We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
By the end of this week, interested readers will have a good sense of this sad old town. I can think of few other once-major industrial cities which have risen and fallen similarly: Camden, Newark, and Paterson, NJ, Detroit, Providence, Springfield MA, Hartford, and so forth. But for wealth, variety of industries, and location, Bridgeport's rise and fall seems like a special story.
It's sad to see the decline of those older eastern cities. What is sad to me is to watch the decline of Los Angeles. I came here to go to college in 1956. It was a great place with lots to do. It is rapidly becoming a third world city with dirty streets and decaying infrastructure.