Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  It's officially fall, and BDH and Little Buddha say today's high temperature will be close to 80 degrees.  That sounds about right.  Guess I can't put away the shorts just yet.  The guys have almost finished the new Allie Brosh book, so they think it wouldn't be the worst idea for me to go to the other bookstore today to see if there's anything else they might like to read this week.  How can I say no?   First, let's check out the headlines.  We've got a fresh pot of coffee on the counter, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

Donald Trump again refused to commit to a peaceful transition if he loses the election in November.   That should alarm every decent American.  We've seen how violent the MAGA crowd can be in defense of their cult leader, and when you pair that with Attorney General Bill Barr's crusade against any form of protest against the government, there are red flags popping up all over the place.  Trump has also made it clear that he's looking to the Supreme Court to save him from defeat, which is why he's ramming through the current confirmation.  Our democracy is under direct attack, and we ask what Democratic leaders, as well as the public at large, are prepared to do in response Trump won't leave.

Donald Trump will do anything to stay out of prison.  (pic via summarizer.co)

A New York state judge ordered Eric Trump to answer questions from the state's attorney general regarding fraud allegations against the Trump Organization by October 7.  Trump originally said he'd be happy to do it after the election.  Good for Judge Arthur F. Engoron for not caving in and instead making him act like anyone else under subpoena.  The young Trump is not considered to be the brightest blulb, and dad has to be wondering how much damage he could cause with this appearance.

For our friends in Maine, a reminder that Senator Susan Collins has voted for 95% of Donald Trump's judicial nominees.  She's no independent thinker.  She'll occasionally tsk-tsk something Trump does and then vote his way anyway.  

It was once again confirmed that black lives don't matter in the United States when a Kentucky grand jury refused to indict any of the three police officers who murdered Breonna Taylor in March.  What we would give for that to be any sort of surprise.  The only charge that was filed was against one of the officers for shooting into an adjacent home.  Taylor was shot to death in her bed, and the government says no one is to blame.  Protests followed in Louisville and other cities in response to yet another reminder that our criminal justice system is designed to keep black people feeling unsafe for their entire lives.

Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell announced she will also run for mayor next year.   Councilor Campbell said she'll be focusing on tackling racial inequity in Boston.  She joins colleague Councilor Michelle Wu in the race, as the city still waits to hear if Mayor Marty Walsh intends to run for a third term.  One way or another, it looks like we're looking at a busy local political scene in 2021.

A new study by Citigroup says racism has cost the United States $16 trillion over the last 20 years.  That's an astounding number, and a reminder that discrimination impacts everyone.  The problem is that we have too many "leaders" who would look at that number and shrug, because as long as they and their friends have theirs, they don't care one wit how anyone else is doing. 

Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf apologized for his racist comments from this past summer where he said that it wasn't the bank's fault that they didn't do well with diversity hiring efforts.  Scharf claimed it was because there aren't that many qualified black applicants.  Scharf now says Wells Fargo will work harder in this area, but we would put that comment up there with every apology every Wells Fargo CEO made after they got caught breaking the law.  Actions speak louder than words, and the bank's actions say it will be business as usual until the next scandal.  We'll set the over/under on the next story for somewhere around the end of January 2021.

The Boston Celtics lost 112-109 to the Miami Heat last night and are now down 3-1 in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.  Is it time to call it a day on this year's team, or do we think they have any chance of making a comeback?

The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-1 last night to improve to 22-34 on the "season."  Nate Eovaldi was apparently determined to end his season on a strong note, and that's exactly what he did, throwing six innings of shutout ball with seven hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts.  Eovaldi was throwing gas all night.  He clearly has top-level stuff.  The Sox just need to figure out how to keep him healthy for an entire season, or maybe it's more like Chaim Bloom now needs to see what the pitcher's trade value is this off-season.  Martín Pérez makes his final start for the season against Baltimore tonight.

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor missed last Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs because the team doctor accidentally punctured his lung while giving him a painkiller shot for a cracked rib.  First off, that has to be the last time the Chargers doctor steps foot in the team facility, right?  Who in their right mind would trust him now for anything more complicated than an aspirin?  Maybe that's naive of us to think, and this might be too, but if Taylor needed a painkiller for a broken rib, maybe he shouldn't have been scheduled to play against the Chiefs in the first place.

Another part of our childhood is gone now with the news that 1980's pro wrestling legend Road Warrior Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) died yesterday at age 60.  No cause of death was given.  Animal and his partner Hawk (Mike Hegstrand) were larger than life characters.  They usually made short work of their opponents, and you could always count on them, particularly Hawk (who died in 2003), for an entertaining promo.   They were immediate mega-stars everywhere they appeared.  Our condolences go out to Animal's family and friends.

Former WWE star John Cena has been trying to follow in Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and Dave Bautista's footsteps for a while and make the transition from pro wrestling to Hollywood fame.  Cena took a big step forward on that front with the news that he'll be starring in a Suicide Squad spinoff on HBO Max that will be written and directed by James Gunn.  We find Cena to be awkward, but cheers to anyone from the WWE who shows they can have a career that's not controlled by Vince McMahon.

Sorry, MCU fans:  Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow has been moved once again as studios and theaters continue to face coronavirus-related issues.  The film, whose release date has already been changed several times, was scheduled to open on November 6, but now it will come out on May 7, 2021.  That's a little disappointing.  There's no way we are going back to the theater this year, but we were kind of hoping the studio would go for the video-on-demand option.  Oh well, hopefully we'll be comfortable seeing it on the big screen in May (unless it changes again.)

If it makes you feel better, the season premiere of This is Us is being moved up two weeks to October 27.  We're looking forward to the return of scripted TV programs to serve a brief distraction from everything else going on in the world.

Rolling Stone released a new list of the top 500 albums of all time.  These things make for fun conversation, but the best albums are the one that you feelthe most, whether it's something by the Beatles, Beyoncé, Lou Reed, Metallica, James, Brown, Metallica, or Motley Crue.  That's the joy of music - finding songs that you connect with, regardless of the style.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Speaking of Beyoncé, we just discovered she was part of a pairing we had no idea ever happened.  It's a cool combination of voices, so here she is with Eddie Vedder to close things out with, "Redemption Song," for today's, "Song of the Day."

No idea where Rolling Stone would rank that, but we enjoyed it.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you as always.  Enjoy the warm weather, 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.