Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  We hope you've been having a good week.  Yesterday was pretty solid on this end.  I took care of the items on a short to-do list, and then caught up with a friend I haven't seen in years, so that was fun.  Today will probably be pretty quiet while I wait to finally pick up the car from the shop.  Hopefully it will be ready at some point in the early afternoon.  BDH and Little Buddha said the weather should be fine until late tonight, so there shouldn't be any chance of getting rained on during the walk over there.  Score.

Are you ready to get to work?  Let's do it.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

REMINDER:  We are changing web host companies next week and expect to be offline from August 28 to September 4 and back on September 5.  Come hang out with us on our Facebook page while we move!

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Donald Trump will turn himself in to Fulton County officials today to face criminal charges for the fourth time this year.  The man should already be in jail for his offenses, but instead, he remains the king of the GOP.  The Republican Party is pro-criminal, as long as it's their kind of criminal.  Paying hush money and committing fraud?  Stealing classified documents?  Trying to kill American democracy?  That's all fine with the MAGA cult, as long as they get the go-ahead to be as racist, sexist, and homophobic as they like.  This is the natural destination of the path the GOP has been taking for over 40 years.

Lock him up.  (pic via nbcnews.com)

Rudy Giuliani was one of several high-profile figures to surrender to Fulton County officials yesterday after being indicted for trying to help Donald Trump overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.  Giuliani's bail was set at $150,000, which is going to add to his growing financial problems.  He can tell reporters as much as he likes that he's "honored" to be part of this case, but Giuliani has to know that Trump will make him the fall guy to save himself if he gets the chance.  Of course, maybe we're overestimating Giuliani's intelligence, because anyone with an ounce of common sense would have known that associating with Trump would come back to bite them.

Meanwhile, a judge told former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and ex-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark that they will in fact face arrest if they don't turn themselves in by Friday's deadline.  Both men are trying to get their cases moved from Fulton County to federal court, but US District Judge Steve Jones said their efforts won't protect them from an execution of the arrest warrant if they don't comply.

While the Trump crime syndicate deals with Georgia's criminal justice system, the rest of the 2024 GOP presidential primary field had their first debate last night.  There was a lot of attention on Vivek Ramaswamy, as the "outsider" continues rising in the polls.  All of the other candidates need to prove their viability, so it was an easy task to highlight Ramaswamy's inexperience compared to the rest of them.  Other than that, it's hard to see how any of these people moved the needle, so the big winner is Donald Trump, who boycotted the event. 

That's especially true when six out of the eight candidates said they would still support Trump as the nominee, even if he was convicted of a crime.  That ongoing fealty alone should be disqualifying for all six of them.  This is an non-serious party with no interest in governing.  They're here to protect the interests of the economic elite.  That's it.  The rest of the country doesn't matter to them, and they're happy to pit us all against each other to further their agenda.  This may be what they have to do to appease their extremist base, but decent Americans will send the eventual nominee packing again in 2024.

Is anyone surprised that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly died in a plane crash yesterday?  Anyone at all?  You don't try to lead a coup in Russia and then go on to lead a long life.  Prigozhin's untimely death was a matter of when, not if.

A reminder that tomorrow is the deadline if you want to file a claim for Facebook's user privacy lawsuit settlement.  We haven't seen any mention of a specific amount of money per person.  However, the entire fund is $725 million (minus lawyers fees, of course), and then the rest largely depends on how many people participate.  Even if you're not likely to get some life-changing figure, we encourage you to fill out the form.  Make Facebook pay for their misconduct. 

The Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-5 in 10 innings yesterday, thanks to a three-run home run from Adam Duvall.  Thankfully, the Red Sox played an error-free game this time, after five miscues in the previous two outings against the Astros.  It's so much easier to compete when you're not giving away outs.  The win moved the Red Sox to back within four games of the final AL Wild Card spot, thanks to the Seattle Mariners losing on Wednesday.

Next up:  Brayan Bello and the Red Sox will try to split the series with the Astros this afternoon.  After that, the team returns to Fenway Park to start a weekend series against old friend Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

We're sorry to hear that Shohei Ohtani was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow yesterday.  It's the second time he's had that injury, and the first time required Tommy John surgery.  He's obviously done pitching for the rest of this year, and now we wait to see if he'll be out of commission for 2024.  (It's unclear if Ohtani might be able to remain as a DH for the rest of the season.)   This is also terrible news on the financial front for Ohtani, who is set to become a free agent this winter.  He was expected to land a gigantic contract, but this injury is likely to cost him milllions.

It sounds like Ezekiel Elliot's first week with the New England Patriots has gone well.  The running back is saying all the right things so far, and if he can stay healthy and motivated, his one-year deal for up to $6 million could be a good deal for the organization.

The San Francisco 49ers announced that Sam Darnold will be their backup quarterback behind Brock Purdy, leaving Trey Lance as the third option for the time being.  It's been stunning to watch Lance's stock plummet with the team, as the 3rd pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has never had any momentum since he joined the organization.  Head coach Kyle Shanahan's comments to the contrary, it seems clear that Lance needs a change of scenery, but how much is he worth in return right now?

We were said to learn that pro wrestling legend Terry Funk died yesterday, after years of battling some health issues.   It's hard, if not impossible, to think of someone who was more respected in the industry.  Some will argue that Funk was the greatest professional wrestler of all-time, and we won't disagree.  He had a long and storied career that began in the 1960's, ended in 2017, and saw him wrestle in seemingly every territory in the world along the way.  If you name a star during that period, there's a good chance Funk faced him at some point.  He also acted in a number of movies and TV shows, including Road House and Over the Top.  Our condolences go out to his friends, family, and millions of fans.  Terry Funk was 79 years old.

The Writers Guild of America is pushing back after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released the details of their latest proposal this past Tuesday.  Apparently many union members feel that move was made in bad faith as an attempt to go around the negotiators and appeal directly to both the writers and public.  The linked article mentions some issues where it feels like progress is being made, but it still doesn't sound like this strike will be resolved anytime soon.  Thus, BDH and Little Buddha will be checking out what else they can find on the streaming Pluto TV channel to fill in the upcoming gaps on their viewing schedule.

Talk to us, And Just Like That...fans:  What did you think of Kim Cattrall's cameo in the season finale?  Was it good enough for you, or do you still wish the folks connected to the show could find a way to bring Samantha Jones back into the fold?

Former Friends writer Patty Lin writes in her new book that she had a negative experience working on the show, saying that the actors would deliberately tank jokes they didn't like.  It sounds like they were a pretty negative group in general, which is something we've repeatedly heard before.  According to Lin,

"They rarely had anything positive to say, and when they brought up problems, they didn't suggest feasible solutions. Seeing themselves as guardians of their characters, they often argued that they would never do or say such-and-such. That was occasionally helpful, but overall, these sessions had a dire, aggressive quality that lacked all the levity you'd expect from the making of a sitcom."

Lin's book, End Credits: How I Broke up with Hollywood hits the shelves on August 29.  Looks like we might have something new for BDH and Little Buddha to read.

It's disappointing to hear that Alice Cooper recently spewed some anti-trans rhetoric opposing gender-affirming care for kids and complaining about imaginary sexual predators in bathrooms.  Paul Stanley from KISS, and Twisted Sister's Dee Snyder have done the same thing this year.  Is there something about musicians who wear makeup feeling a need to overcompensate?  The comments were ignorant, and we hope Cooper eventually learns how misinformed he is about the world around him.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  We continue this week's walking theme with Lou Reed doing an energetic live version of, "Walk on the Wild Side" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  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.