Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that authors work to have their books “bought,” and if that doesn’t work out to their satisfaction, they then seek to have their books banned, in the interest of getting attention, of course. The keeper’s history several years ago …
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Month:February 2023
Bursting the Balloon
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The story was all over the headlines—”Pentagon Says It Detected a Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over Montana”, NY Times, 2/2/2023, or “Chinese Spy Balloon flying over U.S. ‘right now,’ Pentagon says”, Washington Post, 2/3/2023. And on and on. The story dominated the news cycle for the entire week, culminating on February …
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Kickass and ED in the Congressional Chambers
President Joe Biden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biden_delivering_the_2023_State_of_the_Union_address_2.jpg Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps as the keeper rants about the obvious epidemic of ED–“Elect the Dumb” as it was displayed Tuesday night in the congressional chambers during the state of the union speech. The juvenile antics by shouting know-nothings was handled skillfully by the President, …
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Dialogues on D.C. Disconnect and Scorpio Rising: Fear and Loathing in the Freedom Caucus
Crglenn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Capitol_Building_01.jpg Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Hey Bots, (3) news items from today At the risk of being redundant, I think the culprit for this is chiefly the orange ex prez, potentiated by Bannon, FB-etc… and others. …
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Kickass and Old Guy Lunch Talk
Charles Clyde Ebbets , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper met three old friends–Harry, Chan and Marshall for lunch, and if the conversation had been prohibited from the subjects of infirmities, death, and rascal politicos there would have been long periods of awkward silence. Imagine that: four guys getting …
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Kickass and Women in Wineries
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that in the keeper’s continuing efforts to analyze the downfall of humanity, he observes that the historically accepted social trend of men hanging around taverns is now being replaced by women hanging around wineries. This cannot help but be a positive cultural turnaround …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Tar”
Photo by Justin Campbell on Unsplash Symphony For One: Review of Tar The opening of Todd Field’s psychological opus Tar is rather odd. The film’s credits fade in over a black background while a Shipibo Conibo Icaro (an indigenous Amazon people’s healing song) plays in the background. The oddly hypnotic music sung in a strange language over (what are usually) …
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Kickass and Photo Game
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in playing games this morning, the game being “Guess where the keeper is in the photo taken by Phyllis, and what is he doing?” See more at… The Bill Stokes Author Page
Kickass and Chinese Balloon
Attribution: Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, US Forest Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is often unable to do anything about the keeper’s excesses. This is one of those mornings: Oh, big Chinese balloon up in the sky Please come to earth before I die. I want to see what …
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Kickass and Bear Hounding
Attribution: Wenzel Ignaz Brasch (1708-1761), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, goes along with the keeper on this coldest Wisconsin morning of the year to point out the dumbest circumstance prevailing in a state that was once a respected leader in conservation issues: narcissistic bear hunters, many from other …
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Kickass and the Tech World
Attribution: maido155, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in lamenting the cultural trend that has many in the keeper’s age group disdained, ridiculed and ignored for not having kept up to speed in the tech world. There is the clear signal that those vintage citizens who …
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The Little Things
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week was bad. Really bad. Three mass shootings in California shocked the nation. Over the course of forty-four hours nineteen people were killed and dozens of others wounded. In all, over forty mass shootings have taken place in our country this January—a new monthly record. Of course, …
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