Nice going, Dallas

Looking at the stats sheet between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, on paper it looks great–Dallas has more overall yards than Philly and has had the ball longer. Unfortunately, Dallas has five turnovers to the Eagles’ 1.

Result: 4th quarter, Eagles 44, Dallas 6.

Nice going, Dallas, nice way to choke away the post season.

There are two things I’d like to see Dallas do in the off-season: get rid of Wade Phillips and Terrell Owens. Phillips doesn’t have the ways to instill discipline in his players, and Owens is becoming a cancer.

As the Stomach Turns: Israel versus the Arab World

Here’s the latest news out of the Middle East regarding Israel’s bombing of “Palestinian” targets. This whole scenario reminds me of my school days. You know: every school has that one student others like to pick on. Many bullies have their time with him, kicking, punching, pushing, shoving, tripping, threatening, humiliating. And then finally the bullied student fights back. He bloodies the nose of one bully. All the other bullies get outraged and decide to retaliate.

Reminds me of the Middle East. All the surrounding Arab countries practically expect Israel to endlessly tolerate homicide bombings*, air strikes, threats and so forth.

After the end of a six-month cease fire, Hamas has been bombarding Israel daily with air strikes. So, Israel decides it’s had enough and retaliates. Among the places they’ve bombed was a rocket launching site conveniently located in a civilian area. Think about it: build the rocket site near some expendable civilians (makes me wonder if they’re of a different sect of Islam) and when Israel bombs it, whine about the evil Jews are killing innocent civilians.

*Sorry, but they’re not “suicide bombings”. A person who commits suicide kills themselves. A person who kills others is committing homicide.

Thoughts on Muntazer al-Zaidi, shoe thrower

Talk about the death of outrage. Shoes are thrown at the president of the United States, and the shoe thrower is hailed as a hero. Can you imagine what would’ve happened to Muntazer al-Zaidi if he’d thrown a shoe at Saddam Hussein while Hussein still had his stranglehold on power in Iraq? al-Zaidi in no time probably would’ve become fish food. Or he probably would’ve learned what certain body parts of his tasted like.

Yes, I’m aware of the cultural differences and how throwing a shoe at someone is an insult over there, but does that justify it? Can you imagine what would happen to a reporter if they threw a shoe at Barack Obama or Bill Clinton?

Any Americans who think this is great should be ashamed of themselves.

For thoughts on this from a writer’s perspective, go to my other blog at www.richardzowie.wordpress.com.

Milk

No, I’m not talking about the bovine dairy product, although I do love chocolate milk. Instead, I’m referring to the Sean Penn movie about the 1970s San Francisco city council member who was openly gay and led gay rights movements in the city. He was later murdered.

Ok, let me make it clear: I believe the Bible has clear teachings on homosexuality. Be that as it may, I don’t hate gays. Some of my all-time favorite co-workers have been gay; one was a fellow writer who shared many of the same interests as I did. But for three reasons I have no desire to see this movie.

1. It has Sean Penn in it. While Penn’s not a horrible actor, I hardly think of him in a class with the all-time greats like Robert DeNiro or Jack Nicholson or Gary Oldman. Besides, Penn’s political views are as ridiculous as his Fast Times at Ridgemont High Jeff Spicoli character.

2. I have zero confidence Hollywood will be historically accurate about a movie like this.

3. I’m a heterosexual man, and I’d rather throw up and eat my own vomit than watch a love scene between two men–especially when one of them’s Penn.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

This came up as a topic of discussion at one internet site I frequent. Myself, I’ve never seen the movie and have no desire to. Also have no desire to go to the midnight showings.

Richard O’Brien is a talented man, as is Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon, but catching a few scenes while channel surfing was more than enough for me.

Working on a 2008 review column

It’s meant to be farcical in nature. We’ll see how it turns out. If all works well, I’ll send it to the Bee-Picayune.

Merry Christmas!

We indeed had a white Christmas, courtesy of snow. For Christmas, I received items centering around my two loves in life: ducks and the Dallas Cowboys. The rubber duckies will get added to my collection.

Why I worry about the newspaper industry

After a four-year hiatus, I finally returned  to what I love–writing full-time. I work as a staff writer and columnist for a weekly Michigan newspaper. It’s a job I enjoy very much.

What’s there to worry about? When you consider the major cutbacks and layoffs newspapers are making lately, there’s plenty to worry about. Seems like the trend now is to save money by buying out the veteran reporters, getting rid of the freelancers and hiring younger writers.

I’ve had the privilege of talking to two men who’ve both spent lots of time working for one prominent Michigan daily. What they say about working there sounds eerily similar to what I’ve heard GM employees say about their own company: someone who’s incompetent and who doesn’t know a news story from a feature or a nut graph from peanut butter is rewarded by being promoted to some editor position.

Why stay in this industry? Because I love what I do.

New Year’s Predictions

It’s something I’ve done for the past several years. Been a little busy lately. Hopefully I’ll be able to get one out this year. They’re always fun to do.

Battery in my car died

It went dead last night. You know a battery’s dead when it gets jumped, the car starts but the battery gauge needle flickers and when you turn the engine off again, there’s no turning it on again.

Had to spend more than $70 to buy a new one from Meijer, only to find out Meijer–unlike Wal-Mart–apparently doesn’t install car batteries. So, I had t buy tools also. All the more reason why Meijer is good only for buying cheap milk and those plastic-pocket-size notebooks.