Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  BDH and Little Buddha are thrilled to see you.  Come on in, make yourself comfortable.  Folks, can we talk for a second before we get to work today?  Is it just me, or was Tuesday "off" all day?  I don't know how to explain it any other way.  I woke up, spent about 10 minutes ironing this shirt before I realized it wasn't the one I meant to iron, got to work, and everyone and everything just seemed...off.  Is it just me?  I don't know if I'm tired, or not eating enough, or if someone slipped something into my coffee, but it was an odd day.

One other thing I have to mention.  I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I love the Clutter Tree.  I came home to Clutter Headquarters last night after this odd day, and was struck yet again by how lucky I am to have this tree here.  It looks fantastic after all of this rain, and looking out my windows, it just looked like I live in the woods, because just about all I could see what dark green leaves in every direction, and for those of you who know where Clutter Headquarters is located, it certainly ain't the woods.  It made me feel instantly better about the day, and it's why the tree is one of the main things I love about my home.

Okay, enough of that sappy claptrap.  Grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

In a story that should surprise no one, the ACLU is suing the Obama administration over the National Security Agency's telephone spying operation.

I'm not sure how much of this piece by Josh Marshall about Edward Snowden and the spying scandal I agree with (I tend to be one of those who thinks that the actions of the government that are supposedly in the name of "security" should be regularly challenged by the public), but it's an interesting take, in any case.

A new poll says George W. Bush is becoming more popular as the years go on.  Perhaps it's because people are starting to remember him as that guy they wanted to have a beer with, rather than the president who lied to send us to war, wrecked the nation's balance sheet with give-aways to his rich friends, and couldn't get a coherent sentence out of his mouth if his life depended on it.

The stock market took a bit of a hit yesterday, though it's still in fine shape for the year, and for all I know, it's already made that ground up in the time it took you to read this.  Basically, what I'm saying is, throw your money into a low-cost index fund now and let everything else sort itself out over the long-term.

Congratulations to John Oliver for not destroying The Daily Show on his first day as Jon Stewart's summer replacement as host. 

Why were the Tampa Bay Rays mad at John Lackey and the Boston Red Sox Monday night?  Is it A) Because they object to Lackey drilling Matt Joyce with a pitch after Joyce hit a home run off of him earlier in the game, B) Because they lost 10-8 in 14 innings, or C) Because there were all of 10 people in the stands?  It can't be fun to play in that stadium and hear the crickets chirp 81 games a year. 

Settle down, Beavis.  (pic via providencejournal.com)

One other thing, Monday's "almost fight" between the two teams ended up being a lot of noise about nothing (as many baseball fights are), but I still appreciate that the entire Sox team came out to defend Lackey.  Clutter is old enough to remember the days when "Psycho" Steve Lyons would rush out of the Boston dugout to protect a teammate, only to look back and see that no one was going out there with him.   This team looks out for each other, and that can only be a good thing.

Sorry, one more Sox item, and then we'll move on.  Let the record show that this Dustin Pedroia kid is pretty damn good at this whole baseball thing.

Not bad.  Not bad at all.  (pic via espn.com)

The Sports Illustrated Stanley Cup predictions are in.  Who has aligned themselves with the righteous, and who picked the Chicago Blackhawks?

Okay, I've calmed down just a little about "he who shall not be named" signing with the New England Patriots.  I guess I'm no longer actively rooting for him to fail miserably, but that's as far as I can go at this time, and even that gives me pause.

I'm intrigued that "This is the End" seems to be getting some good reviews.  What do you think, Clutterheads?  (Warning:  This is NSFW.)

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  I don't know how many of you saw the Tony Awards last weekend, but if you did, I hope you enjoyed the performance by Arthur Darvill and the cast of Once.  For those who don't know, Darvill recently played "Rory" on Doctor Who.  He was great on the show, and it turns out he's got a set of pipes on him, as you'll see for yourself in today's, "Song of the Day."

That was pretty cool, we may have to do that again soon.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  Enjoy the rest of your day, and here's hoping its not as strange as yesterday was.  Make sure you come back again soon so we can hang out some more.  You know how much BDH and Little Buddha love to hang out with you.  For now, that's today's Clutter, and we are outta here.