31.  No former Communist state has made a soft landing to democracy.

32.  Once a communist state, Bulgaria wants a Vatican stamp of approval as it seeks entry to the European Union and NATO.

33.  Once humbly followed by millions, for three generations the Orthodox Church was reviled by the Communist state and disdained by dissidents for collaborating with the Communists.

34.  Of all the fixtures of the communist state, none is more peculiar than the deep love of statistics.

35.  Of course, as with the old Communist states, some playing consoles will be more equal than others.

36.  Once a year, for example, an announcement is made that recalls the way communist states once decreed increases in the price of bread or heating oil.

37.  People throughout the former Communist state are finding religion after decades of government-mandated atheism.

38.  Since the collapse of communism, many former communist states have fallen victim to investment frauds that lure money from citizens with promises of high returns.

39.  Ten years ago, the people of Yugoslavia were in the forefront of all communist states.

40.  That means a defiant President Fidel Castro and a outdated communist state.