Hi everyone,

Welcome back, and a happy Monday to you all.  How was your weekend?  Our crew had fun binge-watching some programs on Hulu and enjoying a little/lot of Easter candy.  BDH and Little Buddha said they're going to send me on a few errands today, because tomorrow will be busy as usual, and then it sounds like we might have a bad snowstorm coming Wednesday/Thursday.  The good news is that this will probably be the last one of those for a while, but I should probably start stretching soon.

The guys also remind me that today is April 1, and that we all agreed not to play any pranks on each other, because that would distract from finishing the to-do list.  On that serious note, 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.

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!

Donald Trump continues to incite political violence, this time by sharing a video of an image of President Biden tied up and kidnapped in the back of a pickup truck.  The United States cannot allow this man anywhere near the White House again.  We all saw the January 6 attack, and Trump has claimed there "will be a bloodbath" if he doesn't win in November.  That threat has to be taken seriously. 

Lock him up.  (pic via yahoo.com)

The White House criticized conservatives who implied yesterday's Transgender Day of Visibility was somehow an attack on Easter.  It takes all of three seconds to Google that this celebration is always held on March 31, while the date of Easter changes every year.  Republicans also tried to get their supporters worked up into a lather over the fact that the annual Easter egg roll at the White House prohibited the display of any religious artwork.  Newsflash:  That's been the standard practice for 47 years, including during the Trump administration, in order to not violate the 1st Amendment.  These people live to be outraged.

Here's SNL's take on bible salesman Donald Trump.  This is an almost-verbatim transcript of his future appearance on the QVC Network.  If they weren't so dangerous, you'd almost just pity the people who fall for this nonsense:

It sounds like House Republicans are finally getting ready to throw in the towel on their embarrassing sham of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.  They never had any credible evidence of wrongdoing.  This entire circus was designed to distract from Donald Trump's actual legal problems.  Imagine what this country could accomplish if one of the two major political parties had any interest in governing, and not just defending their cult leader.  The GOP is a waste of time and resources.

Some hackers reportedly attacked Russia's prison computer system and stole a prisoner database in February to protest the death of Alexey Navalany.  That's yet another embarrassing security breach for the country's resident dictator.

There still hasn't been a Powerball winner, so tonight's jackpot is expected  to reach $975 million.  We aren't buying a lottery ticket this time, but we are always accepting donations to our coffee budget.

A gauge that Warren Buffett finds useful is indicating that the stock market is significantly overpriced.  The Clutter investment team can't vouch for the accuracy of the "Buffett Indicator," but the crew has believed for a while that things were getting expensive.  From their perspective, this may not be a bubble yet, but it's not unreasonable to start thinking in those terms.  What happens if the market decides the AI hype is too much, or the Fed announces that interest rate hikes aren't coming soon?  Should that happen, our folks will be on the lookout for an overreaction that might lead to some bargains.

When that eventual correction does come, here's hoping it takes out Donald Trump's Truth Social first.  That stock price is completely disconnected from reality.  Those investors are going to end up losing their shirts if they don't get out before the hype evaporates.

Today marks Gmail's 20th anniversary.  Doesn't it seem like it's been around longer than that at this point?  It was funny to read how people at the time thought it was an April Fool's Day joke from Google.

Gizmodo.com did their own version of March Madness to decide the greatest app of all time, and it comes down to this final contest:  Flashlight or Google Maps?  Our crew has been debating this all morning.  We have to give the nod to the maps, because we use them more often.  However, anytime we've needed the flashlight, we've really needed it, so this was a surprisingly close call.  What's your pick?

The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1 yesterday to split their series.  As Boston Globe baseball writer Peter Abraham points out in the linked article, the team has to feel good about how their starting pitchers performed against a quality offense.  Of course it's early, but let's see if the team can continue those outings and build some momentum, as they start a series with the Oakland A's tonight.  Tanner Houck gets the nod for Boston.

New England Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott is rumored to be open to a return to the Dallas Cowboys next season.  That's fine.  Elliot was serviceable last season, with 642 yards and three touchdowns.  However, his absence wouldn't have much impact on the rebuilding Patriots.  If he heads back to Dallas, it shouldn't be too hard for New England to find a competent, and perhaps younger, replacement.

New England Patriots safety Kyle Dugger is reportedly unhappy that the team placed the transition tag on him, thus costing him a few million dollars and making it harder to reach an agreement with another team.  The question now becomes, will Dugger end up holding out, or will he and New England be able to reach a deal before the start of next season? 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is wanted by police for questioning after a car belonging to him was involved in a car accident in Dallas on Saturday.  According to the linked article, a Corvette and a Lamborghini were racing, when the Lamborghini slammed into the median wall and impacted four other vehicles.  The drivers were seen running away from the accident, and one of the cars is reportedly registered to Rice. 

First it was Neve Campbell, and now Courteney Cox is reportedly in discussions to return to the Scream franchise.

Rome Flynn really is out as Derrick Gibson after just six episodes on Chicago Fire.  No explanation yet about what led to his abrupt departure.  Did Gibson not test well with audiences?  Maybe he was always supposed to be a temporary character?  Did something happen behind the scenes?

Eddie Vedder said Pearl Jam is getting to the point where they may only have one or two more albums left in them.  It doesn't sound like Vedder was talking about the band breaking up after that, but perhaps any additional new music would appear in different formats.

Former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach is still out there trying to reunite with his former bandmates, almost 30 years after they parted ways.  Bach once again indicated his desire to get back together with the group, after the recent departure of latest singer Erik Gronwall.  However, the feeling has not been reciprocated.  It sounds like the Skid Row guys are more than happy to continually change their vocalists, rather than play with Bach again.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Sum 41 to close things out with their new single, "Dopamine" 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.