1.28.2017

The Shining City

(Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.
- Ronald Reagan's Farewell Speech, 1989

Ronald Reagan. I'm quoting Ronald Effing Reagan. A sad day, made a little more hopeful with the actions of those gathering at airports around the country, immigration lawyers, and the ACLU.


1.11.2017

Antennas

Had to bring in Der Creuzenvessel in to get some self-afflicted dings repaired. Insurance paid for a rental while it was in the shop. A 2016 Dodge. 2016. As in the year that just passed. And yet:


Look at that thing! Could be straight off my 1979 Mustang! I didn't even know they still made these. Does Dodge make you get a more deluxe model to get luxuries like a modern antenna? What's the cost trade off there? A completely different assembly process to charge a couple hundred of bucks for an antenna that doesn't look like it's from the Soviet era? Weird.