Fareed Zakaria and Christmas Eve

If you asked me to name my favorite columnist, I’d tell you it’s Fareed Zakaria, columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. Newsweek, along with Sports Illustrated are two magazines that I read just about everything in, at least eventually. Right now, I’m about 5 weeks behind. But earlier today, in the November 21st issue of Newsweek, Mr. Zakaria had another good column titled “Europe Needs a New Identity”.

This article touches on a topic my buddy Scott is all too familiar with: The laziness of the French. In fact, somebody apparently wrote a book about it entitled, “Bonjour Paresse”, which apparently translates to “Hello Laziness”. In the article, Mr. Zakaria notes that the average Frenchman works 24% FEWER hours than in 1970. The average American works 20% more.

Why do I bring this up? I’m not really sure, outside of the fact that I truly enjoy reading Mr. Zakaria’s column each week. I find myself agreeing with a lot of what he writes, which is surprising given the fact that I’m sure we’ve got completely different backgrounds. He’s been all over the world. My international travels include 2 trips to Toronto and 3 or 4 trips across southern Ontario on the way to Western New York (for weddings, camps, or the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s married with kids. Clearly, I’m not. He’s got degrees from Yale & Harvard. I’ve got one from the University of Evansville (who quit sending me alumni stuff a few years ago after a falling out).

Yet his insights into handling Iraq and other international topics are often dead on, even if it may take a year or two to see it. Want proof? See this column from July 14, 2003, or this one from March 1, 2004. Yet, he’s not saying the U.S. shouldn’t have gone in and removed Saddam (October 20, 2003).

Anyway, that’s mainly what I wanted to say. I’m actually killing a little bit of time before I need to get ready for church, as I’m running the sound board for the 10:00 pm service tonight (Christmas Eve).

Merry Christmas to everyone. May you enjoy your time with family and friends, but remember that this holiday commemorates the birth of Jesus, our Savior, and that can be done even if you’re not with family or friends.