Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  I struck out at the bookstore yesterday, which was a little disappointing.  BDH and Little Buddha were just reviewing the latest weather forecast.  It sounds like we have snow through the morning.  After a brief pause this afternoon, it turns into freezing rain for a while, followed by regular rain, and then ending with mild temperatures on Thursday.  In other words, it's all a big mess, but it might be fine by tomorrow morning.  Fortunately, today's to-do list doesn't include any driving.

The guys still have some assignments for me, and the first is to sort through the headlines with all of you, so let's do it.  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.

(Programming note:  We will likely be out of the office on Thursday and back on Friday.  Any changes will be posted to our Facebook page.)

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, Donald Trump beat Nikki Haley in yesterday's New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, as he continues his march to the GOP nomination.  However, Trump's victory came with a warning sign:  According to the linked article, Haley won two-thirds of the independent vote.  Republicans may be drinking the MAGA Kool-Aid by the gallon these days, but they make up a small minority of the country, and the rest of the United States sees a mentally deteriorating wannabe dictator who has to be stopped.  The further to the right Team Trump goes now, the more they make the case for President Biden's reelection in November.

The GOP's push towards fascism continues.  (pic via www.lemonde.fr)

Donald Trump celebrated his win by threatening Nikki Haley with investigations if she stays in the race.   That's a totally normal reaction that doesn't at all sound like thuggery and a man whose mental competency remains in question.  Trump lives in a state of permanent grievance anyway, but you know it makes him even angrier that a woman continues to dare to run against him.

We should also mention that President Biden easily won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary yesterday, despite not being listed on the ballot because the primary went against the DNC's calendar ahead of South Carolina.  The conflict means NH's delegates won't count at this year's convention, but Granite State Democrats still launched a write-in campaign to make sure Biden had a positive outcome. 

Governor Ron DeSantis apparently thinks voters are to blame for his miserable failed presidential campaign.  We'd argue it was more because of his complete inability to act like a functional human being and offer a real alternative to Donald Trump, but hey, that's just us.  Let's just make sure we don't have to watch this all over again in 2028.  Governor DeSantis was in over his head right from the beginning here, and that won't change in four years.  However, we're more than happy to watch DeSantis criticize Trump again, just days after endorsing him.

We're sorry to hear that former CBS News broadcaster Charles Osgood died yesterday.  He was known by many for being the host of CBS Sunday Morning.  We mostly remember him for his news radio reports, which were called "The Osgood File," which we heard while driving to school many moons ago.  Charles Osgood was 91 years old.  Our condolences to his family and friends. 

The Federal Trade Commission ordered Intuit to stop advertising "free" TurboTax programs unless they're actually free for everyone, or if the company makes it clear what percentage of customers are really eligible for the offerings.  Intuit said it would appeal, but their defense seems more like an attack on the FTC than a dispute that they're engaged in misleading advertising.  Of course, the real solution to this problem is to have the IRS offer free tax preparation services to the entire population and cut out the middleman entirely.

It sounds like another Netflix price hike is coming at some point this year.  That new massive WWE deal (see further below) isn't going to pay for itself, after all.  Streaming services were originally presented as a break from cable.  However, they're all turning into the same overpriced content collections, with the only difference being you don't need a cable box to use them.

Apple's new "Stolen Device Protection" feature sounds useful. 

Congratulations to Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and Adrian Beltre on being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday.  It was the first year of eligibility for Mauer and Beltre, and the sixth attempt for Helton, and they were all deserving candidates.  We loved Beltre during his one season with the Boston Red Sox in 2010, and it was disappointing when he left, particularly since his career really took off the next year.  The third baseman also hit the only ball we've almost ever caught at Fenway Park, but in the words of Agent Maxwell Smart, we "missed it by that much."  The induction ceremony will take place on July 21.

The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly signed pitcher James Paxton to a one-year deal for $11 million.  The lefty had a decent year with the Red Sox in 2023 (7-5 with a 4.50 ERA), but he really tailed off in the second half of the season.  It's not that we're crushed that he's gone, but we would have been okay with the Sox signing him to this contract.  Instead, Boston fans are apparently expected to put all of their hope in new pitching coach Andrew Bailey, while the team continues to act like a small market team.

The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly hired Doc Rivers to be their new head coach after firing Adrian Griffin earlier in the day.  The Bucks are 30-13, so what are we missing here?  Apparently Milwaukee was a mess despite the record, although that still seems like a quick dumping of a new coach.  Well, good luck to Doc.

WWE President Nick Khan said Monday Night Raw is still currently expected to stay on the same night after it moves to Netflix next January, but the company is open to the idea of change.  Khan made the comments on The Pat McAfee Show.  We're still processing yesterday's announcement that Raw is switching to streaming in 2025.  On the one hand, it's hard to believe enough fans will follow it to Netflix for this to be successful, but maybe we're wrong.  What's most interesting is how the creative will change once Raw is no longer bound by TV network rules.  Like we said yesterday, one way or another, this feels like an industry-changing development.

The 2024 Oscar nominations came out yesterday.  Barbie was nominated for Best Picture, but director Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were shut out, while Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera were included in the supporting actor/actress categories.  Are you kidding?  The movie didn't direct itself, and it didn't make over a billion dollars because of the supporting cast (who were great, but come on.)  Gosling pointed out in his response to his nomination that the film never would have happened without the two women.  Apparently the critique of the patriarchy was a documentary.  Pure ridiculousness.

It's Wednesday, so we've got new "One Chicago" programs to look forward to tonight.  Chicago Fire showrunner Andrea Newman discussed all of the recent cast turnover on these shows, which she attributed to simple creative decisions.  We don't buy it, especially considering how abruptly Blake Gallo left Fire last week.  Maybe the storytelling issue is part of it, but recent budget cuts across the shows seems likely to be a bigger reason.  Plus, we always get the impression there's a lot of behind the scenes drama with these programs.  If time is running out in the Windy City, so be it.  They've all had good runs, but nothing lasts forever.

After recently discussing the reasons behind her firing from Charmed, actress Shannen Doherty is now discussing what led to her removal from Beverly Hills 90210.  It sounds like Doherty is focused on making sure she tells her side of the story about her career, as she continues to battle cancer.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Shinedown to close things out with, "A Symptom of Being Human" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you as always.  BDH and Little Buddha say you're welcome to come back tonight if you want to watch the "One Chicago" shows with them.  Otherwise, 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.