Hi everyone,

Welcome back!  How are you?  Yesterday was a no-go at the bookstore.  Nothing for BDH and Little Buddha in the new releases section, and they just finished their current book.  I might try a different store to see if they have anything, but we're open to suggestions.

I'm moving a little slowly at the moment, thanks to about 90 minutes of sleeplessness starting around 2:30 in the morning.  Don't know what that was about.  I fell asleep shortly after going to bed, and then, wide awake for no apparent reason.  Good times.  I heard the start of the rain, so at least the weather people got that right.  Oh, and then when I did fall asleep, I had another weird dream.  2020 is messing with my head more than usual these days. 

Thankfully, our crew is here to keep me on track.  They said we can discuss the dream after we check out today's headlines.  They also made a large pot of coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

Well, we said here earlier that last night's presidential debate didn't seem likely to change many voters' minds.  We suspect that's still true, but we underestimated what a train wreck the night would become, so that's our mistake.  Many are in fact calling it "the worst presidential debate in modern history."  Donald Trump came off as unhinged as he repeatedly interrupted Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace, repeatedly refused to condemn white supremacists (and instead made an appeal to a right-wing extremist group), and claimed (without any evidence) that two million people would be dead from the coronavirus if Biden was in the White House.  He was in full bully mode, to distract from his immense record of failures.  One wonders if Trump was the one who should have submitted to a drug test before the debate. 

An embarrassing night for the United States.  (pic via cnn.com)

Joe Biden came across as more rational and empathetic, but also flummoxed by the lunatic sharing the stage with him.   His biggest strength this year is simply being the guy who isn't Trump.  The country got a look last night at what another four years under this wannabe-dictator would be like, which helps Biden.  It's no coincidence the Biden campaign reported having their best online fundraising hour between 10-11 last night.  We'll see what the next polls say, but it's hard to imagine Trump improved his numbers with that meltdown.  What becomes even more worrisome is what he's looking for his supporters to do if/when he loses in November. 

Donald Trump loves to talk about how much Wall Street needs him to stay in the White House, but apparently Wall Street doesn't agree.  The majority of CEOs recently polled by the Yale School of Management think Trump has failed to handle the coronavirus pandemic properly, and most of them plan to vote for Joe Biden.  You know it's not business as usual when these guys are bailing on a Republican.

A federal appeals court approved Wisconsin's six-day extension for mail-in ballots to be counted, as long as they're postmarked by November 3.  It tells you all you need to know that this win for democracy is being described as a victory for Democrats, since only one party actually supports open and free elections.

A new poll shows record support for the Affordable Care Act, as the health care law's continued existence is in peril because of the upcoming changes to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Anyone who thinks pre-existing conditions should be covered better be voting like their lives depend on it.

It sounds like Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron may have misrepresented the argument that was made to the Breonna Taylor grand jury, and one of the jurors wants all of the relevant information released to the public.  We may start referring to allegations like this as, "Cameron pulled  a Bill Barr." 

Disney is laying off 28,000 employees because of the economic damaged the company has encountered from the coronavirus pandemic.  It's a bad look for the spokespeople to try to blame California officials for their decision.  Disneyland would be a major health risk if it was allowed to open right now, and that's more important than Mickey Mouse's bottom line.

There were many things wrong about this year's Boston Red Sox, but at least the team is already fixing one of the problems:  They're abandoning those ridiculous 7:30 start times in 2021.  Don't know who in their right mind that those were a good idea, when the Sox already play some of the longest games in the majors.  Now that they have that out of the way, the Sox can focus on the next key task, which is rebuilding the pitching staff.

Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has only played nine games since 2018, thanks to a dirty slide from Manny Machado that injured his knee in 2017.  The Sox need to figure out what to do with Pedroia, who is under contract for one more year.  The team says he'll largely be in control of that decision, and our guess is that he'll work out buy-out deal and retire at some point this winter.  We're torn about whether or not we'd like to see the former "Laser Show" in a coaching role.  He played the game the way you want to see guys do it, giving full effort at all times, but he also publicly buried Bobby Valentine and John Farrell while they were managing the team, which didn't look great.

The Tennessee Titans have the NFL's first coronavirus outbreak, after eight members of the organization tested positive.  As of now, the Titans are still scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, and their opponent from last week, the Minnesota Vikings, are still scheduled to face the Houston Texans for the time being.  We'll see how it all plays out, but no one should be assuming the league will definitely play a full season.

Actress Gabrielle Union and NBC reached a settlement after Union said she was unjustly fired from America's Got Talent and faced discrimination and harassment while working on the show.  Of course, no terms of the agreement were released.  NBC denied Union's allegations at the time, so why would they pay unless she had a case?  Who thinks anything really changed at either the show or the network?

Supernatural's final run of episodes begins a week from tomorrow, so let's take a peek what what's coming:

(We don't want to give it away here, but if you watch the video on YouTube and look in the comments section, the user named "My people skills are rusty" has a terrific suggestion for how the series should end.)

Uh-oh, Chicago Med is shutting down filming for two weeks after a member of their production crew tested positive for the coronavirus.  As of now, the show is still scheduled to premiere on November 11, but you have to wonder what kind of havoc the pandemic may inflict on the 2020-2021 TV season.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Seems like it would be fitting to have the Beatles close things out with, "Revolution," for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  The wind is really howling out there, along with the rain at the moment.  Be careful if you have to travel in this mess, or maybe see if you can wait for it to all die down this afternoon.  Either way, 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.