Odds & Ends: August 2004 Archives

Anti-Americanism has grown steadily since the end of the Cold War. A large part of this is resentment towards American economic success; some of it is resentment toward Hollywood's slime machine (no argument there).

An overlooked cause of anti-Americanism is our success in sports, particularly our surprisingly good showing in the 2002 Winter Games and our stellar medal count in this year's games. Remember a few years ago when the American team did really well in the World Cup? If we had won, we would have been hated with a furious passion by most countries when they realized that most Americans don't even care about soccer.

So to assuage this sentiment against our fine country, I suggest that instead of sending our athletic supermen to Beijing in 2008, we should send our Special Olympics team. Then the rest of the world can high-five each other when they beat the Americans. The Special Olympians will just be happy to compete. Everybody wins, and it advances the national interest. What do you guys think? Do we give them a chance?

When I meet a man who obviously spends way too much time making his hair look pretty, I instinctively mistrust him. I'm not saying I'm a hair expert -- I don't even own a comb -- but it does say something about a man when he feels the need to apply several unguents to his head every day.

I associate this with falsehood because in my professional life, the people who pay excessive attention to their appearance are the same people who think looking good is equivalent to being good (or doing good). They would prefer to do something flashy or impressive, rather than quiet and intelligent, just because it might raise their status within the organization.

Hair gel might not cause venality or superficiality, but it does seem to be a sure indicator of those qualities. Has anyone else noticed this? Were there any saints with great hair?

A blog by Joshua LeBlanc, one of our faithful brethren from Front Royal, VA.

And let me say at this time:

Hooray for faithful Catholics from Front Royal!
Hooray for Christendom College!
Hooray for the communion rail in the chapel at Christendom College!