Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  Yesterday's weather forecast was spot-on, as we had a steady rain all day.  BDH and Little Buddha spent most of their time reading while I handled the cleaning around here, and a productive time was had by all.  The guys are eager to get to work, so they've already made the coffee.  Help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans hired an outside female counsel to question Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday, because they don't want the visual of all of these old white guys who are completely unable to hide their contempt for Ford making the rounds.  It's an abdication of duty made because of the rampant misogyny that poisons the GOP.  The committee Democrats remain able to handle their professional responsibilities and will handle their questioning of Ford themselves.  Senate Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also announced that a vote on Kavanaugh's nomination has been scheduled for Friday morning.  Maybe that's a bluff, but otherwise, the fix is in.  Without doing an investigation and calling other witnesses, like Mark Judge, this hearing is still about as legitimate as a WWE match.

Donald Trump apparently mistook his United Nations General Assembly speech for a campaign event yesterday.  The Great Pumpkin started making his usual claims about having achieved more than anyone anywhere at anytime, and world leaders literally laughed at him.  Perhaps the shock of Trump has finally worn off for these folks and they've come to realize what a dimwitted buffoon the White House occupant is.

"Hey, stop laughing at me."  (pic via orangesuncounty.com)

Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison yesterday after being found guilty of felony aggravated indecent assault.  It's great to see justice done for once, as Cosby demonstrated no remorse for any of his actions over multiple decades.  He was also deemed a "sexually violent predator" and fined $25,000.

The Dunkin' Donuts mothership is officially dropping the "Donuts" from their name in a bid to stay relevant.  What do you think - is that a mistake or a reasonable change?  Either way, they'll always be DD to us.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again today.  Do we dare dream that the Clutter savings account could earn up to $2 in monthly interest?  We'll have the investment team work out the math on that one.

The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles were rained out yesterday, so the two teams will play a day-night doubleheader today.  David Price and Chris Sale get the starts for Boston.  Whatever happens on the field, the highlight of the day will be Jerry Remy's return to the Red Sox broadcast for an inning.  Hopefully Remy will be back again next season now that he's finished his radiation treatment to fight his most recent lung cancer battle.

Cheers to Boston police officer Steve Horgan on his upcoming retirement.  Horgan is the Boston Red Sox bullpen cop best known for raising his hands in excitement as David Ortiz hit a grand slam in the 2013 playoffs.  We've seen Horgan recreate his pose for just about anyone who asked over the years since then.

Houston Astros reliever Robert Osuna's domestic assault case has been dropped, with the pitcher compelled to continue counseling and stay away from his victim for the next year.  It would be a nice case of karmic revenge if Osuna bombs in the playoffs.  The Astros sold their soul to pick up this guy, and they deserve to have it come back and bite them.

What is basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar up to these days?  Oh, he just became one of the writers for the returning Veronica Mars.  You know, typical career change, really.

Barstool Sports used to be a free weekly magazine in Boston that we would grab, along with a couple of others, for the ride home on the T.  It was only a few pages long, so it took all of three stops to finish.  The big selling point was that they had columns about the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots that were much more relaxed than what you would find in a newspaper.  It was like hearing a couple of friends talk about the teams.  The weekly eventually disappeared and Barstool moved online, where it apparently became the epitome of everything that's wrong about the Internet.  Of course, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy disagrees with that assessment.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  This tune's been playing on a loop around here for unknown reasons for the last 24 hours, so let's have the Red Hot Chili Peppers close things out with, "Otherside," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Is it just us, or does drummer Chad Smith look even more like Will Ferrell than usual in that clip?

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  The guys might watch some of the ongoing Doctor Who marathon on BBC American today, so you're welcome to join them for that.  Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll circle back here again for more high jinks soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.