The 'Harry Potter' phenomenon: 7 surprising facts

Daniel Radcliffe admitted to taking two pairs of Harry Potter's glasses as a memento of the wizardly saga. Photo: Facebook SEE ALL 22 PHOTOS
Friday's box office debut of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 marks the beginning of the end of J.K. Rowling's beloved fantasy saga. (Watch the movie trailer.) In the real world, however, the Harry Potter phenomenon will inevitably keep generating ripple effects. The series' impact can already be seen in everything from a spike in owl poaching in India to the creation of a earthbound Quidditch league in U.S. colleges. Here are seven other ways that Potter mania has played out in the real world:

The NYT's 'sympathetic' Palin profile: 5 key takeaways

 

Yes, Sarah Palin is considering a run for president, reports Robert Draper in a must-read New York Times piece. But first she'll have to tidy up her "inefficient" operation. Sarah Palin's political operation, says Robert Draper in the New York Times, functions without a chief of staff or a defined press person. Photo: Getty
The New York Times has published a 7,800-word profile of Sarah Palin by writer Robert Draper who spent time with the Alaskan conservative during the weeks leading up to the 2010 midterm elections. It's an "excellent piece of reporting," says Matthew Continetti at the Weekly Standard, a "sympathetic" take on Palin that really "gets the governor right." The article is certainly no hit job, says Greg Mitchell at The Nation. In fact, Draper "barely presses her on key issues, and doesn't talk to a single critic." But he does dig up plenty of details about what life is like in "Palin World." Here's a rundown of 5 key talking points:

Yahoo News, Entertainment

• Smith's 'Just Kids' is award winner for nonfiction (AP) - 1 hour agoAP - Patti Smith is a literary star.
• Report: Online video providers not protecting kids (AP) - 3 hours agoAP - Mainstream online video destinations don't do enough to keep explicit content from kids, the Parents Television Council said in a report released Wednesday.
• Wis. man accused of shooting TV over Palin dance (AP) - 3 hours agoAP - A rural Wisconsin man apparently enraged by Bristol Palin's "Dancing with the Stars" routine blasted his television with a shotgun, leading to an all-night standoff with a SWAT team, investigator...
• Patti Smith wins book award; Tom Wolfe honored (omg!) - 1 hour agoomg! - Reuters - Rocker Patti Smith was among the major winners of the U.S. National Book Awards on Wednesday for her memoir "Just Kids," choking up with tears before urging book publishers not to let...
• Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Kyle Richards: I Will Never Know What Pushed Camille (omg!) - 1 hour ago

Yahoo News

• Uneasy House Democrats keep Pelosi as their leader (AP)
• Murkowski becomes 1st write-in senator since '54 (AP)
• Gitmo detainee acquitted of all but 1 charge in NY (AP)
• Facing setbacks, Obama presses his foreign policy (AP)
• Feds holding firm on intrusive airport security (AP)
• GM launching IPO, ending government majority stake (AP)
• Qantas: 40 engines on A380s need to be replaced (AP)

Should Bristol Palin have been kicked off 'Dancing With the Stars'?

Sarah Palin's daughter is headed to the reality-competition's finals — even as her actual dancing skills remain a matter of fierce debate
Sarah Palin supporters have reportedly taken to Twitter to help shimmy Bristol Palin into a "Dancing with the Stars" win.
Best Opinion: HitFix, Politics and World News, Jezebel
The midterm elections may be behind us, but we're still a country divided. Last night, on "Dancing with the Stars", Bristol Palin made it to the finals while competitor Brandy was sent home in what's being called "the most shocking — and

FoxNews.com - Israeli Strike Kills 2 Accused in BBC Kidnapping

AP
Nov. 17: Palestinians gather around a destroyed car after an explosion in Gaza City.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli airstrike ripped through a car in Gaza City on Wednesday, killing two militants accused of helping kidnap a British Broadcasting Corp. journalist in March 2007, officials said.

Iraq president opposes Tariq Aziz's death sentence

AP - Sept. 5: Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister speaks to the Associated Press in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD–Iraq's president declared on Wednesday that he will not sign off on the hanging of Tariq Aziz, joining the Vatican and others in objecting to the death sentence for a man who for years was the international face of Saddam Hussein's regime.

House Democrats keep Nancy Pelosi as their leader

AP – FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks in Washington. Seven …
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Charles Babington, Associated Press – 35 mins ago
WASHINGTON – House Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi to remain as their leader Wednesday despite massive party losses in this month's congressional elections that prompted some lawmakers to call for new leadership. Pelosi, the nation's first female House speaker, will become minority leader when Republicans

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Eva Longoria Files For Divorce

EVA Longoria’s marriage is over with…. for real this time.
The actress filed for divorce Wednesday from basketball star Tony Parker, People magazine reports.
Eva’s documents were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court just one day after her rep denied that Parker had done the same in a Texas court.
The cause of the split wasn’t immediately revealed, but reports earlier today claimed Eva discovered Tony had been exchanging personal texts with a mutual female friend for nearly a year.