Orland Park quietly scores another achievement -- Borders Book Store rated among top 10 in the World

This is a breaking news story, of the sorts we're used to reading in Orland Park, but it is surprising considering that clearly Orland Park's elected officials don't know how to count. And if they don't know how to count, then obviously, they probably don't read much, unless they are reading their own press releases.

But it is official, at least from the mouths of the store clerks at the Orland Park Borders Book Store at 15260 S. LaGrange Road is in fact one of the TOP 10 book stores in the World. That's it. THE WORLD.

That's way "huge-er" (that's not a word, but village officials can't read anyway so who cares?) than the village slipping from 45 to 92 in the ranking of the Best Places to Live in America from "Money Magazine," which costs a lot of money to buy, by the way.

One reason is they nearly set a record for the number of copies of the Harry Potter sales. The other reason is that people in Orland Park are far smarter than village officials take them to be. We read. We read a lot. We read through the PR crap thown at us from the village officials.

(I know. You're asking. How did I turn a story about Borders Book Stores into a commentary on the sad state of affairs in Orland Park politics? Well, they're both important!)

So congratulations Borders of Orland Park -- where I hang out a lot when I am not eating that Bestever Steak Skillet breakfast at the soon to be relocated (hopefully) Plaza Cafe ... and which also carries my book "Arabs of Chicagoland."

You deserve it.

The biggest whiner in the world ... J.K. Rowling

What a real loser. J.K. Rowling, who has made millions on her "Harry Potter" book series is upset that someone had the nerve to take the pop culture her books have instilled around the world and put it in a companion book.

Rowling is crying that Steve Vander Ark's plans to publish an encyclopedia based on terms and prhases that have left Rowling's books and have become household words, violates her copyright. Vander Ark's genius idea has been to take the lexicon of Harry Potter -- which has become a language all its own in the world, and put it all down in an encyclopedia.

Hogwash! Someone should wave a wand and put Ms. Rowling in a 15th Century dungeon, and torture her back to reality. Rowling is an ungrateful author who eagerly cashes the checks from exploiting her readership audience, but wants to keep the most dedicated audience members from taking what they have learned from her books and interpreting them into a lexicon collection.

I am on the side of Vander Ark, a librarian who has spoken at Harry Potter conferences in several countries. Rowling counters she was planning to write her own lexicon and would donate the proceeds to a charity. She asserts she is anguished by Vander Ark's project

More Hogwash. Hogwarts. Hog is probably the best term yet. Add that to your lexicon Rowling witch!

Ray Hanania
www.hanania.com