MY LIST OF THE WORST POLITICAL BLUNDERS EVER MADE!

MY LIST OF THE WORST POLITICAL BLUNDERS EVER MADE! By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama I am sorry but you may have to put on your thinking cap for this piece as it is inspired by an excess of cryptic puzzles from The Mensa Society. 1. The Bufo Amphibian or Goliath Frog reducing itself, and consequently, almost completely diminishing his political clout or influence after his not being preferred by the Double Mike River Mouth Group by forming an ineffectual party when he should have been more patient to join a more established one to propel himself to greater nation-wide appeal. This was when he failed to get the reins of power in the Double Mike River Mouth Group after the untimely demise of our very dear Israeli High Priestly tribe and Irish cousin from the midlands. 2. The Brit heir apparent prince, Sisutho variant lingo for Incessant Rains, a Barotse National, fancying his chances of ruling Zambia one day that he even goes ahead to form a political party. Though not explicitly stated, but the motive was to ride or bank on his almost default popularity or support base he would get in Barotseland. He grossly miscalculated in doing all this at a time when many a Mulozi are increasingly expressing deep nationalistic fervor. The pinnacle of this booboo was when during a campaign trail rally in Barotseland, he was booed and jeered off a platform and almost roughed up for forcing The Malozi to sing a Zambian national anthem. This, they resented and proudly bellowed out of their chest and instead sung in unison ‘ Bulozi Fasi La Bondata Luna’ (The Proud Barotseland National Anthem). 3. Double Hotel’s total lack of discernment or failure to learn from the lessons of the Ugly thing in Luyana's botched unholy union with the micturition product sounding initial, informalized into a copulation euphemism. 4. Double Hotel wasting his chance at winning/stealing a sizeable amount of votes from a few confused Barotses who would shockingly still vote in Zambian election in 2015 and beyond by failing to understand what The Barotseland Agreement WAS about. He even embarrassingly , rather naively likens his possible resolution to The Barotseland Question to mere Federalism. 5. The Regal venomous slithery Reptilian blood lined individual from the boreal campus point, having the propensity for commenting on all matters even those whose full depth he sadly, usually and obviously little understands, only to have them explode in his face like 10,000 mega-tonnes of TNT like promising to honor an Agreement he little understood the depth of. 6. The ploy by successive administrations to make the issue of Barotseland taboo, even going to the extent of making its very mention treasonable and not acceptable to be uttered in Parliament pretty much childish in my books. 7. The total avoidance and removal of the Barotseland Question from the country’s historical background and how their country was founded through meticulously doctored curriculum offered in schools to their children is something i find extremely bizarre. 8. The total inability or unwillingness of the citizenry to comprehend a very basic once legally binding document (Barotseland Agreement 1964,whose abrogation has since been mutually accepted) and its full resultant implication to be grappled with as a direct consequence. And which Unity treaty was the sole basis of their country’s founding in its current State and Form. 9. The failure of the BRE( Barotse Royal Establishment)to fully engage all the stakeholders who are part and parcel of greater Barotseland(Encompassed in the geographical boundaries of the Nation of Barotseland) in charting the way forward for the Nation of Barotseland. Their total failure or inability to unite all the activist groups and issue an equivocal statement on their stance to the international community and to their people post-BNC in the form of the State of the Nation address. 10. Zambia continuing to grapple with the Barotseland Question for 50 +YEARS using the same techniques of fruitless internal dialogue, intimidation, Divide and Rule,Forced Assimilation,Belligerence, military armament and Occupation. What did Einstein describe the process of doing the same thing over and over again but expecting to get a different result? 11. The embarrassing intellectual inadequacy of failing to comprehend what is happening in Barotseland and some people’s inability to differentiate between Secession and reverting back to a previous status of Statehood of Barotseland in the event of a material breach to an International Treaty in accordance with The International Law of Treaties. Secession is when a group of people in one historically solid monolithic state decide, for whatever reason, to detach themselves from the rest of the country citing either marginalization or unequitable distribution national resources. This usually happens where there is ethnic division and unequal distribution of wealth and resource utilization as it is evident in some parts of Africa. The proud State and Nation of Barotseland only became part of Zambia based on The Barotseland Agreement 1964 which Zambia decided to unilaterally and systematically abrogate by disregarding the clauses enshrined therein. The end result is what we see now; in my humble understanding, this is technically not secession. How are they a Unitary State then,through force or a mere preamble statement in their Constitution? Who did they unite with and using what tool as the modus operandi of the union? 12. The failure to realize that the Barotseland Question left inconclusively addressed, as it has always been, will FOREVER be there to haunt them up to the Nth generation and beyond. No amount of intimidation, arrests, killings, warn and caution statements will ever prevent the Barotse People from achieving that which was divinely ordained to be theirs, Royal Barotseland! They constantly add insult to injury by always going back to tease Malozi that when voted into office , they would help resolve the Barotseland Question and for some strange reason, like a cursed people Malozi buy into this cheap politicking by voting for them en masse. How not so shocking , remember The Curse of Sir Mwanawina III ,when he was forced to sign the Barotseland Agreement? 13. The perpetuation of a very unfortunate and dangerous ideology and thought that, any other ethnic group in Zambia will never ever ascend to the helm of political power. This assertion, unfortunately we openly and publicly hear being repeated by the denizens of Zambia as an affront to anyone who opposes their plans and political hegemony. Armed with this fallacious thought pattern, many electorates have entered into polling booths to choose their preferred national leaders during their exercise of universal suffrage, solely based on tribe and regional origins but not substance of the candidate. The voting pattern in most African countries is regional or ethnic in nature. This happens when certain, but not all, usually or predominantly, the less affluent and those of humble educational backgrounds or the blatantly bigoted individuals vote for presidential candidates based solely on which tribe they hail from. Having come to grips with this eternal fact, “ May God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr quotes (American theologian, 1892-1971).

 The almost unforgivable result of the succession rift in The upended group between Double Hotel and the Ugly Luyana thing, was to say the least selfishness on the part of the duo. They did not realize that they had inflicted untold harm on the relations Of the Bovine Bulls and the Elephants. The two were, as a consequence, blinded to the potential of uniting or harnessing the south, central, copperbelt, North-west and The Occident into a formidable voting block of great repute taking full advantage of the historical strong bond of cousinship which binds us all. This, when properly done, would radically create a paradigm shift in the political landscape of the zedians. 14. The various machinations of state to attempt to stifle the public freedom of expression and the free flow of diverse intellectual ideas, no matter how they find them disagreeable. Fond memories of the Grecian’s Agora spring back to my mind , where i would have intellectually thrived to unimaginable proportions. What this effectively does, is inadvertently create a police state where citizens develop a morbid fear of officialdom. The barometric readings on broader or critical issues affecting the general public would not be ascertained accurately if you do not allow them vocalize their discontent. The end result of this strangulation of opinions is that they vent out their disdain and anger in the polling booth when it is too late for any meaningful intervention measures. 15. The blunder by the bearded fair skinned semi-Grecian to leave the trappings of the acme of professionalism at N.A.T.O. Phonetic Alphabet begins in encoded mode; Scottish product; The Brit heir apparent Prince pet name; and lastly O’flahertie Wills Wilde’s forename only to join Double Mike River Mouth Group at its political nadir. Lo and behold ,he has effectively vanished into oblivion after he headed Zulu Romeo Alpha . “I tell you a Truth, Liberty is the best of all things, my son, never live under a Slavish Bond.” – Sir William Wallace’s Uncle

WHO REALLY IS IN CHARGE OF THIS WORLD? MY ENDLESS STRUGGLE WITH THE TRIPE THAT IS PREDESTINATION!

By Namakando Nalikando-Sinyama Somebody Died Last Night, But We Didn’t Somebody Did Not Wake Up This Morning, But We Did We Are Not Lucky, We Are Blessed! I know the above message was genuinely meant to be uplifting and probably aimed at encouraging someone out there. Well, that was until I picked up on it that is! And all those that died last night, are Cursed is that it? Sorry, I do not intend to seem overly critical and thus antagonising most people’s tenets of faith and religious dogma. I also do not want to be seen as one that is totally ungrateful for the divine providence and the abundance of grace that has seen me through to this day. It is just that, I have constantly struggled with this very concept of the so-called foreordained progression of events on Earth or the predestination/ preordination of the general course of human life and existence. There might be those souls out there who genuinely care for my safety and future wellbeing, who will probably wonder why I am not scared to write about such things. And to them, I am heartily grateful. But I should have Fear of what exactly? The fear of Eternal damnation, Reprisals and consequences for my free spirited stance in life has long since left me. But reprisals from whom anyway and for what? I am glad to report that, I happen to be one of the very last few of a dying and extremely rare breed of humans who claim to have sufficiently ascended spiritually to manage this kind of delicate leverage in handling such matters. Others will only attempt this at their own peril! I here write this piece, only for those that DO NOT find the exercise in Applied Logical Thought and Reasoning sinful or painful. The concept of Predestination, (in Christian theology) is the doctrine that God has ordained all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo and of Calvin. If you, rather wrongly, felt that I am here unfairly taking a swipe at the teachings in Christendom only, you would sadly be missing the point, since this belief happens to be alive and well in other faiths as well. The same concept in Arabic is called Kismet. We have gotten only too accustomed to screams of, ‘Allah Uakbar!!’(God is Great) from Islamic zealots when they survive a calamitous event or just before they are about to end, either their own life or that of someone else’s! When people survive accidents on mass public transport and they quickly say ‘thank God they survived’, what are we to think about the many that die and get injured? What are they supposed to say? Or the good lord just gets so incensed with their many collective transgressions despite their diverse backgrounds and thus feels the over powering need or urge to snuff out their lives in one go especially seeing that by sheer happenstance, they have rather conveniently and mysteriously gathered in one vessel, in an uncaring display of instant justice? Some say, look, you cannot question him; he is the giver of all Life, so he can end it at any time as he wishes right? What about the many Babies that have died in accidents, was it also their appointed Time to die just after being born? What would have been the point of being born to begin with? Through one man Sin entered and all have fallen short of the glory of God, its ok for them to die too because they are sinners! Wow!!! Even Babies? This is also yet another concept that I will forever find morally repulsive and unpalatable and will never ever sit well with me in my conscience. Are they all really sinners and you are so special as the lone survivor of a Bus or Plane crash or it is just purely the Law of a Probable outcome at play? Out of all the people who have died and have been maimed, he only has a special purpose for you alone, while the others had all outlived their usefulness on the Planet? Talk about an exaggerated perception of self, what impudence and misplaced haughtiness indeed! Are we to understand that they all did not have Children and Relatives who still wanted them to be alive because they still needed their love and care? They looked up to them for sustenance and in their minds; these people’s passing suddenly whether naturally through disease/old age or any other causal agent cannot be justified in any way. The bereaved families will now be effectively consigned to abject poverty on account of the sudden death of their sole bread winners? The rather childishly naïve excuse I usually get from the many faithfuls is this that, for ALL those that die, it happens to be their appointed time and date to die! Alright, please consider if you may, what would happen to an individual who, let us imagine has not yet come to their so-called ‘appointed’ time to die and then they somehow fell or god forbid were forcibly dipped into a tank of highly concentrated acid which can even consume metal with relative ease. What would happen to them since it is not yet their time to die? This is obviously an outrageous example but if you are a thinker you do get the point. They rather shamefacedly say, because you know, according to the Bible, and I prefer the original text of 1611 King James Version, which by the way, is the originally published KJV text from 1611 A.D. which he officially approved, and had written in archaic English; Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 8 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Are we honestly to believe that, God somehow conveniently decides to pack a bus or plane full of people with the same appointed day and time of death? Really, are you serious? I do not buy into this careless thinking one single bit. So, I hope you understand why I write this piece because I stand ready to be called all sorts of names. I am also prepared to face the possible consequences of my taking the liberty to think the way I do, probably as hoped by the many that subscribe to fear based Religions that I will be punished (I am actually already having flashing images of a fluke-tailed, pitch folk or trident wielding, crimson horned fiend poking me into a blazing hot inferno of Hell Fire, complete with the accompanying music from the celestial choir for special effects and all, as the heavenly Bakolo Braai or Barbecue goes on!) I have personally had very narrow escapes with my life and avoided it coming to a premature end during my pilgrims’ journey on earth. I have had a close shave with one of the Four Horsemen of Revelation by surviving road traffic accidents more than once but have been somehow reluctant to thank God that I came out unscathed while others were permanently maimed or lost their lives. How would you feel standing next to someone who gets up and dusts themselves off and rather selfishly, rudely and inconsiderately says, “ Thank God I have survived, I am truly blessed!” when you have just lost a loved one in the same accident? What choice words would you have for them and for their ‘god’ who has so blessed them but allowed your relation to die? It will not at all be surprising that this piece will be dismissed by some as a silly attempt at an Atheistic expose of how things really operate on this planet from someone who seemingly has no clue whatsoever. But, if like me, you have also wondered just why such utterly tragic happenings are seemingly allowed to freely go on unchecked, then you are slowly getting close to answering the age old question about who really is in control of this world we live in? Are we as humans marionettes or puppets on strings, cast into the Arena of Life where we are but pawns in a game or tossup between the perpetual struggle between Right and Wrong? Are we going to be forever at the mercy of these forces to be influenced whimsically? Whether this influence is total or partial is obviously a subject of debate because things on Earth are so bad for any thinking person to claim that a truly loving deity is and has been in charge all along. It therefore goes without saying that the belief in FATE is, in all reason and logic fallacious. Human beings are not ANDROIDS (Star Trek creations) or an army of robots living a life pre-programmed into microchips imbedded into our brains. If this were the case you will agree that that would make the concept of us having a free will (one of our greatest weapon against self-destruction) seem a philosophical myth or a childish prank. Is the whole of human Life some kind of Truth or Dare Game between God and The Devil, where the latter was given latitude or the unrestricted carte blanche to exert some or given complete or full degree of influence over human life and dared to have a go at tweaking or tinkering around with us while the former claimed there would still be a few humans that would remain faithful to him and make it through the period of temptation? Whose awaiting reward being an endless floating existence in weightlessness conditions NASA style to perpetually enjoy the heavenly bounty consisting of what we hear will mostly be a vegetarian diet punctuated with lots of praise singing. Singing forever? Is it because the already existing angelic orchestra has called for an urgent reinforcement of tenors or what? I have always known the multitude of believer who are always clamouring to going for church every Sunday hope for this exact cherished prized but have not quite sat down to think of what they will be doing while there drifting away in a suspended state. Singing forever? Come on Namakando, do not be so negative and such a party pooper am sure the entertainment committee would spice it all up and come up with activities like tag of war, Beach volleyball or something! Wow! That would really be something alright levitation mounds of silica (sand) to step on. Well, there could also be some occasional earthly visitations arranged as a tourist attraction to just have a reminder of what life was like of Earth. And all this is to go on for a time indefinite! Of course, you do understand that technically and grammatically speaking, an activity that goes on indefinitely eventually does come to an end right? It is just not really definite or certain when the end will be, right? After it ends, then what? This just tells you that very few who aspire for a heavenly existence have actually paid much thought to what exactly they yearn for. Come on then, scripture tells not be anxious of tomorrow or the life ahead, leave everything in his hands and it shall be revealed to you. Well, then and I my friend are not wired the same! This, in the end, is what makes and has made many people who have greatly suffered much on earth in many different ways not to believe in a truly caring and all powerful God because they have concluded he had or has so far been powerless or has been uncaring enough to prevent the death of their Baby /a Loving Mother or Father or Sister or Brother through natural causes like disease or accidents or have lost material possession through theft or natural causes. It does not exactly help that in Insurance Cover circles these natural happenings or causes have been aptly called Acts of God! A closer look at the Christian Biblical story of Job for me had somehow foreshadowed how life in general was scripted to play out on this planet. Yes, scripted, for we are all but actors on the stage of Life, while the Directors watch on and decide when the proverbial curtain falls for each one of us.

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.

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.