Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  BDH and Little Buddha were just reviewing today's weather forecast.  It looks like it's going to rain right now, and we're supposed to have scattered thunderstorms this afternoon.  I just can't shake the feeling that it's going to be a big tease.  However, something tells me that if I end up pulling the hose out of the garage and start watering the garden at the end of the day, I'm going to get caught in a downpour.  I guess that would be fine, as long as the plants get what they need.

For now, let's check out the headlines.  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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Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Florida yesterday, where he rambled about the price of bacon, uttered some nonsense about electric cars, and then went back to his usual pathological lying about the 2020 presidential election being stolen.  This is of course from the same guy who recently went off about sharks for no reason. Talk to us again about mental fitness. 

The press doesn't apply anywhere near the same level of scrutiny to Trump's stability as they are currently doing to President Biden, because they already know Trump is crazy.  That's considered old news.  It's not seen as sexy by a group of lemmings who are constantly chasing after the next shiny new object.  This election is a a choice between democracy and fascism, and we're being completely failed by the press.

Trump is scared people aren't eating enough bacon.  (pic via www.iol.co.za)

To the surprise of no one, according to The Wall Street Journal, Russia is gearing up to help Donald Trump win in November.  Vladimir Putin would have a hard time getting a better return on any other investment than what he's gotten from propping up the felon for most of the past decade.

Rudy Giuliani declared bankruptcy last year, but he doesn't seem to be hurting for money, so his creditors are going to court to ask a judge to put his finances under the control of an independent trustee.  Giuliani owes these people millions, and they want to get paid.

New York prosecutors indicated they're preparing to file new sexual assault charges against Harvey Weinstein.   That's in addition to retrying him on his 2020 rape conviction which was thrown out by an appeals court.  Taking a page out of the Donald Trump playbook, Weinstein's lawyers are trying to make him out to be the victim of an overzealous district attorney's office.  In the meantime, Weinstein remains in jail because of his conviction in 2022 on a different rape charge.

We got excited by this headline saying we don't need to use our CharlieCard to board the T, starting August 1.  That sounded like a free rides promotion.  You know something to encourage greater use of public transportation, which we support.  Instead, it just means we can now pay to get on with either our phone or credit card.  If it makes things easier for some people, that's cool.  We just liked our idea better.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell seemed to open the door to interest rate cuts a crack yesterday.  While testifying before Congress, Powell noted that while inflation still isn't down to the preferred 2% level, cutting interest rates, "too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.”  That feels like a change in tone from the ongoing focus on prices.  The Clutter investment team would still be surprised if anything happened during the Fed's meeting this month, but Powell may be hinting at changes to come before the end of the year.

The Mirage in Las Vegas has to give away $1.6 million in unclaimed prizes before the casino closes later this month.  BDH and Little Buddha want to call and ask if officials just want to keep things simple and send us a check.  Pretty sure we'd have to go to the Mirage to have a chance for the money, and considering that the high temperatures in Las Vegas range from 109-118 degrees over the next week, that's not going to work.  However, if you're already in the area, your odds of winning probably will never be better.  (Also, if you want to send us a portion of your prize, that would be awfully generous.)

The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland A's 12-9 last night to improve to 50-40 on the season.  That's the first time this team has been 10 games above .500 all year.  Boston starter Brayan Bello had an odd outing.  He recorded the first nine outs of the game by strikeout, and he had a career-best 11 K's for the night.  That's obviously outstanding.  However, Bello also gave up five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and let the A's hang around in what should have been a easy blow-out win, especially when the Sox scored 11 runs in the first two innings. 

Bello has a lot of potential, but we can't shake the feeling that a trip back to the minors would be the best thing for the 25-year-old's development.

The Red Sox relievers struggled to keep the A's offense down, but they eventually got the job done.  The Red Sox are now just 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees for the top AL Wild Card spot, and they're only 6 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.  Ownership needs to show they support this group and get them some reinforcements before the trade deadline.  Manager Alex Cora, the players, and the fans, have all earned that after several years of apathy from John Henry and company.

Next up:  Nick Pivetta tries to keep the winning ways going when he faces Oakland tonight.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been charged with sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor.  He's been under investigation in Puerto Rico since last year when he was accused of raping a 14-year old girl.  MLB is conducting its own investigation, but according to the linked article, that won't be finished until after the criminal investigation is completed.  If investigators find the charges credible, the 23-year-old Franco's career has to be over, regardless of the legal proceedings.  Baseball can't have guys like that on the field.

NBC Sports Boston New England Patriots insider Tom Curran posted some thoughts regarding the best case/worst case/most likely scenarios about what will happen with the Patriots' wide receivers this year.  Curran seems generally optimistic that this young group has potential.  We're not suggesting this team will be Super Bowl contenders this season.  However, it does feel like the Patriots have already hit rock bottom and are prepared to start moving in a positive direction again.

Tom Brady is reportedly joining forces with former teammate Richard Seymour in the effort to acquire a limited ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders.  Apparently Brady and Seymour, as well as their partners, would have enough combined cash to wipe out concerns that Raiders owner Mark Davis originally allegedly tried to give Brady a discount.  (In addition to the money, it has to help that Seymour also played for four seasons with the Raiders after the New England Patriots.) 

The proposal will likely be voted on in October.  It still seems weird that a TV announcer (Brady) would be allowed to be an owner, though.

There's another new Deadpool & Wolverine promo?  Sure, let's do it:

It's official:  Shrek 5 will be coming to the big screen in 2026, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

Variety has a lovely interview with Liza Colón-Zayas, the actress who plays Tina on The Bear.  She talks about the Season 3 episode that put the spotlight on her (and was directed by co-star Ayo Edebiri), as well as what it was like to act with her real-life husband David Zayas.  We've seen David Zaya in a million roles over the years.  As Liza mentions, he usually plays the bad guy, so it was a nice change of pace to see him be a good guy here.

Mark your calendars:  NBC's "One Chicago" series return on September 25.  That's not too long of a wait.  We've got a couple of shows to help pass the time before then.  You can click here to find the start dates for the network's other programs.

Ellen Pompeo will reportedly be back in a major way for the new season of Grey's Anatomy.

Rashida Jones' new series, Sunny, looks intriguing.  Unfortunately, it's on Apple TV+, so we're going to miss it.  However, you can send us your thoughts about the show at [email protected].

David Duchovny apparently auditioned for all three male lead roles on Full House.  Everything seemed to work out okay for him in the end, despite not getting any of those jobs. 

As Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony launch their Van Halen tribute tour this week, Hagar wants to make it known yet again that he reached out to Alex Van Halen about participating and apparently got no response.  That's the drummer's prerogative.  It doesn't seem like he's interested in performing in general anymore without Eddie, and it's easy to imagine he might not be excited about reuniting with a guy who has trashed his late brother for years.  Hopefully we'll learn more about Alex's perspective on all of this when his new memoir comes out in October.

Sammy Hagar has posted a number of rehearsal videos featuring him, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, and Jason Bonham.  No offense to Satriani and Bonham, who both sound fine, but these clips just make us miss Eddie and Alex.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  (Hmm, the sun is shining now.)  Here are the Decemberists to close things out with, "Oh No!" 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, stay cool, 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.