Oh Boy It Never Ends: EMPIRE -- baby got a gun

EMPIRE? Who would've thought the day would come when Carol would be Cookie's sane sister? On Wednesday night's episode, Lucious was doing everything to keep the artist showcase alive when Candice shows up still ticked with Cookie because Cookie called the cops when Candice's grown son was attacking Candice, Carol and Cookie. He's in a hospital and being pumped with drugs. So Candice wants revenge. She shows up just to give Lucious a copy of the deed to the pricey condo that Cookie owns that she's kept secret from Lucious. She doesn't tell Lucious that Cookie wanted to sell it to raise money for their new company. Lucious is shocked.

More shocked later when baby has a gun.

Hakim and the mother of his second child are having it out in Lucious and Cookie's home. Cookie and Lucious show up to see what the argument is about and then everyone shuts up because Hakim's daughter wanders in having found the gun Hakim's always carrying (he threatened the White rapper with it this episode). The little girl's waiving it around while the adults are freaking out -- it's a loaded gun. Right before we go to credits, the little girl aims it at herself.

On the first episode this season, we were at a funeral and have now gone backwards. I hope that funeral isn't Hakim's daughter's funeral.

Other news, Kingsley has shut down all off the streams of Lucious music. No more royalties for Lucius.

Eddie's widow learns the truth, Kingsley is Lucious' son.

She's in the hospital room with his comatose mother when Kingsley shows up to visit his mother.

Next Wednesday is the winter finale of EMPIRE.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, November 29, 2018. Another dog has her day -- yes, Nancy will apparently be House Speaker.

Where the wealth's displayed
Thieves and sycophants parade
And where it's made
the slaves will be taken
Some are treated well
In these games of buy and sell
And some like poor beasts
Are burdened down to breaking
-- "Dog Eat Dog," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her DOG EAT DOG

The shallow lives of hollow bitches. Nancy Pelosi's Speaker of the House again in January barring a major upset (or, more likely, a scandal exposed -- she's got her skeletons, will one float to the surface?). And like a ghost from Christmas past, there was Rahm Emanuel on MSNBC this morning pimping for Our Lady Nance.

Various useless celebrities supported Nancy because she was a woman. So, question, when does Nancy support women? She didn't support Hillary in 2008 and actively worked to prevent her from getting the nomination. She also refused to allow a floor vote at the convention -- a floor vote was necessary if for historic reasons only. Thanks to Nance, we'll never know how close Hillary got in 2008.

But, more to the point, what about Rahm?

Does he have a vagina? Does Steny Hoyer?

These are important questions. Nancy The Queen Bee. As defined by Gloria Steinem (see REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN), the queen bee is an anti-feminist. She wants to be the token, she wants to be the only woman at the table.

How is Nancy's success a success for women? It's not. After the 2006 mid-terms, she elevated men only. Steny was House Majority Leader in 2007 after the Dems won control of the House in the 2006 mid-terms and he then became House Minority Leader after the 2010 mid-terms. Rahm wanted to be House Minority Whip in 2007 but Nancy gave the post to Jim Clyburn and gave Rahm the post of Democratic Caucus Chair -- wait. We say "chair" here because it's non-sexist. But Nancy was being sexist so let's call it what it was: Democratic Caucus Chairman. All the posts of leadership were men.

Nancy was the token. She elevated her own ass while holding other women back. That's why it was so easy for her to deny then-House Rep Tammy Baldwin a right to vote when Tammy, on doctor's orders, could not fly to DC to vote on Democratic posts in the House. Tammy was pregnant. This wasn't legislation. This was about posts in the Democratic party and Queen Bee Nancy wouldn't let Tammy vote because it was the sexist and patriarchal thing to do.

The next time some uniformed woman talks to you about Nance and what a moment it is for women, stop the useless idiot and remind her that Nancy was in the position to elevate women since 2007 and has not done so. She's surrounded herself with men.

At this site, our biggest objection to Nance is the she refused to honor her promise to end the Iraq War. She campaigned in 2006 on the promise that one house of Congress turned over to the Democratic Party meant the end of the Iraq War. Then we gave her both houses and she refused to end the Iraq War.

No news organization wanted to challenge her on her failure in real time except for THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE and, when she was challenged, she refused to be accountable and take responsibility and instead blamed . . . then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. As a friend present at that moment noted, "She said one house of Congress? Now she's claiming that the leader of another house of Congress is the problem?" Nancy's response was to get mad at THE CHRONICLE because (a) she didn't seem to realize the event was being recorded and (b) she was mortified when THE CHRONICLE published the audio online.

‏ @jimantle

Today House Democrats voted to nominate Nancy Pelosi for speaker and the Senate voted to debate cutting off aid to the Saudis in Yemen. Both allow Pelosi to seize an opportunity on Yemen that she missed on Iraq. 

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‏ @dhairya_bhatia

nancy pelosi voted against the war in iraq but voted for continuing the funding of the war

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In 2006, Nancy campaigned for the Democratic Party with the promise that one house of Congress, control of just one house, would provide the power to end the Iraq War via oversight and investigation. She then refused to do what she promised.

She also refused to address the 'benchmarks' that she demanded. Remember that? Congress wasn't going to fund the Iraq War anymore if there wasn't 'success.' Bully Boy Bush was allowed to define what success would be via a set of benchmarks. And Nancy was going to make sure those benchmarks were met or the funding was cut. Those benchmarks were never met and, to this day, they have never been met.

Nancy is nothing to applaud. Margaret Kimberley (BLACK AGENDA REPORT) makes that very clear in her latest column:

Black Agenda Report was first published in October 2006, just as the Democratic Party was poised to take control of the House of Representatives with Nancy Pelosi as leader. Twelve years later they will be in the majority for the first time since 2010, and again with Pelosi at the helm.
In those early issues of BAR, our team pondered the meaning of a Democratic majority that didn’t represent the interests of the black constituency that brought it to power. In 2006 John Conyers was the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. He had publicly stated his goal of holding impeachment hearings to investigate George W. Bush. But Pelosi made it clear that impeachment was “off the table,” and indeed it was.

Fast forward to 2018. Despite the supposed Democratic Party outrage over charges of collusion against Donald Trump, Pelosi again says there will be no impeachment. What she does offer are right wing talking points about “pay as you go” federal spending, a guarantee of more austerity that may as well have been written by the Koch brothers.
Nancy Pelosi may have raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates, but the money did little to help as four election cycles went by without a victory. If the Democrats were a true political party her failures would have taken her out of the running for any leadership position. Instead her fealty to the rotten system makes her an untouchable.

In 2006 the BAR rallying cry was “Let Black Democrats Be Black!” Our demand referred to the Democratic Party beat down of the progressive policies that the constituents of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members want to see enacted. It appears that 2018 is a repeat of 2006.
Nancy Pelosi is only good at two things. She raises lots of money, which isn’t really hard for someone with an estimated net worth of $120 million. Pelosi gets credit for asking her rich friends to contribute to her favorite cause, something that every lady who lunches knows how to do.
Her other talent is shooting down any and all progressive policy proposals. She and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership have silenced and side lined what remains of any left wing tendency.The phony left, represented by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, mouth the right words but then sign on to Pelosi and the rest of the discredited gang.

Nancy Pelosi won’t face a serious challenge because she does what Democratic Party funders want her to do. They determine the policy agenda. They don’t want Medicare for All. So there will be no Medicare for All. They want austerity and permanent war and that is all we will be offered.

"No one pays attention," Roberta Flack sings in her new song "Running," "to the voice that's soft and sane."

Hopefully, that's not the case because Margaret Kimberley's has another column that needs to be widely shared.

While Nancy ascends yet again, the people in Iraq continue to suffer.

Duaa‏ @TheDuaaMalik 20 hours ago

Oilfield security independent contractors joined teachers and electricity workers in widespread anti-corruption protests in #Basra today, demanding permanent employment with benefits. Security forces promised to escalate if demands are not met within 10 days. #BasraProtests

1:03

15 views

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Electricity independent contractors joined teachers during anti-corruption protests in #Basra today, demanding permanent employment with benefits. Some have been working for 15 years without benefits while others haven't received their salaries for the past year. #BasraProtests

2:20

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"They brought the riot police. We are teachers, teaching your children without pay. Have you no shame?" a teacher told the media during anti-corruption protests in front of #Basra Department of Education. Teachers don't even have enough money for transportation. #BasraProtests

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Teachers in #Basra accused the Department of Education of selling teaching and administrative positions and withholding their salaries. Teachers promised to continue protests and warned of escalations. #BasraProtests #Basrah

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Independent contractors in #Basra from several sectors, including, education, electricity, and security joined the unemployed in widespread protests today, demanding permanent employment with benefits. Some have been working for years without pay. #BasraProtests #Basrah

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Let's wind down by noting this from the office of Senator Johnny Isakson, Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
Wednesday, November 28, 2018	Camlin Moore, 202-224-9126

Isakson Statement on VA’s Efforts to Fix Payment Issues with Implementation of Forever G.I. Bill

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today released the following statement regarding today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that it is seeking to fix payment issues that have arisen as the department implements provisions of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act and works to improve the information technology (IT) system needed to accommodate the updated G.I. Bill changes.

“Congress provides more than $4 billion a year for the VA’s information technology organization, and the department must be held accountable to produce smart IT solutions that work for veterans and the VA workforce. While I am disappointed that the VA does not yet have an effective IT system in place, I understand Secretary Wilkie’s decision to reset implementation of certain sections of the ‘Forever’ G.I. Bill while improvements continue to be made. Right now, the VA’s priority must be to ensure accurate payments are sent to student veterans in a timely manner. Student veterans rely on the G.I. Bill to support themselves and their families while they are in school, and the VA is responsible for keeping those payments going, even as it implements the new law. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I will continue to keep a close watch to ensure the VA implements this law as Congress intended and does so without interrupting the benefit payments on which student veterans rely.”

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 was introduced by Isakson and signed into law on Aug. 16, 2017. The new law makes much-needed updates for reservists, Purple Heart recipients, veterans who face school closures while enrolled, and surviving family members. The legislation also provides increased resources and authority for educational assistance to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs, computer programming and career technical training.

Most significantly, this bill eliminates the arbitrary 15-year period within which a veteran is required to use their G.I. Bill and instead allows them to use their benefits at any time in their professional career.

Two sections of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 make changes to how the VA pays the monthly housing allowance portion of the G.I. Bill. The VA has experienced significant challenges incorporating these changes into its existing information technology system resulting in missed, inaccurate or delayed payments to student veterans. In order to eliminate processing delays to benefit payments, Secretary Wilkie has decided to reset implementation of these IT system updates so they can be sure ongoing payments will not be impacted.

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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 115th Congress. Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the armed services as well as more than 750,000 veterans.

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