Attribution: Photo by Alex Martinez on Unsplash By Geoff Carter Every Fourth of July, we celebrate and honor an idea, a hope, and a dream which has survived more than two hundred and forty years. It seemed to be an impossible dream, that a nation could function as a free democracy, with lawmakers elected by the people to …
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Kickass and July
Attribution: William H. Majoros, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in greeting July 2025 with its explosive character of renewal: Gosslings! Ducklings! Bear cubs! Lambs! Fawns! Fresh berries! New potatoes! Sweet corn! The list is infinite. It is a glorious time of fledging and …
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Kickass and the Family Tree
Attribution: Popular Graphic Arts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis listening with interest to comments from the keeper’s granddaughter Sarah regarding some of her casual climbing around in her family tree. The branches on her late mother Dora’s side— “Durst” show an illustrious history …
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Kickass and Dark Chocolate
Attribution: Simon A. Eugster, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, happily reports that the keeper was at least with it enough to not heed his own advice yesterday about staying in bed in order to avoid the daily “Tin man” fallout. Instead, he got up, dressed in his old-man …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Woody Harrelson
Attribution: LBJ Library c/o: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter It seems as if he can do anything on the screen. He can be funny, scary, charismatic, lovable, vulnerable, sadistic, romantic, or eminently unlikable—or any combination of the above. Woody Harrelson is one of those actors who can slip in …
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Kickass Stays in Bed
Attribution: Photo by S L on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, with the audacity to join the legions of Sunday morning advice givers, recommends going back to bed and pulling the covers over your head. The alternative would be to rise and shine in an absolute Land of Oz world where …
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Kickass and Canada Friend
Attribution: PinchyCC, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, with Canadian- born wife Phyllis as a constant reminder of basic decency, and his own memories of many wonderful Canadian visits, finds himself uncharacteristically speechless in the foul wake of the Trump Titanic. To try to make light …
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Kickass and Phyllis’ Fall
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper in awe of Phyllis’s recent demonstration of how to trip over an item of exercise equipment while carrying a bowl of dessert, falling on her face in the kitchen and bruising a knee and an elbow and needing only minimum help …
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Kickass and Farmer Fishing Days
Attribution: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is unable to restrain leakage from the keeper’s memory bag: “On rainy summer days when the haymows were full and the corn was nearly at its knee-high-by-the 4th goal, the farmers went fishing. “They tied cane poles to the sides …
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Police State
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Much has been said and written about President Trump’s desire to transform our American republic into an autocracy, and it is indisputable—even to his propagandists at Fox News and OAN—that this is where he is leading the country. And we’re letting him do it. When the Supreme Court …
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Kickass and Woodman’s Calamity
Attritbution: Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that neither the keeper nor Phyllis were anywhere near the Woodman’s grocery store when the roof fell in, creating an impressive waterfall over the produce department and giving several customers wet feet and presumably damp apples and bananas. News of …
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Kickass and Higher Elevation
Attribution: Stefano Ferrario, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper and Phyllis listened to the flood warnings last night on TV they were comfortable, even smug in acknowledging that their 5th floor living quarters protects them from such natural things as floods, burrowing rodents and all but …
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