Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  We're all fine at the moment.  A little annoyed that the heat still needs to come on, even briefly, on May 12.  Other than that, things are good.  Had a productive day yesterday which included my first bike ride of the year, and that was terrific.  The rain came a little bit after I got back, so the garden is looking good.  Today is grocery shopping day, and that's always an adventure.  After that's done, there are a few things I've been procrastinating about, so BDH and Little Buddha will try to help me at least start one item.  First, let's take a look at today's headlines.  The guys put a fresh pot of coffee on the counter, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Tuesday Clutter.

Donald Trump put his racism and misogyny on full display for the world to see yesterday.  When CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump why he considers coronavirus testing to be a global competition, he told her to "ask China" and said that was a "nasty" question.  ("Nasty" is one of his favorite adjectives to use with women he doesn't like, which is most of them.)  He then tried to get away from the topic by calling on CNN's Kaitlan Collins.  However Collins wouldn't let Trump off the hook.  She let Jiang ask Trump why he specifically said that to her, so Trump tried to move on to someone else instead.  When that didn't work, he abruptly ran away from the podium.  Women who don't kiss Trump's feet terrify him.  His supporters constantly try to make him out to be "a real man," but he proves time and time again he's nothing but a coward.

Running away from accountability like a frightened child.  (pic via manisteenews.com)

White House staffers have been ordered to wear masks at work after two of their colleagues recently tested positive for the coronavirus.  They've also been ordered to follow social distancing guidelines.  These are the right moves, but they highlight the fact that Donald Trump's claims we're just about done with this crisis are pure fantasy.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected to explicitly warn about the consequences of prematurely reopening the country, when he testifies (by video) before a Senate committee today.   Dr. Fauci said that his message will be:

“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”

That doesn't sound like he's going to follow the Trump Doctrine, so do we need to start the countdown to his firing?

There are still 20 million people who haven't gotten their stimulus check.  The IRS has a handy feature called "Get My Payment" which allows you to find out your status.  The guys just ran our information, and they said it was pretty straight forward.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to have a coronavirus-related temper tantrum.  Musk announced he's reopening the company's California plant, in violation of the local stay home order, and he's also suing government officials over the policy.  He's been wrong about every aspect of the pandemic, but no one tells a billionaire that rules apply to him, and that it's not right to force his workers to risk their health for his profits.   This is America, after all.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker opened the door a crack to the state reopening yesterday.  Baker announced a broad outline for a four-stage plan to start letting some businesses resume around May 18.    The stages depend on how well Massachusetts is dealing with the coronavirus, and Governor Baker warned that it would be possible to move backwards in the plan if the numbers get worse again.   There were no details about which businesses would be first, and what the rules would be, and he said that would be explained next week. 

Close to 2000 former Department of Justice officials signed a letter calling on Attorney General William Barr to resign for what they rightfully see as Barr's improper intervention in Michael Flynn's case.  Apparently these folks didn't get the message that the law no longer applies to Donald Trump or his friends.  Meanwhile everyone is still waiting to see how the judge in Flynn's case reacts to the DOJ's blatantly politically-motivated sudden move to drop the case against Flynn.

MLB owners are apparently about to present the players with a proposal this week to bring back baseball.  The plan calls for a three week spring training in June, and an 82 game schedule that starts in July.  Home stadiums would be used where government officials give approval (though it doesn't seem like there would be fans), and teams would only play their division rivals and the corresponding division in the other league, in order to reduce travel.  There's also a proposal for a 50-50 revenue split, which goes against the previous agreement for guaranteed salaries based on how many games are played. 

This feels DOA to us.  The testing issues alone make it almost impossible to see how this could get going in a month, and that salary issue already isn't being well-received by the players.  There's no reason for the players to make that additional concession.  We know, no one has sympathy for millionaires, but team owners aren't hurting, and the players know full well any agreement to further reduce their pay now could come back to haunt them down the road.  Ticket prices won't drop if salaries decrease - profit margins will just be increased.

WWE wrestler Becky Lynch kicked off last night's Monday Night Raw by announcing she's leaving wrestling because she's pregnant.  There were rumors before the show began, but wrestling fans know to be suspicious about these things.  However, a clearly emotional Lynch said her life had changed and she was leaving to become a mom.  Lynch is engaged to fellow wrestler Seth Rollins, so congratulations to both of them.  It's a big loss for the WWE, because Lynch is one of their most popular superstars, but it provides a chance for someone else to show they can fill her shoes.

We're sorry to see that singer Bryan Adams went off on a racist/conspiracy theory-driven coronavirus rant on Instagram.  You can promote being a vegan without attacking someone's nationality.  It's really not hard.

In more positive news, Guy Fieri and Bill Murray are having a nacho showdown this coming Friday, which seems fitting for 2020.  The event is a fundraiser for Fieri's Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, which has raised over $22 million for restaurant workers who have lost their jobs because of this pandemic.  It's easy to make fun of Guy Fieri's over-the-top persona, but his efforts here are awesome, and it turns out he's just a good guy in general.  We also just heard about the time he officiated 101 same-sex weddings in honor of his late sister.

Now we want nachos.

We knew this was coming:  General Hospital will run out of original episodes on May 21, due to the coronavirus-related shutdown in Hollywood.  The soap opera plans to run three weeks of "Nurses Ball" episodes after the 21st, but then it's unclear what would happen after that.  We'd like to see them pull some old school episodes out of the vault.  "Old school" meaning nothing that's less than 20 years old. 

Producers say they're hoping to have the Friends reunion special for HBO Max taped by the end of the summer, although it doesn't sound like they'd bet the house on it.  At the very least, this gives us a sense of what Hollywood is hoping is an optimistic timeline for when production can resume.

Happy belated birthday to Bono, who turned 60 on Sunday.  He marked the occasion by releasing a list of "60 Songs That Saved My Life."  Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bono himself is one of the performers of the #1 song.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  (Hey, it's already a little warmer.  Sweet.)  How about we have Bono and the rest of U2 close things out with a live version of, "City of Blinding Lights," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha say you're welcome to come back later if you want to hang out tonight - just get us any food requests now before we head to the store.  Otherwise, stay safe, be good, 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.