly Catholic and culturally situated in Central Europe. In Lithuania and most of Latvia, the historical impact of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and the German Empire have been of crucial importance. In Estonia and northern parts of Latvia, historical connections to the Teutonic Order, to the Hanseatic League, and to the Swedish and Danish Empires have left an important historical imprint.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltics
Canadian coming to Finland as tourist...3 or 6 months?
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Karhunkoski
- Posts: 7034
- Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:44 pm
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I'm just watching Al Gore on FBC4. He's just informed us that New Zealand was the first to give women the vote, followed by "Scandinavia".sudentassu99 wrote:sarajulie wrote:But it's close enough to the official Scandinavian countries.
Then let's plant Spain into "Africa" or perhaps let's go the whole hog and lump Canada in with the USA
sarajulie wrote:Yeah I know...I should have specified it since you guys take every word seriously.
a. What chance does the un-passported, CNN-watching, magnum-toting, KFC-chompin', geographically-miseducated American have if their "potential eaders" can't get things straight? Shame on Gopre, he should be educating!
b. and just how does this affect the mCowboy thread points? Could the problem be solved as simply as everyone involved just getting their facts straight before engaging brain-gear one?
Political correctness is the belief that it's possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
I agree...It is absolutely amazing the lack of knowledge about the rest of world shown by well-educated Americans... It would be understandable if these people were backwoods hillybillies, but they are not!!! Knowledge about the rest of the world just doesn't have a priority..sudentassu99 wrote:I'm just watching Al Gore on FBC4. He's just informed us that New Zealand was the first to give women the vote, followed by "Scandinavia".
a. What chance does the un-passported, CNN-watching, magnum-toting, KFC-chompin', geographically-miseducated American have if their "potential eaders" can't get things straight? Shame on Gopre, he should be educating!
b. and just how does this affect the mCowboy thread points? Could the problem be solved as simply as everyone involved just getting their facts straight before engaging brain-gear one?
Jay Leno has certainly picked up on this...(Jay is quite the "bright boy"...Italian father and immigrant Scottish mother...both now passed on to "greener pastures"..he was quite close to his mom...)
http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/
Lately he has regularly had routines on his show highlighting this lack of knowledge...and it even goes to the heart of US history as well... Last night I watched a rountine that involved a kind of a "faux panel show" asking the participants questions about history and other world "facts"... One women thought that Columbus discovered America in 1952... lots of laughter over that one, and I think the same women couldn't guess the country where Farsi is spoken, despite repeated clues that include plays on the word "Iran"... And on it went...a laugh a second!!!...
And living in Canada we hear this continually... Canada being some kind of communist country; harbouring terrorists; a "liberal" country..."liberal" is a very dirty word in the American lexicon... negative stuff about gay marriage... Land of ice and snow, well that might be true...but the sledding does get poor in July and August and you can actually see the dirt...
Michael Moore said that in the US there are about 200 million uneducated Americans and only 80 million educated ones..
Take a look at this and see what you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Take a look at this and see what you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Not to dispute the level of general knowledge in the USA, you have to remember that what ends up in the clip and what on the cutting room floor are two different things. With enough time and editing, similar clip could be done here in Finland or any other country for that matter.SteveS wrote:Michael Moore said that in the US there are about 200 million uneducated Americans and only 80 million educated ones..
Take a look at this and see what you think
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Get in there...
I supposose this is trivia: New Zealand was the fist to give women the vote, but it was Finland that was the first to give women full political rights, the vote and eligibility to stand for election came at the same time. Women did well already in their first election, some became cabinet ministers.I'm just watching Al Gore on FBC4. He's just informed us that New Zealand was the first to give women the vote, followed by "Scandinavia".
You're absolutely right of course. You could make that kind of film in any country and cut it any way you like. Just thought it might make a few people smilemCowboy wrote:SteveS wrote:Not to dispute the level of general knowledge in the USA, you have to remember that what ends up in the clip and what on the cutting room floor are two different things. With enough time and editing, similar clip could be done here in Finland or any other country for that matter.