Friday Clutter: Newspaper Shooting, Amazon, Facebook, Boston Red Sox, NFL Scandal, Marilyn Manson, and more
06/29/2018
Hi everyone,
Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all. We got a solid rain for most of Thursday, and now the sun is shining, and the birds are chatting up a storm. BDH and Little Buddha say they're trying to remind me to put on enough sunscreen during the oncoming heatwave. Oh, and to also make sure to stay hydrated. The guys also want all of you to know that they made coffee. It's sitting on the table, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Clutter.
It was awful to hear about the shooting at the offices of The Capital Gazette, a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. The attack left five dead and others wounded. The alleged gunman, a man named Jarrod W. Ramos, apparently had a grudge against the newspaper for years following their coverage of his being convicted of harassing a former high school classmate. Yes, it's another white guy who is angry he didn't get laid, so he decided his only recourse was to kill people.
This clearly wasn't a new problem, but it's impossible not to link it to Donald Trump's ongoing war against the media. Trump's rhetoric has enabled his rabid followers to feel free to threaten the press. Example #1: Milo Yiannopoulos, the alt-right gasbag who called for "vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight," just two days before the shooting. Yiannopoulos is now claiming he was just kidding, but at what point does that stop being accepted as an excuse for calls to violence? The press is not our "enemy." Reporters are our neighbors, our friends, who have taken on a challenging and important job that often does not pay well. If you want someone opposed to the United States, look to the White House.
The war against the media has to stop. (pic via nbcnews.com)
Amazon agreed to buy the online pharmacy PillPack, and having the e-commerce giant entering this space seems like a huge deal.
Interest rates are going up, but 30-year mortgage rates have fallen again. Who knows how long this trend will last, but an average of 4.55% still seems pretty low, particularly if you're someone who might benefit from refinancing.
We support the idea of more people having access to the Internet, but the idea of Facebook having lasers to accomplish that objective doesn't feel like the greatest idea of all time. The site can't be trusted with personal information. Why should anyone feel comfortable about them owning lasers?
The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 last night to sweep the season series. The Sox got a fine performance from Brian Johnson, who gave up one run over four innings while filling in for the injured Steven Wright. Hector Velazquez and Brandon Workman took care of the next three innings without an issue. Joe Kelly got into a jam in the 8th, but got out of it with giving up only one run, and Craig Kimbrel shut the door.
Boston's offense was highlighted by home runs from Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr., and suddenly, JBJ is starting to look like a major league batter again. We're not looking for huge things from him at the plate, but with his defense, we could live with at least a .220 batting average (he's currently at .202.) Speaking of JBJ's defense, he, Mookie Betts, and Andrew Benintendi each made fantastic plays in the outfield last night. The win means that the Sox have a 1 game lead over the New York Yankees as they head to the Bronx for a weekend series against their rivals. Eduardo Rodriguez has the mound for Boston.
The NFL fined former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson $2.75 million for racist and sexist misconduct in the office, but yeah, players kneeling during the national anthem is the big scandal.
Will there be a Baby Driver 2? The first film made wonderful use of its soundtrack and was a fun ride last summer. We'd definitely be into seeing a sequel if that comes together.
Simpsons creator Matt Groening has a new series coming out August 17 on Netflix called Disenchantment. Let's take a look at the first trailer and see what this is all about:
What do you think, is this something you'll check out or nah?
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. We just heard that Marilyn Manson released a cover of the tune, "Cry Little Sister," which was originally featured in The Lost Boys back in 1987. That's one of our all-time most favorite movies, and we played that soundtrack until the tape was about to snap. Let's check out Manson's version for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It was great to see you, as always. Enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and...hold on...BDH and Little Buddha want you to know that you're all invited to come back and watch the Red Sox game with us tonight....oh, and if you wanted to bring some snacks...and maybe some lemonade...that would be great. Otherwise, we'll see you back here again for more fun soon. Until then, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.
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