Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Monday to you all.  We were just looking at the weather forecast and trying to figure out if we will have to work around it again this week.  Looks like things should generally be fine (if a bit chilly), but next week has snow/snow showers listed from Monday to the following Monday.  I guess February is planning on keeping us on our toes.  Oh well, we'll deal with that later.  In the meantime, BDH and Little Buddha made some coffee, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Clutter.

Donald Trump lashed out at Fox News on Twitter last night, saying two of the network's anchors had a worse understanding of the wall negotiations than CNN or NBC.  That's about as strong of an insult to a media outlet as the guy has in his arsenal.  Trump took the tweet down for a bit, but only because he tagged the wrong person in the original version, and the corrected tweet is still online.  You know the Great Pumpkin is feeling the pressure when he attacks his security blanket.  Of course, he's still got his boss to give him a pep talk when he needs one.

Someone is having another tantrum.  (pic via w3livenews.com)

Roger Stone hinted that he might be willing to cooperate with Robert Mueller's investigators. First, that has to be considered a warning to Donald Trump that there better be a pardon coming his way.  Second, does it make sense for Mueller to use Stone as an asset, or is he better off just prosecuting him?  Stone's such a pathologically dishonest man, it doesn't seem like a stretch to imagine him lying to investigators in order to try to discredit the whole process. 

A man suspected of killing five people on Saturday was arrested at his grandmother's house on Sunday. It may be a surprise to Trump supporters to hear that Dakota Theriot didn't come into the United States over the Mexico border.  He's yet another American-born alleged domestic terrorist to add to an ever-growing list.

Advocates in Massachusetts and other pro-choice states are aggressively pushing legislation to expand and protect abortion access. The campaigns are designed to counter-balance anti-choice efforts in other states, as well as the continued hostility to these services from the Trump administration and Supreme Court.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, the House Judiciary Committee is reportedly considering investigating whether Justice Brett Kavanaugh lied about sexual assault allegations that were made during his confirmation hearing last year.  If the committee concludes that Kavanaugh intentionally misled Senators during his testimony, impeachment is on the table.

Former Starbucks CEO/Chairman Howard Schultz is looking at running for president as "a centrist independent" focused on deficit reduction. Talk about misreading the room.  This isn't 1996.

Didn't see this one coming, but former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw is being blasted for some racist comments he made on Meet the Press yesterday about Latinos needing to do a better job of assimilating into the United States.  Brokaw tweeted out a disjointed attempt at an apology afterwards, but it did nothing to erase the fact that his statements were xenophobic and out-of-touch.

Shoot, we meant to buy some stamps last week, and now they're more expensive.  There's a lesson here, kids:  Delays can be costly.

Facebook's plan to merge the back-ends of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger feels like yet another loss for consumer privacy, but will regulators actually do anything about it? 

Good for Mookie Betts for deciding not to attend the Red Sox trip to the White House on May 9. Betts and third baseman Rafael Devers have said they won't go, and Alex Cora, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Eduardo Nunez seem unlikely, or are at least still thinking about it, and other members of the team should do the same.  Trump doesn't deserve to stand next to men who have legitimately achieved their status.

Football legend Joe Montana has gotten into the marijuana business with investments in two pot companies. He should be the industry's lobbyist to work with the NFL on revising their drug policies.  Marijuana would be safer for the players than the opioids that seem to be distributed like candy around the league.

The Washington Redskins expect quarterback Alex Smith to miss the entire 2019 season after fracturing his right fibula and tibula last  year.  Smith underwent surgery for the injuries but then battled an infection after that.  It's not surprising that he's expected to be out for so long.  The bigger question is whether or not this will be a career-ending injury for the 34-year-old Smith.  Hopefully not, and best of luck to him with his recovery.  Maybe Smith should talk to Joe Montana about pain management.

Rent fans, what did you think of last night's show on Fox? If live musicals are going to be a continuing thing (as they should be) on television, maybe there should be understudies for the roles, yes?

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  We're going to do things a little differently here and wrap things up with two videos of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performing "Shallow" over the weekend.  The first clip is great because you have to hear the energy of the crowd collectively losing their minds when Gaga invites Cooper to join her on stage.  That kind of feedback is why everyone wants to be a music star.  The second video gives a better angle of the actual performance.  Combine them together, and you get 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 catch up with you again for more fun soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.