I have been meditating (yes, meditating) on HP7 for some time. My initial reaction to the book was revulsion at the ending, but a book is not merely the events in its pages but also its themes.

Why meditate on Harry Potter? Because, for better or worse, Harry is the role model for today's youth and the current generation. There are no more role models in politics (laffo), business or sports, unless you count dogfighting, so we have gone back to the old standby of fictional characters. Harry is the only one who seems to be able to cross every divide imaginable and he has infected the culture. And now he's over. What has he wrought?

One of the reasons I was dissatisfied with the ending is because Harry doesn't really grow up (barring the epilogue). Harry spends the first six books being nudged along by Dumbledore and pulling out victories mostly thanks to elements outside his control or his knowledge. Finally, in book 7, he's pretty much on his own (give or take a few friends). I was looking forward throughout the book for Harry to finally shake off all his weaknesses and to courageously face down Voldemort by himself and do what he needs to do. But despite a monumental buildup, Rowling never lets Harry go.

Case in point: Harry never kills anyone. On the one hand, that's a great sign of character, that Harry refuses to compromise himself and take the tactics of his enemies. Harry will not kill even in the face of death. Very Gandhiesque. Except Gandhi wouldn't have resisted at all, he would've lied down and let Voldemort do whatever. But whatever.

The problem is that it's not terribly realistic or mature. When Harry is in the Malfoy residence, and he's up against Bellatrix, Fenrir, et al., he shies away from killing anyone. He escapes, minus a house elf, but all's well that ends well, right? Wrong. As Lupin said, this was war, and unless you're going to capture someone, you NEVER let the enemy escape. Harry should've iced as many Death Eaters as he could en route to his escape, but he chose the high road. In the end, for all we know, Fenrir probably killed someone in the Hogwarts siege. Acts of mercy don't pay off when used on savage and evil people.

Harry never even grasps this reality. When he sees Fenrir et al. attacking Hogwarts, he never realizes that Fenrir is still around because of him. When the moment of truth came, we saw that Harry is still a child, unable to do what needs to be done to protect his friends. Maybe he spares peoples' lives out of a sense of pride, or maybe he does so thinking that there can't be any other way to do it, but it is a poor example to set.

A hero has to be allowed to do what he needs to do. If he can't, then he's just a second fiddle. There's a reason why Batman is the hero and not Robin. When push comes to shove, Batman can solve the case and arrest the bad guy, and he doesn't need help.

Which brings me to my second point. Harry doesn't really do anything by himself. Even when he goes to face Voldemort in the forest, he has a pow-wow with his dead relatives and friends first. Hell, even when he faces Voldemort for the final, final time, he doesn't win because of superior skill or strength, he wins on a technicality. He wins because Voldemort can't read the instruction manual. What would've happened if neither had the Elder Wand? Once again, Harry needed to be bailed out.

Surely Rowling was aware of this, and maybe that's her point, that true strength comes from friends and family. That's a hard moral to argue against, but it's not a moral fitting a true role model. All the role models throughout society have been able to, when called upon, do what needs to be done by themselves. Hercules killed the Hydra by himself* (amongst other things). Michael Jordan hits the game-winning shot by himself. Ken Griffey Jr. hits the HR by himself, Wayne Gretzky scores the goal by himself, Superman beats the crap out of Brainiac by himself, Link slays Gannon by himself, Solid Snake kills Liquid by himself, Mario runs under Bowser and grabs the axe by himself, etc. etc. etc. It's true that many role models had substantial help along the way, but when we imagine our role models and our heroes, we imagine just them. The poster doesn't feature Wayne Gretzky and Mike Krushelnyski, it's just Wayne. They are the icons and are recognized as such.

It's not so for Harry. Harry is just the top-billing of an entire cast. We don't get to see him truly shine on his own, which is unfair because I think Harry deserved a shot. I think it's important psychologically to have a hero that can get things done on his own when it counts the most. We need to see that to know that even when we're alone, we can perservere on our own merits. I wanted to see Harry take on Voldemort, mano y mano, take him out and do the whole omae wa mo shinderu routine. After all the grief he was put through, it would've shown that he truly perservered and didn't have to rely on entangling rules and silly technicalities.

Rowling chose that path for Harry and it is her right. But I think she missed out on an opportunity to cement Harry up there in the pantheon of cultural icons for decades to come. But I think he will be remembered more for his cultural impact than for being a true hero.

Then again, Rowling will have a shot at redemption with the next Harry Potter book. "Oh but the series is over!" you say? Hahahahaha, no sir, Rowling is way too young to give up on him just yet. Mark my words, it's only a matter of time.

Warning: this post may or may not have contained spoilers.

* And yes I know that Hercules technically had help in his fight against the Hydra, but when it actually came to killing the damn thing he did it by himself. Which is the point I'm trying to make here.

The following people, groups and entities are now officially enemies of the people:

CBS Radio
MSNBC
Proctor & Gamble
GlaxoSmithKline PLC
Ameriacn Express Co.
General Motors Corp. (loo they'll be bankrupt soon anyway, have fun being owned by the Japanese)
Sprint Nextel Corp.
Steve Capus
Jeff Zucker
Les Moonves
The National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Al Sharpton
Jesse Jackson
The Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team

If there is any sense of universal justice left in this world, and most likely there is not, everyone in the precding list would be stripped of their money and possessions and would be forced to walk to the nearest exit of this country and informed that, if they attempt to re-enter it, they will be thrown into prison and will not be allowed out, ever. The actions that these people have undertaken have threatened the very foundation this country was founded upon. The results of their actions may not manifest themselves as vilely or as terribly as our current elected officials (whom, incidentally, deserve much of the same fate), but their actions will have evil reprecussions on our country's citizens ability to think and express themselves freely. We are seeing the moneyed powers in this country consolidate their efforts to "sanitize" the media by replacing every American's ability to choose which programs to listen to/watch with the thought police.

If the FCC, enabled by a sychophantic, petulent media and thuggish, race-baiting, so-called "civil rights" groups, further infringe upon the rights to free expression in this country, then another crucial portion of this country's spirit dies, and with that any prospect of restoring it to some sense of decency and honor. And do not think I am exaggerating. The FCC has not made it secret that it intends to regulate every facet of communications, and the U.S. Congress similarly wants to impose restrictions on the Internet. The aim is not to eliminate racism or other unpleasant thoughts in the country but simply to throttle any attempts at changing the status quo. If you can't denounce other people then you cannot denounce the government or anyone else who holds power. So while the Family Research Council and the NAACP vie to see who can destroy more elements of the media, the elected remain elected indefinitely, the press fall further under corporate control, and "improper" speech eventually becomes criminal. And then it's over.

Everyone takes their rights for granted. And now these rights will be taken away and people may scarcely notice. Once the avalanche begins, though, it'll be too late for the pebbles to vote. Someone has to take a stand and call this out for what it is.

Or, well, maybe it is too late for the pebbles to vote. Maybe this country is irrevocably dead and is simply in the process of wasting away. If that is true, then at least I still have the right to do my part in making sure the ants and cockroaches don't get to eat the corpse with impunity.

It's been two weeks of employment and I've made at least one important observation.

Full-time employment causes severe time distortion. At work, time seems to skip on by even at its slowest moments. From desk-time to commute, the day seems to be over in a flash. Later on, time seems to slow down, but not by that much.

I'm not sure what to think of the warping of my time perception. At any rate, I have come to fully treasure what free time I have. And most importantly I recall what Sting sang about in Synchronicity II, the warning of falling into the trap of the rat race which will consume your consciousness to the point where you will wake up one day thirty years down the line and realize that you have not yet lived and our time is almost up.

So, yeah. Increase the peace.