Sidelights.

The left-wing London newspaper The Guardian hosted an online discussion on the topic "Is it time to assassinate George Dubya Bush?" A Baghdad couple named their newborn son George Bush as a sign of thanks for deposing Saddam Hussein. If they had had twin sons, the other boy would have been named Tony Blair, said Nadia Jergis Mohammed and Abdul Kader Faris. ... According to a recent book by Osama bin Laden's close associate Yussuf al-Ayyeri, it is not "the American war machine that should be of the utmost concern to Muslims. What threatens the future of Islam, in fact its very survival, is American democracy." The book, The Future of Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula After the Fall of Baghdad, was published by al-Qaeda. The Science Fiction Book Club is selling copies of Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

Fifty-nine percent of Europeans think Israel is the biggest threat to world peace, according to an E.U. survey. A Gallup poll reveals that 25 percent of employers are less likely to hire someone who smokes. A Treasury Department investigation determined that IRS employees at tax help centers could answer taxpayer questions correctly only 57 percent of the time. The Census Bureau reported that nearly one in five U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home. There are now 1,800 Web sites dedicated to online gambling, up from 25 in 1997. ... Americans will lose $3 billion on Internet gambling, this year.

German interior minister Otto Schily suggests the E.U. constitution should contain a reference to the influence of Islam on European civilization. ... Seven nations are demanding a reference to Europe's Christian values in the E.U. constitution: Spain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Judge William White of Escambia County, Florida now requires those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to attach a red and yellow bumper sticker to their car that reads: "How is my driving? Call ...