Rowling apparently has said that when she started writing the Harry Potter books she didn't realize that she was writing fantasy.

Pratchett, in typical form, replies:

"I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, hidden worlds, jumping chocolate frogs, owl mail, magic food, ghosts, broomsticks and spells would have given her a clue?"

Over the long run, my money's on Pratchett. The Potter books are mildly diverting at best. I have all of Pratchett's books on my bookshelves, where they all get re-read every year or so. I sold off the first three Potter books at a garage sale, and I might someday go to the library to check out the newer ones. If you want more and better, read Pratchett's Discworld books.

#10: Sodas cause obesity
#9: Shuttle mission extended
#8: Bush gets a physical
#7: Jimmy Carter Sighting
#6: Devil Rays 7, Royals 3
#5: Air America scandal
#4: Indian monsoons may have killed 1,000
#3: Highway bill
#2: Iraqi constitution writers want delay
#1: Reforming Islam

Specifically, fructose (as in "high-fructose corn syrup") appears to cause more weight gain (in mice) than other sugar sweeteners like glucose, and that weight gain is not explained by calories alone.

All the mice began the study at an average weight of 39 grams. Those consuming the fructose-sweetened water showed significant weight gain over the course of the study, with an average final weight of 48 grams--compared with averages below 44 grams for the other groups--and had about 90 percent more body fat than the mice that consumed water only.

Total caloric intake was lower in the mice that consumed the fructose-sweetened water than in the other groups, except for the control animals provided with water only.

"We were surprised to see that mice actually ate less when exposed to fructose-sweetened beverages, and therefore didn't consume more overall calories," said Dr. Tschöp. "Nevertheless, they gained significantly more body fat within a few weeks."

I'm always astonished that it seems to come as a surprise to most dieticians and physicians that not all calories are the same. There's this little thing called biochemistry. This is the intricate system of chemical reactions which determines how the body processes food. It's driven by enzymes created by the body, and each person's body creates and processes enzymes at slightly different rates (just like everybody has a unique fingerprint). This means that everybody's biochemistry is a bit different. This is why one diet does not fit all. Some diets (i.e. controlled carbohydrate diets) directly address manipulating the body's biochemistry. Others ("portion control" starvation diets and "low-fat" diets) don't.

Since they don't know when they'll be in space again, NASA has decided to extend Discovery's stay in space by one day. Much the same way Snookums and I decided to stay an extra day in Paris a while back.

Related: NASA can't even keep foam on their gigantic Thermos bottle, and they think they can make it to Mars? How about getting out of the way and letting Burt Rutan and private entrepreneurs have a crack at it?

Slow news day. He's healthy.

Tampa Bay wins the Worst Series. Unfortunately for Kansas City, the series has one more game to go, this afternoon in St. Petersburg. Royals need to go 43-15 to finish .500, 25-33 to avoid 100 losses.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter sighted in Birmingham, England. He can't resist attacking his own country - he never can, when a Republican is in the White House.

In case you missed it, the struggling liberal radio talk network is accused of embezzling nearly half a million Dollars of government money which was intended for a community center. Air America apparently is saying they'll pay the money back. But why did they have the money in the first place?

Hat tip: Free Republic.

Bombay area reeling under monsoons.

Most of the deaths were caused by landslides and flooding after Tuesday's torrential rains cut off the state from the rest of the country. Rainfall was as much as 37 inches in parts of Bombay.

Observations from a columnist who is there.

It was a sight that I had never imagined possible. The airport highway, the main artery that connects Bombay to other cities, had come to resemble a river. The water was neck-deep. Cars were submerged. Cows and buffaloes struggled unsuccessfully to stay above the water level. And everywhere I looked, there were people: ordinary, decent people faced with no option but to brave the water and to walk home, no matter how far the distance or how great the risk.

What's in it for Missouri?
$467.5 million, not including over $400 million of authorization to pour money down a light rail money pit in St. Louis.

For South Dakota?
$1.3 million total, including completing the Heartland Expressway to connect Rapid City to Denver, and completing the Eastern Dakota Expressway to connect Aberdeen to I-29.

Mmm, the smell of fresh pork!

Iraqi constitutional commission wants another 30 days.

The main points in dispute include such issues as federalism, dual nationality and the role of Islam.

Here we go again with the timetable thing. The article makes it sound like the delay is a serious setback for the U.S. Sure, we are disappointed that the Iraqis may miss the arbitrary August 15th deadline, but isn't it more important to give the Iraqis the time they need to work things out on their own?

One of Medary.com's jihads is the necessity for Muslims to reform Islam to bring the religion into the 21st Century. This has to be done from within--it is folly to try to impose change from outside to a religion with over 1.7 billion adherents. But that doesn't mean non-Muslems can't advocate and encourage change. So, to the articles:

I don't know why someone would want to do this. Perhaps being in St. Louis has something to do with it. From the appropriately named blog The Smoking Tongue.

#11: BonusWhip! Whip it! Whip it good!
#10: Are YOU the office jerk?
#9: HP to stop reselling iPod
#8: The MicroWhip: Space News
#7: Devil Rays 6, Royals 3
#6: Vice edges virtue where profit is at stake
#5: Cisco whistleblower legaled into silence
#4: Republican-assisted suicide
#3: Can Islam reform?
#2: Bolton to get recess appointment
#1: Kelo fallout roundup

You too can get in on the Morning Whip fun! Send your link to whip@medary.com and we'll consider it for the next Morning Whip list. Even if it doesn't make it, we'll quite likely post an article about it. No reasonable article will be refused (reasonability determined by Medary.com's editorial staff--i.e. me).

If you want to do it yourself instead of sending us a link, well, maybe we can make a deal. To do that, you need to be a "story admin." This exalted position lets you, well, submit stories. How do you get to be a story admin?

One way is is to e-mail us some interesting web links. Do that for a while, and we just might catch on to your Internet surfing prowess and offer you the capability to write your own stories to Medary.com. Deal?

The other way is via the old boys/girls network. If we already know who you are, and you ask nicely and promise to play well with others, then you're in!

Play your radio too loud? Possessive of your Swingline Stapler? Accuse others of "having a case of the Mondays?" In short, are YOU the problem?

OK, maybe the price for my 20 GB iPod at Sam's Club was too good. HP is getting out of the iPod resale business.

"HP has decided that reselling iPods does not fit within the company's current digital entertainment strategy," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said. "As a result, HP plans to stop reselling iPods by end of this September."

Royals continue to struggle in series between the AL's worst teams. Royals need to go 43-16 to finish .500, 25-34 to avoid 100 losses.

New planet discovered in Solar System, farther out and estimated to be one and one-half times larger than Pluto.

the discovery would rekindle debate over whether Pluto can be regarded as a planet at all.

Station managers want Discovery to stay one more day.

“The crew of Discovery and on the current space station assignment are looking at what, if anything, we can do while Discovery is there to pre-position the station for a longer gap between flights should there be one,” NASA administrator Michael Griffin told reporters via teleconference, stressing that it is much too soon to assume NASA’s next shuttle flight is beyond 2005.

Spacewalk starts to test shuttle repair methods.

On the first of three spacewalks scheduled for the STS-114 shuttle mission, Noguchi and Robinson are scheduled to test repair methods for the shuttle's heatshield tiles, and restore power to a failed control moment gyroscope, which, together with others, helps the station maintain its correct position in space.

Debris problem update: NASA Administrator Griffin is optimistic.

“We are going to fix it in short order and we are going to get back to flying,” Griffin said in his first press conference since NASA decided July 27 to ground the shuttle fleet until the problem is solved.

Is he whistling past the Shuttle's graveyard?

Daniel Gross writes at Slate.com regarding the relative performance of stock funds which cater to human vices and which try to invest virtuously. According to the Yahoo chart linked in the article, Vice edges out Virtue in the money game. But it's closer than a pessimistic cynic like myself might think.

Via Fark.