Dialogues in The Echo Chamber: Letters from the Unemployment Office

Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots Mark Mamerow., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 6, 2022: ‘It’s not like we don’t have enough jobs here in Wisconsin’: Ron Johnson won’t try to land Oshkosh Corp. …
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Kickass and Driftless Tour

Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Dülmen, Hausdülmen, Sonnenaufgang — 2015 — 4952” / CC BY-SA 4.0 By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed home and rested as the keeper and Phyllis had an afternoon windshield lunch with the eagles and the crows in the snow-frosted Driftless hills of southwest Wisconsin. Aged venison was on the menu for the birds as they …
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Kickass and Family Gathering

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are coming off a weekend of hosting members of the keeper’s clan—a son, grandchildren, a granddaughter-in-law, great-grand-children and a family dog named Boo that once lived with the keeper and Phyllis. Needless to say, it was immeasurably precious …
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Kickass and War Conditioning

Author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes “War itself is, of course, a form of madness. It’s hardly a civilized pursuit. It’s amazing how we spend so much time inventing devices to kill each other and so little time working on how to achieve peace.” –Walter Cronkite Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the …
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Kickass and DNR Board Outrage

kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in reporting on the recent unbelievable DNR Board meeting at which Walker appointees, one of whom—Wausau tooth-jerker Fred Prehn, refuses to step down from his expired term, voted in favor of continuing to allow the poisoning of surface water …
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Burning Down the House

Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Teachers are losing control of their classrooms, and it’s not because students have gone wild. No, the kids are not taking over the schools. They’re just fine. In fact, a student revolution wouldn’t be nearly as disturbing as what’s really going on. It’s the Republicans that are attacking …
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Kickass and the VA Waiting Room

Jim Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes           Kickass ,the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in offering the following vary short play entitled “Waiting With Old Vets.”          Scene:  Waiting room at VA West.  The keeper enters from stage left; and retrieves number 39 from the lab scheduling device as one of …
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Kickass and the Ice Storm

NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in the gray world as it observes global icing by closing schools, suspending garbage collection, and sending out the salting trucks. It is somewhat the way the world is reacting to Putin’s circus-like machinations: protect the innocent, live with …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to New Hollywood: The Legacy of Al Pacino

Al Pacino in Serpico Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter He’s been a major icon of American cinematic landscape for decades, known mainly for his seminal portrayal of crime boss Michael Corleone in The Godfather, a performance some have called the best in movie history, but Al Pacino has demonstrated a range in …
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