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Burma's military junta shut down the country's internet this week. Sadly, all it took was a really slow-loading Myspace slideshow.

Remember juntas? They used to be big in Latin America back in the day. Now they're plaguing Burma's long-deferred dreams for democracy. It's little consolation to the Burmese people but maybe soon they'll produce a whole crop of acclaimed magical realist writers who will infuse contemporary fiction with both a renewed sense of imaginative vigor and a deeper emotional resonance.

Burma's other exports include rubber and teak.