Hi everyone,

How are you?  We had a lovely time celebrating BDH's birthday yesterday, although I could have done without the nonstop wind.  I get that mid-February is supposed to be cold, but the constant howling felt unnecessary.  BDH and Little Buddha said today's weather forecast calls for a break from all of that before it resumes tomorrow.  Ah well, I'll just make sure to enjoy the relative calm while I tackle the to-d0 list.

The first item on said list is to check out the headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Thursday Clutter.

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Special counsel Jack Smith urged the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to promptly reject Donald Trump's appeal for a further delay in his federal election interference case.  Smith is right, the court should obviously uphold the ruling that denied Trump's absurd claim that the president is above the law.  You don't need to be a lawyer to understand that there's no basis for this "absolute immunity" that exists outside of Trump's imagination.  There's no reality where the Founding Fathers would have supported that fantasy.  Plus, voters have a right to know the outcome of this case before they cast their ballots in November.

Let Jack Smith do his job.  (pic via news.yahoo.com)

Donald Trump will appear at today's hearing on his upcoming hush money trial, while another one takes place at the same time in his Georgia election interference case.  We're old enough to remember when one felony charge would be enough to end a presidential campaign.  However, the GOP abandoned that basic decency the moment they caved to the MAGA leader.  Trump wasn't required to be present at either location today, so we assume he's planning on using this appearance for another campaign rally, as he continues to weaponize the courts for his benefit.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are playing the American public for idiots if they really expect us to believe Putin prefers Joe Biden over Trump.  Russia couldn't ask for a more loyal puppet than the Great Pumpkin, while President Biden has led the international resistance to Russia's unwarranted invasion of Ukraine.  Putin will once again do everything in his power to reinstall Trump in the White House.  He can't be allowed to succeed.

After House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner sounded alarms with a warning about a "serious national security threat" facing the United States, it's starting to leak out that he was talking about Russia wanting to use nuclear weapons against satellites in outer space.  If that's the case, we don't doubt that it's serious, but it also seems like Turner was a bit reckless with his statement.  The world is filled with dangers, and we're sure the government knows about many that aren't public right now.  However, if you start talking like Turner, you're raising fears about a direct military attack against this country.  Maybe don't panic people next time.

As expected, it appears Senate Democrats want to be done with the sham impeachment of U.S. Department of Homeland Security boss Alejandro Mayorkas as quickly as possible.  What a waste of time this is from Republicans who show over and over again that they have nothing of value to offer ordinary Americans.

Here's another periodic reminder that the House Ethics Committee is still investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Representative James Clyburn announced he's leaving House Democratic leadership, although he still intends to run for another term.  The 83-year-old Clyburn's decision creates a welcome opening for a younger member of the caucus to step up and take his place.

Amazon is being sued for adding commercials to its default Prime Video plan:  Subscribers must now pay an additional $2.99/month to avoid the ads, and the lawsuit says that's, "immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous and substantially injurious to consumers."  Plaintiff Wilbert Napoleon is correct -  it's unfair that Prime Video subscribers now have to pay an additional fee for a benefit that they were already paying a hefty amount for before Amazon made this change.  We wish him the best of luck with this case.

There are many troubling aspects about the growing rise in AI-powered "companions."  The one that we find the most concerning is the data collection.  You've got lonely people seeking connection wherever they can find it, and we assume the app developer is about as good as Meta when it comes to protecting privacy.  The potential for exploitation in the name of profit is immense in this situation.

A new CDC study showed people who had COVID-19 were 4.3 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue than those who were not infected.  It's yet another reason why you should do whatever you can to protect yourself, and why the CDC's rumored upcoming change in its isolation recommendations is ridiculous. 

As he starts his third year with the Boston Red Sox, fans are still waiting to see what shortstop Trevor Story can do over the course of a full season.  His run has been nothing special so far, thanks to injuries, but it could be a significant boost to this year's roster if he can finally stay healthy.

Boston Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen suddenly has "general soreness" around his right shoulder, as rumors swirl he'll be traded before the start of the season.  It doesn't make sense for the team to keep the high-paid reliever, since ownership has no interest in winning this season.  We just hope baseball boss Craig Breslow doesn't get fleeced when he makes the deal.

We were saddened to hear about the shooting at yesterday's Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade that left at least one person dead and 21 injured.  That should have been a time of celebration and happiness for all of the attendees.  It increasingly feels like there's nowhere you can expect to feel safe when you're out in public.

The San Francisco 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks yesterday.  That's a terrible look, and it sure gives the appearance that head coach Kyle Shanahan is scapegoating Wilks after the 49ers lost in the Super Bowl last weekend.  Even if San Francisco's defense had some issues this year, they were still good enough to get to the big game.  That alone should have earned Wilks more than one season in the job. 

On the flip side, the Kansas City Chiefs signed their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to a contract extension yesterday, following the outstanding job he did throughout the regular season and playoffs.

Need a random fact to throw at your friends?  Here's the surprising story of the dog in this year's Budweiser Super Bowl commercial that will be sure to amaze them.

After seemingly-endless speculation, the cast for Marvel's latest Fantastic Four movie has been finalized.  According to the official announcement:

"Pedro Pascal is the brilliant and elastic Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby is the powerful Susan Storm (The Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach is the clobberin’ Ben Grimm (The Thing) and Joseph Quinn is the charismatic hot head Johnny Storm (The Human Torch)."

What do we think, MCU fans?  Yay or nay?

There's no way we're going to the theaters to see Russell Crowe's new movie, Land of Bad, but let us know when it hits a streaming service.  This looks like it could be entertaining if we don't have to pay for a ticket.  Just give us the freedom to be wrong and change the channel if necessary:

Ncuti Gatwa's audition script for Doctor Who was just added to the BBC's online script library.  It's a short piece that was written by showrunner Russell T. Davies.  No spoilers here, but the scene gave us goosebumps.  RTD really knows the Time Lord inside and out, and it's easy to imagine Gatwa nailing the delivery that day.  We can't wait for his first full season as the Doctor to finally begin in May.

We've been watching a show called Loudermilk, which you can currently find on Netflix.  It stars Ron Livingston as a former music critic-turned rehab counselor who navigates life, along with his support group members and a handful of other characters.  Peter Farrelly is one of the co-creators.  The series actually started in 2017, but it has bounced around to a few different homes over the years. 

Loudermilk is both funny and serious at times, and it has a lot of heart.  There are only three seasons, with 10 episodes each, so it's easy to binge-watch.  We have one episode left to go, and we're pulling for Farrelly and company to find a way to make a fourth season happen.  If you're looking for a new comedy to enjoy, give it a chance.

We're not sure if Mick Mars is, "one of the most underrated guitar players of the '80s."  However, we will say everything that he's released so far from his upcoming solo project is much more interesting than anything he did with Motley Crue.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Pearl Jam to close things out with their new single, "Dark Matter" 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.