(Originally published July 8th, 2021, but–unfortunately, and with the addition of the new SCOTUS, still as timely now as it was then) Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Our nation is celebrating The Fourth of July today. Any American can—hopefully—tell you what this holiday is all about. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental …
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Talking Points
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “The sky is falling!” “We’re doomed!!” “It’s the end of the world as we know it!!” And so forth and so on. Such was the fallout from the Democratic Party after the first presidential debate last week. First, former president Donald Trump sauntered out from stage left, smirking …
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Kickass and Larry’s Birthday
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting that the keeper is more than familiar with the sons-out-of-control circumstance, adds that he is pretty much unable to assist in the latest problem whereby the keeper’s eldest son Larry very publicly celebrated a birthday marking him as old as the Pyramids. The …
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Kickass and Bird Photos
Photos by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper today in promoting him as a unique “minimalist” bird photographer with the shot of a hummingbird at the feeder which shows only the very tip of the hummingbird’s wing and requires that a viewer take the keeper’s word for it that …
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Kickass and Amish Cultivator
Attribution: Photo by Brad Weaver on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps in the first bright morning sunshine of July 2024 as the keeper tries to send a message to the Amish youth up in central Wisconsin who was riding that one-row corn cultivator behind a team of horses as the keeper and Phyllis passed …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Wicked Little Letters”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Poison Pen Pals: Review of Wicked Little Letters ★★★★☆ By Geoff Carter If you take a mystery, wrap it in a comedy, sprinkle in some feminist trappings, and then top off with a pinch of clownish but mean-hearted patriarchal mulishness, you end up with the wonderfully amusing but deceptively intricate film Wicked …
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Kickass and the Chickens
Attribution: Kolforn (Wikimedia), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in stressing the importance of respect in trans-species relationships, even the one between humans and chickens. It is doubtful that chickens will ever work out the deal that dogs have, whereby humans take chickens for walks and …
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Kickass and Jimmy Fish Debate
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that while the keeper has not really participated in a presidential debate, he did at one point get into a gentlemanly discussion with a POTUS over who had caught the biggest trout while fishing in Yellowstone the previous year. It was on the …
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Kickass and the Debate
Attribution: Joe Biden: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (source: Joe Biden); User:TDKR Chicago 101 (clipping) Donald Trump: Shealah Craighead (source: White House) Сombination: krassotkin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has the feeling he and Phyllis spent last evening sitting in …
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Kickass and Travel Notes
Attribution: Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop joins the keeper in offering a few random travel notes on a trip he and Phyllis made to Luca’s Wisconsin Rapids birthday party: *Wisconsin Rapids does have rapids, visible now–with the high water, from the Highway 54 bridge. *Remnants of Wisconsin’s …
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Local Anesthetic
Attribution: Melvinmazel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Traditional print and broadcast media are under fire from political forces seeking to create—and disseminate—their own separate realities. Masters of disinformation and proponents of downright lies, including the myth of the stolen 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican followers regard traditional journalists …
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Kickass and Summer Bonding
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass the doorstop dog joins the keeper in noting that everyone bonds with the emerging summer in their own way. With Phyllis it is through her raised garden plot that has already produced little radishes and kale for adding to refreshing salads. In the keeper’s case, the summer …
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