Kickass and Walmart Funeral

Walmart Corporate from Bentonville, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s observation that Walmart is apparently having difficulty recruiting pallbearers for its own retail funeral, judging from the lack of staffing at a store where the keeper stood in a long line to buy some …
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Kickass and Railroad Trip

Great Northern Railway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper not to assume that National Railroad Day is being celebrated this week just because he and Phyllis plan to board a train Sunday in Columbus as the start of a three-week excursion that includes a boat ride …
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Kickass and Bags of Dog Poop

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, through a long history of sharing his life with dogs, had never experienced the responsibility of walking a leashed dog and picking up its bodily waste as if it were a treasure, however a temporary one.  Always before there were fenced …
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Kickass and Dog Sitting Boo

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be dog sitting Boo this week as granddaughter Sarah and Jessy vacate their Chicago digs for some Wisconsin recreating. Boo, a miniature schnauzer with attitude, is 13 years old, and once lived in Mazomanie with the keeper and …
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Kickass and Screaming Trout

Pacific Southwest Region USFWS from Sacramento, US, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper sometimes gets behind in adjusting to the flow of information; and is currently struggling with the speculation that humans do not have a monopoly on consciousness, meaning that other species—fish, for example, …
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Kickass and Steel Magnolias

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, like the keeper, comfortably acknowledges the “steel magnolia” character of women when it comes to running things, certainly the functioning of their own bodies as well as the absurd place of narcissistic males in such matters as reproduction and war. Affirmation came recently when the …
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Kickass Price of Gas (and Books)

National Archives and Records Administration , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to guide the keeper’s rants into productive subject matter, but is helpless when it comes to his—the keeper’s reminiscing about how the price of gasoline relates to his early “filling station” days.          There is obviously a set-in-stone …
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Kickass and Morel Rejection

Oregon State University, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is aware, along with the keeper, that one of life’s important lessons is the ability to handle rejection; but when it is consistently handed out by a fungus, changes need to be made: hence this May, the keeper announces that …
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Dialogues on Free Market Speech: Letters to the Editors

Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis Curley, and Geoff Carter Kara, Elon, and the Donald ….in that order. This may not stick with you, but I’ve just recently discovered Kara Swisher “On Tech” columnist for the Times. Usually a weekly or bi-weekly column, she’s had …
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Kickass and Sticker Shock

Photo by Mathieu Turle on Unsplash By Bill Stokes         Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that it became a health issue to get the keeper out of the REI store after he checked the price of a pair of lightweight pants for use on an upcoming trip that he and Phyllis have planned.          After …
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