THE POWER-GATE SCANDAL

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama So, I take it the ever gullible lot was made to believe the reason they have an erratic supply of electricity countrywide was due to reduced water levels right? We even had a horde of cadres recruited going about defending the indefensible that the power situation was not unique to their country but was everywhere in the region and as such, cannot and should not be blamed on anyone as it is not a direct consequence of maladministration at any level. There were several attempts made by, believe it or not , even people from Academia, who really ought to have known better and come to the defence of the uninitiated many to correctly and accurately inform them. It is, I believe, to these we pledged and vowed to save after the many years of academic rigors we subjected ourselves to. But, sadly we have remained quiet and as a result have let them down and we continue to do this. This, I find, utterly shameful and it should go down in history as an indictment of the collective intellectual ineptitude of anyone of us who claims to be schooled in any school of thought. We have allowed a lie to be repeated so many times unchallenged. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”- Josef Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's Chief of Propaganda. Well, if you believed Climate Change triggered draught was to blame for the blackouts, all I can say to you for now, to paraphrase Brother Malcolm El Malik Shabbaz X, is , you have indeed been had, Hook, Line, Sinker, Floater and Rod! The latest asinine escapist approach angle we are getting is where attempts are being made to explain away the situation as an Error of Attribution of the real causes of a commonly shared regional problem. If there is poverty in the land and your youngest child approaches you as the protector of your household and enquires why they have not eaten for the past two days, you telling the innocent infant not to worry because even the next three houses along your street have equally not had food would make that one of the lamest excuses ever to come from a lazy incompetent father. It was, and still is for all intent and purposes, reeking of cluelessness on how to most effectively run his home amidst a barrage of unfortunate happenings in the community. You as a family have to strive to keep your noses above deep water despite what everyone else may be going through. This is typical survival instinct that is not taught to anyone. In the last piece I wrote, I asked whether I was the only one missing something. The Fuhrer’s Chief Propagandist one Dr. Josef Goebbels crystallised it this way, “There will come a day when all the lies will collapse under their own weight and the truth will triumph again.” - Dr. Josef Goebbels. Amidst all the frustrations, denials and counter accusations, the truth lay hidden in plain sight all along but people’s eyes were too wide shut to see it. Allow me to explain, A Hydro Power Station’s inability to supply enough power could not possibly be due to insufficient water for the simple reason that it is was constructed on a Dammed river period! This is so annoyingly basic I wonder why people are refusing to see it. Look, what is a Dam by definition? In Civil Engineering, a Dam is defined as a barrier of concrete, earth, etc built across a river to create a body of water for a hydroelectric power station, domestic water supply. This is a reservoir of water created by such a barrier! That is the work of a Dam, it stores water! To the best of my memory the Zambezi River has been flowing for Millennia and has never not, even once been reported to have suddenly stopped flowing with water mostly due to the many tributaries that drain into it. Unless you were told that that spring at Kalene Hills had finally run dry, then there is no way on earth a Dam situated down such a big river would fail to have water. A Dam is supposed to hold and keep water, to be used in a regulated manner as and when you want it, in the measured quantities. Just what water levels are they talking about? There has never been a single day that water has not flowed along the Zambezi so where does it all end up then? At the dam wall!!! So, when you find yourselves grappling with power outages, my guess is, this is due to something else more sinister and serious other than the lack of water. "Since the great masses of people at the very bottom of their hearts tend to be corrupted rather than purposely evil, and that, therefore, in view of the primitive simplicity of their minds, they fall more easily victim to a big lie than to a little one – since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big." "Such a falsehood will never enter their heads, and they will not be able to believe the possibility in others of such monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation; yes, even when enlightened on the subject, they will long doubt and waver, and continue to accept at least one of the claims as true. Therefore, something of even the most insolent lie will always remain and stick."– Mein Kampf (Adolf Hitler) Let us, however, assume for one minute that, when you choose to single source the supply of cheap quality turbines from only god knows where and these quickly breakdown or fail to handle the pressure of the power demand then it is not really be due to lack of water now is it, right? Let us just all quietly succumb to Pavlovian-style conditioning and embrace the thick darkness as an acceptable part of our lives now even when we are not exactly Bram Stoker’s lycanthropic creatures from Transylvania. We just need to saddle up and make a claim to a fair share of the pitch Blackness of the Night and compete with Vampires and Zombies for it because let us face it, there is really no telling when we are likely to have the much needed respite or when the situation will abate. What we need to prepare for though, is the possible impact or effect these power outages will have in the long run. Consider for instance to what extent will the human living environment and behavioural pattern be modified by the changes triggered by constant power losses? According to the dictates of the basic precepts of Evolutionary Biology and Population ecology there is bound to occur what I can only term Sociological Speciation. This is where I foresee our collective behaviour being so changed that we will become totally different people in the manner we behave so as to adapt to this unexpected or disruption to what we had hitherto considered some degree of normalcy. One thing is for sure, there will be a yet unrealised change and impact caused on the societal fabric by the power challenges we are faced with. There are areas where they might experience a peak in criminal activity due to the darkness that prematurely descends on suburbia effectively rendering Thomas Alvo Edison’s invention of the electric bulb to light up the streets seem pretty much useless at that particular time. There are families that have since modified the way they buy fresh foods like meats due to poor refrigeration. They either have to buy just enough to cook and eat or have resorted to drying their meat for fear of it rotting due to the persistent power outages. Others have opted to be taking early baths because power is directly connected with water supply in some areas. Not forgetting the many that have since lost electrical appliances due to the power surges and we are not familiar with the power utility firm ever compensating anyone because they do not think they are liable in any way. Most people may also experience some dietary changes as beans will not be a regular constituent of their meals because it easily goes off with the heat. The level of environmental degradation will be unprecedented as trees are being cut in greater numbers to burn the now highly lucrative charcoal needed in ever more greater quantities. It is a well-known fact that when there is no power most families quickly disperse after evening repast and retire early for bed with the attendant implications on their reproductive health and fecundity. It will not be a far-fetched expectation to have many conceptions occurring round about this period.

THE DELICATE WORLD OF ONLINE BUSINESS MARKETING

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama This is not by any means a detailed manual for academic instruction on the subject matter but simply an opinion gleaned from my not so pleasant experiences surfing the worldwide web. Is there someone these online business advertisers have entrusted with the responsibility of attending to online enquiries in real time on their social media pages like Face Book? I would like to believe this ought to have been one of the reasons you established these pages for business purposes and improved Customer Service through online information dispensation and interaction. We really need some form of feedback and responses to our queries otherwise; it becomes increasingly pointless to have these online pages on social media if you are never answering our questions. You can therefore appreciate just how frustrating it gets when you need information fast on which you need to base your all-important money involving business decision on what to purchase, how much it will cost and where to get it from. If these organisations do not provide this kind of personalised and dedicated online service, there is a different innovation that you might need to consider using as opposed to clustering social media with your inactive pages just because you feel it is trendy. It might prove to be your undoing as it is quite bad for business in the long run when customers are not attended to help them resolve their pressing issues. They may decide to completely tick you off as being unconcerned, highly unprofessional, even a touchy rude due to your prolonged silence. Inasmuch as, it is perfectly understandable how Face Book currently offers the easiest way to reach a wider group of people because it is free, you need to critically analyse the possible pros and cons of its use. We have seen how others have instead opted for some form of automated responses to FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on their websites. The most proactive and truly Customer Centred Businesses have gone one up by actually having employees devoted to for this purpose of actively engaging online potential customers in 24 hour lively chats about their products and services in open online Question and Answer sessions. These have in the end proven to be more effective for this purpose, as they are more informative and by far offer a more personalised and interactive interface with online clientele. Some are way too pushy though; they have turned aggressive marketing into an art form to the point where you feel your god given right to some form of personal privacy and piece of quiet is being infringed upon with impunity in the most intrusive of ways. It does get too much in certain instances that, depending on where they are based and the geographical divide they even follow it up with actual phone calls at the most inconvenient of times. Without giving away a lot of detail on this aspect that is! Wink There has recently been a feature introduced where when you visit a page peddling whatever product ,you create or tag yourself with what I can only christen an Online Heat Signature. The advertisers will from that point onwards track and seek you out by monitoring your every activity online and treat you to an endless and persistent barrage of pop-ups showing the very item you just had a casual glance on without any serious intention of buying. If you have ever viewed a motor vehicle on Sierra Bravo Tango, a company from Nippon (Nihon) even in passing only, then you have a fair enough idea of what I am on about exactly. Your form must have rang off the hook! I really do not even yet understand just how the many home start-ups attempting to cash in on the seemingly free advertising medium presented by face book eventually benefits Mr.Mark Zuckerberg. For some reason, I actually seem to remember how when one was being configured for an account, there was a prohibition against engaging in any form of advertising on most of these vibrant social media platforms. To my utter amazement however, there has been a healthy proliferation of unchecked ads promoting everything from used household goods, Persian carpets and rugs from Kashmir, to some really private paraphernalia like Manhood Enlargement creams and believe it or not, sleazy personal dating pages informing us of escort services of sorts by adventurous socially liberal college girls who have chosen to embrace a life of Libertines. After having said all this, it must mentioned that, social media advertising/marketing does indeed have its place when properly managed. It presents a very real and beneficial tool especially for budding entrepreneurs for reaching out to a widest number of potential buyers of their goods and services. This must be achieved after a realistic assessment of any possible legal infractions so that these are avoided at all costs.

OF DECREES, SUPPLICATIONS AND ENTRITIES. ENTER: THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYERS

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama From the outset, it must be stated that matters of religion and politics are very emotive and as such one should endeavour to tread carefully as the devotees are many. Those that decided to pray should be respected because that is where they opted to seek solutions to their problems, and of which are many! The detractors are unjustified in lambasting the many faithful for what they chose to do, which is very much in line with the dictates of their faith. When in a sticky patch, get down on your knees and pray for help because on your own you cannot handle what you are going through. Forget the fact that God will never give you more than you can handle, just ask him for help. I am no expert in Ecclesia and doctrinal issues but surely God cannot completely ignore such a huge gathering calling on him for help in unison or can he? You know, he just looks the other way in a shocking show of divine disinterest. It does not really bother me that this event may have presented one of the most disorderly days in heaven when their prayer lines were ringing off the hook with requests for interventions into different issues like lost pets, job search prayers, runaway lovers, improved business fortunes, the exchange rate improving, rain water falling to fill up Dams et cetera et cetera. Faith is a powerful thing indeed. The fact that even the jobless many pitched up for these prayers to have the economy improve even when they still would not have the money to spend when this happens tells you something. The really touching scene where our sisters of humble looks were busy prostrating themselves before God for a husband leaves us humbled to the core. You are told that where two or more people are gathered in One accord then God will be there does not even come into play because truth is, there was really no accord or agreement about what to pray for or about. People just came and did what they felt they had to do. The fact of the matter is, people turned up and cried before their God for help and it is generally hoped and believed that he will listen to their pleas and in his own opportune time will attend to the issues in their respective order of importance and relevance. Then there was that atmospheric optical aberration or apparition of a Pathelia or Sun dog (Rainbow around the sun effect) to crown it all up as if giving credence to the event. This made the congregants run agog while some diehard critics had to quickly and frantically sift through the World Wide Web for an explanation to quickly dismiss it as just an ordinary thing which was observed also elsewhere in the region and not just unique to Zambia. And for most, that is how the meteorological cookie crumbled and people's spiritual High induced ecstatic euphoria and bubble caused by religious excess had effectively burst! I am no graduate from Bible School and thus not a competent authority or proficient individual in Church Numerology but let me just make one last minute check of the facts before us. Were these prayers scheduled to start at 13 Hours up to 18 Hours? A quick perusal of Revelation 13:18 will make you cringe. Whether or not it has any bearing or significance will be left to each one of us to judge. The truth any number can actually be manipulated to take on some eerie connotation so we must not really read too much into it. I may not be an expert in atmospheric science but the coincidence of it happening on the actual day of prayers had emboldened many and since the effect happened sometime in the morning, it made those doubting Thomases and naysayers to go for prayers. Surely this had or ought to have had some significance right? Was that just an ordinary incident really? The last time I checked Zambia is not North Korea where its leaders have been known to control the weather. We are familiar with legends or stories in Barotseland of how one of Our favourite Litungas could not visit a dry and dusty place because he would have his regal attire soiled and as such every time such a place was visited, a light drizzle of rain would precede him to settle the dust particulates. All this, notwithstanding the fact that the best performing economies in the world are for the most part in countries that are non-religious, but people here wanted and sought the face of God to help them amidst turbulent and perilous times. The never short hand of God will surely reach out and touch each one at their various points of need. These vibrant economies the world over are generally secular in nature and its citizens are Agnostic and many others even Atheists. This partly explains why they make advances and immense progress in the fields of Science because they are not bound by Dogma and crippled by a fear centred Belief system in the unknown but instead their life revolves around empirical proof of phenomena in their environment and the endless pursuit of excellence in all areas of their endeavours. The extent of dissent towards this day of National Prayers was exemplified by the almost laughable incident where, for some reason, a certain group of political bigwigs opted to disregard the instruction to go to a mass gathering because according to them, that would be deemed as capitulation and being subservient to the presidential Order. Upon realising the possible damage their non-involvement in the National Day of Prayer might have on their political fortunes seeing that 2016 is fast approaching around the corner, they instead, as a last minute attempt at damage control picked on some church of their choice somewhere and had mass! A close friend of mine would have had this to say about it all, same difference! Now, since the people in attendance at this particular church gathering were not regular congregants, you were technically participating in the National Day of Prayers also period. I just thought I clear the air on this score before folks have and entertain illusions of uniqueness and originality of their action. As you probably already know by now, I am yet to fully appreciate the inner workings of the Zambian mind and thus may be totally the wrong person to comment on this subject matter. However, I am quite certain there are quarters that might be interested to know the answers to these few questions. Are these prayers meant to ask God for wisdom so the government can start running its ministries professionally, productively and corrupt-free or just merely asking for miracles to rain down like most preachers or profits/prophets have now become known to do of late? That is the point people needed to consider. And when they ask for forgiveness and reconciliation should not the facts about which they want to be forgiven for be made clear and in an open way? Please consider if you may, how the South Africans handled the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) sittings. These were open and public hearings where details came out about gruesome crimes and actions by both the Black freedom fighters and the Apartheid regime goons. Are these politicians going to openly declare what people suspect are shoddy deals and government contracts they have won unfairly? Are they going to give back or declare the monies or wealth they are believed to have acquired dubiously in a short space of time so that the people can forgive them as an act of penance? Are the powers that be going to openly state the many atrocities and extra-judicial murders of people deemed anti-state that people suspect and believe have been committed by them in so-called national interest? Perhaps, what i can only call a classic misapplication of powers of decree, how in god's blue world can you instruct an already starving people to fast when the majority of the rural poor literally have NO FOOD to fast from? The last time I checked, the country called Zambia is supposed to be a Demon (cracy) (People/majority centred governance system) and not a Theocracy (God centred governance system) you find that the actions may be at variance with the requirement of a purely theocratic dispensation. So, the consequences of calling on God and yet you wilfully continue to engage in acts that are not in agreement with his will might even be dire. So what are you saying then? Simply put, if people are or were not genuine, the whole thing could dangerously backfire and the situation becoming worse off than it was before. Remember, this is God you are dealing with people and He-Cannot-Be-Fooled! I believe, it is the active involvement of the majority of the citizens in national affairs which spurs them or if they are to be allowed to fully participate in the administration of the affairs of the country. This degree of involvement is only possible where an enabling environment (forgive the cliché) is created and the people’s Rights and Freedoms are respected and protected by being enshrined in the Constitution of the land. In this, free speech and free thinking is crucial as this is the only way ideas and solutions to the society’s problems can be conclusively addressed and elicited from the populace. Allow for open public debates akin to the Grecian Agora where you can have a healthy exchange of ideas from different minds. If people are scared to say what they feel they need to say because of possible reprisals from the powers that be, then people will be moving around harbouring a lot of unresolved contentious issues whose only outlet of which can be dangerously explosive. Now that turning to God is in vogue, but was only done as the last resort after the Politician’s came to a point of admitting failure, how then are you a Christian Nation because it should have been the first course of action that you ought to have been embarked upon? How and why has God let you down or allowed you to suffer from all these problems even after declaring your country Christian? Is there something God is telling you but you are not just listening? Credit should go to them though, for being humble enough and saying that they need all the help we can get from anywhere even from above if need be. What I have found extremely disturbing though, especially for me as a Murotse National, is how I seem to observe that some opposition groups in the country are seeing the current economic woes as an opportunity for gaining political mileage as the people would see the current national crop of managers as inept. This conclusion I came to when I noticed that no member of the opposition is willing to freely step forward to offer solutions to this beleaguered economy. They fear that credit will not go to them because they are still in the opposition but the incumbent will take the credit. So they would rather gladly watch on as the country suffers and reels from an unprecedented barrage of low commodity prices, corruption, power disruptions, Tribal tension triggered by loose mouthed politicians and general disunity among the citizenry. They are holding on to their supposed brilliant ideas of how to salvage the country from the doldrums economic malaise until they are given the reins of power when they make office. This is very wrong. For what is being done is nearly or can be considered a form of criminal negligence. If what is happening is anything to go by, and the parties in opposition continue to refuse to offer their expertise on astute economic management, chances are they will not find a country to rule over when they make government! It will become doubly as hard for them to make an impact if they ever made office because the country would have sunk way too deep into the quicksand of financial troubles. Now, contrast this with what happened in Japan after they suffered the full brunt of The Manhattan Project product when they were nuked twice during the two World Wars. The people were still feeling effects of the Nuclear Fall Out but in a show of rare esprit de corps the average and ordinary citizens came forward and pledged their unwavering patriotism and donated anything and everything they had on them to support their country’s post-war recovery effort. Old men and women donated the gold teeth braces and dentures; people gave away their valuables such jewellery to the State. Many others simply offered their labour to help rebuild Japan to what it is today. When differently handled and better organised, this day presented a unique and rare opportunity to truly and honestly confront the country’s challenges boldly as a united front. What it did is cause The Seventh Day Adventists not to feel or want to be part of it as the day it was declared on was viewed with great suspicion. It really has not helped matters that the president made the declaration fresh from The United Nations General Assembly in New York where he was in the presence of The Pontiff who had an unexplained lengthy secret meeting with The US president. Are Americans not in the least curious as to what the two leaders discussed? Memories of the global Revelation of Sunday Law declaration are very real with them. This is not the only reason; you just cannot not catch them dead worshipping on Sunday period. Even if they would have wanted to be part of this event, they were disadvantaged. An alternative week day say Friday ought to have been considered as it would have been more inclusive of all religious denominations. It would have also encouraged the hedonistic revellers as their weekend would have been lengthened, more time to indulge in much drink and matters of the flesh! I know this may be seen as counter intuitive, but what was going to be one missed day of production in an already suffering economy anyway? I am sorry to inform the general public that The Barotseland issue also will not just go away no matter how much this irritates people. It will never just vanish as may be most people’s wish but it just will not. You cannot get a Nation and forcibly turn it into a mere province of yours and expect its Nationals to simply forget they ever had a Nation they proudly called their own Home. An open and realistic public engagement would have been done bringing together the various Freedom fighters and activist groups could have been engaged on how these issues should get quickly and peacefully concluded under the auspices of International Peace Observer Missions and Arbitration Courts of Justice to honour the people’s already expressed wish. Constantly persecuting its nationals and arresting then later entering Nolle prosequi may not be the most effective way of handling it as history has shown on a countless number of times. After all is said and done we would like to thank all those that found the time and strength to do that which their heart told them was the right thing to do and went to pray for their Nation even with little appreciation of just how far the problems run. We applaud the initiative of calling for this day and it is our sincere hope that it will not be the last seeing that the problems will still be with us for longer than we would have wanted them to be. All hope is not lost as we want to trust that the powers that be have everything under control.

BEN VERSUS DONALD: THE 2015 AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PRIMARIES

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama I may not have had the opportunity of sitting through an evening to watch any of their televised Live Debates where the two were pitted against each other for the purpose of selling their candidacy but what I can state with a great degree of certitude is this that, Ben Carson will not win the US Republican Party nomination despite his recently reported overall nationwide lead in the polls for two reasons. Simply put, with no tongue in cheek, he is Black and he is coming out too religious in a Secular State. Can someone tell him that Americans are not in the least interested in his professed Adventist faith in a predominantly secular and inter/multi-religious nation! The main themes in American politics right now as I see them, just in case Ben does not see or let alone hear too well are, same sex marriages, The threat of the Revolutionary State of Iran and its Nuclear ambitions vis a vis The Nuclear Deal, The resurgence and influence of Vladimir Putin and Russia on the world stage, Energy Crisis and its Greener Options, Climate Change, Immigration, Abortion, Jobs, jobs, jobs and NOT the US/ISRAEL (CIA/MOSSAD) created ISIS/ISIL Middle Eastern menace! For a start, this gentleman does not even command any semblance of significant support from his own people the African Americans, his people who should have come to his support by default generally consider him a sell-out. The G.O.P, which stands for (Grand Old Party), is thus stuck with a not so ‘clever’, bossy and ill-mannered, uncouth filthy rich Donald Trump and a lethargic and unalluring Ben Carson. Here is why the GOP is in a mess and in more of a political fix than the Democrats. Look, the fact that Trump is a Real Estate mogul and multi-Billionaire, does not necessarily qualify him to be presidential material by default in any way. The whole American Nation may be suffering some degree of excessive dosage of affirmative action with Hussain Obama’s ascension to power against all odds. To expect the man with Gifted surgical Hands to also make it as a Republican president beating the Democrats is, am afraid asking for way too much from the American people. What people do not realise is that, for Obama to have done it, the stars were perfectly aligned in his favour. Barack came on the scene at a time when there was mass revolt and rejection of Republicans under Bush and the messed up Foreign Policy which was sparking all manner of armed conflicts around the globe. The domestic economy was not spared as it was beleaguered by one of the worst recessions in living memory which consequently resulted in all time low domestic employment statistics and Home Foreclosures. Many local companies had to desperately institute hurtful and sometimes very radical survival strategies like externalising their manufacturing industries and take advantage of cheaper labour abroad. As a result, we saw countries like India, South Korea and China favoured as more viable locations of new and expanded operations much to the detriment of their local labour market. There was an unsettling atmosphere and a revolutionary wave of an over powering desire by the people to see immediate change in the way the country was being run. This is the environment which Obama exploited successfully with much tact and finesse. His teleprompter aided oratory skills did certainly come in handy as well. A Trump candidacy will almost certainly give America an even worse of image than it already has in the world since he is threateningly posturing himself in a very bullish and hawkish manner. This front apparently is one that is flaunted by most candidates courting their respective parties for presidential election nominations all for the sake of Israel and the preservation or protection of American strategic Interests abroad as is manifested in the proposed foreign policy direction. The different interest groups and individual business families have been openly declaring their support for various candidates by pouring huge sums of campaign money behind their preferred candidates who promise to uphold their professed family values. The ever present undesirable historical influence of the general Jewish Lobby especially AIPAC has been overbearing on the goings on in American politics. They quietly lurk in the shadows and watch to see who among the available candidates is offering the greatest amount of support for Israel by promising to be the most ruthless president who would be more than willing and ready to obliterate Israel’s enemies in the world at their behest or one that can be easily manipulated to do so at their whims during their tenure of American Presidential Office. Talk about being caught up between the Devil and a Deep Blue Sea behind them. Yes; their party is very much between The Scylla and Charybdis of sorts. I do not intend to insinuate any sexist agenda and carelessly issue views that would be deemed blatantly disparaging towards the women folk but Hilary Clinton’s candidacy also deserves its fair share of time under the microscope. There is no doubt whatsoever that she is currently the obvious democratic front runner. This she should profusely thank Joe Biden for, by his last minute refusal to run against her after much speculation. Just image how her campaign and race would have been thrown into disarray had he decided to run in the very last minute effectively throwing spanners in her campaign works. Look, Biden was edging Hillary in some polls even without him having stood yet ! Such was his popularity and appeal in the democratic ranks. Perhaps, looked at differently, this to some extent revealed the deep set displeasure with the likely Hillary’s adoption as candidate. Even without the Arab Spring that led to the Benghazi Gate debacle where Hillary Clinton was made to testify before the House Select Committee on Benghazi to answer questions about her actions in 2012 when the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by freedom fighters they mistakenly called ‘terrorists’ and four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Republicans in Congress have been investigating the attack and appear determined to discover if Clinton acted inappropriately and if she did enough to prevent American deaths. These series of hearings have been seen by many as simply a way for some interested parties who sought to destroy her campaign since they do not find any form of culpable behaviour whatsoever in her conduct. She already had or has a problem selling the Clinton name which cannot be easily shaken off. Her husband did not exactly leave office with skyrocketing approval ratings. The people have not suddenly developed collective amnesia. The American public may be slightly fatigued though and thus fed-up with hearing the nearly dynastic Clinton name which over the years has been synonymous with scandal. This is the same problem that Jeb Bush unfortunately has. I do not know him personally but he does not really strike me as an innately terrible and evil person unlike his brother and father who have been immortalised in the annals of notoriety. He is simply guilty by association and what is worse is that, he carries the Bush genes which can easily regress into the dreaded Bushism Doctrine. Hillary does seem to be facing yet another almost insurmountable hurdle against her candidacy for the office of President of The USA. She challenges the very basis and definition of what it means to be American with her aspirations for the top job. To perhaps put it more crudely, is America really ready to be ruled by a female President? If you are familiar with American historical posturing in world affairs, then you would be better placed to answer this question from a point of knowledge rather than just airing or parroting a half thought through opinion inspired by misplaced women’s lib propaganda and equality balderdash. One thing is for sure though, even when American has always prided itself in being democratic, the truth of the matter is that there are invisible forces that determine who eventually becomes The President in those United States.