Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  It's been a busy few days for our crew.  There was a lot of running around last weekend, and then we finally had the roof replaced on the Northern Estate yesterday.  The roof was on our project list for a long time, and I'm relieved it is finally resolved.  I went out for the day on Monday while BDH and Little Buddha supervised (from a distance of course.)  Everything looks terrific, so now we can move on to other items.

Speaking of other tasks, the guys say today's to-do list is also on the long side, so we should 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 Tuesday Clutter.

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The second week of Donald Trump's hush money case starts today with testimony from a banker who worked with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen to set up the 2016 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.  There is also a hearing scheduled for Thursday to discuss whether or not Trump should be held in contempt of court for repeatedly violating the gag order on the case.  Spoiler:  He should.  Not only that, but he should be treated like any other defendant who continually disregards the judge's instructions:  Put him in jail.

Lock up the orange con man.  (pic via kansasreflector.com)

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is taking flack from all directions for admitting in a new book that she killed a puppy for misbehaving.  The GOP's cruelty isn't limited to humans, folks.  Some have speculated she put the story out there to appeal to as a VP candidate for Donald Trump, a man who doesn't like dogs (which might be his greatest failure of all as a human.)  Not only should this outrageous action disqualify Governor Noem from joining the ticket, she should be booted out of office.  That's repulsive.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's push to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson seems to be dying on the vine.  Conservatives realize they're likely to be even unhappier about any possible replacements, so maybe they won't shoot themselves in the foot for once.  At least not in the immediate future.  You know they'll pull another self-destructive move eventually.

Hey, look at that - Rep. Matt Gaetz has a primary challenger, thanks to allies of former speaker Kevin McCarthy.  That should be fun to watch.

The state of Texas went judge shopping again to sue the Biden administration over new Title IX protections for transgender students.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the case in an Amarillo courthouse specifically to get U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the Trump appointee who made up a ruling based on his personal ideology to impose limits on mifepristone.   This weaponization of the courts has to be stopped. 

The Federal Reserve starts its next meeting today.  No one is expecting an interest rate cut announcement, as momentum continues to build towards the idea that one might not happen until 2025.  Inflation remains sticky, so the Clutter investment team thinks the status quo is likely to remain in place for a while.  In the meantime, our staff will continue enjoying making enough interest on their savings account to pay for more than one cup of coffee per month.

After taking two out of three last weekend against the Chicago Cubs (the exception being the game we attended), the 16-13 Boston Red Sox start a new series at home against the San Francisco Giants tonight.  Cooper Criswell takes the mound for Boston.  Give these guys credit:  They've been blasted by the injury bug to start the season, and they could easily have been closer to 6-23 at this point.  However, Boston is hanging in there, thanks in large part to the outstanding starting pitching.

A quick note on the New England Patriots' picks in this year's NFL Draft:  We like what the team did, addressing needs at quarterback, wide receiver, and the offensive line.  They may still need a real left tackle, but head coach Jerod Mayo and company strengthened the team last week.  We're feeling increasingly optimistic about next season.

The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to terms with defensive tackle Christian Barmore on a four-year/$92 million deal (with $41.8 million guaranteed.)  We're loving the new approach of re-signing your own key players.  Barmore has been a beast in his three years with the Patriots, and he should be worth every penny.

Ezikiel Elliot is reportedly rejoining the Dallas Cowboys on a one-year deal worth a maximum of $3 million.  Elliot was fine with the New England Patriots last season, but the rebuilding Pats will be okay without him.

The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly gave Travis Kelce a two-year contract extension worth $34.25 million.  According to the linked article, $17 million is said to be guaranteed for this year, with most of the remainder guaranteed as of the third day of the 2025 NFL year.  It makes sense.  Kelce remains a critical part of Kansas City's success.  He's 34 years old, so the clock is probably ticking.  However, he seems like a safe bet for this season, and the odds are good he'll also be worth the money next year.

There are some big changes coming to The NFL Today on CBS.  You can click on the link to see who is out and who is in, but our initial reaction is that a refresh will do that desk some good.  No disrespect intended for the guys who were there, but it's time for some new perspectives.

The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 102-88 last night to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.  Boston center Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the second quarter with some kind of right calf issue.  He'll reportedly get a MRI today for more information about the problem.  If the Celtics can finish off the Heat tomorrow night, as they should, then Porzingis will get some time to recover, and the C's will continue their road to the championship.

NBC's Peacock is raising its subscription rates in July and August (for new and existing customers, respectively.)  We lost our automatic subscription to the service when we recently changed cable packages.  We haven't missed it so far, so we'll save our money for other items for the time being. 

Bob Backish was fired as the CEO of Paramount Global yesterday.  We just want to take a moment to clear up any rumors and confirm that BDH and Little Buddha will not be replacing him (although we're sure the duo would do a great job.)  Backish will be replaced by a team of three Paramount executives, while the company reportedly works on a merger with Skydance Media.

Congratulations to Anne Hathaway, who recently announced that she has been sober for five years.  More power to her.

Jerry Seinfeld declared in a recent interview that the "extreme Left" is killing comedy.  What a bunch of silly nonsense.  Tastes change and evolve over time, but that certainly didn't stop Curb Your Enthusiasm.  We enjoyed watching Seinfeld's Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee last year, but one thing that struck us was how angry he seemed in many of the episodes.  Maybe being insanely rich isn't as much fun as you might think.  In any case, we're not going to be lectured by a guy who dated a high school senior when he was 38 years old.

The new Doctor Who season finally starts a week from Friday!  We can't wait to see Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson back in action, but the 15th Doctor already has a new project on his schedule:  Gatwa will star in a revival of the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Earnest at London's National Theatre, starting this November.  That sounds like a terrific opportunity to stretch his limits, and (hopefully) recharge for a third season as our favorite Time Lord.

Jim Parsons teased his upcoming cameo on Young Sheldon with a TikTok video.

Hey NCIS:  Hawai'i fans, how are you feeling about the show's cancellation?  We didn't watch the spin-off (because it was past our bedtime), but it seems a little surprising that it only lasted three seasons, no?

Former General Hospital star Haley Pullos will reportedly serve 90 days in jail for her drunk driving accident last year.  She'll also have to do five years of probation, and lose her license for a year, according to the linked article.

To the surprise of no one,  Taylor Swift now holds the top 14 spots in the Billboard Top 100, which is the first time that's ever happened.  It turns out T-Swift is pretty good at this music thing.  Looks like she and Travis Kelce have plenty to celebrate this week.

Apparently Motley Crue is getting ready to hit the road again, with several shows scheduled for next week.  Our condolences again to anyone who shelled out a lot of money to see the band on their "farewell" tour in 2014-2015.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Pink Floyd's David Gilmour to close things out with the first single off his new upcoming solo album.  We leave you with, "The Piper's Call" 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.