Hi everyone,

Happy Friday!  Congratulations on making it through another week.  It's kind of a gloomy morning so far, as we get the last of the rain.  BDH and Little Buddha say to focus on the reasonable temperatures today, because there's another heat wave coming soon.  Fantastic.  Anyway, let's get to work.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.

Derek Chauvin is expected to receive a prison sentence of 20 to 25 years today for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.  Hopefully that will be the case, because there is no justice without accountability.  However, the Black Lives Matter story doesn't end here.  Holding police officers responsible for racist behavior should be the norm, not the exception.  We still need reform in this country which involves a complete revision of our policing systems.

The latest data shows that almost all of the current coronavirus-related deaths involve unvaccinated people.   According to the Associated Press, "Only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average."  That's a clear sign we could end this pandemic once and for all if everyone just got their shots.   We support whatever efforts need to still be undertaken to help people who are having a hard time finding a vaccination site.  As for everyone else, stop watching Fox News and use some critical thought for 30 seconds.

President Biden announced that he signed off on the smaller bipartisan infrastructure compromise bill, but hurdles remain:  The bill still has to get Republican and progressive support, Speaker Pelosi said the House won't vote on it unless the Senate also passes the larger "human infrastructure" bill, and Biden said he'll veto the compromise bill if the larger bill doesn't also make it to his desk.  The money here says Mitch McConnell and his accomplices will oppose the compromise bill and claim to be disappointed about it.  Yesterday felt like mostly a chance for Biden to get his bipartisan photo opportunity more than anything else.  Democrats need to lose the bipartisan fetish and focus on actually accomplishing things that provide real help to ordinary Americans before next year's midterm elections.

Did President Biden accomplish anything else besides this picture?  (pic via esquire.com)

Speaker Pelosi also announced yesterday that the House will form a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, since Republicans had no interest in being part of an independent effort.  It's possible the GOP may come to regret not signing onto the plan when they had the chance, because now this committee has no end date for their work, and Democrats will be able to dive into more detail about Republican actions than they might have before.  Everyone associated with that attempted coup should be expelled out of office at a minimum.

Mike Pence continues twisting himself into knots, telling a Republican audience yesterday that he was "proud" to not be part of the "un-American" effort to steal the presidential election on January 6.  However, he's still also really glad he was part of the Trump administration and doesn't seem all that mad that Trump sent a violent mob after him that day.  This groveling is embarrassing to watch.  The man still has thee backbone of cooked pasta.

Rudy Giuliani's state law license was suspended yesterday, following a complaint from the New York Bar Association.  The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court ruled, "that respondent made knowing false and misleading factual statements to support his claim that the presidential election was stolen from his client."  The ruling also found:

There is uncontroverted evidence that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020."

"False statements intended to foment a loss of confidence in our elections and resulting loss of confidence in government generally damage the proper functioning of a free society. When those false statements are made by an attorney, it also erodes the public's confidence in the integrity of attorneys admitted to our bar and damages the profession's role as a crucial source of reliable information," the court wrote. "One only has to look at the ongoing present public discord over the 2020 election, which erupted into violence, insurrection and death on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, to understand the extent of the damage that can be done when the public is misled by false information about the elections.

It's only a temporary suspension at this point, but it should be permanent, given the seriousness of Giuliani's actions.  The legal profession is worse off for him being a member, and he should not be allowed to continue being part of it.

It may be legal for ultra-wealthy people like Peter Thiel to hide billions of dollars in their Roth IRA accounts, but that only highlights how broken and unfair our tax system is for the rest of us.  The rich should pay their fair share in order to reap the benefits of this country, just like everyone else.

Instagram is finally working on the ability to create posts from your desktop computer.  It seemed odd that was missing in the first place.  BDH and Little Buddha want to play around with that as soon as they get the chance.  (They also want to remind you to check out our Instagram page!)

The Boston Red Sox lost 1-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays last night.  All we can say is that we hope this is the worst Sox defeat of the season, because we dread to think about what would top it.  Boston starter Nick Pivetta was on fire, throwing 6 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball.  He was lifted in the 7th inning with the no-hitter still intact after Tampa Bay's Austin Meadows reached first on an error.  It was hard to watch, because of course we wanted to see Pivetta finish the game, but that was never going to happen anyway, given his high pitch count.  The Rays didn't get their first hit of the night until the 8th inning.  The night came to an end when Manuel Margot hit a single in the 9th, stole second, took third on a bad throw from catcher Christian Vazquez, and scored the winning run on a wild pitch from closer Matt Barnes.  Just brutal.

As if it weren't a painful enough loss by itself, this means the Red Sox are now a half game behind the Rays in the AL East.  However, Boston has to forget about last night, because the New York Yankees are in town this weekend.  Martín Pérez gets the start for the Sox tonight.

The outcome of last night's Red Sox game has us feeling a little salty about this, but congratulations to the Chicago Cubs for throwing a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.  It was the record 7th no-no in the majors this year, and also the first time in club history that the Cubs had pitchers combine to throw one. 

Former Supernatural star Jensen Ackles is reportedly working on a prequel to the show that would focus on the lives of John and Mary Winchester, with Ackles/Dean Winchester serving as a narrator.  That's interesting, and we're looking forward to hearing more about it.  What is fascinating, however, is that Ackles' former co-star Jared Padalecki said he wished he wasn't hearing about it on Twitter for the first time, and that he's "gutted" that he has no role.  It's always possible this is a weird joke between the former Winchester brothers.  However, if it's true, we want to know much more about their current relationship, which was always presented as them being two peas in a pod.

Conan O'Brien had his final show on TBS last night, thus ending a 28-year run as a late night talk show host.  It seems like just yesterday we were asking, 'Who the hell is this guy replacing David Letterman?" but yet, here we are.

We finally had a chance to catch up on this week's Loki episode, and the latest Easter eggs guide was helpful.  There was a big reveal about Loki's sexuality, and some intriguing information about the Time Keepers, but we admit we're still a little confused about what's going on with Lady Loki.  We'll just have to tune again next week.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  The grey skies have us in the mood to quietly ease out of this week, so here's Pink Floyd to close things out with a live version of, "Comfortably Numb" for today's, "Song of the Day."

That should do the trick.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  Enjoy the rest of your day, 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.