Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all.  What's your plan for the weekend?  I know we have a few errands on the to-do list, and then our crew will settle in to watch Sunday's NFL playoff games.  BDH and Little Buddha say the forecast calls for more bad weather on Sunday, but as long as it doesn't start earlier than expected, I think we'll be okay.

It's raining at the moment, so why don't we check out the headlines while we wait for that to stop.  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.

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Even some Senate Republicans are admitting that Donald Trump is trying to kill any bipartisan agreement about border security, because he wants to use the issue to attack President Biden.  Whatever one's position on this subject, the fact is that once again, Trump is putting his own personal needs ahead of the country's, and that should not be tolerated.  This isn't leadership.  This is the work of a man who wants to be a dictator in order to stay out of jail for his extensive criminal actions.  Imagine how much better off the United States would be if one of its two major political parties was interested in governing instead of serving as an obedient cult.

Donald Trump doesn't care at all about the United States.  (pic via abcnews.go.com)

Donald Trump briefly testified in his defense yesterday during E. Jean Carroll's civil defamation lawsuit against him.  As you might expect, it did not go well.  Also, the judge explicitly reminded the jury that Trump has already been found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll.  That's the head of the GOP, friends - a confirmed sex offender.

Shame on Alabama for executing a prisoner last night by using nitrogen gas, which is the first time that's ever been done.  The death penalty is an abomination, and it's also irreparably flawed as a criminal justice policy.  Now we add to that a state experimenting on a human being, and it's clear from the account that things did not go the way the state said it would.  Capital punishment isn't justice, it's vengeance, and a country who murders its own citizens has no moral standing. 

Tesla shares dropped 12% yesterday after the electric vehicle company's earnings called missed expectations and also provided a warning about a slow year ahead.  Something tells us Elon Musk doesn't have to start cutting out coupons just yet.  However, you still couldn't pay the Clutter investment team to invest directly in this stock.  It's probably sitting somewhere in the team's basket of index funds, but other than that, the staff would like to stay as far away from Musk companies as possible.

The NFL conference championship games are this weekend, and we're taking the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions:

It's probably more based on gut than anything else, but the Chiefs vs. the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC game feels like a repeat of last weekend's Chiefs/Buffalo Bills contest.  Patrick Mahomes should lose to the better team...but he won't.  Baltimore has been outstanding this year, but the pressure is on quarterback/ MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson to show he can get to the next level.  We know Mahomes can do it, and now that he's proven he can win a playoff road game, he has less pressure on him on Sunday.

As far as the NFC game goes, if the Detroit Lions can get off to an early lead, or at least hang in there right from the beginning, we believe their aggressiveness will eventually wear down the San Francisco 49ers,  Detroit's head coach Dan Campbell will find a way to make 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy uncomfortable all day long.  Detroit QB Jared Goff will have his own challenges against San Francisco's talented defense, but the Lions run game is good enough to keep Purdy and company off the field for long stretches. 

This is a shock:  The Atlanta Falcons are hiring Raheem Morris to be their next head coach, not Bill Belichick.  Congratulations to the now-former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator, but we're surprised that it's starting to look like Belichick might actually be out of the NFL for a year.  Maybe that will be for the best for him, because you have to wonder if the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs might have openings next season.  However, we're betting he's going to go nuts if he has to stay off a NFL sideline for that long.

Meanwhile, New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Keyshon Boutte was arrested yesterday for allegedly making illegal sports bets while he played football at LSU.  According to the linked article, Boutte's alleged online account made thousands of bets, including some on LSU games.  New Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo should send a message and cut Boutte now.  Let the courts figure out Boutte's legal status, but Mayo should make it clear that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated by the organization under his watch.

A former WWE female employee is suing Vince McMahon for sexual abuse and trafficking.  The details are graphic and disturbing, so we'll let you decide for yourself if you want to click on the linked article to learn more.  However, we will tell you that the WWE's new owner TKO Group should immediately fire McMahon as its executive chairman, because this scandal has the potential to bring down the wrestling company. 

McMahon's criminal and sleazy behavior has been documented and known for years, but he always managed to survive up until this point.  Even after it was revealed in 2022 that McMahon paid millions in hush money to multiple women (including the plaintiff here), he still escaped punishment and added to his fortune.  The lawsuit claims the WWE's recent review of that last scandal was basically a sham.  That's no surprise, and reporters should be hounding current executives about it.

The filing also seems to make the case that the nondisclosure agreement the plaintiff signed should be nullified.  If that happens, it seems likely other similar agreements could also be undone, and if that happens, the full extent of McMahon's actions could finally be made public.  Spoiler:  That could be a death knell for his empire.

Our crew is making a push to get more value out of our streaming services these days, but a Road House remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal?  No thank you, Amazon Prime Video.  Oh wait, Conor McGregor is the bad guy?  Yeah, no thank you.

We were surprised, but pleased, to hear that Jon Stewart will be back to host The Daily Show one day a week, between February 12 and the election.  Gotta say, it seems a little weird that TDS producers haven't been able to find a full-time person for the gig since Trevor Noah left in 2022.  Still, we're looking forward to Stewart's weekly take on Donald Trump, something that didn't happen with either the 2016 or 2020 elections.

There's a Big Bang Theory reunion coming on the February 6 episode of Night Court.  That should be fun.

Good for George Carlin's family for suing the people who made an AI -powered standup comedy special using his likeness and material.  This is an important fight that's about more than just the late comedian.  This is about public figures and their estates having control over their identities, as AI becomes more powerful and prevalent. This was one of the major points of contention in the recent actors strike, and this battle is just getting started.

The problem isn't just about relatively innocuous things like a fictional comedy special.  It can also lead down much darker paths, like the AI-generated explicit photos of Taylor Swift that were circulating on Twitter.  We've opened Pandora's Box with this technology, and it's going to come back to bite us.

Justin Timberlake announced he'll be going out on tour to support his new upcoming album, Everything I Thought it Was, which will be released on March 15.  It's the singer's first new solo record in over six years.  We're interested to see if he's still the same draw after the unflattering stories involving him, Janet Jackson, and Britney Spears.

Bon Jovi released a special deluxe edition of their debut album to celebrate the record's 40th anniversary.  The new version contains nine bonus tracks, so we're sure the group's fans will enjoy it while they continue to wait and see if former guitarist Richie Sambora finally returns.

David Lee Roth attacked Wolfgang Van Halen in a new YouTube video, complaining about all sorts of moves the younger musician supposedly pulled while the (mostly) Van Halen was on tour.  Now, what might have triggered this?  Who knows?  Maybe Dave didn't like Wolfgang vaguely alluding to the singer being the problem when it came to trying to pull together an Eddie Van Halen tribute.  Or maybe Roth is just a sad old man in desperate need of attention because it's been years since he was relevant.  Your guess is as good as ours.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  It turns out that former Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars is a much more interesting musician than his former bandmates.  Who would have guessed?  Here's Mars to close things out with his new single, "Undone" 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, stay dry, 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.