Hi everyone,

Welcome back!   Humid enough for you out there?  Yikes, you can feel the dampness everywhere.  Come sit next to the fan, we'll slide over for you.  There's a lot of rain in the forecast for the next 10 days.  It's a good thing I got BDH and Little Buddha new raincoats and umbrellas this year.  The thunderstorms are supposed to start early this afternoon, so I guess we better get moving so I can try to get some of today's errands done without being drenched.  The guys made coffee, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

CNN aired the recording of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen discussing buying the rights to the story of Playboy model Karen McDougal who claimed she had an affair with Trump.  Cohen's lawyer gave CNN the tape, so it seems fair to assume that Cohen is no longer on Team Trump. There was a time when something like this would have been the end of Trump's presidency, but when the GOP can't even stand up to treason, all bets are off.  However, now we really can't wait to hear what's on the other 11 recordings that federal prosecutors seized from Cohen's office. 

Donald Trump's trade war is hurting farmers, so Trump is looking to buy them off with a $12 billion relief package.  Are farmers supposed to be grateful that he's offering relief from a problem that he caused in the first place?

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) dismissed Donald Trump's threat to revoke security clearances of former Obama officials.  In other news, Paul Ryan is apparently still here.

Georgia state representative Jason Spencer is resigning after embarrassing himself on Sacha Baron Cohen's new TV show, Who is America?  Any chance the host convinced Donald Trump to appear at some point this season?

A lot of people have advice for new Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, the first African American to hold the position in the city.

The Somerville Public Library had a fantastic response to some nonsense op-ed that said Amazon should replace libraries to save taxpayers money:  They hosted a stuffed animal sleepover.  Apparently these kinds of events have been shown to increase interest in reading among little kids.  Seriously, you've got to click on the link and check out the pictures.

We want to wish a happy birthday to Louise Brown.  The world's first test-tube baby turns 40 years old today.  We know a number of people whose lives have been changed by IVF procedures, and we salute them and everyone else who has been through this process.

Twitter has an interesting reason for locking accounts that have "Elon Musk" as their display name.

The Boston Red Sox lost 7-6 to the Baltimore Orioles last night.  Drew Pomeranz gave up six hits (including two home runs) and four runs over just 4 2/3 innings, which is not promising.  Boston got two home runs from J.D. Martinez, and one each from Blake Swihart and Mookie Betts, but it wasn't enough.  David Price takes the mound for Boston tonight as the Sox try to win the three-game series.

The Baltimore Orioles continue to blow up their team.  First, they shipped Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now the Orioles traded closer Zach Britton to the New York Yankees for three pitching prospects.

We send our best wishes to singer Demi Lovato who was hospitalized yesterday after reportedly suffering a drug overdose.  Lovato has been open about her battles with addiction.

A lot of people are going to be excited to hear that Hamilton may be coming to the big screen.  Apparently a 2016 performance featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda was filmed and is currently being shopped around. 

Pretty sure this film will do well at the box office.  (pic via hollywoodreporter.com)

A Pennsylvania state board says Bill Cosby should be deemed a "sexually violent predator."  If a judge agrees, that would mean Cosby has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and also attend counseling sessions at least once a month.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  We may have to wait a while to see Hamilton in a movie theater, but we can still have the cast close things out with, "My Shot," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  Hanging out with you is always a treat.  Enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll see you back here again for more randomness soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.