Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Monday to you all.  How was your weekend?  Saturday was fine here, but yesterday was rough.  I slept terribly and was in trouble the minute I got out of bed.  The hope was I could just power through the short list of errands, crash for about four hours, and then watch the Super Bowl with BDH and Little Buddha.  However, due to unforeseen circumstances, there was no window for a nap, and of course the game went deep into overtime.  By the time it was over, I felt like I'd been up for two days.  Great game though.

Fortunately, I slept like a rock last night, and the guys gave me another manageable to-do list for today, ahead of tomorrow's snowstorm.  The first assignment is to check out the headlines with you, so 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 Clutter.

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Donald Trump said over the weekend that he'd encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want" to any NATO country that Trump believed wasn't paying enough for their own defense.  It's outrageous and dangerous that he's encouraging Vladimir Putin to start a new war.  He's directly putting American soldiers, and our allies, in danger to serve his own master.  However, it's not surprising.  Trump has made it crystal clear over the years that he has no use for NATO, and that his allegiance to Putin is much stronger than any connection to his own country.  This isn't a guy who "just doesn't talk like a politician."  He's a man encouraging the start of World War III.  He has to be stopped.

Donald Trump is hostile to the United States and our allies.  (pic via news.yahoo.com)

We're seeing an increasing number of stories about President Biden criticizing Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in private.  However, the administration is still blindly supporting Netanyahu on the policy front, so these are just empty words so far. 

Sorry to hear that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is back in the hospital, this time with what is being described as a, "bladder issue."  However, it's good to see that the Pentagon is correcting their previous mistake by making this information known in a timely fashion.  Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks is reportedly in charge while Austin is out of commission.  We wish him a full and speedy recovery.

CNET.com posted a list of, "10 Simple Ways to Protect Your Eye Health Each Day."  As the title says, there's nothing complicated here, so it should be pretty easy to follow these recommendations. 

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Wednesday, and for the first time in ages, we have almost nothing to talk about with this year's Red Sox team.  Ownership seems to be going out of their way to show they don't care about this group or the fans.  You have to wonder if there will be a lot of empty seats at Fenway Park this year, or maybe they'll just be filled again by fans from the visiting teams.

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on beating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to win the Super Bowl last night.  We wrote here on Friday that the 49ers were probably the better team on paper, but we wouldn't bet against Patrick Mahomes in the postseason.  Turns out, our gut was right.  San Francisco jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, and only a late field goal kept Kansas City from being shut out in the first half of the game.  However, Mahomes and company didn't panic, even when the first drive of the second half ended with a rare Mahomes interception. 

However the rest of the game was an exciting slugfest with multiple lead changes that went deep into overtime and ended with Mahomes throwing a three-yard TD pass to Mecole Hardman for the win.  It was Kansas City's second straight championship, making them the first repeat winners since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots.  It's also Mahomes' third title in what is already guaranteed to be a Hall of Fame career.  We tip our caps to him and his teammates for finding a way to win and ending this NFL season on such an exciting note.

Now that the game is over, we're setting the over/under on Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift breaking up at March 12.  As much fun as it's been to watch right-wing snowflakes get hysterical about this relationship, the publicity stunt has served its purpose.

It looks like Tom Brady's stalled bid to become a limited owner of the Las Vegas Raiders is back on track.  The other NFL owners apparently believed Brady originally got too much of a discount and put his application on hold.  The numbers have reportedly since been adjusted, and he's now expected to be approved at the NFL's annual meeting in March.  As New England Patriots fans, are we now expected to hope the Raiders do well?  That doesn't sound right.  It also seems a little weird to have an owner as a Fox NFL broadcaster.

We're sorry, but not all that surprised, to hear that former pro wrestler Billy Jack Haynes was arrested allegedly murdering his wife.  Haynes has seemed like a troubled man for years.  Our condolences go out to Janette Becraft's friends and family.

The first official trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine is out, and oh sweet MCU, this looks outstanding.  There's a lot to love here, which you'll have to just see for yourself.  However, it's particularly exciting to see the first appearance of a major villain.  We might actually make it to the theaters when the movie comes out on July 26:

We recently watched The Marvels on Disney+, and long story short - it was a fun and slightly silly movie that got a bad rap from trolls.  Den of Geek is much more distracted by the plot holes than we were, and for the most part, we'd argue only one of them really matters.  (The one regarding a musical planet's future.)  The rest of them are pretty trivial.  The criticism highlights reflect a common problem with comic book movies:  Some people take them way too seriously.  The Marvels told a basic story that wasn't perfect, but it was entertaining.  Works for us.  It's more than we've gotten out of a few recent Marvel offerings.

As much as we love the Dunkin' mothership, it doesn't look like we'll be ordering anything off the new limited time DunKings menu.  We like our coffee black, so a drink with, "cream, a sweet cold foam topping and a dusting of cinnamon sugar," does not sound appealing at all.  However, they make Ben Affleck happy, and that's really all that matters.

Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can look forward to the season premiere of NCIS tonight, and then there are the FBI shows tomorrow.  It will be nice to have our full network TV viewing schedule finally up and running again for a few weeks. 

Former Doctor Who star Louise Jameson recently explained why her departure from the show as Leela was so abrupt.  The actress had already decided to move onto other projects, but her character's exit was "underwhelming" to say the least.  Fortunately, Jameson said she'd be up for a return.  It would be outstanding if showrunner Russell T. Davies could find a way to work that into the new era.  We've already seen several past companions appear recently.  If the Doctor returns to Gallifrey anytime soon, there must be a way these two could also cross paths.

Ozzy Osbourne is angry that Kanye West apparently used an uncleared sample of the Black Sabbath classic "Iron Man" on his new album.  Ozzy blasted Kanye for being antisemitic and said he wanted nothing to do with him. 

AC/DC announced the dates for their spring/summer tour of Europe.  It will be the band's first time hitting the road in eight years.   You have to think they'll eventually put some U.S. appearances on the calendar.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Seeing as how Valentine's Day/BDH's birthday is coming up on Wednesday, let's have Queen close things out with an epic live version of, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" 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, make sure you have whatever you need before the snow arrives, 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.