Failing not politically correct

LONDON (Reuters) - The word "fail" should be banned from use in British classrooms and replaced with the phrase "deferred success" to avoid demoralizing pupils, a group of teachers has proposed.
Members of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) argue that telling pupils they have failed can put them off learning for life.
A spokesman for the group said it wanted to avoid labeling children. "We recognize that children do not necessarily achieve success first time," he said.
"But I recognize that we can't just strike a word from the dictionary," he said.The PAT said it would debate the proposal at a conference next week

Venden por error nuevo libro de Harry Potter

A los 14 afortunados poseedores del sexto libro de la saga, un juez les ordenó mantenerse el contenido en reserva y devolver la novela a la editorial hasta la fecha formal de su lanzamiento

Canadá
Martes 12 de julio de 2005

Un número reducido de personas en Canadá pudo adquirir el nuevo libro de Harry Potter y un juez les ordenó mantenerse el contenido en reserva.

El libro fue vendido a 14 personas que obtuvieron por adelantado un ejemplar de la más reciente obra de J.K. Rowlings, titulada, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, cuando fueron colocados el jueves en una tienda.

El libro, que formalmente iba a ser puesto a la venta el sábado, quedó bajo un velo de misterio y su venta ha sido programada a fin de que sea visto por todos al mismo tiempo, lectores, críticos e incluso publicistas. Se trata del sexto libro de la serie fantástica de Rowling sobre un niño mago.

Pero la tienda cometió un error y vendió 14 ejemplares antes de darse cuenta del error.

"Fue un error que pasó inadvertido a todo el personal", dijo Geoff Wilson, portavoz del establecimiento Real Canadian Superstore. Agregó que los libros fueron retirados de inmediato de los estantes.

La jueza Kristi Gill prohibió el sábado a los clientes que compraron los ejemplares a que hablen sobre el libro, lo copien, lo vendan e incluso que lo lean antes de la fecha fijada formalmente, a las 12.01 am del 16 de julio.

La orden también les obliga a devolver la novela a la editorial, Raincoast Book Distribution Ltd., hasta la fecha formal de su lanzamiento. En ese momento se les devolverá los ejemplares.

Como un incentivo adicional, la editorial Raincoast incluirá una fotografía autografiada de Rowling y un paquete de regalo.

Thai fishermen catch and eat record-sized catfish

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thai fishermen caught a catfish weighing 293 kilograms - 646 pounds - which is believed to be the world's largest freshwater fish ever recorded, a researcher said Thursday.

The 2.7-metre (8.9-foot) Mekong giant catfish was netted May 1 by villagers in Chiang Khong, a remote district in northern Thailand, and weighed by Thai fisheries department officials, said Zeb Hogan, who leads an international project to locate and study the world's largest freshwater fish species.


The fishermen had hoped to sell the massive fish to environmental groups, which planned to release it to spawn upriver, but it died before it could be handed over, and was later chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers to be eaten.

"This is the largest individual fish of the species that's listed as the biggest in the Guinness Book of World Records," Hogan told The Associated Press by telephone.

Hogan, whose work is funded by the World Wildlife Fund and the National Geographic Society, said he is planning to write a paper about the catch to be published in a scientific journal. "That's the best way to document this kind of thing," he said.

The Mekong giant catfish - which shares the title of largest freshwater fish with a close relative, the dog-eating catfish - was listed as critically endangered in 2003 after research showed its numbers had fallen by at least 80 per cent over the past 13 years.

Fishermen believe the catfish species has been declining largely because of dams and environmental damage along the Mekong River - home to more species of giant fish than any other river, said a statement released earlier by the WWF and National Geographic Society.