Attribution: WFinch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are struggling with the emotional outfall of having house-sat for neighbor Marsha and Jack’s orchid plant while they were off on a west coast visit. Simple instructions were to give the orchid one ice cube …
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Get Up! Stand Up!
Attribution: Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash By Geoff Carter No living American has seen anything like it. We’re being invaded. From within. Our government is being dismantled by a gang of billionaires, white supremacists, and radical Christian Nationalists. Veterans, park rangers, teachers, scientists, doctors, federal workers, and many other hard-working Americans are suffering. Because of thoughtless and …
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Kickass and Plastic Bags
Attribution: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sometimes joins the keeper in the morning as he watches the students walk across the parking lot from their parked cars to Memorial High School on the other side of Gammon Road. It is the keeper’s observation that the students …
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Dialogues on Robber Barons 2.0: This Land is My Land
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., and Geoff Carter Bots, Not a lot has been spewed on this thread regarding Trump’s power grab in Washington. So I’ll launch an opening shot. As I write–and things are changing rapidly–several of Trump’s Executive Orders (EOs) have been …
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Kickass and Goats
Attribution: Photo by Nataliya Melnychuk on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is not much help to the keeper as he investigates what is apparently a genetic quirk on his father’s side of the family that manifests itself in a fondness for goats. As a boy growing up out on the North Dakota prairie the keeper’s …
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Kickass and Weather Forecast
Attribution: Gus Polly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be filling in from time to time for some of those dedicated experts who are being fired by the Musky Money Monkeys who now infest and manage the WHITE White House. Starting with …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “The Apprentice”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★1/2 The Art of Greed: Film Review of The Apprentice By Geoff Carter One of the timeliest films to come out this year was The Apprentice, a biopic of Donald Trump’s life as a young man and his subsequent career as a ruthless and unscrupulous businessman. Even fans of Donald Trump might find …
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Kickass and Lost Hour
Attribution: US Government, resolution enhancement by user JRaber, Cropped by user Marketdiamond, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, on the trail of a missing hour, turns it over to the keeper and Phyllis: The Missing Hour “We lost an hour, we know not where, But we know this, it …
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Kickass, State Supreme Court, and Musk
Attribution: Fine Apples, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in observing the ongoing auction of Wisconsin’s supreme court as Elon the musk is the current high bidder in the April 1st election and obviously wants the state’s highest court as a trinket to display in …
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Kickass and 75-Year-Old Compliment
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, obviously understands the “Good boy” compliment but is not sure about the keeper’s reaction to what was intended as a compliment to him when a young woman said, “You don’t look a day over seventy-five.” Perhaps the compliment is in a class with the …
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Kickass and Wisconsin Dead Friend Zoe
Attribution: Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, supports the keeper and Phyllis in their updating of the list of political absurdities that define life as a “Badger.” Add to the long-standing MINORITY REPRESENTATION in the legislature, the fact that Wisconsin is one of only two states where the tax structure makes it …
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View to a Drowning
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In November of 2024, a disturbing incident was reported at the River Ouse near Yorkshire, England. According to the Sun, a man had fallen in the freezing water and a crowd gathered to watch as he struggled in the water, seemingly drowning. No one moved to assist him. Members of …
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