Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all.  I assume this will be a busy weekend for most people.  Good luck dealing with any travel and/or last-minute shopping adventures.  We're just waiting for one more present to arrive, and it's supposed to come on Saturday, so hopefully that will happen without any delays. 

Other than that, I don't know if things will be all that crazy here, except for the fact that we have to stay up on Christmas Eve to watch the New England Patriots game.  Maybe we'll see Santa by the time it's over.  BDH and Little Buddha are already talking about what kind of cookies we should leave out for him.  How about Oreos, guys?   Can't go wrong with those.  (They're going to think about it.)

In the meantime, let's check out the headlines.  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!

As expected, Rudy Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, just a week after being hit with a $148 million penalty in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by two Georgia election workers.  This move doesn't erase the award, but it buys Giuliani time, as he either works on an appeal or a settlement with the two women.  We hope the plaintiffs' lawyers are aggressive about stopping Giuliani from hiding any assets.  Make sure he pays every last dollar that's available to him.  There have to be consequences for trying to help kill U.S. democracy.

Even Republicans admit they haven't produced any evidence of "high crimes and misdemeanors" to force an impeachment vote for President Biden.  These guys have nothing.  They talk nonstop about vague scandals to muddy the water to distract from Donald Trump's actual documented crimes.   This party is a disgrace.  They have no interest in governing, and they're all there to shine Trump's shoes.  They should all be thrown out of office next November.

This impeachment inquiry is a sham.  (pic via cnn.com)

President Biden will sign a proclamation today expanding the ability to issue presidential pardons to include simple marijuana use and possession offenses on federal lands.  It's a common sense measure, and states should follow Biden's lead.  What we really need to get to is a national legalization of pot and to have it controlled by the same types of regulations as tobacco and alcohol.  Keeping marijuana illegal is hypocritical, and it disproportionately harms lower-income Americans and people of color.

Over 15 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's federal marketplace this year.  Republicans are obsessed with making sure all of these people are left uninsured, and they'll go after the ACA yet again if given the chance in 2025.   The entire GOP platform relies on creating as much economic insecurity in this country as possible.  It's hard to fight back against unfair/unsafe conditions and practices when you have to spend all of your energy on basic survival.  Let's not give Republicans another shot at destroying this successful program.

The Clutter investment team said not to worry about the S&P 500 falling 1.5% on Wednesday, and sure enough, the index recovered most of the ground it lost yesterday.  This is why there's no use in trying to time the market.  Things can change in 24 hours, and making a panicked decision can be costly.  Stay focused on long-term trends, and the odds are good you'll travel the road to successful investing. 

(Personally, the staff thinks investors are going to get over their skis with their excitement about interest rate cuts in 2024.  That means there likely won't be many bargains right now, so the team is going to get out of the way and re-watch a Doctor Who special or two, until things calm down again.)

Congratulations to the workers at the Wells Fargo bank in New Mexico who voted to unionize.   That makes them the first major bank workers to do so in the modern era, and it will be interesting to see if others follow suit.  This is also probably the first time we've talked about anything Wells Fargo-related besides their extensive legal problems, so that's a nice change of pace.

The New England Patriots face the Denver Broncos on the road on Christmas Eve.  This would have been a likely loss for New England even during "the glory days," so we're certainly not expecting anything different now.  The Broncos are 31-23 lifetime against the Patriots, and New England doesn't play well in Denver.  The Patriots defense might find a way to keep Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson in check, but Denver has a good enough rushing attack to eat up the clock.  The Broncos have the worst defense in the NFL, so Bailey Zappe and company might not get shut out, but they'll fall to 3-12 when it's done.  Merry Christmas, Pats fans.

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo said he's ready for a clean slate with the New York Yankees.  We'll be curious to see how he does in New York, but mostly we're just glad he's not Boston's problem anymore.  The guy was over-hyped right from the start, because the Red Sox owners didn't want to admit they got fleeced in the Mookie Betts trade.  Verdugo also still has some maturity issues, which led to him being benched in Boston on multiple occasions.  Will Yankees manager Aaron Boone help him grow up, or will Verdugo crash and burn in the Big Apple?  Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Prized free agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto  has reportedly agreed to a 12-year/$325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  We don't know enough about Yamamoto to say if he's worth that level of investment.  However, it's still disappointing that we never thought the Boston Red Sox were really in the hunt.  Instead, we await news that they've signed some 29-year-old second baseman who has a lifetime .241 batting average, and is often injured, but apparently has a "great Fenway Park swing" to a five-year contract. 

A former personal assistant of Vin Diesel's is suing the actor for sexual battery.  The alleged incident took place during the 2010 filming of the movie Fast Five.  Diesel denies the allegation.

Did we know Jake Gyllenhaal is starring in a remake of Road House for Amazon Prime Video?  No.  Can we think of any reason to watch it instead of the classic original starring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, and Sam Elliot?  Also no.

We've got a small hint about Detective Hailey Upton's departure from Chicago P.D. in the upcoming season.  Still don't like that the character is leaving, and we're starting to wonder if time is starting to run out for the Intelligence Unit.

Hey GH fans, the soap opera will reportedly say goodbye to Bobbie Spencer with two special episodes on January 10 and 11.  This tribute follows the death of actress Jacklyn Zeman last May.  It's fitting that she would get two episodes honoring her legacy.  Bobbie Spencer was a key character in Port Charles for decades, and she deserves the extended spotlight.

Actor John Schneider is in hot water after publicly calling for Joe Biden's execution on Twitter.  Schneider has since deleted the tweet calling for Biden and son Hunter to be "publicly hung," and he's now claiming there was no threat.  Maybe someone should do a wellness check on him, as well as explain how screenshots work.  Enjoy your visit from the Secret Service, Mr. Schneider.

Congratulations to Wolfgang Van Halen on Guitar World naming Mammoth II the best guitar album of 2023.  It's a well-deserved honor for the talented musician.  He crushed it on every track, and the fact that he also played every other instrument at such a high level makes the record all the more remarkable.  Van Halen has stated the third album probably won't come out until 2025 at least, because he and his group are spending next year touring.  We look forward to hearing what he comes up with next.

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine defended today's high concert ticket prices, arguing they're needed because touring is so expensive.  We can appreciate his position, but many established bands are driving fans away at these rates.  Maybe that's not a terrible thing if it opens an opportunity for new acts to reach audiences for a lower cost.

Oh no, Ted Nugent doesn't like Taylor Swift's music.  Guess that means T-Swift is done, right?  How do you come back from that?  Well, she had a good run while it lasted.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's close out the week with one last Christmas carol.  We leave you with "God of Thunder" Rob Halford's cover of, "We Three Kings" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you, as always.  BDH and Little Buddha are still working on our schedule, but apart from a review of the Doctor Who Christmas special, it looks like we'll be out of the office until Tuesday or Wednesday.  (Any updates will be posted on our Facebook page.) 

That being the case, we wish you all a very merry Christmas, 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.