Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all!  What's the plan for the weekend, besides dealing with the snow?  We've just got a few errands to run before the fun begins, and then the car goes into the garage until we can dig it back out again.  Oh, and of course, there's the Patriots game on Sunday.  I thought there was already supposed to be some snow on the ground now, but apparently it's been removed from the forecast.  Sweet.  That means we can focus on the important things like today's headlines and coffee.  BDH and Little Buddha made a fresh pot, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.

According to a new Buzzfeed.com article,  Donald Trump reportedly directly ordered Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his dealings regarding a proposed Trump Tower in Russia. We're not attorneys, nor have we played them on TV, but if this report is true, we're pretty sure this falls under obstruction of justice.  Pretty, pretty sure.  Whatever the final reason for it, there is no doubt that Trump is more loyal to Russia than the United States.  If Senate Republicans weren't also likely tainted by Russian campaign contributions washed by the NRA, the impeachment hearings would already be well underway, if not completed by this point.  Some House Democrats may not have wanted to talk about impeachment so soon after regaining control of the chamber, but it's clear Trump won't give them the chance to avoid it for much longer.

The news continues to get worse for Donald Trump on a daily basis.  (pic via cnn.com)

Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani is trying to walk back his basic admission earlier this week of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. Clearly his next argument is that Trump colluded with Russia, but who cares?  Also, if you're one of the many Trump associates in legal trouble right now, do you take Rudy's comments as a sign that no help is coming your way?  If so, are you more likely to open up to investigators?  This is really the best attorney Trump could find.  With lawyers like this, who needs a special counsel? 

Former state representative Jim Lyons was elected chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party on Thursday, which is going to be a problem for Governor Charlie Baker.  Lyons is a Trump-style hard-line/far-right politician who will be a threat to Baker's continual attempts not to offend anyone moving forward.

Disgraced former CBS CEO Les Moonves notified the network that he'll be pursuing the $120 million severance that was denied to him after CBS determined he lied during the investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations that were made against him.  Here's hoping CBS wins that binding arbitration case.

Netflix says they're now up to 139 million paying subscribers around the world, but they missed on their recent revenue target, so Wall Street dinged their stock price anyway.  Tough crowd.

The Clutter investment team thinks this CNBC.com article about index funds is a good first step for people who are just getting started with investing. Everyone needs to figure out their own risk tolerance and remember to focus on the long-term picture, but as the late Jack Bogle demonstrated, investing need not be intimidating.

In addition to being idiotic, the anti-vaccination campaign is one of the world's top health threats, according to the World Health Organization.  This stat is ridiculous:

In the United States, approximately 100,000 young children have not been vaccinated against any of the 14 potentially serious diseases for which vaccines are recommended, according to a report released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's 100,000 children being put at risk for no justifiable reason.  This movement needs to be stopped as quickly as possible.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora seems to be rethinking his upcoming visit to the White House on February 15. His pause comes following reports that the Trump administration recently tried to block relief aid to Cora's homeland of Puerto Rico as part of their efforts to fund that wall.  Trump has demonstrated nothing but contempt for the people of Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, and Cora shouldn't give him a pass on it.  Trump needs this visit more than the Red Sox do, and they shouldn't allow him a photo op standing next to them.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says Tom Brady is "definitely the greatest player of all time." Kraft certainly has plenty of reason to feel that way, because just imagine how different his ownership of the team might have been with another quarterback on the field.  There's no doubt that Brady is one of the all time greats, and it's been a pleasure to watch him for almost 20 years.  Whatever happens on Sunday or after that, Patriots fans are playing with house money now and should enjoy the rest of the ride for however long it lasts.

John Wick was one of the more entertaining guilty pleasures around here in recent years.  Keanu Reeves as a hitman who kills 40 million people in about 90 minutes because a guy killed his dog, just worked when we saw it on cable a while back.  Now we've got the first trailer for John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, and the visuals are so interesting, we may have to pay for a ticket to see it in the theater.  That's something we haven't said about a Keanu Reeves movie in about...actually, not sure we've ever said that before.  Take a look and see what we're talking about:

Need to wish Betty White a happy belated birthday.  The beloved actress/national treasure turned 97 years old yesterday.

We won't give spoilers in case any fans haven't seen the episode, but last night's Supernatural was a strong start to the second half of the season.  The plot was intriguing, and it left us wondering how the rest of this story will play out.  Pretty sure the Winchester boys survive, but we want to see how they get there.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Melissa Etheridge is reportedly singing the national anthem before the Patriots - Chiefs AFC Championship Game on Sunday.  Apparently she's a longtime Chiefs fan.  Well, no one's perfect, so we're still going to have her close things out with, "Come To My Window," 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 coffee soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.