Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Friday to you all.  What's the plan for the weekend?  We're still figuring it out here, but something tells me there will be at least a little TV watching.  I finally signed us up for Hulu yesterday, and BDH and Little Buddha are already addicted to Only Murders in the Building.  We had to make ourselves not binge watch the entire first season. 

Other than that, there probably won't be anything too crazy on this end.  (Oh, I should get our crew some Easter candy.)  The guys say the rain is finally supposed to stop later this morning, thankfully.  In the meantime, let's check out the headlines.  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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House Republicans want President Biden to testify regarding their sham impeachment proceedings against him on April 16.  This circus has no basis in reality, and try as hard as they might, the GOP has been unable to find any actual evidence of wrongdoing by the president.  The whole thing has been used to try to distract voters from the fact that Republicans have nothing to offer the country except tax cuts for the wealthy.  It is also meant to deflect from the fact that their MAGA leader is a serial criminal who belongs behind bars. 

President Biden should refuse to attend that April hearing, and every last Republican should be thrown out of office in November for failing the country.  The United States has real problems to deal with, and we need officials who actually care about governing.  Everyone else is a waste of time.

President Biden is busy running the country, while Republicans fight for air time on Fox News.  (pic via www.wpr.org)

Georgia prosecutors say Donald Trump's defense that his attempt to overturn the state's 2020 election results constitutes free speech is an attempt to re-write his indictment.  As the lawyers argued in court, it's not that Trump just said something offensive.  It's that his comments were part of a criminal conspiracy.  The 1st Amendment has nothing to do with it.

Let's see if we've got this straight:  A Georgia Republican Party official was fined $5000 for illegally voting nine times.  Meanwhile, a Texas woman was sentenced to five years in prison for voting illegally once.  Thankfully, that sentence was just overturned.  With only that information, does anyone have any doubt about the races of the two people in these stories?

We were surprised to see Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH) suddenly announce she's not running for re-election.  It's pretty late in the calendar to be making that decision, considering the New Hampshire primary has already happened.  There's a long list of names rumored to be considering running for her seat, but we have to wonder who knew about this decision before it was made public?'

Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and ordered to forfeit $11 billion to compensate the victims of the massive fraud he perpetuated via the FTX cryptocurrency trading platform.  The sentence seems on the low end of acceptable, considering the magnitutde of the crimes.  Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal his guilty verdict, but he deserves this punishment at a minimum.

The S&P 500 finished up 10.2% for the first quarter of 2024.  That's the index's best first-quarter performance in five years.  Those results would be a strong year-end total, let alone just the first three months of the year.  The Clutter investment team currently sees the stock market as fully-valued/a touch on the expensive side.  The crew doesn't think this is a bubble, but they'll be keeping an eye for any corrections over the next nine months.  However, they know better than to try to time the market, so it's business as usual with a focus on the long-term picture.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 last night, thanks in part to Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill hitting a home run for the 5th consecutive Opening Day, which is a new MLB record.  Boston starter Brayan Bello gave up two earned runs in five innings in his first-ever Opening Day start, so the moment certainly didn't get too big for him.  This win means the Red Sox are both undefeated and sitting on top of the AL East.  Thus, we declare the regular season officially over.  On the offhand chance that ruling doesn't get approved, Nick Pivetta will take the mound against Seattle tonight.

Alex Rodriguez's deal to buy a majority stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves is apparently dead because A-Rod and his partner reportedly failed to make a payment before its deadline.  That's a shame.

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson denied a report that he recently got into a "heated argument" with head coach Robert Saleh.  The Jets may have improved their talent level this offseason, but at the end of of the day, they're still the Jets, and we expect their 13-year playoff drought to continue.

Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon continues to cash out of the pro wrestling industry:  McMahon recently sold another $100 million worth of shares in TKO Holdings Group (the new WWE owner), which brings his current haul to about $1.2 billion.  We haven't seen or heard much about McMahon since the lawsuit was filed against him accusing him of sex abuse and trafficking.  He's not missed.

The first trailer is out for Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld's comedic look at the invention of the Pop Tart.  We're not sure how accurate this movie is, but it appears too silly to pass up when it arrives on Netflix on May 3:

A third Winnie-the-Pooh horror movie is reportedly in development.  We still give this entire franchise the hardest of passes.  There is truly nothing anyone could do to get us to watch even one of these abominations.

Doctor Who boss Russell T. Davies recently spoke about the importance of the show's partnership with Disney+, particularly when it came to increasing the production budget.  The new episodes which have already aired on the streaming platform so far all looked gorgeous, and RTD said that frees him up to write more expansive stories.  No complaints here.  Davies also seems to believe that the BBC's long-term future doesn't seem great, and that it's important that Doctor Who have a secure long-term partner. 

TVinsider.com asks if this week's Chicago P.D. established the foundation for Hailey Upton's departure from the show.  Their argument makes sense.  We just hope the door will be left open for a return.  It never happens, but we always like to hold out a little hope that some familiar faces might reappear at some point down the road, even if it's just for a quick cameo.

Sheryl Crow shared some thoughts with NPR about her new album, Evolution, which comes out today.

AC/DC reportedly sold a remarkable 1.5 million tickets in a day for their upcoming Europe tour, which starts in May.  Apparently their fans are more than a little excited to see the band perform live again for the first time since 2016. 

It's a little disappointing to hear that Ice Spice couldn't finish the Hot Ones gauntlet of spicy chicken wings during her interview.   It's not that it's an easy task, but you should understand what you're getting into when you agree to do the show.  We're not saying we think less of the singer for not closing out the challenge, but we're not not saying it either.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's have Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus close things out with their new duet, "II Most Wanted" for today's, "Song of the Day."

Thanks for stopping by, folks.  It was great to see you, as always.  Enjoy your weekend, 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.