Hi folks,

We hope you're enjoying what has been a lovely weekend so far.  I did the usual Saturday running around yesterday.  It ended with some garden time, so that was great.  The bees are starting to arrive, which is always highlight of the summer.  We've got plenty of flowers for them to enjoy, so the more the merrier.  It's a touch chilly here at the moment (49 degrees), which seems odd for early-mid July.  However, BDH and Little Buddha say we're looking at a high of about 80, so it sounds like it's going to be another nice day.  The guys also just let me know that the coffee is ready.   Grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Sunday Clutter.

With all due respect to Vice President Kamala Harris, her recent suggestion that Americans thought abortion rights were settled is nonsense.  She knows abortion rights advocates have been warning for years that conservatives were looking to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Even if we were to accept her incorrect premise, the fact is that the White House knew for weeks that the Supreme Court's ruling was coming, and the administration apparently did little to nothing to prepare for it. The VP has been given the unenviable task of defending the Biden administration's slow and passive response to the eradication of the right to privacy.   She knows full well the White House is failing women in the United States. 

Vice President Harris offered a weak defense of an inept response.  (pic via 6abc.com)

The president doesn't want anything to do with protecting abortion access, and now he's thrown VP Harris in front of the cameras to try to help his campaign to kick this existential issue for Democrats back to Congress.   Biden had to be pressured into even signing his recent executive order on this topic, and now the administration is lashing out at advocates over it.  Seems a little weird that a man who is constantly emphasizing coalitions, and his ability to work with everyone, has now decided this is the fight he wants to have.  Is insulting the base his plan for getting more Democrats elected?  It's embarrassing.  This is not the leadership needed to fight back against the conservative assault on the United States.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ran away from abortion rights protestors at a Morton's steakhouse on Friday night.  Poor fellow apparently thought he had a right to privacy or something.  Abortion opponents have hounded providers and patients for decades.  May the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court all experience the same thing for the rest of their days.

A spokesperson for the January 6 House select committee said that former Trump White House Counsel Pat Cipollone "corroborated key elements of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony," when he spoke with the committee on Friday.     Tim Mulvey's statement also said, "This includes information demonstrating Donald Trump’s supreme dereliction of duty."  Cipollone may or may not have claimed executive privilege on some topics, but it sure sounds like he gave the committee a valuable perspective on other issues.  Will Trump say he barely knew Cipollone, or will Team MAGA describe him as a Democratic plant this week? 

Elon Musk is officially trying to get out of his deal to buy Twitter.  The social media company's board is apparently trying to force the deal to go through anyway.  That's a bad call.  Musk spent months trashing the platform - fight for the $1 billion breakup fee instead and count your lucky stars he doesn't want the company anymore.  Of course, that's assuming he ever really wanted it in the first place, and that this whole thing wasn't one long publicity stunt for a wealthy man who has too much time on his hands.

Mortgage rates dropped from an average of 5.70% last week, to 5.30% this week, as concern grows over the economic impact of higher interest rates.  The average price of gas has also now declined to $4.75/gallon for largely the same reason.  You can see how the Federal Reserve is trying to thread the needle here.   The economy needs to cool down, but ideally without falling into a recession.  The goal is to tap the brakes, not slam them.

After dropping the first two games of the series, and being thoroughly embarrassed on Friday, the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 6-5 in 10 innings last night, thanks to a two-run walkoff hit from Alex Verdugo.  The Red Sox still have yet to win a series against an AL East opponent this year.  However, they can at least go for the split when Nick Pivetta takes the mound against New York tonight. 

The MLB trade deadline is a little over three weeks away.  Will the Red Sox make any major moves?  We still have some fear that Xander Bogaerts will be moved if the team really struggles.  That's one of many reasons why it's critical that the Sox resign Rafael Devers now.  The man is becoming one of the elite players in the majors, and he's getting more expensive by the day.  Pay him his money and lock up that bat for the long-term.

A new Wall Street Journal report says WWE boss Vince McMahon paid four women over $12 million in hush money to cover up "allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity."   McMahon's alleged misdeeds include coercing a former wrestler to engage in sexual activity with him and then not renewing her contract when she finally refused, sending unsolicited nude pictures to a woman, and the previously-reported affair with the former employee, for which McMahon is already being investigated by the WWE board of directors. 

At the end of the day, the outcome here likely comes down to how much scandal NBC and Fox are willing to tolerate.  They're paying WWE a fortune for content, so when will they say, "enough is enough?"

We didn't want to give away any spoilers about the mid and post credits scenes in our review of Thor: Love and Thunder.  However, you can click on the link to find out more about what happened, who showed up, and what it all could mean in the future for the MCU.  (You can also read the review here.)

It was sad to hear that Tony Sirico died on Friday.  The actor was loved by many for his role as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on The Sopranos.  He brought so much humor to that role.  Sirico was 79 years old. Our condolences go out to his friends and fans.

The season finale of The Boys was solid, and we're already looking forward to Season 4.  It turns out that someone who left the show is already scheduled to return as a new character.  How is that going to work?  Click on the link to find out the answer.

We've got to find a new streaming series to watch, now that The Boys and Barry are both done for the time being.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Stranger Things was on the table for a bit, but it might be too scary for BDH and Little Buddha.  Drop any recommendations to [email protected].

Gary Cherone is right:  The key to any Van Halen tribute project will be the guitarists, not the singers.  It would be great to see a variety of musicians honor the late icon.  Guys like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Nuno Bettencourt are obvious choices.  We'd also love to see some non-"Eddie disciples" play on a few songs, like maybe a Brian May, or David Gilmour, or someone like that.  Of course, Cherone could handle the vocals and spare us all a David Lee Roth performance.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Coldplay (with some help from The Weirdos) to close things out with their new single, "Biutyful" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, everyone.  It was a treat to see you, as always.  Enjoy the rest of the day, take some time to listen to the birds, 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.