Wednesday Clutter: Trump, Pope Francis, NH Pot Bill, Facebook, Nick Foles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Modern Family, Mom, Ghost, Sly & the Family Stone, and more
02/06/2019
Hi everyone,
Welcome back! Come on in, have a seat. How's your week going? No complaints here, we've been fairly productive so far. Well, BDH and Little Buddha have been productive. I've mostly just kept them company while they do their work. They say the coffee is ready, so help yourself to a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Wednesday Clutter.
Donald Trump gave a disjointed State of the Union address last night. The White House occupant threw out some empty words in support of national unity. He then quickly erased that message with calls for the "ridiculous" investigations against him to end, claiming they could hurt the national economy. There was the usual dishonesty surrounding immigration and border security as he indicated he would not give up on his mighty wall, because his base doesn't have much else to be excited about these days. (That's why Trump also threw in some anti-choice rhetoric for good measure.) The government shutdown cost Trump dearly, and if he insists on going back to it again in a week, or declaring a national emergency, Republican senators are going to feel the heat. All in all, it was more of the same from the Great Pumpkin and did nothing to change the status quo in Washington.
The golf clap seen around the world. (pic via yahoo.com)
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams delivered the Democratic response to Trump's speech. The rising star referred to Trump shutting down the government as a "stunt" that "abandoned" the American people in order to promote divisiveness for political gain.
In case there was somehow any doubt, it's official GOP policy to make racist attacks against undocumented immigrants.
It's important that Pope Francis finally acknowledged that there have been cases of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns. However, given how badly the Catholic Church has handled its ongoing child abuse scandal, it's critical that there be transparency about what steps are being taken to address this problem. We can't assume it will be dealt with unless there's public accountability.
Billionaire Howard Schultz doesn't like it when you call him a billionaire. He prefers terms like "people of means" and "people of wealth." We look forward to calling him "the billionaire who got a clue and stopped talking about running for president."
The New Hampshire House public safety committee heard testimony about whether or not to legalize marijuana yesterday. Hopefully legislators will realize that legalization is the right call for the state. It makes no sense to lose out on the tax revenue when every other state around them, as well as Canada, has legalized pot, and it's a safer alternative to the opioids which have harmed so many residents. Governor Chris Sununu's opposition is grounded in the tired rhetoric of the past, and it's time for New Hampshire to move forward.
Facebook will finally give users the ability to delete messages from their history. This moves comes almost a year after it was revealed that Mark Zuckerberg was able to do it. There's no reason why it couldn't have happened earlier, except that it would have cost Facebook a sliver of personal information about their users, and we all know they'll do anything to avoid giving up the goods.
An estimated 1.5 million people attended yesterday's New England Patriots championship parade, so we can end any discussion that Boston sports fans have gotten tired of winning.
Nick Foles spent $2 million to void the last year of his contract with the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday. The team can still place the franchise tag on the quarterback in order keep the ability to trade him to another team. If they do tag him, we imagine they'll find a trade partner. However, how entertainingly awkward would it be if they can't work out a deal and have to bring Foles back to once again be Carson Wentz's backup? We're rooting for Foles to get the chance to be a starter somewhere else, but that would be funny to watch.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky has to be re-sentenced after finding the original judge improperly used mandatory minimum guidelines in 2012. The 75 year-old was sentenced to 30-60 years in 2012, and it's unclear if this decision will lead to a shorter or longer term in prison this time.
Sports Illustrated posted an odd article regarding Nick Francona's battle with Gabe Kapler and the Los Angeles Dodgers regarding their handling of some alleged illegal activities by Dodgers players. We already admired Francona (son of former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona) for calling out MLB's exploitation of the military for financial benefit, and he clearly tried to do the right thing in this story. However, this article is focused on Francona's character instead of the repeated alleged sexual misconduct in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Also, Kapler is awful and should be fired as the Philadelphia Phillies manager for his poor judgment.
Modern Family was renewed for an 11th and final season yesterday. We admittedly haven't watched it regularly in a couple of years, but this seems like a good time to wrap things up. Good for them for getting to the chance to close things out how they see fit.
Good news, Mom fans: The CBS comedy about a mother and daughter battling their addictions has been renewed for two more years. If you haven't seen the show, we encourage you to check it out. The comedy is usually pretty straight-forward, but it will occasionally hit the viewers with an emotional punch that you might not expect.
The band Ghost is apparently preparing to head back to the studio in 2020 with an album to come later in the year. Not really sure how to describe the Swedish rock band, but we've enjoyed every song of theirs we've heard so far, and we will be interested in that new record.
Okay kids, that's all for now. Let's have Sly and The Family Stone close things out with, "Everyday People," 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 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.
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