Monday Clutter: Trump, Mike Pence, Coronavirus, Cam Newton to the New England Patriots, Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, Sacha Baron Cohen, Adam Lambert, and more
Wednesday Clutter: Coronavirus, Trump, Wall Street, Boston Red Sox, RIP Carl Reiner, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weezer, and more

Tuesday Clutter: Trump, Supreme Court, Republicans Discover Masks, Ian Desmond, J.K. Rowling v. Stephen King, Public Enemy, and more

Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  I'm just waiting for BDH and Little Buddha to come in with today's weather forecast.  Oh, here they are.  (They say hi.)   Apparently there's roughly a 50% chance of some rain throughout the day, but it seems more likely for tomorrow.  We can work with that.  The garden got another solid watering last night, so the plants are loving this week right now. 

Anyway, it's the last day of June, so we're about to close out the first half of 2020.  I know, it feels we've been in this mess for a decade at this point.  I can't say I have high hopes for the second half of the year, but hey, let's see what happens.  In the meantime, the guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Tuesday Clutter.

Here it is:  After Donald Trump denied he was ever told about it, the AP reports that Trump was briefed about Russia's bounty program on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in March 2019.   Former national security adviser John Bolton says he gave Trump the information. Trump also received a written briefing about the issue this past February.  His best excuse is that he doesn't read and doesn't listen when anyone is talking.  We can't afford that level of ignorance in the White House.  It's mind-blowing to think that the White House occupant knew U.S. soldiers were facing this threat, and he took no action.  Donald Trump has been in Russia's pocket for his entire time in office, and now U.S. soldiers are paying the price for his disloyalty to this country.  In a reality-based timeline, he would be run out of office today for treason.

Donald Trump June 30 2020He knew.  (pic via wowt.com)

Donald Trump is losing senior voters to Joe Biden, which makes Trump's decision to attack Biden on the grounds that he's "old/feeble/senile" stupid as well as untrue.  You have to start wondering if Trump is just running out the clock at this point and preparing for his post-White House gig, likely in a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Louisiana anti-abortion law yesterday by a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts once again siding with the liberal justices.  The law in question would have required doctors who perform the procedure to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.  There's no medical justification for that requirement, and the effect would have been to close down almost every abortion clinic in the state.  There was also no reason for the court to hear this case, since they found a similar law in Texas unconstitutional just four years ago.  So much for conservatives' alleged respect for precedent.   We admit we were not banking on the Supreme Court being a source of good news these days, but it's nice to be wrong now and again.

Well, that is unless you're Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) who supported the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the court because she said he believed he wouldn't overturn Roe v. Wade.  Justice Kavanaugh was in the minority yesterday, and it's clear he won't protect a woman's right to choose.  If Kavanaugh lied to Senator Collins during his confirmation, shame on her for falling for it.  Of course, maybe he told her the truth and she lied to the public.  Either way, she's up for re-election, and it's time for Maine voters to finally send this fraud packing.

The head of the World Health Organization warns the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come.  Folks, please wear your masks, stay home as much as you can, and get the vaccine when it becomes available.   None of this is fun, but dying is worse.

First it was Dick Cheney and Mike Pence, and now Mitch McConnell is telling people to wear their masks.  Someone sees the writing on the wall that Donald Trump could well cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate.  It's a cynical self-serving move which should have happened months ago, but if that's what it takes to get anyone in the MAGA cult to do the right thing, so be it.

AMC Theatres is pushing back its reopening to July 30.   That's two weeks later than the chain originally planned, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to force changes to the summer movie release schedule.  How are you feeling about the idea of going to the movies in August (if plans don't change again?)  Yay or nay?

Oil giant Shell is preparing to write down up to $22 billion of its assets because of current pricing challenges due to the pandemic.  If adapting to life in this crisis forces a move away from oil and gas, we don't hate that.

Pepsi, Ford, and Microsoft are the latest heavyweight companies to join the Facebook/Instagram advertising boycott.  The campaign against Facebook's promotion of hate speech and misinformation has shaved $60 billion off the company's market value since last Friday.  It doesn't look like Mark Zuckerberg's pledge that the social media giant will start labeling "problematic" posts will put out this fire.  Will Facebook have to finally revamp its advertising rules in a meaningful way?

We got our notice from the Boston Red Sox yesterday saying that we'll be getting a credit for all of our tickets for 2020.  Now the hope is that there will be baseball with fans in the stands in 2021.  This may be the first time since 1982 that we won't make a single trip to Fenway Park.  Stupid pandemic.

Colorado Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond announced yesterday that he won't be playing in this year's abbreviated baseball season because of the health risks involved due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Good for him for putting his health first.  Desmond made the announcement via a lengthy Instagram post that also touched on his thoughts about race, and it's worth a read.  Desmond joins Mike Leake, Ryan Zimmerman, and Joe Ross, who have also said they're opting out for this year.  Let's see if anyone else makes the same decision, as "spring training 2.0" begins tomorrow.

J.K. Rowling apparently no longer likes Stephen King after the horror author expressed his support for trans women on Twitter on Sunday.  Apparently Rowling is determined to burn her global goodwill to make sure everyone knows she's transphobic. 

Hey Supernatural fans - we've got a little bit of info on some of the folks who will be returning for the final episodes (which will hopefully air this fall.)  There may not be many/any surprises in this list, but there's one character we're particularly happy to see will make one last appearance.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's close things out with a new track from Public Enemy.  Suppose we should mention that the lyrics are NSFW, even though no one will be listening to it from the office.  In any case, here's, "State of the Union (STFU)" 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 to hang out some more if you like.  We're going food shopping after this, so there will be snacks!  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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