Hi folks,

Welcome back.  How are you?  Our crew is doing pretty well at the moment.  Don't tell BDH and Little Buddha, but I found a list of books being released in the next month, and there are a couple that sound like good matches for the guys.  Fingers crossed the local bookstore carries them, otherwise I may have to visit one of the big chain stores in the area. 

We wanted to watch multiple things at the same time last night, so we kept channel flipping and missed Chicago Med, stayed focused for Chicago Fire, and went to bed before Chicago P.D., so we have some catching up to to later today.  First, let's check out the headlines.  BDH and Little Buddha just came in to say the coffee is ready, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a compromise has been reached to pass a bill that will avoid a government shutdown at midnight tonight.  According to Schumer, the Senate will vote on the bill, which will fund the government until early December, and the House will have time to get it to President Biden's desk before the federal government runs out of money.  The legislation will not include raising the debt limit, because Republicans are still panting with excitement about risking financial disaster to score political points.  Democrats should stop messing around, pass a bill to abolish the arbitrary limit, and end this nonsense once and for all.

Senate Majority Leader Schumer.  (pic via startribune.com)

The House select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol issued a second round of subpoenas yesterday.  Their focus is on individuals connected to the "Women for Trump" organization who put together the rally before the riot. 

Senator Kyrsten Sinema is alienating her voters, because they did not send her to Washington to obstruct President Biden's agenda.  Talk is growing about Senator Sinema facing a primary challenge in 2024.  If that continues, we'll start taking odds on her announcing she's leaving the Senate, because she'll lose that election.  By all current indications, she's there to collect campaign contributions and line up her future lobbying gig.  It's a shameful display of greed.

There's no reality where Representative Matt Gaetz should be criticizing General Mark Milley for anything.  It's not about whether or not one agrees with Milley, it's about the fact that the adult version of Butthead should have been removed from office as soon as the sex trafficking allegations against him were known.  His Republican colleagues continue to turn a blind eye to his alleged criminal actions, which is just one of many reasons why one should never accept being lectured on any topic by a Republican.

Given the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor will not likely be involved in many majority decisions this term.  However, she continues to take advantage of her ability to write detailed dissents and provide arguments for advocates to use in the future when the court is hopefully no longer dominated by illegitimate extremist conservatives.  As we say here all the time, Supreme Court appointments are the single most important issue in any presidential race, because they impact the country long after the person who nominated them has left the White House.  Thus, Sotomayor will be one of the biggest components of Barack Obama's legacy.

The Boston Red Sox took care of business and defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-0 last night.  The win leaves Boston one game behind the New York Yankees for the top AL Wild Card spot, with the Seattle Mariners a half game behind them, and the Toronto Blue Jays one game back, with four left to play.  Next up: Nick Pivetta takes the mound for Boston as they try to get the series win against the Orioles tonight.  The path is clear, the Red Sox just have to be professional and do their jobs four more times.

There's a new book about the New England Patriots coming out in a few weeks, and it seems to have the dirt on the relationships between Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady over the final few years before Brady's departure.  Seth Wickersham's, It’s Better to Be Feared, arrives on October 12.

New England Patriots veteran running back James White is reportedly expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a hip injury early in last week's game against the New Orleans Saints.  That's unfortunate.  The Patriots still have a number of options at the running back position, but White could have been a security blanket of sorts for New England's quarterback Mac Jones this year.  The rookie has already made comments about White having that role up to this point.  White is dependable and knows the Patriots offense as well as anyone.  His absence may not show up in the statistics, but it will be felt.

Cornerback Richard Sherman signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being recruited by Tom Brady.  First, one has to wonder if a return to the football field is the best thing for Sherman, who was arrested in July for domestic violence, criminal trespass, and driving under the influence.  He sounded like a deeply depressed man in need of professional help.  The Bucs say they believe he now has the proper support systems in place, but who is going to trust any NFL team on something like that?  Second, we assume that Sherman will walk onto the field on Sunday and make Patriots quarterback Mac Jones miserable, even though he missed all of training camp.  We are really not excited about that game.

Is Billie Piper's sudden new openness to returning to Doctor Who because Russell T. Davies will be in charge of the show again?  It would be nice to see Rose Tyler again , but hopefully it would be in a limited capacity.  We're excited about the RTD2 era arriving, because Davies is in position to restore the quality of the storytelling, not because we want to go back to "the good old days."  This transition should be about moving the franchise forward, not leaving it stuck in the past.

Congratulations to Britney Spears who won a major legal victory yesterday when a judge finally suspended her father Jamie from being her conservator any longer.  He's been replaced by CPA John Abel, who is the singer's legal team's selection.  Both sides in the case agree on wanting the conservatorship to end, but Britney's camp doesn't want Jamie to walk away without accountability for his actions, so the battle still continues.  However,  it's moving in the right direction.  The next court hearing is in November.

Mammoth WVH is still on the road with Guns N' Roses, but they've already set up their next gig for 2022:  Wolf Van Halen and company will open for The Scorpions for their 2022 tour.  That's going to take them out of the country for a while, so we tweeted Wolf yesterday and asked if fans in the U.S. would see the band at any point next year.  His response was exciting:  There's a chance there will be more domestic dates, but he's also hoping to schedule time in the studio to work on the next album!  Can't wait to hear it.

It turns out there's a Back to the Future musical, and it looks fantastic:

We will still argue that Back to the Future's overture is one of the most underrated pieces of music in movie history.  You can't help feeling the drama and adrenaline when you hear it.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen just teamed up on a new tune, so let's have these two storytellers close things out with, "Wasted Days" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It's always a treat to hang out with you.  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.