Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I was a public-school teacher for over thirty years. I mainly taught high school English, but because I was at one point assigned to the Home and Hospital Program, which serviced students at home who were too sick to go to school, I had occasion to teach all …
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Category:Politics
Full Measure
Artwork by Michael DiMilo (Originally posted on May 31, 2019 in Honor of our Veterans. Addendum posted on May 25, 2025.) By Geoff Carter Ah, Memorial Day: the harbinger of summer, the first family picnic, and the grill master’s opening day. Memorial Day also happens to be the holiday recognizing and honoring those who have …
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Kickass and a Day Off
Attribution: It is unclear as to whether the press-materials were distributed by a personal publicity agency representing the subject, or if they were distributed by an agency employed to publicize the film, and/or the first CBS television broadcast of the film, which aired on November 3, 1956., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes …
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Constitutional Anarchy
Attribution: National Archives at College Park – Still Pictures , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition …
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Kickass and War Killing
Attribution: Ray Platnick, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the question posed by a young grandson a long time ago as a family discussion veered into military matters, with the keeper perhaps recounting a combat story or two. “Did you ever kill someone?” the young listener asked. It …
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Reading the Signs
The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Kickass and Five Reasons to Exist
Attribution: Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, warns the keeper and Phyllis that it will obviously only be a matter of time until they get notices from the Fox News rejects and Musk, who are now producing the national tragi-comedy TV show in Washington entitled “What’s …
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Kickass and Military Industrial Complex
Attribution: Dsns.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper and Phyllis can do nothing about their membership in the “US Military Industrial Complex” except pay their dues and complain about the annoying roar of F-35s sharpening the spears of war out at Truax. Want to go …
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Stemming the Tide
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The beat goes on. And on. It just won’t stop. Like the relentless pounding of a jackhammer or the thumping of an overdriven car speaker, the deranged agenda of the Trump administration and its Project 2025 adherents will just… not… stop. For a while, it seemed as if …
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Kickass and Canada Relations
The Pen in Hand Blog featuring Bill Stokes
Attribution: Aerra Carnicom, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CGI_Canada_Flag.png
Kickass and Santa Eavesdrop
Attribution: Douglas Rahden, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper tuning in his special communication skills to eavesdrop on a conversation from the North Pole: Santa: “Do we have any limits on the number of dolls we can deliver to one little girl?” Elf No. 1: “No Sir. It …
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Kickass and Demonstrators
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper lending a hand as Phyllis and her Vista West cohorts join the May Day crowd of “IMPEACH-CONVICT-REMOVE” demonstrators across the country. Fresh from a previous practice session earlier at the Capitol there was a serious sign making endeavor—Phyllis’s sign reads “I’M …
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