Wednesday Clutter: Trump Disqualified, Tommy Tuberville, Comcast Data Breach, Boston Red Sox, Aaron Rodgers, Adam Sandler, Doctor Who, NCIS, Charmed, Wolfgang Van Halen, Bob Seger, and more
12/20/2023
Hi everyone,
How are you? We're all doing fine at the moment. I took care of most of yesterday's errands, and despite a slow start this year, I am just about done with the Christmas presents. That is, except for one last order which will hopefully arrive on Saturday. Phew. The shopping process was a little more disjointed than usual this time, but I think it all turned out okay in the end.
Today's to-do list is pretty short - I just need to help Dad Clutter with a few things. BDH and Little Buddha said the weather should be pleasant, so hopefully that will all go smoothly. Now, 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 Wednesday Clutter.
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Look at that: The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot yesterday, because he violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by participating in an insurrection. Finally, someone has the courage to take action. This is a huge deal, folks. It's obvious that Trump should be prohibited from running again, but the question was, would anyone actually enforce the the relevant language? Now that Colorado's top court has gone on the record, will this spur new legal motions in other states that were prepared to punt on the issue?
Colorado Supreme Court to Trump: You're out. (pic via apnews.com)
The ruling is being stayed until January 4, because of course Donald Trump is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to save him yet again. We all know Clarence Thomas is willing to do whatever it takes to protect Trump, but are the rest of the conservative justices prepared to do the same on this question? Will this be the sham of 2000 all over again? Ruling in Trump's favor will damage the court's credibility at least as much as overturning Roe v. Wade has in recent years. If they go against him, it will anger all of the billionaires we've come to learn have been sponsoring the majority for years. If the court punts on the issue and stays out of it, all hell could break loose. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to use Nazi rhetoric when ranting about immigrants. However, he says it's totally different because he never read Hitler's Mein Kampf. The next book Trump reads will be the first, but the fact remains that he's as much of a danger to this country as ever, and he has to be stopped.
Senator Tommy Tuberville dropped his final holds on U.S. military promotions yesterday. That means Tuberville got exactly nothing out of his 10+ month crusade to change the Pentagon's policy of providing financial reimbursement for military members who need to travel out of state to get an abortion. What a colossal waste of time. Shame on the voters of Alabama who forced one of the dumbest men in this country on the rest of us. Being a successful football coach doesn't mean you should be in the government, gang.
Comcast just announced it had a data breach in October which impacted almost 36 million users. Apparently, the hackers were able to access, "usernames, passwords, contact information, partial social security numbers, and more." Fantastic. This seems like a good time to update your password even if it turns out you weren't one of the impacted customers.
Social Security recipients will see a 3.2% increase in their benefits, starting in January. That's a significant drop from last year's hike, which reflects the overall decrease in inflation over the past 12 months. However, as the linked article points out, seniors are disproportionately hit by areas where costs are still high, like housing.
Tonight's Powerball drawing is expected to reach $572 million. Good luck to any of you who buy a ticket, and don't forget, we are always accepting contributions to our coffee budget.
We're still waiting for the Boston Red Sox to make an impactful move this winter. Instead, we're stuck reading about them hiring Dillon Lawson as a hitting coordinator, where he'll mostly be focused on minor league players. Santa, we were good this year. Please send us a better present.
Aaron Rodgers finally admitted that he won't be playing this year, now that the New York Jets have been eliminated from the playoffs. It was always unrealistic to think the 40-year-old quarterback would be able to compete this soon after having his Achilles repaired on September 13. However, he claims he'll be back in 2024, and that he has more than one season left in him. Let's say he does return next year. Would anyone pick the Jets to win the division? Our early prediction for the best-case scenario is that Rodgers does return, the Jets finish with a 8-9 record, and he throws in the towel. Maybe he'll become Pat McAfee's co-host on ESPN.
The first teaser trailer is here for Adam Sandler's upcoming sci-fi movie Spaceman, which arrives on Netflix next March. Sandler does science fiction? We know he can pull off a serious role when he wants to, but this feels like a stretch. However, we'll hold off on a final verdict until we've at least seen more than 20 seconds of footage:
Den of Geek ranked all of the seasons of Doctor Who. These lists are always subjective, so we won't argue with the order (although we do agree with the top two spots.) The article is still a fun read though, given all of the little tidbits that are included. Going over this should help pass the time until Ncuti Gatwa's first full appearance as the Doctor premieres on Christmas Day.
Night Court will be back with a special holiday episode this Saturday. That's an unexpected treat. The sitcom reboot then returns for its second season on January 2. It will be nice to have some new TV to look forward to again, even if all of the shows are on truncated runs this year.
NCIS will pay tribute to the late David McCallum on the February 19 episode. We don't know much about the specifics, except that the linked article says Ducky's coworkers will learn about his death and honor him. Will there be cameos from any of the original cast members who have all since left the show? Our gut says that Mark Harmon appears at the end in a short scene, perhaps silently having a drink by himself and smiling as he looks at a picture of himself with McCallum.
George Clooney shared some thoughts about his friend, the late Matthew Perry. The two actors shot to fame at the same time at NBC on ER and Friends, respectively.
Guy Fieri said he told his kids they won't inherit his estate unless they get two degrees. Good for him. The TV personality is worth a sizeable amount of money, so he should want to make sure his kids are as grounded as possible to handle that wealth down the road.
Holly Marie Combs claims Alyssa Milano had Shannen Doherty fired from Charmed. According to Combs, she was told that Milano said she would quit the show if Doherty wasn't removed. (The public story at the time was that Doherty had decided to leave on her own.) We have no problem believing this, but we're just wondering why it's coming out now after all these years. Is Doherty trying to set the record straight about her career while she continues her cancer battle?
Congratulations to Wolfgang Van Halen for topping Guitar World's list of 10 best riffs of the year with Mammoth WVH's, "Right?" We won't argue that honor for a second. The opening track to Mammoth II was our favorite song on the record, and it comes out swinging. Now, after having finally seen the band live in Boston earlier this year, we can vouch for the fact that it also kicks ass live. Cheers to the talented musician, and here's to more great music still to come.
Hey Avenged Sevenfold fans, we hear the band went in a different direction with their most recent record. What do you think about the new approach? Yay or nay?
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Here's Bob Seger & the Silver Street Band to close things out with, "Little Drummer Boy" 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.
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