Paul Gorbould, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sympathizes with the keeper as he—the keeper spends ever increasing blocks of time looking for something he has either misplaced or deliberately put away in a “safe” place. There are cross-species precedents for such non-productive behavior: squirrels looking for …
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Category:Social Commentary
Kickass and Evolutionary Top Spot
Pets Adviser from Brooklyn, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to sort through the keeper’s observation that if humans had not evolved as dominant, some other species might be setting human hunting quotas and deciding other human population control issues. Had wolves evolved to the top spot, …
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Unnatural Selection
Photo by Francesco Califano on Unsplash By Geoff Carter This has been a period of unparalleled prosperity in this country—for the few. While the average wage-earner’s take home pay has stagnated, giving them less real buying power than it did even ten years ago, a few rich and powerful citizens have seen their fortunes grow almost exponentially. According …
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Independence Day
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Article by Geoff Carter Our nation just celebrated The Fourth of July. Any American can—hopefully—tell you what this holiday is all about. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing all American ties with Great Britain. The founding fathers were sick of being taxed and …
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Uncomfortably Numb
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Something woke me up in the middle of the night last week. I lay in bed, dumb with sleep, trying to figure out what it was. And then my phone pinged me from the nightstand. Again. And then again. And then again. It was trying to tell me …
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Toys in the Attic
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I was trying to find a certain book the other day. It wasn’t in any of the bookcases downstairs, so I headed up into the attic and walked into what can only be termed a natural disaster. Boxes upon boxes littered all three of the rooms. Everything from …
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Qualified Immunity: There’s a Catch
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels By Mark Mamerow “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,’ Yossarian observed. “It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed. —Catch-22, by Joseph Heller Readers of Joseph Heller’s brilliant World War II black comedy Catch-22 see the war from the bemused and frustrated perspective of Captain Yossarian, a bombardier. Throughout the novel, Yossarian’s desire …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to Home Sweet Home
Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels By Geoff Carter It looks as if we’re finally over the hump. It’s the beginning of the end. Covid infections—and deaths in the U.S.—are on the decrease and shrinking daily. We’ve been told we can actually gather in public again without fearing for our health, and that those of us who are …
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Face to Face
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoffrey Carter “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” –George Orwell On May 13th, the Center for Disease Control changed course somewhat abruptly on its mask policy, announcing new guidelines. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stated “”Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to Saturday Mornings
By Geoff Carter Last January, the MeTV Network, which unabashedly calls itself “America’s #1 classic television network” announced a new morning show, Toon in With Me, which airs Saturday mornings and features classic cartoons. It’s sort of a variety show featuring special guests, comedy sketches, and interviews designed to lead into Saturday Morning Cartoons, a three-hour collection …
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Too Far Gone
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Perseverance is usually a virtue. The determination to keep going—no matter what the odds—until a goal is reached, a task completed, or a dream attained is usually a noble aspiration. But when determination swells into blind ambition or becomes nothing more than a single-minded fixation, it can result …
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Kickass and Flat-Earth Ignorance
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis, fresh from a wonderful family-filled Mother’s Day weekend, sadly acknowledge the seven people killed in the Colorado mass shooting—the 194th of the year; and note the inane Mother’s Day message from the NRA that …
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