Bruen. Dobbs. Kennedy. OK v. Castro-Huerta. WV v. EPA….

From my perspective, this was not a great couple of weeks for this country. These decisions, along with some other things, have not made things better. More guns. Right to privacy gutted. Establishment Clause crossed out. Tribal Sovereignty rolled back to 1839. The government’s ability to fight climate change neutered.

It’s going to be tough to bounce back from this.

Really hoping this kind of overreach wakes the sleeping, apathetic blue giant. Hopefully we can get our shit together, because the left’s inability to get organized and eschew purity tests in the pursuit of the greater good played a big part in getting us here.

As I’ve said many times before, if historical patterns hold, we’re due for a bit cultural/political shift soon. I just hope it’s an enlightened swing toward looking after society’s best interests rather than the systemic collapse I’m fearful of.

This isn’t the kind of thing I want to be thinking about heading into Independence Day. I wish the upbeat tone of the Director’s holiday message this morning was how things looked to me, or how I felt. Doesn’t help that I’m reading a particularly well-written apocalyptic sort of novel about the collapse of human society to add particular inspiration.

On a more micro level, I did make some solid progress at work with the PMC reorg project, and I awoke to good news about a couple of my requirements getting on contract (finally) this morning. After a bout with some unpleasant migraine issues earlier this week, I’ve gotten a couple of nice bike rides in, including a largely unplanned 31 miles yesterday afternoon where I just kind of kept on going…I guess I had some issues to work out. Also had a couple of nice little dates with the spouse this week; just a few “hey, let’s get out and do something” adventures that were quite pleasant, so it’s not been all bad.

Looking to be a little social this weekend, with an appearance at a friend’s 50th birthday party this evening, and our usual Independence Day at the farm with friends thing tomorrow. I’m also only about 80 miles short of hitting my goal on the VCT Summer Challenge, so I’ll likely take a piece of the long weekend to put a longer ride (fifty miles or so) under the wheels of the Trek somewhere along the way; It’ll feel good to check that off, and start focusing on the summer music tour that’s coming up in a couple of weeks.

In any case, that’s the view from here. Today’s playlist is pretty eclectic, mixing up retro indie pop with some hard edges, jungles, weapons, and weird oblique references to those recent decisions mentioned above. Weird:

1. “The Sails of Charon” – Scorpions
2. “Stranded in the Jungle” – New York Dolls
3. “Run Through The Jungle” – The Gun Club
4. “Sufficiently Breathless” – Captain Beyond
5. “Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun” – Beastie Boys
6. “Sara Loves Her Juicy Fruit” – Albert Natural
7. “Quark, Strangeness and Charm” – Hawkwind
8. “Playing the Game” – Gentle Giant
9. “Where There’s A Whip, There’s A Way” – Faster Pussycat
10. “Me and the Boys” – NRBQ
11. “She Noticed” – Pregnant
12. “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns” – The Cramps
13. “Into The Void” – Nine Inch Nails
14. “Dragon Attack” – Queen