Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  BDH and Little Buddha just checked the weather forecast, and it looks like we're talking about up to four inches of snow today.  That's not so bad, I guess.  I'll have to remember to stretch before I start shoveling.  We're down to the final two weeks of the month/year/decade.  Any last minute-goals?  I asked the guys what they wanted to do, and they said they were good as long as we could all hang out together (and maybe watch some more Chicago Fire reruns.)  We've got a good crew here.  They just made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Tuesday Clutter.

(BDH and Little Buddha want to help some terrific animals find their forever homes this holiday season.  To help make that happen, they've decided that we will donate 50% of our share of the proceeds of all sales that go through the Clutter Amazon page between now and December 31 to the Pope Memorial SPCA in New Hampshire.  Pope has a variety of great pets available for adoption, and the organization also offers a number of education programs.  The guys hope you'll consider using our page so that we can help as many animals as possible.)

Rudy Giuliani admitted in an interview that former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was removed from her post to make it easier for him to pressure Ukraine for dirt on Joe Biden and his family.  The White House occupant's attorney isn't hiding his corruption, nor Donald Trump's involvement.  Either Rudy thinks he's untouchable, or he wants Trump to know if he goes down, he'll take the Great Pumpkin down with him.

This guy should already be in jail.  (pic via cbsnews.com)

It's a miracle:  Congress approved $25 million for research about gun violence yesterday.  This is the first time this funding's been approved in about 20 years.   It's much less than other public health threats receive, but hey, you've got to start somewhere.

The country is moving in the right direction on one issue:  Support for capital punishment the lowest it's been in decades and the number of executions continues to decline nationally.  However, it won't be a win until the death penalty is abolished across this country.  It's been banned in 21 states, so there's still more work to be done.

We support Representative Ayanna Pressley's call for decriminalizing prostitution at the federal level.  Having this work be illegal places vulnerable women at greater risk, because they can't report crimes committed against them without fear of arrest.  This wouldn't solve all of the problems connected to this industry, but it would be an important first step, and we applaud Rep. Pressley's longstanding advocacy on behalf of our country's invisible populations.

As we mentioned yesterday, the New England Patriots secured their 11th consecutive playoff berth on Sunday, which is great.  However, New England's seeding is still yet to be determined, and that's huge.  Unless Tom Brady and the offense find a magic switch to flip, this team needs as many advantages as it can get to go far in the postseason this year. 

Congratulations to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees on breaking Peyton Manning's record for career touchdown passes last night.  Tom Brady is now two TD's behind Brees (540 to 538), so we're hoping #12 will at least get a short run with the title next weekend.  In any case, that's an impressive accomplishment.

We're sorry to hear that Josh Gordon has been indefinitely suspended again by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.  It's clear that the wide receiver has much bigger problems to deal with besides playing football, and we hope he's able to find a path that provides greater stability in his life.

The NFL Players Association revealed that the Jacksonville Jaguars fined a player $750,000 for missing "mandatory" medical appointments that weren't allowed by the collective bargaining agreement to be labeled as such.  The union then warned players to reconsider any thoughts about signing with the team.  That's a potentially huge blow to the team, and it's hard to see how they could recover without cleaning house.  Something stinks when one team is responsible for more than 25% of all player grievances in the NFL over the last two years.

There's a new trailer for Top Gun: Maverick.  For those of you asking, yes it looks like there is another volleyball scene, as well as a few other shots that call back to the first film.  We're going to predict now that there won't be many movies that do better than this at the box office in 2020:

It's almost here:  Eddie Murphy returns to host this week's SNL.  We can't remember the last time we were this excited about the show:

David Lee Roth will apparently be the opening act for some KISS shows in 2020.  That seems like a pairing that makes sense, given KISS bassist Gene Simmons was one of Van Halen's first champions.  Between that and Roth's upcoming Las Vegas residency, it's clear that Van Halen won't be performing again anytime soon, which isn't surprising.  At this point, we assume the band is done unless someone ever announces otherwise.

Okay kids, that's it for now.  Wham!'s 1984 video for "Last Christmas" was restored to a 4k level, and it looks amazing.  See for yourself with today's, "Song of the Day."

That's amazing, right?  What other classic videos would you like to see get this kind of treatment?  Email us your suggestions at [email protected].

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It's always great to see you.  There's no snow here yet.  Maybe this will be like one of those summer days where they say there's a 40% chance of rain for 12 hours and we don't get a drop?  That might be asking for too much.  Well, however the weather plays out, enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll catch up with you again for more shenanigans soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter and we are outta here.