Hi everyone,

How are you?   I have to admit, I'm still a little out of sorts, both physically and mentally this week.  However,  it's a new day, so let's see what happens.  Maybe something will surprise me in a good way.

Speaking of which, BDH and Little Buddha were thrilled to discover last night that there's apparently a streaming channel which airs nothing but recent NCIS episodes.  (Search for "NCIS on Pluto TV" to find it.)  As we've mentioned over the years, our crew has seen every episode in the show's history, up until about six years ago.  The ones we're missing are normally found on Paramount+, but we're not going to pay for them.  Turns out, we don't have to.  Now we can add this to the channel that always plays old Doctor Who shows as options for quiet nights.

So yeah, maybe we'll discover something fun and new today.  That reminds me, I have to go to the bookstore.  First, let's check out the headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Wednesday Clutter.

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Donald Trump needs to win Georgia to have any chance of regaining the White House.  Will his most recent criminal indictment eliminate any chance of a victory there?  Georgia voters didn't choose Trump in 2020 (which is why we're here in the first place), and nonstop news coverage of this week's racketeering and conspiracy charges isn't exactly likely to help expand his base in the state.  Let's also be clear - it will be mostly Republicans testifying against him in this case, thus making it harder for the MAGA talking heads to claim this is a witch hunt. 

We know Trump supporters are pro-criminal.  However, does the GOP have any actual interest in winning the White House in 2024?  Donald Trump is more likely to lead them right off the cliff yet again next year.

The MAGA leader is both a criminal and a loser.  (pic via abcnews.go.com)

Working for Donald Trump has apparently put Rudy Giuliani in a bad financial position.  Rudy's money woes will likely only get worse, now that he's been indicted in the Georgia case.  That's a shame.  How was he supposed to know that everyone who does business with the serial criminal eventually has it come back to bite them?  Besides reading the countless stories, we mean.

Chris Christie has pulled ahead of Ron DeSantis in a new poll of New Hampshire Republican voters, as the DeSantis presidential campaign continues to implode.  Mind you, Donald Trump still has a firm grip on the MAGA base with 41% support, because those folks don't care about obeying the law.  However, Christie now holds the #2 spot with 9%, and DeSantis is third at 8%.  It's hard to see Christie making much more headway, unless Trump does actually drop out of the race because of his many criminal indictments.  Give Christie credit though, he's done the best job of directly criticizing Trump.  (That's not exactly a high bar with this group, but you know what we mean.)

Meanwhile, DeSantis can't convince anyone to leave the MAGA cult, he's bailing on his fight with Mickey Mouse, and he lacks the personal skills to inspire voters.  Other than that, things are going well.  We were taking bets on whether DeSantis would drop out before the Granite State, but now the question is, how does he even survive the rest of this year?

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld made headlines last month for making pro-Holocaust comments, and now he's back claiming crime in this country would vanish if there were no women. 

It looks like Apple has changed its mind about moving the "end call" button, going by the latest beta version of iOS 17.  The decision still hasn't been finalized, but we hope the company sticks with the status quo.  If we have to deal with changing our muscle memory on this routine step whenever we get our next phone, we'll probably make mistakes the entire time until we get that model's replacement.

We don't really want to talk about the idea of an Elon Musk - Mark Zuckerberg MMA match anymore.  However, after reading about Musk's latest unhinged behavior regarding this fantasy fight, we still wonder if something is seriously wrong with the man.  Musk's scandals have always been off-putting, but this apparent stalking of Mark Zuckerberg feels like a different level of broken.  It's no big deal, though.  It's not like he owns one of the major communications platforms in this country, or a major car manufacturer, or a satellite company with government contracts, or anything.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk reportedly has Twitter slowing down the load times for links from organizations he doesn't like, including The New York Times, Reuters, and Facebook.  Yeah, that's totally the behavior of a well-grounded leader.  It's yet more proof that Musk's claims to be a free speech champion are nonsense.

We understand, no one wants to talk about this, but COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States have increased for the fourth straight week.  While the numbers are still far below last year, over 10,000 people were hospitalized for the week ending August 5, according to the CDC.  That's something to be aware of, especially as the colder temperatures start approaching, and we're all spending more time together inside again.  Please stay up to date on your shots, friends.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 last night to start their road trip on a winning note.  Boston hybrid starter/reliever Nick Pivetta gave up the four runs in the third inning, and he only lasted 4 1/3 overall, so it wasn't his best outing.  However, the bullpen shut down Washington for the rest of the game.  The Red Sox batters regained the lead in the top of the fourth, and the club went on to improve to 63-56 on the year.  Unfortunately, they didn't gain any ground in the AL Wild Card race and remain three games back in the fight for the final spot.

Next up: James Paxton will try to keep Boston's winning ways going when he takes the mound against Washington tonight.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy issued a lengthy response to Michael Oher's recent lawsuit claiming the couple never adopted him and instead stole his money.  We see the words "absurd" and "outlandish" used, but what we don't see is, "untrue."  Here's hoping Oher takes them for every last penny.

The first trailer is out for Maestro, the upcoming movie about legendary composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.  The film stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan as the couple.  It arrives in theaters on November 22, and on Netflix on December 20.  This doesn't feel like something we need to see on the big screen, but we might check it out on Netflix:

Actor DB Woodside took to Twitter to make his argument that after a number of successful supporting roles over the years, he deserves to lead his own show.  We're on board.  We particularly enjoyed Woodside on Lucifer and would love to see him front and center in his own vehicle. 

It sounds like Stevie Nicks enjoyed Daisy Jones & the Six, writing in an Instagram post that it, "was very emotional for me."  The Amazon Prime Video series was largely inspired by the story of Fleetwood Mac, so it's easy to see how it would hit home for her.  If you haven't seen it, this was one of the best things we've watched on television this year, and the music is terrific.  We're glad Nicks liked it enough to encourage Amazon to produce a second season.  Here's hoping they listen to her.

Chris Daughtry sayid Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry once asked him if he wanted to replace singer Steven Tyler.  According to Daughtry, the call came about 20 years ago when Tyler and the band weren't getting along.  This was the same period where Sammy Hagar said he was also offered the gig.  We generally like Daughtry, but it's hard to imagine him (or Hagar for that matter) stepping into Tyler's shoes.  Steven Tyler is one of a kind, so it's just as well he eventually made up with the rest of the group long enough for them to make it to their upcoming retirement tour.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Man, it's grey outside.  Maybe the Counting Crows can put a little sunshine into the world with, "Accidentally in Love" 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 make sure you know you have a standing invitation to come back later to watch these NCIS episodes with them.  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.