Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  My back is a little stiff, so I'm moving somewhat slowly this morning.  BDH and Little Buddha think it's time to rotate the mattress.  That sounds about right.  I'll just have to stretch for a bit first.  It looks like today will be pretty quiet around here.  The forecast calls for rain for most of the day, so I might just leave the guys to their current book while I take care of a few things.  It would be nice to get outside for a minute or two though, so maybe the rain won't last as long as predicted.  Anyway, let's get to work.  There's a fresh pot of coffee on the counter, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Saturday Clutter.

Donald Trump's attacks on Joe Biden aren't working, so now Trump is moving on to Senator Kamala Harris, claiming she's "not competent" to be vice-president.  If there's one thing that freaks out Trump more than women in general, it's women of color.    From California's attorney general to the U.S. Senate,  Kamala Harris is a forceful, accomplished, and outspoken leader, and that terrifies the Great Pumpkin.  The man would have you believe that anyone would rather see Ivanka in charge.  That says to us that we're all going to see a lot of their creepy father-daughter dynamic between now and November.

More people watched Joe Biden's acceptance speech than Donald Trump's, so cue the Twitter meltdown.... Having 180,000+ people die because of his incompetence doesn't faze Trump one bit, but losing in the ratings?  That strikes at the heart of his never-ending inferiority complex.

The owner of the Trump International Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, is filing for bankruptcy.  We expect Donald Trump to distance himself from the company as quickly as possible.  He'll say he just licenses his name (because he himself creates nothing of value), and he never met anyone from TA Hotel Management Ltd Partnership.  Of course, considering how many times Trump himself has filed for bankruptcy, it seems like he could offer those guys a few tips.

Author J.K. Rowling returned an award from RFK Human Rights after the group's president Kerry Kennedy criticized Rowling for transphobic tweets she sent earlier this year.  Said Kennedy:

“I have spoken with J.K. Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and nonbinary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community — one that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm.”

Facebook once again proved it's a danger to America, as Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the fact that the company was repeatedly warned that militias were organizing ahead of the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and they did nothing about it. Facebook's profits are fueled by right-wing/white-supremacists, and the social media behemoth repeatedly refuses to hold them accountable, because they don't want to give up the money.  How long until Zuckerberg's next apology for yet another alt-right violent incident Facebook does nothing to prevent?

Coca-Cola will be offering 4,000 buyouts in North America in a move to cut expenses in light of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.  The company's sales fell 28% last quarter, so they're doing some restructuring. 

As the NBA playoffs resume today, following the brief players' strike in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting, it appears that former President Barack Obama played a role in saving the season.  That's effective leadership, so clearly Donald Trump will be having a tantrum and trying to take credit for the games any time now.

Speaking of the strike, in exchange for going back to playing the games, the NBA agreed to create a social justice coalition, which includes making NBA arenas voting sites for November, so yes, we'd say the players' actions had real benefits.  It also seems safe to say that this isn't the last time the players will make their collective negotiating strength felt, and we look forward to seeing what comes next.

The Boston Red Sox lost 10-2 to the Washington Nationals last night and are now 10-22 on the "season."  We're more disturbed about the news that Red Sox players like Kevin Pillar and Ryan Brasier appear to be "All Lives Matter" guys who don't really get/care what's happening with race relations in this country.  We also forgot that Pillar was once suspended by the Toronto Blue Jays for yelling an homophobic insult at another player.  Add  Alex Verdugo's suspicious story about a sexual assault incident, and it all leaves it feeling increasingly difficult to root for this team this year.  Chaim Bloom still has a few days to shake things up before the trade deadline expires, and we hope he will take the opportunity to do some housecleaning. 

We are stunned and crushed to hear that actor Chadwick Boseman died yesterday at age 43 after a previously-undisclosed battle with colon cancer.  Boseman was amazing in Black Panther as well as his portrayal of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, music icon James Brown, and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.  It was impossible to take your eyes off him, even when he had a smaller supporting role like he did in Da 5 Bloods.  His dignity, strength, and charisma poured off the screen, and we assumed we'd have many more years ahead to enjoy his talents.  This is such a loss.  Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans.  Enough, 2020.  That's enough.

Rest in Power.  (pic via summarizer.co)

Not feeling like we properly described Chadwick Boseman's impact.  This clip of him surprising Black Panther fans does a better job of what we were trying to say:

There's just such warmth and joy radiating from him.  Cancer sucks.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Christina Aguilera to close things out with "Reflection" (from the new Mulan movie) for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  Like we said before, it will probably be pretty quiet around here, so BDH and Little Buddha invite you to come back later and read with them if you like.  Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your day, wear your masks, 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.