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POPSBy imagining many possible worlds fiction can chang our Minds "For more than two thousand years people have insisted that reading fiction is good for bookyou. Aristotle claimed that poetry—he meant the epics of Homer and the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, which we would now call fiction—is a more serious business than history. History, he argued, tells us only what has happened, whereas fiction tells us what can happen, which can stretch our moral imaginations and give us insights into ourselves and other people. This is a strong argument for schools to continue to focus on the literary arts, not just history, science, and social studies. But is the idea of fiction being good for you merely wishful thinking?'
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POPSVenezuela Exerts It's Right To Make Own Policies The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela stresses that the relationship between Venezuela and Iran is longstanding, peaceful and of no threat to the national security of the U.S. or of any other country. It is not that the relationship between Venezuela and Iran poses a real threat to the United States; it is instead that some in Washington cannot move beyond viewing Latin America as part of its “backyard.” Contrary to the opinions of these policymakers, Venezuela’s foreign policy is made in Caracas – not in Washington. At the end of his opening statement today Rep.Engel called for a reengagement of U. S. foreign policy with Latin America. We applaud his efforts, but they should be based on mutual respect. We reject the notion that Washington should have veto power over the decision of Latin American countries to engage with the rest of the world.
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POPSFulgurites - Fossilized Lightening "Archaeologists working near Corrie Village on the cost of Scotland’s Isle of Arrran in 1966 made an astonishing discovery: a fossilized fulgurite! Judging from the age and nature of the surrounding sandstone, the lightning strike which created the fossil fulgurite occurred some 250 million years ago at the end of the Permian Period. Though our planet has changed much since that ancient era before the dinosaurs even appeared, the fundamental physical processes that drive the hydrological cycle, including lightning, obviously have not..." Webecoist
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POPSHonduras leader could be restored The military grabbed him from his home at dawn and deported him to Costa Rica. He sneaked back into the country Sept. 21 and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he has remained, the compound surrounded by Honduran troops. Zelaya's removal from office has been viewed worldwide as one of the most serious challenges to face Latin America in a decade. The coup was both a throwback to the region's dark past of civil war and military takeover and emblematic of a struggle underway today in Central and South America, where several leftist leaders with authoritarian tendencies have risen to power through elections and tested the bounds of democracy.
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POPS2 species of salt water fish, genus Groupers critically endangered (CR) Pacific goliath grouper or quinquefasciatus (Epinephelus quinquefasciatus )* Atlantic goliath grouper or itajara (Epinephelus itajara )** Both salt water fishes are two different species.*** The range of both is Latin America also. Both are listed as critically endangered (CR) by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.****| |*Pacific goliath grouper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was last modified on 27 May 2009 at 19:29. **Atlantic goliath grouper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was last modified on 19 June 2009 at 19:49. ***The clipped source **** *and** above
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POPSThis is following what the Honduran Constitution says? This is better than Zelaya just wanting to ask people if they thought that the president should have a right to run for longer terms? This is what happens when right-wing radicals in government usurp democracy. A policeman shooting a 13-year-old boy? In the back, yet? Contact your congressmen and members of Parliament. Get them to pressure Honduras to put the rightful president, Manuel Zelaya back in power, and end this savage, illegal coup!
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POPSMexican Power Union Power Struggle
Calderón has attacked one of Mexico's most powerful unions. In Mexico, unions are powerful because of the power they enjoy to disrupt daily life for ordinary people, who just want to get to work and home again and be safe. Governments have been too pusillanimous to intervene to stop their illegal blockage of public spaces. See the six-month sit-in in 2006 that paralyzed Mexico City and took billions of pesos from people as work dried up for the poorest who lost their "job" washing and parking cars in Mexico City's chaotic downtown. Etc Etc. Calderón effectively lost a battle with the mega teacher's union"the largest in Latin America. The "teachers" blocked highways and city centers throughout the nation and Calderón's "reforms" were immasculated (not that they would have done any good anyway). Now he's taken on the electricians' union and with it the cultural icon of the government power company. Mexicans are taught to believe that their nationalized power company is a "right
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POPSUnearthed: Nero's revolving banquet hall Hard to make much of the pics. So ironic that these discoveries at a time when the world is in crisis, and the leaders are not able to make strong decisions ( and so they sit and fiddle with handkerchiefs)
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POPSHonduras On this issue, Chavez, Castro and Obama are all in agreement. Mr. Obama, strange company that you keep.
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POPSCan Honduras Be Saved From Communism? in order to defend their friend Zelaya. Unfortunately, some authorities in the U.S. have fallen for that version, without really knowing what went on. Why is Obama siding with Chavez and Castro on this matter? I believe that, on the one hand, Obama is beginning to show his socialist tendencies, which were denounced during the American presidential campaign. On the other hand, Obama is letting himself be influenced by several presidents of Latin America, particularly Lula of Brazil, who is the real power behind the São Paulo Forum. Can Honduras be saved from Chavez? I think it can, but it requires the participation of all citizens, not only of Latin America, but of the U.S. as well. Honduras is facing tremendous pressures, and will not be able to bear them without the help of the world public opinion. Every article, every interview, in favor of the Honduran democracy helps to defend their institutions against Chavez’s assault.
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POPSReader's Digest plans to file for bankruptcy
"The Chapter 11 filing will apply only to the company's U.S. businesses. Its operations in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia-New Zealand will not be affected. "Restructuring our debt will enable us to have the financial flexibility to move ahead with our growth and transformational initiatives," said President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Berner, in a statement." The Pleasantville, N.Y., media company said the bankruptcy would help facilitate an agreement with lenders to exchange a portion of its $1.6 billion in senior secured debt for equity, and transfer company ownership to the lender group. --- "The agreement, which is subject to court approval, also includes a commitment from some members of the senior lender group to provide $150 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which would help fund operations during the reorganization. The pre-arranged plan proposes to cut debt by 75 percent to $550 million, from the current $2.2 billion."
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POPSNow Venezuela Wants to Go Nuclear Others are a little more skeptical, and rightly so. The Hudson Institute’s David Satter wrote yesterday (emphasis ours): The intention of Russia to help Venezuela develop a nuclear power plant is no more innocent than the help that Russia gave to Iran. Both Russia and Venezuela will emphasize that Venezuela has no intention of creating a nuclear weapon. But by facilitating contact between Russian and Venezuelan officials in the area of nuclear energy, the stage is set for black-market operations involving technology that can be used in nuclear weapons. Russian help for Venezuela can provide a cover for the development of nuclear weapons. Perhaps more important, it opens up a new channel for the transfer of Russian nuclear know-how"this time by way of Venezuela"to the enemies of the U.S. As the Trumpet has explained , Hugo Chávez has put Venezuela at the vanguard of the growing anti-American movement in Latin America.
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POPSRussia to modernize & train Cuban military Oh Joy! You can bet this Dem President won't deal with this potential "missile crisis". Haven't we been here before? As the Administration forces us backwards, Putin takes over. Ya think he'll be nice to us then?