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Take a Deep Breath…

…and repeat after me:

It is an opinion, not a ruling.

It is an opinion, not a ruling.

It is an opinion, not a ruling.

Yes, this definitely has the potential to turn into something truly horrific. And don't think for one second that the same religious lunatics who have their sights set on Roe don't also have designs upon Obergefell, Lawrence, Loving, and a host of other landmark civil rights decisions of the last sixty years. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that the right wing of this country want to turn the United States into a Republican wet dream dystopian handmaid's-tale theocratic hellscape where only straight, white, heterosexual christian males have rights or power.

While certain members of the court are already timidly braking, assuring everyone "the leaked draft is real but not final and can change," I don't believe a word of it. But I hope the backlash that results from this premature ejaculation will cause them to at least rethink it.

Fuck Alito. Fuck Cavanaugh. Fuck Gorsch. Fuck Thomas. Fuck Barrett. And most of all fuck Trump and McConnell and every.single.person who voted for the assholes who put those monsters in place.

The majority of the country is firmly in agreement with a woman's right to choose—as well as  interracial marriage, gay marriage, and freedom to have sex with another consenting adult regardless of their sex.

And I find it ironic that the usual suspects on the far right are already braying about the leak itself, not its contents. They're more concerned that this information was released—no doubt because of the possibility that this will influence the midterm elections in the Democrats' favor—than they are at the contents of the leak and the warning klaxon it's sounding for rights across this country.

Maybe that's why it was leaked. Perhaps it was put out there by someone in full support of a woman's right to choose, hoping that the sleeping giant that is the majority of voters in this county can be woken from its slumber to beat this kind of mid-century nonsense back into the ground. This is something that has the potential to touch every single life in this country—and the right wing is scared shitless that when people wake up and realize this, they're toast.

And that is why it is vitally important that everyone vote BLUE in November.

At least that's the belief keeping me sane at the moment.

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Quote of the Day

If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense.

If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true, and someone would find a way to figure it all out again." ~ Penn Jillette

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Oops, I Did It Again

We all have our hobbies obsessions.

I spotted this beauty on eBay a couple days ago. It's a Kenwood KR-7400 stereo receiver, dating from 1975. It's the same model receiver I'd owned since 2005—thinking it would be the last bit of vintage gear I'd ever want or need because it sounded so phenomenal—but foolishly let go of in the aftermath of the fire 18 months ago. The auction described it as "powering up and playing, but no other testing was done." Except for a few minor scuffs on the veneered edge panels, it is in excellent cosmetic condition.

The auction had a buy-it-now price I could not ignore. I should have it by the end of the week. I'm calling it an early birthday present to myself.

To be honest, at the time of the fire I hadn't been using its predecessor. But I didn't want to ever get rid of it. It was stored in the den closet, one of two areas that bore the brunt of water damage. I'd also somewhat fallen out of love with it with the arrival of my quirky Technics units a few months earlier and frankly, it needed some TLC that I did not have the skill set to provide. (I attempted to swap out the burnt out incandescent dial lights with LEDs and let's just say I was not happy with the results.)

Still, as the months drew on, I regretted abandoning it. This prompted the purchase a year ago of the model that came out a year later that replaced it, the KR-6600. As excellent a receiver the 6600 is, I've never been fully enamored of it.

Ironically, it was that purchase that prompted me to search out a competent vintage service tech because while it worked just fine, it arrived with a few minor issues that needed to be addressed (not the least of which were the 40 year-old undoubtedly long-out-of-spec capacitors lurking under that metal top case that the previous owner specifically noted had not been replaced).

And that is why the quirky Technics units went north to be refurbished first. While the tech I found came highly recommended by the vintage community, I didn't want to risk having that new-to-me Kenwood trashed; the Technics units would be a test to show me if the guy knew what he was doing.

And as I mentioned, he more than proved himself.

So…depending on the actual condition this new purchase arrives in, either it or the 6600 will be the next project for my technician.

 

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Oh My!

Is that a pocket full of spare change or are you just glad to see me?