Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having spent his “working” life gathering and disseminating information as an ink-stained wretch, appreciates the recent surfacing of a quote by either Einstein or Twain stating that when the billionaires finally control all the media, everyone else will be feeding …
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Category:Media
Our Right to Know
Attribution: Warren K. Leffler, U.S. News & World Report Magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The American people are deeply indebted (more than we know) to the free press and the journalists who risk their lives to uncover corruption, expose criminality, and preserve the personal freedoms in our lives. Without their work, …
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Kickass and Ballpoint Pen Robbery
Attribution: Photo by Feodor Chistyakov on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper mourning the shrinking nature of the honest press and telling Phyllis that during his long journalistic tenure he tried his best to stick to the facts which seemed satisfactory to most but not all readers. When the bank in Bancroft—population less …
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Kickass and “Seeing is not Believing”
Attribution: oto by gaspar zaldo on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will try to help the keeper and Phyllis as they grapple with the “Global Sensory Collapse” whereby what you see, hear and smell is not real, and you need to wait for instructions from the Epstein file to put your life in order. The …
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Kickass and More Daylight
Attribution: Photo by Kyra Kleijnen on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis adjusting to the slowly lengthening days by limiting their exposure to political tinged fast-talk and tuning in to gentle music accompanied by images of peaceful scenery. Prior to making the change the keeper frequently found himself gnawing on a …
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Kickass and Christmas Croc
Attribution: Photo by Alvin David on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper asking the public if it has heard about the 11-foot crocodile captured in South Patrick Shores, Florida with a Golden Retriever clamped in its jaws? The purpose of bringing up such an unpleasant image follows in the mode of the diversionary …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Spinning Classic Christmas Vinyl
Photo by The Retro Store on Unsplash By Geoff Carter While those of us at The Pen in Hand will always be slavishly devoted to his TV home entertainment center, this week he will be putting down the universal remote in order to turn his focus solely on another entertainment form—music. Part of the reason for this departure …
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Kickass and Evening News
Attribution: U.S. News & World Report photographer Thomas J. O’Halloran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper watching the evening NBC news program of 8/26/25 when one of the lead stories was the engagement of Taylor and Travis the celebrity show biz-sports couple. The story went on …
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Kickass and News Anchors
Attribution: U.S. News & World Report photographer Thomas J. O’Halloran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper toying with a new way of measuring his long life as he counts how many TV news anchors he has gone through as Lester Holt hung it up last night …
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Dialogues on LA Noir: Ashes to Ashes
Attribution: Pacific Southwest Forest Service, USDA from USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., and Geoff Carter What do the ‘bots think about Hotel California blazing away? Let’s be honest. Human casualty has been minimal. I reckon, in terms of the ratio of $$$$ …
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The Fog of Truth
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Mark Zuckerberg, the kingpin of Facebook, joined the other subservient members of the royal court last week, bowing down to the new American despot, Donald Trump, while proclaiming that Facebook will no longer fact-check content on the popular social media page, opening the door (even wider) for any …
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Kickass and the Truth
Attribution: Carlo Chiostri, User:Mbz1, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper is in something of a dilemma in adjusting to the demise of truth as a communications requirement, from pronouncements from political narcissists to now here on Facebook with the announcement that posts will no longer be …
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