Harry and Hillary aside, books aren’t selling like they used to.

J.K. Rowling has donated her footwear for a charity auction to help anti-abuse charities YWCA Scotland, Women’s Aid, and Rape Crisis.

Religion columnist Terry Mattingly offers a brief article on the examination of witchcraft and Harry Potter at the recent Nimbus 2003.

David Rossie of the Ithaca Journal offers his commentary on A.S. Byatt’s recent commentary: I thought I had myself figured out after all these years. Then along comes A.S. Byatt to identify the real me. Turns out my “imaginative” life, whatever that is, is “confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated mirror worlds of soaps, …read more!

Dave Kopel of the National Review begins an article on training pilots to carry handguns by comparing the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to Harry’s latest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Thanks to Jim for the link!

Dover Community News has an interesting article regarding the censorship of fantasy in classrooms. In the two cases looking at censorship, the courts held that “parents simply do not have a constitutional right to control each and every aspect of their children’s education and oust the state’s authority over that subject.”

Kent Online reports that someone has buried one of the Harry Potter books as part of a time capsule in Canterbury. A few weeks ago we reported that school children in England were digging for “Harry Potter and dinosaurs” when they came across a human skull.

From www.screamscape.com comes this rumor: …it seems the head of Universal Orlando was having an open Q&A lunch session with his staff a few weeks ago when he was asked if Universal had any plans to pursue either the Harry Potter franchise or Lord of the Rings for possible future park projects. Bob Gault’s answer …read more!

Hey fellow Potter fans, just a brief note to let y’all know I’m off to Sin City from tommorrow until 8/4 doing PR for the Black Hat and DEF CON computer security conferences. Let me know if you’re going to either show or if you’re in town, come say hi.

An article on American Edition illustrator Mary GrandPré: Mary GrandPré thought she was too busy seven years ago to illustrate the story of a bespectacled boy and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft. But the book illustrator eventually broke down and agreed to read the then-unknown manuscript. That catapulted her into the Harry Potter …read more!