Harry Potter makes the world safe

Okay, I know I'm gonna take a beating on this one, as I have for my post on Hipsters Against the War, but I have neither read, nor care to read, a page of a Harry Potter book. There. I said it.

By doing so, however, I may be the enemy of peace and security, according to a recent British study. From Ode:

"British researchers examined the number of visitors to an emergency room in Oxford and discovered a mysterious pattern: During the weekends when the last two books in the Harry Potter series were released, the number of young visitors to the ER fell significantly."

Apparently, J.K. Rowling’s novels are so popular immediately after they hit the bookstores that fans stay inside to read and thus avoid accidents.

The idea for the study came when one hospital staffer had a quiet weekend shift and arrived home to find his three children sitting on the sofa glued to the latest instalment of Harry Potter’s adventures. In a charming contribution to the British Medical Journal (December 24, 2005), author Stephen Gwilym sees potential for a whole new literary movement. "It may therefore be hypothesized," he writes, "that there is a place for a committee of safety-conscious, talented writers who could produce high-quality books for the purpose of injury prevention."

Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station

She don't believe what she heard at all

She started dancin' to that fine fine music

You know her life was saved by Rock 'n' Roll

Despite all the computations

You could just dance to a rock 'n ' roll station

and it was alright.

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