No Kings Archives - Curmudgeon Alley

2026/01/192026/01/21

Bob Dylan Say Hello to Paul Krugman

Normally, I do not put out two postings in one day, but today I could not resist. The video of Bob Dylan at the end of this posting was the coda to Paul Krugman‘s newsletter today.

On the off chance you are not familiar with Krugman, he is a Nobel Laureate in Economics, the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and was a columnist with the New York Times for nearly 30 years until the newspaper made a sharp turn to the right and more or less ran him off. I suppose he is considered a Liberal, I find him to be a little left of center and one of the sanest voices currently in American politics. I used to read him regularly before the newspaper went behind a paywall. A friend recently gifted me a free subscription to his newsletter on SubStack, which is where he went with his heavily factual opinion pieces after his stint at the New York Times.

Listening to Dylan started me thinking of other times. I graduated high school in North Kingstown, RI, in 1970. For many of us of Continue reading “Bob Dylan Say Hello to Paul Krugman”

2025/06/152026/01/19

No Kings Protest / USS Carr Hat

As I have detailed elsewhere on this blog my mother’s brother, my Uncle Paul, died heroically in the largest naval battle in history. You can read about it here: Paul H. Carr inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. Besides being inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame for his heroic action he had a missile frigate named after him, the USS Paul H. Carr, FFG-52. There are several books of naval history that include his story. Obviously, having a Navy ship named after a family member is a huge honor, and all the family is rightly very proud of it. There is also a movement afoot to have one of the new class of missile frigates named after him. Hopefully, that comes to past.

I have several USS Carr hats, a couple shirts, etc. I wore them for years to honor my uncle. A few years past I stopped wearing them as it had become very fashionable to thank veterans. I became very tired of people coming up to me and thanking me for my service. More than a few wanted to shake my hand, something I am not comfortable with in the best of circumstances. Most importantly, I did not want Continue reading “No Kings Protest / USS Carr Hat”

2025/06/132025/06/24

Robert Reich: We Don’t Do Kings in America

I had a lighter posting queued up for today, but the world feels like it is spinning even more out of control thanks to the Idiot-in-Chief aka El puta pendejo naranja.

Robert Reich is my type of crusader.

Do your part – PROTEST!

What blows me away is that there are still folks out there happy that they voted for this incompetent, arguably mentally unhinged monster. This is an America I thought I would never see.

Various sources are estimating that the military parade will cost $45 million. Street repairs afterwards are estimated to cost $16 million. Whether that last amount is included in the $45 million I do not know. This at a time when the Republicans are hell bent on cutting services and benefits to the most needy among us, being the good Christians that they are.

As a reminder here is the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me