John W. Kennedy  wrote:
>On Friday, November 8, 2013 1:09:10 AM UTC-5, Joe Chicago wrote:

>>I just found a YouTube thing called Star Wreck, an Eastern European
>>spoof on both ST:TNG and Bab 5. Fairly amusing. They even made a point
>>of having Garabaldi put his hands in his pockets!

>Although Finland is in Europe and is eastern, it is not generally
>regarded as "Eastern Europe", as it was never part of the Byzantine
>Empire, is not Eastern Orthodox, has never been Turkic or Islamic, is
>not Slavic, and was never a component or satellite of the Soviet Union.

Finland was part of Sweden for seven centuries, and then part of Russia for
around a century till the Russian Revolution. Bolshevics tried to keep
Finland in Russia but didn't succeed, due in part to German support for
independence. During WWII, Finland fought Russia for several years.

Post-war, Finland secured its independence with a tenuous relationship with
Soviet Union in which they avoided pursuing certain aspects of foreign
relations expected to displease Russia. Obviously, Finland never joined NATO,
which undoubtably would have been considered provocative enough by Russia
that it would have conquered it again.

I disagree with some of your remarks about Finland's independence.
--- SBBSecho 2.24-Win32