One evening while I was in Baghdad, a British security guard mentioned that Fox News was giving a "party" in the nearby Palestine Hotel, once the almost elegant, five-star Le Meridien Palestine on the banks of the Tigris River. I was curious both to see what had happened to this legendary hotel and also what now passed for a social gathering among foreign reporters here. So at dusk, accompanied by two armed guards, I walked over to the Palestine through the maze of blast walls.

[...]

When we finally arrive on the fifth floor, we have to leave our guards at a checkpoint fortified with a steel door. Inside, we are greeted by the stink of disinfectant and stale air filled with the smell of curry and cigarette smoke. Down a hallway with a greasy carpet I find a small sitting room with shabby furniture and a soccer game playing on a TV. The Fox News staffers who are smoking and drinking seem glad to see almost anyone. The scene makes me think of a group of elderly retired people clinging to a residential hotel slated for demolition.

Estimated amount the U.S. would save each year on paperwork if it adopted single-payer health care: $161,000,000,000 [James G. Kahn, University of California, San Francisco]

Percentage change since 2000 in the average amount U.S. workers spend on out-of-pocket medical expenses: +93 [Hewitt Associates LLC (Lincolnshire, Ill.)]

Number of dominoes that a wayward sparrow toppled just before a Dutch world-record attempt in November: 23,000 [Endemol NV (Aalsmeer, The Netherlands)]

Hours later that the sparrow was executed: 1.5 [Endemol NV (Aalsmeer, The Netherlands)]

Price for a vibrator that plugs into an iPod and “stimulates you in time with your favorite music”: £29.99 [LoveHoney U.K. (Bath, England)]

Year that a Hindu nationalist party in India rechristened Valentine’s Day “Prostitution Day”: 2005 [Shiv Sena (New Delhi)]