Hi everyone,

How are you?  I had a productive morning yesterday, but I got derailed a bit, because I kept waiting for the rain that the weather app said was right around the corner all afternoon.  It didn't actually get here until 7:00.  I think it's because we're in a valley, but it's always a crap shoot about when/if precipitation will ever arrive.

In any case, BDH and Little Buddha say today's forecast is much more straightforward, so the to-do list should be pretty easy.  It includes a trip to the bookstore to check out new releases.  (Yay!)  The only catch is that we just got an email from said bookstore saying they're having their annual August sale this weekend.  That means most books will be 25% off.  I'll do a little scouting today, but we might punt on buying anything until Friday.

In any case, let's not delay on checking out today's headlines.  The guys made coffee, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, because it's time to clear out some Tuesday Clutter.

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

The 2024 Democratic National Convention began with President Biden giving the keynote speech last night.  He undoubtedly would have preferred to give a nomination acceptance address instead.  However, that was not in the cards, as he dropped out of the race about a month ago in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.  President Biden endorsed Harris again last night, and he also warned about the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy. 

The crowd in turn showered him with applause and respect for both his recent decision and lengthy career.  The country owes him a huge debt of gratitude for his work on behalf of this country.

An appreciation for a lifetime of public service.  (pic via abc7news.com)

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention last night.  She laid out a progressive vision for the future, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, and referred to Donald Trump as, " a two-bit union buster," who, "would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends."  She's not wrong.  AOC also warned that Democrats can't take anything for granted.  Decent people have to pull out all the stops to make sure Trump and the rest of the MAGA cult don't return to the White House in November.

Donald Trump wants to make sure you know he and JD Vance are, "extremely normal people."  You're losing when you have to make that argument.

U.S. intelligence agencies say Iran was behind the recent hacking of the Trump campaign's emails.  We can't help noticing that it's been 10 days since this was first announced, and yet no one in the media seems to have published any of the information they received.  Compare that to the public flooding of Hillary Clinton's documents in 2016.  It looks like the press is hiding anything embarrassing that they received.  Add that to the fact that we still haven't heard anything official about Trump's treatment after the rally shooting incident, and you see the Fourth Estate continuing to fail the American people.

We were sorry to hear that iconic TV talk show host Phil Donahue died on Sunday at 88 years old.  We grew up watching Donahue in the afternoon in the 1980's.  That was back when you could actually learn something from those shows, and they weren't all Jerry Springer knock-offs.  Phil Donahue earned 20 Emmy Awards for the show, and they were all well-deserved.  Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

Disney is dropping its argument that a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the company should be tossed out because the plaintiff signed up for Disney+ for a month in 2019.  Disney officials claimed agreeing to the streaming platform's terms of service meant Jeffrey Piccolo agreed to never sue for anything and would settle all disputes in arbitration.  We don't know if this latest move was on the advice of lawyers, P.R. consultants, or both, but it was the right call.  The matter will now proceed in court.

The Boston Red Sox lost 5-4 to the Houston Astros last night, after the bullpen blew their 12th save since the All Star break.  That's brutal.  Sox starter Tanner Houck had another quality outing, giving up two earned runs over six innings.  The score was 4-3 in favor of Boston after six, but reliever Lucas Sims and closer Kenley Jansen couldn't keep the Astros in check the rest of the way.  The loss leaves the Sox 4 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins in the chase for the final AL Wild Card spot.  They're not done yet, but the clock is starting to tick.

Next up:  Nick Pivetta takes the mound for Boston against Houston tonight.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder is apparently considering retirement after this season, even though he's just 33 years old.  We hope he'll return for the final year of his contract, because he's been a terrific presence during his time with the team.  Refsnyder is just solid in every aspect of the game, and his teammates clearly respond to him in the locker room.  However, the player says he'd like to spend more time with his family before he engages in the next phase of his career, be it in the front office, or as a potential coach/manager.  Hard to argue with that reasoning, but we'll still be sorry if this is his last year in Boston.

It seems odd that Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will apparently only play in one preseason game this year.  Penix was on the field for all of 16 snaps against the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago, and that's enough for head coach Raheem Morris?  Assuming newly-signed veteran QB Kirk Cousins is still going to be the starter, why not give Penix more playing time now to help him further adjust to the NFL?  We're telling you, folks - the Falcons are our leading candidate for drama this year.  It didn't make any sense for the team to bring in both quarterbacks this offseason, and that's likely to come back to bite them.

Meanwhile, new Atlanta Falcons linebacker Mattthew Judon said he's focused on earning a contract extension with his new team after failing to come to terms with the New England Patriots before they traded him.  Hey, if a motivated Judon can stay healthy this year, we have no doubt there's a solid payday waiting for him at the end of this season.  Best of luck to him.

The Buffalo Bills are already battling a number of injuries, and the season hasn't even started yet.  You have to wonder if the window for Buffalo's playoff run is starting to close.

Homicide: Life on the Street is finally available to stream on Peacock, 25 years after it went off the air.  The revered series was apparently put on the shelf because of longstanding licensing and copyright issues.  However, those have finally been resolved, so now fans can once again enjoy this program.  We didn't see it back in the day, but if we ever subscribe to Peacock again, this will be one of the first things we watch.

What is this?  Actress Katherine Renee Kane, who plays Special Agent Tiffany Wallace on FBI, is leaving this season?   Is it because she seems to be the only character on the team with no personal life?   The linked article makes it sound like she might only be in one episode, which would be yet another abrupt departure for a character on a Dick Wolf series.  We hate when that happens.  It's jarring when folks we've invested our time in suddenly say, "Oh by the way, I'm gone.  Bye!"  There's a story behind all of these quick exits.  We don't know what it is, but hopefully it will be revealed some day.

As Kane leaves, Lisette Olivera is reportedly joining FBI as a Behavior Analysis Unit agent.  We don't know anything about Olivera, so we'll try to keep an open mind about this addition, but we're still smarting over Tiffany's upcoming departure.

We still have a while to go before this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special.  However, the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday will first appear in two new BBC audio adventures in November.  Unfortunately, stars Nucti Gatwa and Millie Gibson aren't involved in these productions.  Instead, the stories will be read by this season's featured guest star Susan Twist.  As much as we love the Time Lord and his friends, we'll take a pass.  These stories from the BBC come out periodically, but we prefer Big Finish's versions where the actual Doctor (or a good impersonator) is involved.

Speaking of which, we made it into "Fugitive Doctor" Jo Martin's IG stories yesterday expressing our excitement about her upcoming Big Finish run.  BDH and Little Buddha ran around the office with giddiness for the rest of the afternoon after that happened.

Hey Star Wars fans, how are you feeling about The Acolyte being cancelled?

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Here are the Pet Shop Boys to close things out with their new single, "Feel" 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.