Hi everyone,

How are you?  Our crew is doing well at the moment, although we're still getting used to the later sunrises.  It was easier to get out of bed when it wasn't still dark outside.  Those of you who were here yesterday know we had a big debate over whether to focus on the to-do list or just read one of our new books.  After extensive discussion, we reached a compromise:  I did all of the errands, and then we spent the rest of the day reading. 

It worked out well.  The weather was lovely, and BDH and Little Buddha love the new novel.  However, we read a lot of it in one sitting.  I need the guys to slow down a little bit so it at least lasts until the weekend.  Fortunately, the author wrote another 20+ books, so we can always work our way through his catalog.

Anyway, let's check out the headlines.  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.

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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!

ABC News released the rules for next Tuesday's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.  The event will be 90 minutes long, with two commercial breaks, no audience, and one candidate's mic will be muted when the other person is speaking.  That last part's a little disappointing, because you know Trump will be muttering to himself all night long.  The debate will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.  Our only question for those two is, will they push back on Trump's incessant lies or remain mute like CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash did for the Biden-Trump debate?

This debate is particularly important for Vice President Harris.  It offers her another chance to introduce herself to voters who don't know much about her yet, while demonstrating the contrast between the prosecutor and the felon.  This also should provide the opportunity to tempt Trump into a meltdown or two in front of the entire country.  She can make the argument for a government that works for everyone, not just one wannabe dictator. 

Conversely, Donald Trump would benefit if he could do anything besides launch a 90-minute long line of racist and misogynistic attacks that will drive away undecided voters.  We like Vice President Harris' odds on this one.  The over/under on Trump getting nasty is the first two minutes of the evening.  Take the under.

Just five days away.  (pic via www.pbs.org)

Former Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday.  The conservative Republican, who served on the January 6 select committee, knows as well as anyone what a threat Donald Trump is to this country.  The MAGA cult is already discounting Cheney's announcement, but they don't get much more conservative than the Cheney family.  Good for Liz Cheney for putting partisanship aside in defense of the United States.

The Department of Justice says a Russian agency was paying a conservative media company in the United States which employs a number of well-known conservative social media influencers.  Of course these people will all claim ignorance of what was happening, but the fact remains they were parroting Vladimir Putin's talking points.  Now that they definitely know for sure, will that change their promotion of a pro-Russia agenda?  Consider us skeptical.

Also, you know this isn't the only case where Russia is once again trying to meddle in this year's election.  Keep that in mind when you hear other right-wing propaganda.

It's heartbreaking to hear about yet another school shooting:  This time, the suspect is a 14-year-old student who allegedly shot and killed four people, while injuring nine others in Georgia.  We can not continue to be a country where a child has the ability to bring an assault-style rifle to school.  This isn't a global problem - it's specifically a U.S. crisis.  The gun lobby doesn't care one iota about "freedom."  They're defending their sales numbers, and they'll do whatever it takes to keep that money flowing, no matter how many lives are lost.  That can not be allowed to stand. 

Trump Media shares are now down for the year after falling more than 6% yesterday.  The company takes in almost no revenue and has no reason for existence besides propping up Donald Trump.  At a price of $16.98, the Clutter investment team believes the stock is still overpriced by about $16.97.  Investors who were foolish enough to get into this con in the first place should bail before Trump can sell his own shares.  There's no reason to intentionally set one's money on fire.

We're seeing a number of articles with a headline along the lines of, "Warren Buffett is selling stocks.  Should you bail on the market?"  The Clutter investment team's take is that Buffett thinks stocks are expensive, and he's taking some profits.  Our staff agrees that things aren't cheap right now.  However, we're in for the long haul, so we'll continue with the status quo for our portfolio. 

TheDailyMeal.com has a list of "8 of the Unhealthiest Hot Sauces You Can Buy."  We love hot sauces, but it would be hard to argue that any of them are "healthy."  That's one of the reasons why they're an occasional treat, not a regular part of our daily diet.  However, the article does show why it's important to understand the nutritional impact of your food choices, especially when you're watching your sodium or sugar intake.

It's almost time to get our flu/COVID shots.  We'll probably get both of them during the same appointment, like we did last year.  If we recall correctly, the subsequent 24-36 hours weren't a lot of fun, but it's worth it to stay safe over the winter.

The Boston Red Sox lost 8-3 to the New York Mets for their season-high fifth straight defeat last night.  Things got off to a bad start right out of the gate, when Boston's Tanner Houck gave up a grand slam in the first inning.  However, Houck settled down after that and threw four innings of scoreless baseball, while the offense woke up long enough to put three runs on the board.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox bullpen collapsed again, with Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill combining for three bases-loaded walks in the eight inning.  Just brutal.

The loss leaves the Red Sox at .500 (70-70) and 5.5 games out of the race for the last AL Wild Card spot.  (They're also tied with the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners for that position.)  They get tonight off before starting a weekend series at home against the awful 32-109 Chicago White Sox on Friday.  Maybe that will give them the spark they need to get back into this fight, because time is running out quickly.

The Boston Globe's Chad Finn has four predictions for this year's New England Patriots.  None of them will excite fans, but they all seem pretty reasonable.  Like we said yesterday, we're not looking for a lot of wins from this team.  Five seems like a reach.  Just show us progress by the end of the season, and please don't be as insanely boring as last year's squad. 

The Washington Commanders suspended their vice president of content, Rael Enteen, after he was caught on tape making disparaging remarks about the players, fans, Jerry Jones, Roger Goodell, and the league in general.  Basically Enteen said most of them are anti-gay, Jones is also racist, and the NFL doesn't really care about diversity.  None of it sounds surprising.  Enteen was apparently tricked on a dating app by an employee of the conservative O'Keefe Media Group, because those folks live for their "sting" operations. 

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin will start against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.  It will be his first start since he went into cardiac arrest on the field in January 2023.  We can only imagine how emotional that moment will be for him.  Hamlin played in a handful of games last year, but to come all the way back to a starting role is just remarkable.  We wish him nothing but the best.

Travis Kelce's team is pushing back against a leaked document claiming to outline the media strategy if/when Kelce ever breaks up with Taylor Swift.  His public relations company says the papers are "entirely false and fabricated," and that they will get lawyers involved.  We have no idea if this thing is legitimate or not, but it wouldn't be surprising at all if the wide receiver has something like that ready to go if needed.  Same for Swift.  This kind of plan seems like the sort of things celebrities would prepare, doesn't it?

Are Meryl Streep and Martin Short actually a real couple, and not just playing one on Only Murders in the Building?  The linked article kind of seems like something released to the press primarily to hype the new season of the show.  However, if they really are dating, best of luck to the pair.  (Also, we'll bet at least one of them already has a media strategy for when they break up.)

Speaking of the Arconia podcasters, Only Murders in the Building has officially been renewed for a fifth season.  Excellent.  No word on a release date, but we're assuming it will once again be sometime around next September.

Did you know that "Michael Keaton" is not the actor's real name?  It's probably not that surprising, because people in Hollywood adopt stage names for all sorts of reasons.  We just thought we would have heard this story earlier.  In any case, he plans on tweaking his acting credit at some point soon.

We just read a glowing review of the new Netflix movie, Rebel Ridge, which comes out tomorrow.  The trailer also looks solid, so it appears we should add this to the watch list:

Do folks here watch the Pluto TV streaming service?  It has over 250 channels.  We mostly use it for NCIS and FBI reruns, but now there's apparently a Cheers/Frasier option. We'll definitely need to check that out, but we also need to do some scrolling and look at what else Pluto offers.  Any recommendations?

Linkin Park fans are eagerly awaiting the band's mystery announcement which is scheduled for 6pm ET tonight.  Hopefully it is in fact the reveal of a new singer (Lizzy Hale?), because anything else would be a major disappointment.

Okay kids, that's going to do it for now.  Let's take a trip all the way back to 1993 and have Cracker close things out with, "Low" for today's, "Song of the Day."

The 1980's will always be our favorite music decade, but we've also got a lot of love for the early 90's.

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.