Attribution: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Justin Weaver, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper to restrain his inclination to smugness over the fact that when winter comes roaring back from its AWOL status with ice and snow and cold wind, the keeper’s “Independent Living” lifestyle at …
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Under God
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter When I was growing up, we were required to say The Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of every school day. From fourth grade on, we studied our country’s history and its government. We were taught that we the people were self-governed, that we chose our own leaders …
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Kickass and Dog Show
Attribution: Photograph: Bohemianroots, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be relaxing now that a giant Schnauzer named Monty has taken best-in-show honors at the 2025 Westminster dog show. Adapting the keeper’s philosophy about that kind of thing, which holds that if he had been there he would have …
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Kickass and Driver Numbers
Attribution: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is not involved in the keeper’s project of more publicly identifying drivers as is done in Japan where drivers over 70 are encouraged to display an identifying symbol to get them “more consideration” from other drivers. The keeper is suggesting that …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Substance”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Inner Child: Film Review of the Substance ★★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter In a number of recent independent films, including Drive Away Dolls, Love Lies Bleeding, and the X Series there has been a blurring of boundaries. This is particularly true in the horror genre. Subgenres like body horror and hag horror have been reinvigorated …
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Kickass and Bird Photos
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is thinking of dropping out of the bird photo competition as it is too tough for his obvious limited talents. Photo friends Harry and Jerry and Jim and many others will understand and maybe cheer for a less cluttered display …
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The Fascist Cookbook
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally published September 26, 2024) A refresher course on Project 2025. This is where our country is presently headed. I grew up during the late sixties and early seventies when youth counterculture was king. Rock and roll, pot, LSD, free love, and political activism were all part of …
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Kickass and Super Bore Fans
Attribution: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper staying in contrary character on this Super Bore Sunday by passing along a portion of the lead from a cover story he did for the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine issue of Apr. 4, …
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Kickass and Old Cousin Photo
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in appreciating cousins, the keeper being motivated by a wonderful old family photo sent along from Barron, WI. by his cousin Pat Turgeson. The photo, taken at Vermillion Lake where the clan frequently gathered for Sunday picnics, produced such …
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Kickass and Talking Plant
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in appreciating recent research reports having to do with the seemingly limitless communication capabilities of plants, particularly since it could explain the mysterious relationship between the keeper and the frozen geranium out on the keeper and Phyllis’s balcony deck. *Keeper steps …
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Kickass and Liberty or Death
Attribution: Peter F. Rothermel (1812–1895), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, identifies with the keeper’s question of just when does extreme old age become a noteworthy plus by putting a statistical limit on the amount of time a nonagenarian will have to witness narcissistic fools stripping basic human decency …
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Train Wreck
Illustration by Micheal DiMilo By Geoff Carter Watching the confirmation hearings for some of Donald Trump’s new cabinet appointees has run the gamut from unbelievable to harrowing to downright frightening, like a giant runaway locomotive barreling down the track towards a school bus stuck on the tracks. Some of his nominees seem to have no …
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