Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Monday to you all.  Did you have a good weekend?  It was fine on this end, apart from the lack of garden time.  I had to take care of all pressing errands that involved a car, because mine is going into the shop later this afternoon for a few days.  It's nothing serious, just a few minor auto body repairs.  I'm a bit thrown that the the appointment is actually happening today.  I scheduled this about six-seven weeks ago, and man did that go by quickly.  Anyway, there's a lot of walking on the schedule for this week.

So, we have some news.  After a unanimous staff vote, we are moving!  Well, we're finally changing web host companies.  Long story short, hopefully the new place will have a better infrastructure and maybe give us some new toys to play with in the future.  BDH and Little Buddha have already started packing everything up, and we're all excited to check out the new place.  The one issue is that, as we understand things, it will take 5-7 days to redirect our URL, and we will be out of commission during that time.

As a result, we expect to be offline from August 28 - September 4, returning on the 5th.  Again, while we will be gone from view next week, this is not a permanent goodbye.  It's just a brief vacation.  It will be weird, because we've never done this in 14 years, but it will be better over the long haul.  However, the guys still want to play over on our Facebook page while the site is down, so they're hoping you'll come say hi and hang out for a bit until we're back up and running again.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to work.  There's a fresh pot of coffee on the counter, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Clutter.

We have teamed up with Clearly Balanced Days, a NH-based/women-owned CBD company.  Enter promo code "cmoore" to get $5 off your next purchase!

Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in to Georgia officials this Thursday or Friday, while also skipping the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday.  In other words, he's a criminal and a coward.  Of course, from Trump's perspective, he has no reason to participate in the debate.  Despite facing almost 100 criminal charges, he still owns the GOP, and his challengers are still generally scared to attack him.  Hell, Governor Ron DeSantis is being advised to defend Trump at the debate.  What a pathetic party.

Donald Trump continues to dominate in Iowa, according to the latest poll:  Trump leads Governor Ron DeSantis 42%-19%, according to the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa survey results.  Once again, Republican voters are pro-crime, as long as the criminal is one of their own.  That's a major threat to the future of our democracy.

Indictments won't stop Donald Trump and company from lying about the 2020 presidential election.  As long as the MAGA cult members are still willing to give this con man their money, he'll keep pushing these falsehoods, no matter the consequences.  In for a penny, in for a pound.

Lying pays too well for Donald Trump to ever stop.  (pic via npr.org)

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reportedly told special counsel Jack Smith that he had no memory of Donald Trump ever declassifying the files Trump took with him when he left the White House.  This is of course in direct contrast to Trump's claims about the documents.  There hasn't been much news about Meadows in recent months.  Perhaps that's because he's been busy talking to Smith.  We can't wait to find out what else he had to say about his former boss.

It's heartbreaking and infuriating to hear about the murder of Laura Ann Carleton, a California shopkeeper who was shot and killed on Friday for having a rainbow Pride flag outside of her business.  The murderer was later killed in a confrontation with the police.  The radical right wing is a danger to all of us.  Conservative officials and talking heads fan the flames of violence with their intolerant and threatening policies and rehetoric, and then they step aside as their followers, who are addicted to firearms, commit crimes like this.

We're hoping for the best for our friends and everyone else in California and the southeast who are dealing with Tropical Storm Hilary, the first of its kind to hit Southern California in 84 years.  As if the rain wasn't enough, Los Angeles residents also had to deal with an earthquake yesterday.

Facebook has set up a website for people who want to submit a claim as part of the settlement of the company's privacy violation lawsuit.  Basically, you may be eligible for a small payment if you were a Facebook user between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022.  However, you only have until 11:59 p.m. this Friday to fill out the form, so don't waste time if  you're interested.

Meanwhile,  Meta is expected to release a web version of Threads this week.  We're still struck by how few people we know have mentioned the platform at all since its debut a month and a half ago.  As we've mentioned before, it would be great to have a Twitter alternative, but a) see the previous item about the privacy lawsuit, because who wants to deal with that again, b) it's a red flag that you can't delete your Threads account without also deleting your Instagram account, and c) as we understand it, Twitter is still a much better choice for getting real-time news.  The answer for us hoping we finally get off the Bluesky waiting list so we can give that a shot.

Have you ever wanted to drink a waffle-flavored alcoholic beverage?  Good news - Kellogg’s Eggo and Sugarlands Distilling Company have teamed up for something called, "Eggo Brunch in a Jar Sippin’ Cream," ahead of "National Waffle Day" which is this Thursday.  Sure, why not?  We were actually considering looking for this to do a taste test for you folks, but we're going to take a pass on the booze.  However, feel free to shoot us a review at [email protected] if you try it.

The Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 6-5 yesterday to sweep their weekend series.  That leaves the Red Sox three games back in the fight for the last AL Wild Card spot.  As we've said before, the primary thing we ask of any baseball season is that the Red Sox play meaningful games in September, and it looks like that's going to happen.  When they also push the Yankees deeper into the AL East cellar (17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles), and nudge them closer to their first losing record since 1992, that's a bonus. 

Today's appreciation goes to Justin Turner, who put the Red Sox on his back yesterday with a key three-run home run in the 7th inning.  Turner then gave them the lead again with an RBI double in the ninth.  In all seriousness, we hope Turner will exercise his player option for 2024.  He's been a dependable bat all year, and by all accounts, he's a good clubhouse guy.  Fingers crossed.

Next up:  The Red Sox travel to Houston to begin a series against the Astros.  James Paxton gets the start for Boston.

It's a relief to hear that New England Patriots cornerback Isaiah Bolden was reportedly released from the hospital after suffering a head injury during last Saturday's preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.  Bolden will apparently travel home with the team, and the Patriots have cancelled their joint practices with the Tennessee Titans this week, before they play the Titans on Thursday.  This is why we have no problem with NFL players fighting for every last dollar they can get.  They put their bodies on the line every day, and things can change in the blink of an eye.

WWE superstar Edge wrestled the last match of his current contract last Friday, as part of the celebration of his 25th anniversary with the company.  It was a fun/emotionally-charged contest against Sheamus in front of a hometown Toronto crowd, and Edge came out on top, to the delight of the audience.  It's unclear if Edge (real name Adam Copeland) is going to retire, and rumors are already circulating that he's going to jump to AEW when his WWE deal expires next month.  We'd be a little surprised if he switched companies, but anything is possible in the world of pro wrestling.  However, if last week was his last match, the veteran went out on a high note, so cheers to him.

Barbie was knocked out of the #1 spot at the box office this weekend by...Blue Beetle?  Well, everything comes to an end eventually, and the Margot Robbie-led film did still pull in $21.5 million in its fifth week, with its total global total now reaching $1.3 billion.  Cheers to Barbie for four weeks on top.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, or just want to watch it again at home, Barbie will be digitally released on September 5.

We want to wish a happy belated birthday to former Doctor Who stars Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred.  McCoy played the sixth version of the Doctor, and Aldred was one of his companions, Ace.  As it turns out, they share a birthday, which was yesterday, so we send our best to both of them.

Hey, look at that:  Kid Rock was spotted drinking Bud Light at a concert last week.  What, you're telling us his shooting up a case of the beer because of Anheuser-Bush's deal with a transgender influencer was nothing but an empty publicity stunt?  That's a shocker.  What a fraud.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have the Foo Fighters close things out with the theme for this week:  Here they are with a live version of, "Walk" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha want to remind you again that we'll be hanging out on our Facebook page while the big move happens next week, so make sure you come say hi.  For now, enjoy the rest of your day, wear comfortable walking shoes, 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.