polecat

That was the toughest test I've had since law school. By the time I hit the halfway point, I was hoping for a 50% Result: 78.33 % :-)

A Bulgarian lawyer??? Is the Organised crime problem as bad over there has the british Immigration Authorities would have us believe? I work nights in a blast freezer doing extremely physical manual labour. Despite it paying excellent rates for none skilled work only one person out of twelve manages to stay their first month. Sweating at minus 30 for 8hrs per night is too much for most and, i must confess, I really wish I'd spent my time at school doing more than having fun. I think Kosmo is from Romania, but to answer your question...yes, organized crime in Bulgaria is pretty bad. I live in the USA, but spend a 2-3 weeks in BG every year visiting in-laws. I'm a criminal defense lawyer in Michigan so I tend to also pay closer attention to the relevant news from there. Drug and human trafficing/public official bribery/assassination of crime bosses...all fairly common. VERY nice people...and I always feel safe there, but...

I quit paying attention to this forum for a few weeks and all the sudden you guys start talking about Bulgaria/Thrace! I'm leaving for a small city about 3 hours away from Nova Zagora on the 24th. Maybe I can see this thing up close! Meanwhile, here's a photo. http://bridlepath.wordpress.com/2007/04/26...nd-in-bulgaria/ And, for miscellaneous interest: http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/2006-in-r..._19684/catid_29

On a related note, the French army announced a sale on used firearms. "Lightly used, and only dropped once."

ask and ye shall receive http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n100100

Linky In it's entirety: "A unique silver Thracian coin form the 5th century BC was presented in Bulgaria's city of Plovdiv. The coin was unique because it was minted during the ruling of the Thracian king Sitalk. Up to now historians believed that coins were not minted during Sitalk

http://www.eliznik.org.uk/EastEurope/Histo...s-map/index.htm Since my primary interest is in the Thracian/Trakians, I always value your posts on events in the Balkans Kosmo. If you haven't discovered this yet, here is a great site that has maps of the balkans and how they've changed hands throughout the centuries, including Dacia and the roman incursions.

For more info on Selymbria: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selymbria

I'm not sure what's funnier...that video, or the fact that the german media is claiming that they didn't win because of backlash from World War II. Sigh. Geez, guys...it's germans playing country music. What did they expect?

It helps quite a bit...thank you. And thanks for the welcome, though I'm a long time lurker. I'm an american married to a bulgarian and my interest in roman and thracian history was re-invigorated by sites like this in Plovdiv, BG. http://www.globalgayz.com/BulgariaGalleryB/IMG_5225.html And, this in "the valley of the thracian kings", BG http://www.novinite.com/view_photo.php?id=47779 It's cool when you consider that people in my hometown of Gladwin, MI consider "old" to be 150 years:-)

Going to Prague for the first time and have 3 days with nothing scheduled. I'm looking for historical sites of interest that are off the beaten path...any ideas?

Age: 39 Gender: Male Occupation: Court Administrator/Magistrate Is the influence of the media creating a more violent society? To an extent, yes. Here's my example. My two kids used to play a nintendo game that simulates hand to hand combat. For the two weeks that they played, they hit and pushed each other when they were angry alot more frequently than before. Within a week after the game was taken away, their level of aggression dropped back down to normal. I played these kind of games CONSTANTLY when I was younger and didn't grow up to be Charles Manson. So, what's the difference? My guess is the reality of the situations in the games is such that many kids can't handle them yet. There's a difference between piloting a space ship and blowing up green monsters and being a gangsta and beating up cops and prostitutes. Is the news media creating more violent society? Domestically, no. I think that we are merely being saturated by news that has always been there. Go to your local courthouse on a typical motion day. You'll be shocked at what is happening in your community that you haven't heard about yet. I know I was when I started working in the criminal justice system. Internationally, I won't claim a direct connection between violence and media reporting,but I will claim an indirect connection. Specific examples: The cartoon riots...You can thank the european and arabic media for blowing that out of proportion. The riots in Afghanistan a few years ago when some news magazine falsely reported that a koran had been desecrated at Gitmo. Maybe I'm bordering on censorship, but the international media should exercise some restraint at times. Just because something is inflammatory does not make it newsworthy.

Assassin - 51% Combativeness, 60% Sneakiness, 47% Intellect, 22% Spirituality Violent and deceptive: You are an Assassin. Score! You have a prestige class. A prestige class can only be taken after you've fulfilled certain requirements. This may mean that you're an exceptionally talented person, but it probably doesn't. Skulking through the shadows... hunting their prey without remorse... Assassins are some of the most dangerous killers in D&D, and evil bastards to boot. You're not necessarily evil, but you are both violent and sneaky. Chances are you aren't very honorable. Though who knows? You might have some noble goals, even if your methods tend to be... unorthodox. You might just be a Slayer of Domiel or something. " Oddly enough when I played RP's, I always chose Rangers and Paladins. But, now that I'm a "grown up" I'm a lawyer...guess the shoe kinda fits, eh?:-)