Sidelights.

If you do not have mirth you will certainly have madness--G.K. Chesterton

At present, 33 billionaires live in Moscow, versus 31 in New York City. * Seventy-four percent of Europeans and 51 percent of Americans favor the promotion of democracy as a foreign policy objective, according to a study by the German Marshall Fund. * Money provided by the United Nations was used by the Palestinian Authority to produce thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan,"Today Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem." * The Saudi government has approved plans to destroy Mohammed's birthplace. In the last 20 years, the Saudis have destroyed over 90 percent of the ruins in Mecca and Medina that date from the time of Mohammed. Avoidance of "idolatry" is the stated reason. * French police detained nine members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, suspecting them of planning attacks on a Paris airport, the metro, and the headquarters of France's domestic intelligence service.... About three fourths of anti-Western terrorists are from the middle or upper classes, economically, reports the New York Times. * Among the top 250 political blogs, conservatives have a 157 to 93 advantage over their left-leaning counterparts, according to a study by the liberal New Politics Institute. * The number of children born to unmarried American women reached record levels in 2003, according to research conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. 1.4 million babies were born to unwed mothers, accounting for over 34 percent of all U.S. births.... The Census Bureau reports that only 22 percent of U.S. households are currently in the configuration of traditional nuclear families. * A committee in Spokane, Washington is planning a special "gay business district" in the city. "It can look like those districts that are already established;' stated committee member Melvin Reguindin. "It would just be more ...