The more things change....

I used to live in Washington DC and, well, let's just say that back then it was quite a different time in the city.

Residents of the District of Columbia we were not permitted Congressmen, Senators, or the right to vote for President.
The first Metrorail line opened with only 4.6 miles of track.
Reagan International Airport was called National.
The shopping mall on Independence Avenue was a U.S. Post Office.
There was a ban on rock concerts at Constitution Hall.
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Vietnam War memorials didn't exist.
Madam Tussauds and the International Spy Museum hadn't come to town.
The Supreme Court was all-male.
And Martin Luther King's dream was just that -- a dream.

As S. E. Hinton wrote - that was then, this is now. But it often seems that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The unemployment rate was/is at an all time high since the 1940s.
White-collar crime was/is a major headline.
LGBT activists were/are rallying.
The dollar exchange rate was/remains low.
Home prices were/are declining.
We were/are in recession.
Our government was/remains wary of Russia.
There were/are tensions in China and Iran, turmoil in Kabul and the Somali, and trouble on the Korean peninsula.
The UN was/still is negotiating peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

And so in this brand new year, and with a brand new Administration, I look forward with brand new hope of change for the better, no, the best.

The Tides of Change
The ghost of dawns forgotten and to be,
Abides a moment in the twilight's grace.
~ George Sterling