(Book Review) Nothing General About It
Saturday Clutter: George Floyd Protests, Trump, Joe Biden, U.S. Supreme Court, Joe Burrow, Perry Mason, Britney Spears, and more

Friday Clutter: George Floyd, Amy Klobuchar, Trump, Boston Marathon, Red Sox, Madden NFL, Nick Offerman, Bob Seger and Jason Aldean, and more

Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  Congratulations on making it through another week.  Do you have anything special lined up this weekend?  It will probably be pretty quiet here.  However, BDH and Little Buddha are still researching how to cut your own hair at home, so that could make things more interesting. They tell me it's supposed to rain for a good part of the day tomorrow, which would be great, because this humidity is already too much.  Anyway, let's check out today's headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Friday Clutter.

The former Minneapolis police officer who put his knee on George Floyd's neck had 18 previous complaints filed against him.  Eighteen complaints.  Derek Chauvin had no business being on the force long before this murder.  When the state ignores obvious problems like Chauvin, and it costs innocent people their lives, of course there's going to be anger and protests.  For those who condemn the current riots, were you outraged when Colin Kaepernick took a knee?  One way or the other, when people are treated unjustly, and they are at risk of dying every day if they "step out of line," of course they are going to fight back.

Minneapolis Protests May 29 2020It feels like the country is on the verge of burning.  (pic via wnyt,com)

One of Chauvin's past incidents involved the shooting death of a suspect in 2006, but the Hennepin County attorney at the time refused to prosecute the case.  Who was the attorney?   Current U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose record as a prosecutor drew criticism during the Democratic presidential primary.  You can cross Klobuchar off Joe Biden's V.P. list.  We're wondering when the calls for her resignation will take hold.  Will the current national outrage over a constant stream of racially-motivated deaths force Biden to choose a woman of color?

Twitter hid one of Donald Trump's tweets about the ongoing Minneapolis riots yesterday.  Trump tweeted, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," which Twitter deemed to be "glorifying violence," but the tweet is still accessible to the public. 

It's long-overdue that the social medial platform hold Trump accountable in any fashion when he constantly breaks their rules.  Contrast that with Facebook, who will let Trump do whatever he pleases to protect their profits.  If Facebook won't engage in fact-checking, expect a lot of stories about Mark Zuckerberg to start hitting the platform over the weeks ahead.  Are any of them true?  Doesn't matter, right, Mark?

Trump made a big deal about an executive order he signed targeting Twitter and other social media platforms for allegedly "censoring" conservatives, and said he'd shut Twitter down if he could get away with it. (Spoiler:  he can't.)  It's always the guys screaming that their right to free speech is being violated who want to abolish it for anyone who disagrees with them.  At the end of the day, the main point of this clown show was to try to distract as many people as possible from the over 100,000 Americans who have died, and the 40 million Americans who have lost their jobs, under Trump's incompetent and corrupt handling of the coronavirus crisis.  Trump wasted months before responding to the pandemic, but he moved at full speed when someone called out his lies. 

In case you're wondering, Donald Trump announced yesterday that he "beat COVID."  No, we don't know what he's talking about either.

We knew this was coming, but it's still disappointing to hear that this year's Boston Marathon has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.  However, there's no way that event could have been safely run in mid-September.  Runners will be allowed to run a virtual marathon, where they will have to finish 26.2 miles in under six hours.  That sounds like even less fun to us than  a "real" marathon, but we hope the participants find a way to enjoy themselves after all of their training for this event.

The Boston Red Sox reopened their facility in Fort Myers, Florida, as owners and players negotiate the terms of a possible shortened season this year.  Only a handful of players and other staff are allowed in there at the moment, and we're still skeptical that there's any way to play safely this year.  If the Boston Marathon is being cancelled because of safety concerns for mid-September, how on Earth will these players be able to play in June?  The relationship between the owners and players seems to be deteriorating by the day, but the best plan would be to scrap this year and try to figure out how to have a full season in 2021.  Our bet is that's what they'll have to do eventually, so they might as well get started on it now.

The Trump administration is now claiming that Title IX, the federal civil rights law that ensure equal opportunity for girls in education, including athletics, does not cover transgender women.  The bigotry of this group knows no bounds. 

There's a lot of craziness in the world these days, but at least we can still count on a few reliable things.  For instance, there's Madden remaining the only NFL-approved video game, now that EA Sports and the league signed a new exclusivity contract that runs through 2026.  The last version of Madden that we played was the 2005 game, but then it got too advanced for our skill-set, and we had to move on to other adventures.  Does anyone know if there's a way we can download that edition?  That could be a fun way to pass the time when we're confined again this fall and winter.

John Krasinski is defending his decision to sell Some Good News to CBS, but it's not working for us.  Of course he had the right to do it, but the former Office star says he never intended on hosting more than eight episodes because of prior obligations, so the options were shut it down or let someone else run it, with him as one of the producers.  We would have voted for shutting it down.  SGN tapped into a moment that made it stand out from other content.  The next version of the show may be fine, but it won't have the same impact, and it's going to dilute the appreciation and gratitude generated by the first run of episodes.  Krasinski sold out.  Again, he's free to do it, but he sold out, and it's disappointing.

Nick Offerman is selling three comedy specials on his website, with the proceeds going to America's Food Fund.  We had the chance to see the former Parks and Recreation star perform live a few years ago.  It was a fun night, so if you're a fan of his, you might want to check these out and support a good cause at the same time.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here are Bob Seger and Jason Aldean with a terrific version of Seger's classic tune, "Hollywood Nights," for today's "Song of the Day."

May we all be fortunate enough to find an activity that makes us as happy as Seger is on stage in that clip.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha just mentioned that Steve Carell's Space Force comes out on Netflix today, so you're invited to come back later if you want to watch that with them.  We have plenty of snacks, but maybe you could bring some iced tea?  Otherwise, be good, stay safe, and we'll catch up with you again soon.  Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.

 

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