Attribution: Photo by Joel Danielson on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, works with the keeper and Phyllis in their efforts to help people understand just what is going on with the POTUS as he surrounds himself with a posse of narcissistic billionaires while going off to China to try to trade his war for a …
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Category:Politics
Kickass and Being a “Bitch”
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed home on Mother’s Day, dreaming about his mother, and wondered about the uproar over the report that the POTUS called a black woman reporter a “bitch.” In the canine world, of course, “bitch” is a respectable label for any and all female dogs, …
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Kickass and the Wind
Attribution: TapTheForwardAssist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps as the keeper and Phylis recall the old Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “The Wind” with its laudatory lines about the wondrous and mysterious ways of the wind, and the questions it poses for those who choose to hear them. Obviously …
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Kickass and Home on the Range
Attribution: Frederic Remington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has occasionally been moved to howling in accompaniment to the keeper’s singing, and recently they have collaborated on “Home, Home on the Range,” with Phyllis joining in with aggressive harmony. The lyrics-“Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam …
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Dialogues on Strait Talk: “You Shall Not Pass!”
Attribution: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter David Sanger (NYT) asks the right question;’: “President Trump’s decision to blockade all Iranian shipments out of or into the Strait of Hormuz …
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Pants on Fire
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week’s Pen in Hand Blog column dealt with President Trump’s use—and abuse—of the English language, how he has dumbed down presidential rhetoric to a fourth-grade level, weaponized our political discourse, and created the most divisive atmosphere since the Civil War. We have fallen incredibly far incredibly quickly. …
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Kickass and Two-Toed Sloth
Attribution: Photo by Bennet Robin Fabian on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in their efforts at including all species in the daily commentary by noting that a 20-year-old two-toed sloth has transferred from the Milwaukee zoo to the Vilas Park Zoo in Madison. Incredibly, even as close as it is …
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Kickass and the U.S. King
Attribution: Photo by Mitya Ivanov on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis wondering if King Charles is still in the US and if he plans to apply for the “king” opening now apparently existing in the White House. Up to this point there seemed to be no need for a US …
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Like Nobody’s Ever Seen Before
Attribution: DonkeyHotey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Linguists and educational theorists have argued for centuries over the question of whether thought gives rise to language or whether the reverse, that language affects and determines thought, is true. The once widely-accepted Sapir-Whorf hypothesis postulates that language determines thought, while Fodor’s theory maintains the …
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Absolute Corruption
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The great English historian Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely” and speculative novelist Robert Shea once declared, “Anyone who seeks power wants absolute power.” Current events seem to be bearing out these predictions. Of course, what’s transpiring in Washington, D.C. today is …
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Dialogues on Confusions of Grandeur: What Would Jesus Do?
Attribution: Artificial intelligence, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter Have you guys seen this? According to multiple news sources, including “The New York Times”, Trump posted this grandiose AI generated image of his Christ-like self on “Truth …
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Peeling the Orange
Attribution: DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Set aside his greed and his corruption. Set aside his complete contempt for the law and the Constitution. Set aside his callous disregard for human life and the suffering of millions—many of them children. Set aside his lust for power. Set aside his incompetence. Set …
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