Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world.

That calls for a cheer.

But this isn’t envy raising its head; it’s gratitude.

His loss, so to speak, is because he has given billions of dollars of his wealth to charities.

According to David Lincoln, director of global valuations at wealth research firm Wealth-X, Gates is worth worth about $49 billion. That puts him behind Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who is worth an estimated $60 billion.

But, as Lincoln notes, if Gates had not given away so much of his wealth, he would be worth about $88 billion.

According to reports, Gates and his wife Melinda have so far given $28 billion to their foundation, the largest in the United States.

Of course, Gates still has plenty of billions, but remember that his goal is to give most of it away to help others.

The rest of us can’t be that generous, but we can do our be inspired by Gates and do our part at our individual level.

Other observations

A newly filed initiative wants to change the state song from “Washington My Home” to “Not in Our House” by Sir Mix-A-Lot, the Seattle-based artist. The idea is to “honor the proud tradition of over 40 years of professional basketball in this state,” according to Kristopher Brannon of Tacoma, who filed the measure.

Good luck with that. Voters already have turned down a more well-known tune – “Louie, Louie.”

Costco is going to start selling wedding gowns. Let’s hope it doesn’t follow what we’ve come to expect from Costco. What would the prospective groom think if two wedding gowns came packaged together?

Uh-oh. There’s always a push on websites to have pictures to capture attention. But really! On a recent page of Google News, there was a teaser with the headline “St. Louis Police: 3 officers shot making arrest.” The photo? Tiger Woods – and, no, he didn’t have anything to do with the story.

News reports say Subway sandwich chain has surpassed McDonald’s as the world’s largest restaurant chain, in terms of units. At the end of last year, Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide, compared to McDonald’s 32,737.

There go the Happy Meals.

Television industry insiders say CBS should continue the hit show “Two and a Half Men” without lead actor Charlie Sheen, who is now off on his own doing, well, who knows what. The network could even keep almost the same title, calling it “Two and a Half Men Minus a Doofus.”

– Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter