Attribution: Leffler, Warren K., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s getting-acquainted-with-Chicago days with his old Army friend Bob Shepherd, a Black Southsider who was the keeper’s personal MLK and then some. As an essential experience the keeper and Bob were in the back row of a …
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Category:Social Commentary
Kickass and the One-Sentence Novel
Attribution: Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s lament that there is risk to a writer in the simple act of walking through a crowded restaurant to get to an empty table. While the keeper uses a walking stick and his pace is not speedy he does manage …
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Kickass and the Clippings
Photo by Samet Kurtkus on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper gratefully accepting the assistance of granddaughter Sarah in once again attempting to deal with the debris of a lifetime as an ink-stained wretch in the newspaper business. “Clippings” they are called. Thousands of them in drawers, files and boxes taking up space …
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Mighty Love
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Originally Published 2/14/2022 By Geoff Carter In her novel Surfacing, Margaret Atwood wrote “The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them, there ought to be as many for love.” She‘s probably right, although what passes for love today might not be as important to us as snow …
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Kickass and Being Redacted
Attribution: Muller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes In responding to his own question, the keeper concludes that judging from the positive reaction of so many “redacted” rich old men in the Epstein bible, being redacted is a really good thing. Not qualified for inclusion in such rarified redaction ranks as the Epstein …
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The Real Steal
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter President Donald J. Trump is a master of diversion, deception, and delusion. Smoke and mirrors, obfuscation, pettifogging, and downright lying are all trademarks of his brand. It may sound like he’s some sort of magician, but he’s anything but that. He’s a huckster, a grifter, a bullshitter, and—at …
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Can’t Buy Me Love
Attribution: Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash Originally published February 11, 2025 By Geoff Carter When I was in elementary school back in the early 1960s, St. Valentine’s Day was the day that brought life and color—and candy—to the gray slushy doldrums of grade-school winter. Everyone would attach manila envelopes with our little names block-printed on the front …
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Kickass and Bridge to Canada
Attribution: Erik Behrens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper, considering his unique qualifications, feels an obligation to calm the waters under Canada’s Gordie Howe bridge that is about to open in Detroit. With a Canadian born wife Phyllis and memories of a Norwegian mother reading him …
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Kickass and Killer Whales
Attribution: Callan Carpenter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper exhausted from the recent sports extravaganzas and seriously thinking of getting up out of his recliner just to see if he can stand up. Between the Olympians and the Super Bowlers, not to mention the half-timers, the …
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Kickass and Super Sports Sunday
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-0414-009 / Wolfried Pätzold / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper on this holy day of sportsfandom recalls the autumn he spent looking at Chicago sports fans to try to see what made them tick. The lead for the …
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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 Arboretum Deer Herd
Attribution: John Davis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in acknowledging the fact that sharing Wisconsin’s varied landscape with tens of thousands of white tail deer produces a daily mix of pleasures and woes. There is the constant traffic competition with thousands of …
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