Hi folks,

Welcome back.  How are you?  I did some running around yesterday to make sure I wouldn't get caught driving in any bad weather today.  However, now it looks like the snow won't start until late this evening.  Oh well, better safe than sorry.  BDH and Little Buddha still found some items to put on today's to-do list, including a trip to the bookstore to check out this week's new releases.  Fingers crossed I find something for them, because it's been a while since they had something good to read.

I'll probably also check out some voting locations during today's primary and see how that's all going.  First, let's take a peek at the headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Tuesday 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!

Today is the New Hampshire presidential primary, and the big question is, can Nikki Haley do anything to slow down Donald Trump, or is the Republican race for the nomination already over?  Polls show Trump with a commanding lead in the Granite State, but New Hampshire voters also love sticking it to pollsters, so maybe that should be taken with a grain of salt.  The odds are good that Trump will win.  Maybe it would be different if Nikki Haley had launched her attacks on Trump's mental competency months ago, instead of the last minute.  There's plenty of material to work with there, but is it too little, too late?

Will there be any surprises today?  (pic via cnn.com)

Now that he's done humiliating himself with his failed presidential campaign, will Governor Ron DeSantis tone down the culture wars in Florida, or will he convince himself he has to stay the course if he wants to run again in 2028?

Yesterday was a good day for stocks, as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both reached new all-time highs.  The Clutter investment team certainly won't complain about that, but the staff still thinks investors are getting themselves too worked up about the pace and number of interest rate cuts to expect this year.  Fed officials say time and time again that they'd rather err and fight inflation for too long, instead of not long enough.  Yet, some people still somehow take that to mean they'll suddenly pull a 180 and slash rates in 2024. 

Our crew will just stay out of the way for a while as this buying rush continues.  Maybe we can find them something to read while we're at the bookstore.

The bad news is that there's apparently been an online leak of 26 billion records.  (That's right - billion.)  The good news is that according to the linked article, it's a collection of previous breaches, so if you're on top of your online security, this is nothing new.  Of course, it never hurts to run a personal cybersecurity check on yourself every so often.

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said the team is ready to spend money to help with their rebuild.  According to the linked article, the Patriots have $65 million available cap space for next season.  That could go a long way towards helping them regain their footing (along with the #3 pick in the NFL Draft.)  It would be a bonus if these comments embarrass Red Sox ownership who are acting like a small market organization these days.

Boston Globe sports columnist Chris Gasper writes that it would make sense for Bill Belichick to hold off on taking a new coaching job for another year, largely because there might be better opportunities after next season.  Gasper's not wrong, but does the 72-year-old Belichick really want to wait? Could he handle a year of not coaching?  Of course, it may not really be his call.  If things don't work out with the Atlanta Falcons soon, is anyone else calling him right now?

We laughed at Jason Kelce's shirtless reaction to brother Travis scoring one of his two touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.  However, we didn't realize at the time that Jason Kelce also lifted up a young Taylor Swift fan so she could show her sign to the singer.  He seems like a good guy.  It will be interesting to see what he does next after retiring from the NFL.

The Detroit Lions just signed three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz ahead of this week's NFC Championship Game.  The Lions are thin at the position right now, so if Ertz can get up to speed enough to compete in the next few days, you could see him on this field this Sunday.  We're already pulling for the Lions to win it all, so now we also have to root for Ertz to come out of nowhere with a critical play to help his new team.

The Washington Commanders let him go, but Ron Rivera apparently still wants to coach, because he's reportedly interviewing with the Philadelphia Eagles about their open defensive coordinator position.

Philadelphia's Joel Embiid scored 70 points last night, as the 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs 133-123.  That's a lot, right?  It seems like a lot.

Sorry to hear that Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg is battling metastatic prostate cancer.  We loved following him with the Chicago Cubs in the 1980's and 90's and wish him the best in his fight.

WWE's Monday Night Raw is reportedly moving to Netflix in January of 2025.  The linked article says this is a 10-year/$5 billion deal for the wrestling company.  Wow.  Our immediate reaction is this this won't go well.  It seems hard to believe that enough wrestling fans will follow the show to the streaming service to justify the price, but we'll be fascinated to see if that's right.  On the flip side, we're curious about what kind of creative possibilities would now be on the table.  Success or failure, this feels like an industry-changing moment.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has reportedly joined the board of TKO Holdings, which is now the parent company of the WWE and UFC.  As part of the arrangement, Johnson also gets ownership of the trademark for "The Rock."  That's wild.  We remember when the young Johnson was being booed like mad in his rookie year as a wrestler, because the crowd wasn't buying his act at all.  Now he's sitting at the top of the WWE's corporate ladder.  Good for him.

Glad to hear The Marvels is coming to Disney+ on February 7.  We didn't get a chance to see it in the theater, and despite the non-stop trolling by the usual sad suspects, the movie got generally good reviews.  That's definitely going on next month's schedule.

Director Oliver Stone apparently doesn't like the movies Ryan Gosling and Keanu Reeves are making.  We're pretty sure both actors will survive his criticisms.  Stone's films used to be major events from about 1986-1995, but now he's relegated to this level of complaining. 

General Hospital is changing its head writers.  What's that all about?  Things generally seemed to be fine on the soap opera.  The show might have meandered a bit during the writers strike, but nothing major.  The article says the new material will start airing in March.  Fans should pay attention to the last two weeks of February and see if the upcoming transition is obvious and all of the storylines suddenly resolve in an episode or two.  Can't remember what year it was, but there was one GH writing change where it seemed like they pulled a 180 in one day, which was hysterical.

Valerie Bertinelli is bummed out she won't be hosting Kids Baking Championship anymore, due to budget cuts at the Food Network.  Bertinelli had been a judge and host on the show for 12 years.  It's always hard when you lose a job you dig through no fault of your own.  She deserved better after so many years of hard work.  Here's hoping Bertinelli finds a new outlet for her cooking skills.

Mammoth WVH will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tomorrow night before they start the first leg of their 2024 tour next month.  Wolfgang Van Halen and company will perform the song, "I'm Alright," which is one of many terrific tracks on their sophomore album, Mammoth II. 

Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar apparently gets some surprising news when he appears on the PBS series, Find Your Roots tonight. 

Sharon Osbourne said Ozzy's plan to say eventually say goodbye to his fans would consist of two concerts in his hometown of Birmingham, England.  No word on when those would take place, though.  Ozzy's been dealing with a variety of health issues over the years.  While it seems unlikely he'd ever go on a full tour again, he's still talking about doing single shows here and there for a while.  At the same time, the clock has to be ticking for the 75-year-old singer, so we'll see what happens.

The Piano Man is back:  Billy Joel is releasing his first new song in 17 years on February 1.  No word yet on whether or not, "Turn the Lights Back On" will be part of a new album.  If it is, that would be Joel's first new record since 1993's River of Dreams, which we may have had on a yearlong loop in college.

The Black Crowes announced the dates for a short tour that runs from early April to the beginning of June.

There's a four-part docuseries about Bon Jovi coming to Hulu in April.  Talk to us about Hulu, folks.  Is it worth the money?

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Billy Joel to close things out with a live version of, "I Go to Extremes" 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.