"Empire"

I tried to watch "Empire" twice before I forced myself to sit still and watch it for real.  The first episode was pilot-ish and we all know how pilots can go but I hung in there.  I was scared about Cookie because I really didn't want Taraji's talent to go wasted by being the stereotypical Black mama from the hood.  When she grabbed that broom...I was like...AW...LAWD...HERE WE GO.

By the second episode when Porsha was introduced, I started seeing all of the nuances that I love about Taraji's range.  She's angry, loving, motherly, bitchy, bossy, strong, tough, weak, heartbroken, hopeful, et al.

LOVE.THAT!

Yall know Lee Daniels is gay right?  Well...if you didn't...he's going to always make sure you know.  Jamal being gay and the struggle with his father because of him being gay and his father's refusal to accept him as he is is a bit much for me...but I know it happens exactly like that sometimes.  I mean hell...his mother would fight for him and she still calls him names behind his back.  I wonder if that ish goes down like that still in 2015?  I seriously hope not cuz trying to throw that baby away like that broke my heart.

The younger son is an extremely talented actor unless that's his for real personality.  I mean...he has that character DOWN-T!  I love his voice and the music!  Oh...the music has me about to ask Mr. Google where I can find it!

The Obama stuff got the side eye from me but I get it.

I guess.

And man...are these people racist.  They say some serious racist ish and don't think twice about it.

The bi-polar older son and his wife?  Oh...that's gonna play out intensely I'm sure.  She seems to be type who understands the phrase, "By any means necessary."

Quinton (yall know who Quinton is so don't act like it) is being him.  Even faced with death...he isn't about to deal with any disrespect from anyone except his wife cuz um...she took her clothes off to prance in front of his ex-wife and yeah...that was disrespectful.  

Cookie is going to get her soon, soon and very soon.  I see it coming.  It's going to go down Alexis and Crystal Carrington style and you know this MAN!!!!!

That elevator scene was SO.TENSE and perfect.  LOVED.THAT!

I sure wish I could see that young lady as anything other than Precious.  *sigh*  I need to do better in life I know.

Are you watching?  What do you think so far?  Are you enjoying it?  Were you worried in the beginning?

Are you here for Cookie?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - "Selma"

I intentionally waited until today to go see "Selma" and I'm going to treat the experience with all the deference I used to treat going to church.  I've been told by some of my "hardest" friends that I will cry...so I'm ready.

Have you seen it?  What was your rating?  Did your children see it?

Scenario from Real Life

Your 5 year old child is invited to a birthday party.

You ask your child if he wants to go and he says yes.

You see the parent of the child who invited you and you tell her that your child is attending the party and looking forward to ti.

When the day arrives, you realize that you'd made plans for your children to spend the day with their grandmother.

Your child doesn't attend the party.

You didn't have contact information to let the parent know your child wasn't coming.

Your child comes home from school one day with a "No-Show" invoice for about $24.

Would you pay it?

From:  http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/year-old-Plymouth-boy-gets-missing-school-friend/story-25884528-detail/story.html

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) AKA Crazy Check

Have you ever heard of a "Crazy Check?"  Where I'm from...that's what they call the supplemental security income payments people get for having a disability.  I stopped messing with someone for using their child to get a crazy check and, quite honestly, I haven't said BOO to her since.

“There are three different ways children can collect Social Security or SSI disability benefits. All of the benefits discussed here are cash benefits paid to disabled children or to the children of disabled or retired workers.

Low-income disabled children. Disabled children whose families have low income can collect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) until they are 18, at which point they might be eligible to start collecting adult SSI benefits. Children who are approved for SSI disability can also receive Medicaid.

Children who don’t qualify for SSI. Children who are younger than 18 (or 19 if a full-time student) and have a parent who is currently receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Social Security retirement benefits (or who had earned enough Social Security credits to earn one of these benefits before dying) may be able to collect dependents benefits based on their parents’ records, whether they are disabled or not.

Adults disabled since childhood. Disabled children who are older than 18 but who became disabled before they turn 22 can collect disability benefits if they have a parent collecting Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Social Security retirement income (or a deceased parent who was entitled to one of these benefits before their death). ”

— http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/resources/disability/child-disability/social-security-disability-be

See, she would rather have her child labeled with a disability instead of getting up off her azz and getting a job because she has fifty lleven reasons why she can't keep a job.

Fifty lleven and now...THREE kids.

She never thought about what that would mean for the child's educational development, etc.  She just did whatever was necessary to get that crazy check.  That free money.  She learned how to get a crazy check from her mother, who received a crazy check for her back in the day.  They fell out over her crazy check when she was about 16 and learned about the crazy check and she started cashing her crazy check herself.

GET.MONEY.

When she turned 18, she applied for a crazy check as an adult and was DENIED, DENIED, DENIED.

GO.GET.A.JOB!  Or go to somebody's school.  Oh...but wait...you never learned anything in school because you were "disabled" and took special classes structured just for you.

o_0

No biggie...she immediately had a kid and BLOOP!  Signed him up for a crazy check.  The child was slow...yada...yada.  Well...he was was slow because no one read to him or worked with him or did any of the things a parent does with a child.  

Unless that parent was just trying to get a crazy check.

Okay...moving on.  (I despise that heffa.)

There are two separate type of social security funds.  Retirement and disability.  

RETIREMENT:  

People who work put 6.2 percent of their earnings into social security.  The maximum amount is $113k.  If you're self-employed, the law states that you have to put 12.4 percent of your income into social security.  That money stacks and stacks and stacks.  When it's time for you to start "drawing" your social security, they take a mean average of your top 35 years of earnings and use that to calculate how much money you'll get a year issued in 12 equal installments.

The age to start getting your money is 67 but...if you wait until you're 70...your payments will be bigger.

This is the MAIN reason why we have social security numbers so they can keep track of how much money we earn and pay into the system.

DISABILITY:

All employees and employers pay payroll taxes.  You know...Mr. FICA.  (Remember the first time you saw how much Mr. FICA took out your check?  UGH!  Eye.Opener!)  Disability insurance is paid for out of those funds.  So yeah...WE THE PEOPLE pay for people who get a crazy check.  Now...yes...there are PLENTY of for real disabled people who really need and deserve to receive these benefits so they don't live in poverty.  I mean...we don't want to be those people who don't want to take care of those who genuinely can't take care of themselves right?

RIGHT.

But them other people?  OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

(I know, I know...I get special behind this.)

So yeah...we pay for those checks that go out once a month.

Now...why am I talking about this?  Well...because the Republicans are trying to get those crazy checks and ALL.OTHER DISABILITY CHECKS shut down-t.

No more checks!

CHECK CASHING PLACES ALL OVER ARE TREMBLING IN THEIR PARKING LOTS!

Since the beginning of social security being established, they have transferred money from the retirement fund to the disability fund and vice versa 11 times.  No biggie.  It supposedly always balanced out.

Eventually.

Alright.  So...prices keep going up on the cost of living but Republicans have the core belief that taxes shouldn't be raised no matter what.  Well...if taxes aren't raised, but living keeps getting more expensive well...where are you going to get the money from in order to continue to support the funds?

Enter cuts.

Tom Reed, Republican Congressman from New York, has sponsored a bill that intends to root out fraud, waste and abuse within the system and cut the abusers off.  In his words...unless you are "catastrophically disabled" you should be able to be moved into a job. 

Even if you've been crazy check groomed from day one and know nothing about nothing except when your check gets there on the first...you can pay your bills.

There are 9 million people on disability.  No telling how many of them are NOT catastrophically disabled.

If there were a true way of rooting out fraud, waste and abuse I say go for it.  I want faux crazy check people to get the boot!  Sure I'm worried about what they will do once they don't get their crazy checks anymore but I'm safe since I won't be in charge of figuring that out.

These are the types of areas where I'm EXTREMELY conservative in thought.  Laying up and getting hard working tax payers to give you something for doing nothing makes my damn teeth itch.  If they came up with a way to do it right...I have not one problem with it.

Do I think they will do it right however?  Nah.  LOL!  I don't have faith in any politician to do anything the right way for the right reasons.  They might want to...but I understand that it's not as black and white as I hope these types of things can be.

This will be an interesting one to watch.

Do you know anyone who receives SSI?  Do you know anyone who does but you don't think should?  If they got cut off...do you think they would be able to get a job?

Italian Sausage, Potato and Collard Green Soup!

I had a bunch of stuff but no recipe that included all of the stuff I had and wanted some soup.  Some HEARTY soup.  The kind of soup that you wanted multiple bowls of in one sitting.  Because of my current grocery shopping limitations I've learned to simply make it do what it do and use what I have.

That said...I started tossing some stuff together in a way that made sense and WOW!  It was so good, I had to stop and take a picture mid-bowl so I could tell yall about it!

So...this is what I did.  I'll try and write it out like a for real recipe.  LOL!

Ingredients:

• Bacon grease.  :)
• Italian sausage (Remove from casing.  I used turkey and it was the spicy kind.)
• 4 large potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 8 cups of chicken stock (yall know I swear by Herb Ox) 
• 1 large yellow onion (diced)
• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• Bunch of collards (cleaned, stripped and cut into manageable strips)
• Seasoning (Tony Chachere, red pepper flakes, parsley)

Add enough bacon grease to the bottom of the pot to saute onions and add onions and the sausage.  Chop up sausage as it cooks.  Cook until sausage is done.  

Add chicken stock, garlic and seasoning (go light on the Tony Chachere as Italian sausage can be a bit salty), bring to boil.

Add potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes on medium high.  

Add collards and cook for 10 more minutes.

Stir in cream.

Serve up a bowl.

Post up like a SUPASTAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember to work with what you have.  Soup is easy.  If you don't have heavy cream, use milk with a bit of flour to thicken it.  You know how to do it.  If you don't...send me a message and I'll see how I can help you.  All good cooks started off wrong.  LOL!