Happy Europe Day!

And only a week late! A new personal record!



Speanking of which, an interesting graphic here: The European continent with only the member states--and perennial candidate Turkey--shown. (Ah, Turkey. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride; after every acession round she runs back to Asia Minor to cry in her pillow, gorge on bonbons, and repress Kurds. Truly the Bridget Jones of nations.)

Ahem. but anyway. The interesting thing here is the weird effect produced by excising portions of the landmass from the map. Take a close look; there's a funny hole in the Bay of Finland where Kaliningrad has been deleted, Scandinavia looks badly eroded, Norway having washed clear into the Polar Sea; and the Balkans are nothing but a gaping void.

Another interesting note; you don't tend to realize exactly how far east Cyprus really is. If Armenia and Georgia are shafted for membership on the basis of geography, it will ring exceedingly hollow.