Hi everyone,

How are you?  Our crew is okay at the moment.  Yesterday was a busy start to the week, and today will be more of the same.  The wind chill is going to keep the temperatures in the low 30's, so BDH and Little Buddha have already been reminding me to dress warmly.  At least there won't be any rain.

Also, the guys double-checked the schedule, and we will be out of the office tomorrow and Thursday, but we'll be back on Friday.  Our duo will want to say hi again before the weekend starts, so don't forget to come back then.

Now, let's take a peek at 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 Tuesday Clutter.

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Special counsel Jack Smith wants the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly resolve the question of whether or not Donald Trump can be prosecuted for his role in the January 6 coup attempt.  Smith wants the issue addressed in a timely fashion to protect the March 4, 2024 trial start date.  Of course, Trump wants to push it back until after the election, in hope that he'll be able to go back to hiding in the White House.  The court indicated that it will take up the matter soon, giving Trump's lawyers until December 20 to respond to Smith's filing.

Jack Smith wants to keep things moving. (pic via pbs.org)

Voters have a right to know the outcome of this case before next year's election.  The Supreme Court's reputation is already in tatters, thanks to the ongoing stench of corruption attached to the conservative majority of justices.  They will further tank their legitimacy if they provide cover for Donald Trump's attempt to kill U.S. democracy.  If the court covers for him here, they are accomplices to his criminal actions.  Of course, Virginia Thomas was directly involved in the plot, so that cat is out of the bag.

Jack Smith reportedly has at least some of Donald Trump's cell phone data from around the time of the 2020 presidential election.  Smith intends to have an expert testify about the information.  Can't wait to hear more about that. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to refuse to hear a case challenging a Washington state law which bans so-called "conversion therapy" which tries to pressure LGBTQ+ people to change their sexual identity.  In this case, the prohibition specifically applies to minors.  This harmful approach has long been discredited and deemed harmful by medical professionals.  However, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh all wanted to hear the case. 

This isn't an argument about 1st Amendment rights.  It's about the longstanding ability of states to regulate professional conduct.  Those three justices just want another chance to push an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the woman seeking permission for an emergency abortion, even though her fetus has little to no chance of surviving until birth, and the pregnancy could put her own health and fertility at risk.   There's no defense of that ruling, other than conservatives hate women.  It also speaks to the complete fantasy that "health and safety exceptions" justify anti-abortion laws.  They're shams inserted to try to convince the public that these draconian measures aren't life-threatening.  Katie Cox is now forced to travel to another state in order to protect her own life.  These aren't "pro-life" values.  It's pure misogyny, and it fuels the GOP.

On the other hand, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) just repealed a state law requiring women to have a separate rider on their insurance plans for abortion coverage.  Governor Whitmer and other Democrats know that abortion is a winning issue for them and the party.  People want control over their own lives, not to be subjected to the extremist whims of a bunch of fanatics.  Anyone who tells you there's no difference between the two political parties simply isn't paying attention.

This is an interesting story about teachers who have been fired after it was revealed they were posting sexually explicit material on the OnlyFans site.  The article pulls in larger questions about how we don't pay teachers enough,  as well as how much room should employers have to interfere with their employees when they're not on the job, and how much of this controversy is rooted in the usual difficulty people have talking frankly about sex?

Investors are waiting for November's Consumer Price Index data to be released later today.  Expectations are apparently for a small decline compared to October's numbers, led by a drop in energy prices.  (On a related note, we bought gas for $2.97 a gallon yesterday.  Can't remember the last time that happened.)  If the report meets expectations, it makes any additional interest rate hikes seem unlikely in the near future, but it will probably still be a while before we start talking about cuts.

Boston Globe baseball writer Peter Abraham takes a look at some of the free agent pitching options for the Boston Red Sox.  We don't have any preferred candidates for the starting rotation.  We're more interested in seeing new baseball boss Craig Breslow's overall approach to acquisitions.  Are the Sox prepared to spend real money on anyone, or are we looking at yet more of the bargain hunting approach the team has gone with for the last few years? 

This is unexpected:  It was reported that "the majority" of Shohei Ohtani's new 10-year/$700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers would be deferred.  Turns out, almost all of it will be put off for the next decade:  Ohtani will apparently actually make $2 million/year from now until 2034, and then the remainder of his money will be paid off from then until 2043.  The linked article says it was Ohtani's idea in order to help make the Dodgers more competitive.  The two-way phenom has already made plenty of money, and he's doing fine with endorsements, but that's still an unusual move.

We should probably take a minute to acknowledge that the 3-10 New England Patriots were officially eliminated from playoff contention after the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday.  Not exactly surprising, but that's now the third time in four years the Patriots have missed the postseason.  It seems like ages since we took discussions of home field advantage for granted.  You're in bad shape when the 5-8 New York Jets can look down on you.  Here's hoping there's a significant overhaul coming in the offseason.

We've got our first teaser trailer for the return of NBC's "One Chicago" shows on January 17, including the return of Kelly Severide!  It's about damn time.

Misleading article headline notwithstanding, Doctor Who boss Russell T. Davies said the 14th Doctor's bi-generation actually has much larger ramifications than viewers might have realized in the moment.  Move over, MCU, the "Whoniverse" is coming, and we look forward to all of it.

A familiar face is returning to General Hospital.  Hopefully this character will be able to stick around for a while.  Meanwhile, Cameron Mathison confirmed that he's staying in Port Charles.  That's too bad.  It's nothing against the actor, but he is completely miscast in the role of Drew Cain.  Nothing about the actor makes you believe he was a former Navy SEAL, or that he's playing the same character who was originally portrayed by the late Billy Miller.  Mathison should have been given a different role as some other wealthy businessman. 

Sarah McLachlan announced some 2024 tour dates to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album.  We're going to need a minute to process that the record came out three decades ago.  In any case, the tour includes a Boston show, so who wants to go with us?

Oh yay, Kid Rock is done boycotting Anheuser-Busch.  At long last, our national nightmare is finally over.  Apparently Bob Ritchie decided he'd milked that publicity stunt for every last bit of media attention he could get out of it, so it's time to move on to the next one.

Congratulations to musician Andrew W.K. and actress Kat Dennings, who apparently got married at the end of November.  Best wishes to the happy couple.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Sarah McClachlan to close things out with a live version of, "Possession" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Seriously, how is that tune almost 30 years old?

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you.  Be good over the next couple of days, and we'll see you back here again on Friday.  Until then, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.