Wednesday Clutter: Trump, Mike Johnson, Florida Abortion Ban, Marijuana, Boston Red Sox, NFL Notes, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Doctor Who, Young Sheldon, Willie Nelson, and more
05/01/2024
Hi everyone,
Welcome back, and congratulations on finishing the first third of 2024. BDH and Little Buddha were just showing me our schedule for the month of May, and it's a lot. Thankfully, a good portion of the activities will be fun, but there will be plenty of running around between now and June 1. The craziness might throw us off a few times here, but we'll deal with that when it gets closer. All I know is that I don't have to worry about the roof anymore, so that's a good start.
There are a number of tasks on today's to-do list, so let's get to work. The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Wednesday Clutter.
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The judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money trial found him in criminal contempt yesterday for violating the limited gag order in the case. Judge Juan Marchan fined Trump $9000 for nine social media posts attacking witnesses. That's nowhere near enough of a financial penalty to change Trump's behavior. Judge Marchan acknowledged as much and warned Trump that future violations could lead to imprisonment.
If Donald Trump was any other defendant engaged in the same behavior, he'd already be sitting in a cell. This should be no different. Trump supporters may think he's angling to be put in jail to help his campaign. However, we know the Great Pumpkin would last about five minutes behind bars before he lost his mind. He will violate this court order time and time again if the potential repercussions aren't strong enough to alter his behavior.
Lock him up. (pic via cnn.com)
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said yesterday that Democrats will not support a motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his job if it comes up for a vote soon. That statement was expected after Speaker Johnson recently finally allowed a vote on a Ukraine aid bill. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's push to toss Johnson is also struggling to get support from conservatives at this point, so she can yell all she wants, but it's an empty threat, and she knows it. It won't make her boss Vladimir Putin happy, and she'll fundraise on it, but at least the House might be semi-functional for the rest of this year.
New York Democrat Tim Kennedy flipped a seat in a special election yesterday, which means the Republican House majority is now just 217-213, with five vacancies. Kennedy will now have to immediately start another campaign for a full term, but he's expected to win that race without much difficulty.
Florida's new six-week abortion ban is now in effect, thus further reducing access to the procedure to women who live in the south. Conservatives will never stop attacking women and trying to control their lives. This onslaught will only grow even more intense if Donald Trump and the GOP win in November. These extremists must be stopped.
It's good to see that the Biden administration is working to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, but that's not where this story should end. Moving pot from a Schedule 1 to Schedule III designation is a step forward in establishing a more reality-based drug policy, but marijuana really should be put in the same category as alcohol. Set up federal laws for sale, distribution, and use, and stop wasting any taxpayer dollars on a racist propaganda-based doomed approach.
The Fed will conclude its latest meeting later today. No one is expecting any change in interest rates, given that inflation continues to be an issue.
Instagram announced yesterday that it is tweaking its algorithm to prioritize creators of original content over aggregators. The change will be rolled out over the next few months, and we hope it works well. We've seen so many accounts that blatantly steal from other people, while giving little to no credit. People should be rewarded for their work, not for just hitting "repost."
The Boston Red Sox beat the San Francisco Giants 4-0 last night, thus ending April with a record of 17-13. What can we say, this team has already surpassed any expectations we had for this year. Their starting pitching has been dominant and kept them afloat, while the injury bug ravages the roster. Last night was Boston's sixth shout0ut for the year. We wouldn't have been surprised if that had been their total for all of 2024.
Boss Craig Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey clearly know what they're doing with the staff. Even if the starting rotation can't perform at this historic level all year, this crew could be more interesting than we expected, especially if they can get healthy for a while. Love it.
Next up: Kutter Crawford takes the mound against the Giants tonight.
Theo Epstein recently discussed his role as a senior advisor for the Fenway Sports Group (FSG). He's not a "shadow GM" for the Red Sox, but it sounds like he's in regular communication with Craig Breslow, which is reassuring. Epstein also talks to other FSG organizations, and going by the linked article, it definitely sounds like this is not his final ownership role. However, does that mean eventually a more prominent spot at FSG or somewhere else? We're pulling for the former. The 50-year-old Epstein has already had a Hall of Fame career, and we'd be thrilled if he had a major long-term presence again in Boston sports.
Yikes, the Houston Astros are demoting 2020 AL MVP José Abreu and sending him to their Florida Complex League team after an atrocious April that saw him bat just .099. You don't see that often, but Abreu clearly needs a place where he can reset without having thousands of eyes on him every night.
The Denver Broncos will reportedly not pick up new quarterback Zach Wilson's fifth-year option, now that they drafted Bo Nix in last week's NFL Draft. That means Wilson has one year to try to rebuild some value during his time with the Broncos, and then he'll be a free agent. Good luck to him.
Hold on, the Jacksonville Jaguars also apparently won't pick up Mac Jones' fifth-year option either. That means Jones is in the same situation as Zach Wilson. He's got a year to rebound as Trevor Lawrence's back-up, and then he'll also hit the free agent market. We're still not sure if Mac Jones is a NFL-level quarterback. However, the New England Patriots did wrong by him, and we'd like to see the guy rebound.
Chris Hemsworth is still taking the blame for Thor: Love & Thunder not doing well at the box office. Gotta say, we enjoyed the movie. Is it a classic? No. However, one of the biggest problems with these superhero films is that they can take themselves way too seriously. Hemsworth and others may say the film veered into "parody," but we saw it as an entertainingly silly break from the usual fare. However, if the actor wants to do another one that's more in line with the others, we'll be there for that as well.
The Wrap has a scathing article about Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, accusing him of having, "a reputation in the industry for his lateness and lack of professionalism on set." Johnson's behavior is said to be one of the main reasons why the upcoming movie Red One was pushed back almost a year to this November. According to the article, his tardiness has been an issue for years, which certainly challenges his claim of always being the hardest worker in the room. The actor/wrestler always has 1000 projects going on, and world domination is clearly on his mind. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see it all blow up in his face at some point down the road.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney apparently also doesn't think much of Jerry Seinfeld's complaint that the "extreme Left" has killed comedy. McElhenney tweeted a response showing that his own series pushes boundaries in the name of a joke, just like Seinfeld and others before it. Actually, Sunny goes much further than Seinfeld ever did, so really, Jerry Seinfeld should just shush.
Doctor Who stars Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson appeared on Good Morning America yesterday to talk about the series, ahead of the May 17 premiere. We can still remember when almost no one around us new a thing about the Doctor, and now these folks are on GMA. It's wild, even though Robin Roberts didn't seem to know that Ncuti Gatwa was in Barbie.
It looks like we may finally know exactly when George Cooper Sr. dies on Young Sheldon. The patriarch of the family has to go to stay consistent with The Big Bang Theory canon, but this feels risky. We'd rather see the series end with George still alive, and older Sheldon addressing his passing in a voice-over. Here's hoping we're being played by the Internet, and that's what actually happens.
NCIS star Rocky Carroll shared some thoughts about the TV universe he's been a part of for many years now. Even though NCIS: Hawai'i has been cancelled, the mothership is still going strong, and there are two new spin-offs on the way, so it doesn't look like we're done with these characters yet.
Motley Crue singer Vince Neil revealed what he didn't like about opening for Van Halen as a solo artist in the 1990's. We make fun of "the Crue" around here, but we played Neil's solo album a lot at the time, and he was okay when we saw him live during that VH tour.
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. This past Monday was Willie Nelson's 91st birthday, so let's have the country icon close things out with, "Made in Texas" 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.
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