Like the Mythical "Nessie," JK Rowling Lives in Scotland: Hurrah!

J.K. Rowling lives in Scotland. She was born near Bristol, England, however. One can only be thankful that she moved to, as one of her bios on the Internet says, "another country." This proves two things: Firstly, Scotland is not England, and is, furthermore, prepared to accept England's damaged goods. And, secondly, it might be wise for England to just let Scotland go.

It is true that Cornwall would like to become a duchy, and that is as likely to actually happen as Scotland becoming independent. In the case of Scotland, however, perhaps England ought to give it some serious consideration. I predicate this suggestion on Rowling's recent lawsuits. In one, the world's first publishing billionaire decided it would irreparably harm her reputation and ability to make further income from her Harry Potter books if a fansite operator were allowed to publish his own concordance to her books. A judge in New York agreed with her, leaving the door open, however, because he had made himself the arbiter of how much is too much quotation. It is almost certain additional suits will be needed to develop case law to ultimately decide this issue.

Second, a judge in Scotland decided that for paparazzi to take photographs of Rowling's children was a violation of the children's right to privacy. An English judge had thrown the same case out. The English judge was right; when one has purposely sought fame and fortune to the extent Ms. Rowling has, there can be no expectation of privacy for one's self, and frankly, one's heirs and assigns had better be apprised of this, too. Certainly, one cannot tell this to a toddler and expect him to shove off to Buffalo to live incognito. But one can expect the parent to either protect him as best he or she can, or live with it, and teach the kids how to live with it. Hollywood brats do. The Royals do. I guess, then, that Ms. Rowling's spawn is better than that.

This woman needs to fade into oblivion, fast. She is singlehandedly undermining society, British and otherwise. Her work is derivative at best, plagiarism in its own right at worst. (Please see http://www.linearpublishing.com/rhinostory.html) Her public actions are despicable, her posturing reprehensible. American college students, according to a recent headline, think she's a "flash in the pan."

I hope they are right. This may be the beginning of a sea change for me: I am not known for my acceptance of the opinions of today's Generation Z college students. But I can learn. I hope the rest of the world can. I hope it can develop a good doody detection system, and begin to know when something really stinks.

Meanwhile, Rowling may think she smells like a rose (and you can use your own platitude here, about what stinks and what doesn't, if you like), but, in fact, the scent has rather eroded and might better be characterized these days as a nose-wrinkling, gorge-raising "Eeeew."