Hi everyone,

Welcome back.  How are you?  BDH, Little Buddha, and I were just talking about how it's starting to get a little chilly in the morning.  The guys tell me the lows for the next 10 days are in the 55-60 degree range, so apparently it's no fluke.  What is this, the back half of August or something? 

Are you ready to check out the headlines?  Let's do it.  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 Thursday 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!

If you would like to support us, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider buying us a cup of coffee here!

The opening acts at the 2024 Democratic National Convention have left the stage, and now it's time for the main event:  Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver the most important speech of her career tonight.  Vice President Harris has gotten off to an incredible start in just a month as the new Democratic presidential nominee, and now she will make her case to a national audience.  She is expected to continue contrasting the Democrats' optimistic and inclusive view of the United States with the angry/fascist approach of her opponents. 

Decent people want to leave the MAGA cult behind once and for all.  This speech is huge opportunity for Vice President Harris to explain to them her vision for how we do it.

Vice President Harris will speak to an audience of millions tonight.  (pic via penncapital-star.com)

Donald Trump is whining that the Obamas got too personal with their criticisms of him during their convention speeches this week.  The word "hypocrisy" doesn't begin to cover this complaint.  The truth can hurt, which is probably why Trump has spent his entire life running away from it. 

Trump said he intends to be "mean" to Vice President Harris going forward, because that's all he's got.  The man has no interest in leading this country.  He never did.  He's a tired, self-pitying felon who can't stand the idea of losing to a woman of color.  Let the self-implosion continue while the country moves forward without him.

Oral arguments in Donald Trump's NY fraud appeal are scheduled for September 26.  The appeals court should leave the $454 million judgment in place.  Donald Trump lied for decades to inflate his personal worth.  He was properly held accountable for his actions in this case, and he should literally pay the price for it.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to drop out of the presidential race, and endorse Donald Trump, either today or tomorrow.  Yeah, adding this conspiracy theorist, who said he had brain worms, dropped a dead bear cub in Central Park, and was accused of inappropriate behavior with the family babysitter, is sure to convince voters that the GOP ticket isn't weird.  Donald Trump and JD Vance can have him.

We can understand why some people in President Biden's inner circle (including Biden himself) might be bitter about Nancy Pelosi's drive to push him out of the race.  However, exponentially more folks are grateful that she fought so hard to give Democrats a fresh chance to save the country from Donald Trump.

The minutes from the Fed's July meeting make it seem like a quarter-point interest rate cut is on the table for September.  The linked article cites confidence about inflation reduction, paired with concerns about the labor market, as the factors driving this new momentum. Well,  if that turns out to be accurate, the Clutter savings account will still earn enough monthly interest post-rate cut to pay for at least one cup of coffee.

Fast food chain Chick-Fil-A is reportedly moving into the streaming space....We didn't see that coming.

Just a heads-up that the new COVID vaccines are expected to be available soon.  We expect to get ours at some point in September, along with a flu shot, to try to maximize our protection for the winter.  These vaccines won't give everyone 100% protection, but they should greatly reduce your chance of getting sick, and if you do still become ill, they are expected to slash the odds of it turning into a serious case.  The cold weather is going to bring us all back together inside closed spaces.  Let's do what we can to protect both ourselves and our vulnerable loved ones.

Look at that - the Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 4-1 yesterday to both win their series and go 4-3 on this road trip.  Boston starter Cooper Criswell limited the Astros to that one run over 4 2/3 innings, and five relievers came in to finish the job.  Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense was able to get two runs in five innings off the returning Justin Verlander and then two more off the Houston bullpen.  We'll take it.  The win leaves the 67-59 Sox 3.5 games back in the race for the final AL Wild Card spot.

Next up:  The Red Sox have tonight off, and then they start a weekend series at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Congratulations to Bo Nix, who becomes the first Denver Broncos rookie starting quarterback since some guy named John Elway did it in 1983.  We wish Nix the best of luck.

Meanwhile, former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson said he expects to play in the Pittsburgh Steelers' final preseason game against the Detroit Lions this Saturday.  Wilson has been hampered by a calf injury, so he's had limited time in training camp and could use some more reps, as Justin Fields continues to try to push him out of the #1 spot.

Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson might not make it into his team's final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday because of shoulder soreness.  Watson has been a complete bust since Cleveland gave him an insane guaranteed $230 million contract after trading for him in 2022.  He was suspended for 11 games in the first season for sexual misconduct, and he only played six games in his second season before getting hurt.  If that shoulder still isn't healthy, the Browns' hopes of ever getting their money's worth from Watson continue to deteriorate.  Feels like karma might be getting a good laugh here.

Boston sports talk radio station WEEI announced the latest reshuffling of its lineup yesterday, and this game of musical chairs ended with morning hosts Christian Fauria and Andy Gresh being fired.  That's disappointing.  We usually caught that show at least once a week in the car, and those two seemed pretty solid.  They could discuss sports in an informative and entertaining way that wasn't the forced combativeness that seems rampant in the industry.  However, apparently the antagonism is what listeners want, because the ratings were bad, and these guys were shown the door.  We wish them the best with their future endeavors. 

Happy Gilmore fans will be pleased to hear that Adam Sandler confirmed that the sequel starts filming in a few weeks.

The first trailer is out for the two-part miniseries, Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos, which premieres on HBO on September 7.  This makes us wish we still had our Max subscription.  Maybe we could just sign up for a month again, because this looks fascinating:

What we do still have is a Netflix subscription, so count us in when the Denzel Washington-directed film The Piano Lesson arrives on November 22.  It's based on an August Wilson play, and we have no doubt it will be tremendous:

Clutter favorite David Tennant's new miniseries, Rivals, will arrive on Hulu on October 18.  We don't know much about the story, apart from the fact that's based on a book about some rich and famous British folks in the 1980's.  However, you had us at "David Tennant."  Adding "the 1980's" to it is a bonus.  After a quiet summer, it's good to know we'll be getting more use out of our Hulu subscription again in the coming months.

Richard Simmons' family said his recent death was due to complications from some falls, as well as the presence of heart disease.  Simmons was 76 years old.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here's Eminem (with an assist from Jelly Roll) to close things out with, "Somebody Save Me" 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.