Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  Come on in, have a seat.  How are you?  We had a bit of an adventure around here when I took a stumble in the middle of the night last night and hit my head and back against a door frame.  Don't know what the hell happened, except that the floors here can be a little slippery at times, but I just went straight down.  Anyway, I'm fine, except that I'm under strict orders (from BDH and Little Buddha) to take it easy today.  I just have a couple of tasks that have to be done, but other than that, I'll do what they say.  Of course, we still need to go through today's headlines, and that's going to require some coffee.  The guys just brought in a fresh pot, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

Robert Mueller isn't asking for any jail time for Michael Flynn, saying that Flynn has provided "substantial assistance" after sitting for 19 interviews with investigators.  To lie as often as Flynn did and not get a prison recommendation indicates he gave up some high-level goods.  You know Donald Trump didn't sleep well last night after hearing that.  We wonder how all of those people who recited Flynn's repeated chant of, "Lock her up!" during the 2016 presidential campaign are feeling about him right now.  Much of Mueller's filing is redacted, but it appears that there are other ongoing investigations that were assisted by Flynn, and it doesn't look like this story will end anytime soon. 

Michael Flynn has a lot to say, and he's apparently sharing it all with Robert Mueller.  (pic via cbs8.com)

Republican Senators are yelling that they now believe Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, but they'll need to back up their condemnations with actions.  As Mueller tightens up the pressure, and after seeing what happened in the midterms, are Republicans finally finding their backbones to stand up to Donald Trump? 

The Boston Red Sox management's defense of their upcoming White House trip tries to make it sound like this administration is just like any other, and that's misguided at best.  Standing next to Donald Trump sends a bad message that a team with such a challenged racial history should avoid.  They don't need Trump, Trump needs them.

Apparently former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will not run for president in 2020 after all.

It was revealed that former Massachusetts state Senator Brian Joyce died from a sedative overdose in September, but the medical examiner was unable to determine whether it was accidental or intentional.

Stocks got crushed yesterday as investors realized Donald Trump was lying about a new trade deal with China.  Regardless of ideology, the stock market likes consistency and reliability, which is the exact opposite of the Great Pumpkin.   The S&P 500 dropped 3.24% on the day, leaving it up just under 1% for the year.  Wall Street is closed today in honor of George H.W. Bush's funeral, so we'll see if the forced pause allows people to calm down, or if the frenzied selling resumes on Thursday.

Lawyers are telling CBS that former CEO Les Moonves lied and destroyed evidence that was part of the investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.  Those findings could cost the disgraced Moonves his $120 million severance package from the network.

Admittedly, we don't follow their business dealings closely, but it was a little surprising to hear that Victoria's Secret is apparently in trouble.  It just shows that any company that doesn't adjust to changing attitudes is vulnerable to a downturn.

We have no problem believing science backs up the the recommendation that people eat no more than six french fries with their meals.  We also don't think anyone is going to follow that advice.  You know french fries are bad for you before you even sit down to eat, so you should limit how often you have them anyway.  However, people are going to down every last fry on their plate.  We want some fries after just talking about this, so let's move on...

Former New England Patriots/Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder.

The Green Bay Packers fired assistant coach Winston Moss after Moss sent out a tweet that appeared to criticize Aaron Rodgers.  If  former head coach Mike McCarthy couldn't survive a dispute with Rodgers, Moss had no chance of keeping his job.  Rodgers' reputation seems to be falling pretty quickly this season, and it will be interesting to see if he can recover.

While many fans will be disappointed to hear that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are apparently not touring in 2019, it does sound like the Boss might have some solo material coming next year, which would be a pretty solid consolation prize.

Oh phew, Friends will stay on Netflix for another year.  It's going to cost the streaming behemoth $100 million to keep the show through 2019.  That makes us laugh when we think about how angry some people got over the cast renegotiating their contracts to each be paid $1 million/episode in 2002.  This show has been a cash cow for its owners for over 20 years, and those deals look like chump change even at $1.4 million/episode when adjusted for inflation.

Kevin Hart will host the 2019 Oscars, which increases our interest in the show by roughly 0.0%.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  We had the chance to catch some of Scrooged last night.  It's such a great flick, and Bill Murray is a god, so we're going to have Annie Lennox and Al Green close things out with their cover of, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart," 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 we'll see you back here again for more fun soon (even if it turns out we have a concussion and broken ribs.)  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.