Hi folks,

How are you?  Weekend going okay so far?  Our crew is doing well, thank you.  I took care of everything on yesterday's to-do list, so that was good.  However, going grocery shopping the day before Easter is a rookie mistake.  There were way too many people who were all stressed and not looking where they were going.  By the way, happy Easter to everyone who is celebrating it today. 

We got a solid rain last night, and the garden is off to a great start this year.  Now I have to let things dry out a bit now before I can get in there.  That's fine, I'll just *have* to make myself watch the new Doctor Who episode this afternoon instead.  Of course, the first thing we need to take care of is going through today's headlines.  BDH and Little Buddha say the coffee is ready, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Sunday Clutter.

Newly released text messages reveal Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) begged former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows for talking points about overturning the 2020 presidential election.  Senator Lee likes to portray himself as some type of principled conservative who is big on limiting the power of the executive branch.  However, he couldn't stop whining to Meadows and the White House about not knowing what to say about the attempt to destroy democracy in the United States.  In the end, Senator Lee's biggest problem with the whole thing was when Donald Trump called him out on January 4 for not going along with his latest lies.  The GOP is not a serious political party.  It's a fascist movement interested in nothing besides keeping power.

Senator Lee has no problem killing our country's democracy.  (pic via abc17news.com)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reported her first-ever fundraising loss for the first quarter of 2022, with her committee showing a six-figure deficit.  Are her supporters starting to tire of her professional troll act?  What has she actually done for her constituents since she's been in office, besides embarrass them on a daily basis?

There are a lot of people in town for tomorrow's Boston Marathon, and coronavirus cases are on the upswing in the city.  Here's hoping this great event doesn't end up turning into a major health problem.

SNL had some thoughts to share about Easter and renewal last night:

Elon Musk may want to buy Twitter, but he'd be better off focusing on the fact that a federal judge ruled that his 2018 tweet about having "secured funding" to take Tesla private was false.  The ruling is part of a class-action lawsuit against Musk filed by investors who say his dishonest tweeting cost them money.  Someone should remind the supposed free speech champion that the 1st Amendment doesn't give him the right to lie to investors about his company.

In case you missed it, Twitter confirmed that they're working on an edit button.  That's leading to a lot of speculation about what the feature will look like.    It would be nice to be able to fix the occasional typo without having to delete a tweet and start over.  However,  it is important that an original copy of the tweet be kept somewhere, to prevent shenanigans by bad faith actors.  Can you imagine what Donald Trump would have tried to pull if he'd been able to rewrite his statements (or rather, have someone re-do them for him?)

A reminder that tomorrow is Tax Day, so don't forget to files your taxes, or ask for an extension, if you haven't done so already.  The linked article has a couple of answers to some last-minute questions if you need help.

People are claiming that Lucky Charms cereal is making them sick.   General Mills hasn't launched a recall so far, and the FDA says it's still investigating the reports.  Lucky Charms never really grabbed our attention.  Even back in the day when we'd ask Mom and Dad Clutter to buy a sugary cereal "just this one time," this was never on the wish list.  Marshmallows in our cereal didn't sound appealing.  We were all about options  like Cap'n Crunch or Frosted Flakes, but as usual, the parents knew best.  Now we still have all of our teeth and no gastrointestinal problems.  

The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 yesterday for their first shutout of the year.  Boston starter Tanner Houck gave up just two hits over 5 2/3 innings, and the Sox offense deliverd with a pair of two-run home runs from Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo.  Houck still has to work on his control, but he's got the calmness of a veteran pitcher.  He never seems fazed by anything.   When he puts it all together, this kid is going to be something special.  Michael Wacha takes the mound against Minnesota this afternoon.

The Boston Celtics face the Brooklyn Nets at home in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series this afternoon.  We expect the TD Garden crowd to do everything they can to make life miserable for Kyrie Irving.  This is a great challenge for Boston.  They've been playing out of their minds since the beginning of 2022, and they soundly beat some real teams along the way.  They're not the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference by accident.   Now they have to show they can take it even a step further and do it in the playoffs.  They couldn't ask for a tougher opening opponent.  We say Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and company rise to the occasion and beat the Nets in six.

We want to wish a happy belated birthday to Bill Belichick.  The greatest NFL coach of all-time turned 70 years old yesterday.  Belichick said on a a few occasions over the years that he didn't expect to be coaching in his 70's, but he doesn't seem to be in a rush to leave.  However long the rest of his run, it's been a treat to watch him in action over the last 22 years.

Josh Brolin claims he was up against Ben Affleck for the role of Batman in 2016, but director Zack Snyder wanted to go in a different direction.  Our gut says Brolin would have been good in the role.  Considering how often the franchise changes lead actors, maybe he'll still get the chance to do it at some point in the next 30 years.

While we wait for this afternoon's Doctor Who adventure to hit the airwaves, The Guardian has an article listing five ways Russell T. Davies could reshape the series next year.  We disagree with the first four suggestions, and the fourth one is particularly awful.   However, we have all of the faith in the world that RTD once again has a strong vision for what he wants to do with the Time Lord, so we're on board for whatever he unleashes in 2023.

Actress Kiernan Shipka would apparently like another crack at Sally Draper, and we would love to see it.  It's unclear if there have been any recent discussions about making this a reality, but the notion of watching Sally as an adult over the past 50 years has all sorts of potential. 

We're sorry to hear Liz Sheridan died on Friday.  The actress was known by millions for playing Jerry Seinfeld's mother Helen on Seinfeld.  She was a calmer counterpoint to Estelle Costanza, played by Estelle Harris, who died earlier this month.  Ms. Sheridan was 93 years old.  Our condolences go out to her family and friends.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's close things out with a little funk.  Here's Kool & The Gang to close things out with, "Jungle Boogie" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha say you're welcome to come back later if you want to watch Doctor Who with them this afternoon.  The only rule is, no talking during the episode.  All questions will be answered during the commercial breaks.  Otherwise, 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.