Nonqaba said ...

Grandchildren are the best people to bullet proof grandparents from online fraud because they know more about digital devices than mom and dad.  Parents are too busy building roads, attending to patients, pushing strollers, pulling huge bags full of hockey gear, doing laundry, answering office phones, driving trucks and school buses, to really understand phones and computers. Online thugs capitalize on that.  Some senior citizens have cell phones because kids insisted.  They showed them the basics: making and taking calls, sending text messages and charging the device.  But they did not show them the dangers of pressing I ACCEPT or YES. Grandchildren and grandparents have one thing in common: time.  Grandchildren might not want to spend time with grandparents because they are married to their digital devices 24/7.  However, they can kill two birds with one stone, play with their phones and teach grandma and grandpa how to identify scams and fraud at the same time. Don’t talk to strange

Image represents theft called the British Empire. Some African leaders will boycott King Charles Coronation because they have come of age. Kids in most countries cannot wait to be 18 so they can do what they want. Barbados decided to exercise its freedom of association in December 2021. It removed the Queen as head of state and became a republic. If Africa is truly independent, it should not kow-tow to Britain, the tiny country that became rich on stolen property: land. In business, where will you find free natural resources, labour and consumers who don’t have a choice? That was the British Empire. Britain’s Example African leaders that will boycott King Charles’ coronation will be following Britain’s footsteps in exercising freedom of association. Because it is a sovereign country, Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU). Freedom of association is quite common. 1.  Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). 2.  G7 countries (U.K. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, U.S.

When the Royal Navy docked in Africa and other parts of the British Empire, they found owners of the land brushing their teeth with ashes. They said it was barbaric.  That’s why we pressured mama to buy toothpaste. There were many things that made us ashamed of being African. We rubbed Super Rose, a liquid skin bleaching agent on our skin to make us pretty like an English rose. Girls wanted stockings because the Queen of England and madams our mothers cleaned for, wore stockings. We did not know there was a reason for stockings and gloves. School teachers didn’t tell us because education was Lysol to kill all germs of being black, a race made by nature, like other races. We were not inferior, we are not inferior. Britain just wanted our land and everything on top and under ground. Here we are in a drugstore in Canada looking at a box of charcoal toothpaste. It’s not barbaric because it’s in a box and is made somewhere overseas. Someone in Britain and other G7 countries owns the copyrig

Cashiers get mad if my card is declined. I guess it’s because the line gets irritated but cashiers are broke, like the rest of us. So please, don’t give me attitude.  It also happens to cashiers when they are shopping somewhere outside their comfort zones. They are cashiers here, but customers with bad credit somewhere else. My card is declined for a variety of reasons. Let’s say the item is $22.27 including tax.  I might have $22 in my bank account. This means the cashier is mad at me for being 27 cents short, only 27!  I know she’s angry because she says, ‘I’m sorry, your card is declined.’ Sorry my foot!  She’s fuming.  She’s looking at the line that is swelling behind me, swelling with rage that this woman cannot manage her finances.  Me!  I’m a pro at cutting and pasting, move a few dollars from this account and paste in another, to keep cell phone and cable people off my back. Did I say I was a genius?  Maybe not, because my card is declined at the grocery checkout when cut and p

So many songs about downtown. What is downtown? People in Canada and U.S. will look at you twice for such a question because they know that it’s the seat of power: Stock Exchange, City Hall, Courts, Hydro, Post Office, sports stadiums and all those shops. Downtown is in trouble because of feet. Settlers from Europe landed downtown, where the ships docked, creating all kinds of tentacle business. Time passed. Downtown colors and businesses changed, so original settlers moved uptown, to leafy suburbs and double garages. Downtown became a ghost town because upright citizens were scared of humans that slept on park benches. Politicians at City Hall voted to revitalize downtown because they did not want all that infrastructure to go to waste. City Hall also joined buildings with sky walks and heated them in winter. Developers advertised the joy of owning a downtown condo. For a while it looked as if downtown revitalization was going to take off. Some shopping malls even attracted big fitnes

Store display. Great news. We’re expecting a baby, a new year we will call 2023. The downside is that it will laugh at us on Saturday, as we sing happy new year. Why are these people shouting happy new year?  How do they know it will be full of joy and free of debt ? Well! What you don’t know doesn’t hurt you. That is what we do with babies. We are ecstatic when they are born.  They might turn out to be brilliant inventors that will make life possible without money.  They might be chess players, farmers, doctors or thugs. O.K. Delete thugs, but it is the anticipation of good things to come, better things than the rough patch in 2022.  In fact, the present year is already feeling like the bad guy to be shot dead with champagne corks and popping balloons. We are happy about the new year because we love flower buds and their destination: blooming into bright flowers.  We hope the sun does not scorch them to death or blown away by evil winds.  It is happy new year because it might be the l

Store display. They cannot fill the floor space Sears left behind at a local mall. The department store took north, south, east and west retail space. Sears went out of business but that space is still empty, except for the lower floor. The new tenant, a furniture store took a portion of it. The rest is still boarded up. I don’t know who owns the whole mall where Sears was an anchor store, but what are they going to do with that retail space? Probably cut it up into smaller units like the furniture store. The problem though are tenants. Who will take up the space when businesses are moving house and going online? Mall owners could reduce rent as an incentive. They won’t like the idea because they’ve been losing money with that empty space for almost three years, before the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Stores that are doing well might consider moving into bigger premises. Apple for example. Online shopping or not, Apple at the neighboring mall always has long lines, with its iPad hugging

All malls have an anchor store, where we go for reading glasses, kids’ clothing, cosmetics, shoes, designer handbags, sheets and mattresses, men’s clothing and even hairdressing. They are called anchor stores because they anchor the shopping mall. Stores around them benefit because we walk around and end up at the jewelry store. That’s where cousin Simon will get an engagement ring on higher purchase for his fiancée Lula Mae. What happens if we get all these things from the internet, sometimes at a better price because online stores don’t pay rent, like mall stores? The mall crumbles. Less traffic to the anchor store results in less traffic to all stores around it. Reason why malls fear online shopping They know the feeling. Malls destroyed the neighbourhood store which was run by Mr. and Mrs. Jones. There was business, which was shared  because the clothing shop referred customers to the shoe shop in the same strip mall. Knock. Knock. The mall provided all those shops under one roof.

Couples don’t hold hands like Prince Harry and his wife in shopping malls. It’s the man following the woman, as she does courtesy calls on various stores, especially those with clothes she cannot afford. Men’s faces tweet the feeling: when are we going home?  No. You can’t go home. You’re not a baby. Men are forced to follow us from lingerie to shoes, though they tend to linger in lingerie. If their sulking becomes unbearable, we park them on those quilted seats the mall provides. I’m sure you smile when you see such a group of men. So, why do they accompany women to the mall at all? Money and transport. No. Most women swipe or tap their own bank cards. They also have their own cars because they work. They have businesses. They are not like women in vintage movies who took hubby shopping because he had to pay for the new coat or pressure cooker. There are two reasons why we subject the poor souls to shopping. Public opinion. We must be seen together. One colleague in Ontario got marrie

Kind is -musa in Zulu. You say the first part like moot and the last one like Saskatoon, a Canadian city. Musa : A boy’s name that means the kind one. Nomusa : A girl’s name that means the kind one. Siphu-musa : A boy or girl’s name meaning, parents asked for kindness. Some kids grow up in the image of their name. A baby girl called Nomusa, might grow up to be kind.  A baby boy called 'kill him until he dies' might follow his name and be a murderer. Being kind is a bad trait, although its what all mothers advocate. People are cruel at work to the extent of firing someone. ‘ We finally got rid of him.’ No reason at all. Somebody just didn’t like him. Being kind is a bad trait. That’s why billionaires are not kind. You are respected if you are a shrewd businessman. Some Christians sing about Christ’s kindness on Sunday, while they do despicable things to their neighbors and church members during the week. Friends and family sometimes take kindness for stupidity. The whole state o

Introduction December holidays. Some people are at great aunt’s home in Miss-Lou in America or grandparents’ house in York Mills Ontario, if they did not eat and run on Christmas Day but, it’s quiet. Nobody is talking. Parents all over the world have always found it difficult to talk to kids. The phone has exacerbated the situation. Kids prefer talking to the screen not humans, especially humans who banned Tik Tok. Parents just have to be creative to initiate communication. Use Boxes to Start Conversation With Teens What is in boxes in the basement, attic or garage was once used by somebody. They have sentimental value. That is why families do not sell them in yard sales or donate them. “Sean, what’s in that box over there? “Don’t know Uncle. Should I open it? “Sure son. Why not? Despite Google, teenagers don’t know everything. There are experiences that are in old boxes, not online. Depending where Sean is, those boxes might have photo albums, old phones, vinyl records, music cassette

America's Tik Tok ban on government phones and laptops is like using  a public phone, while holding a phone in your hand. Kids and parents. A river runs in between. Kids want to develop popular apps like Tik Tok. The U.S. government bans it. Parents might want kids to be lawyers so that one day they could be the U.S. President like Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Kids might be on another trail altogether, fingers glued on their laptops, dreaming of apps that can be bought by Mark Zuckerberg  or Elon Musk. Parents want kids to study law because of reality. There is a law for every breath we take starting from where and when a child is born, schooling, work, taxes, marriage and death. There are even laws about nature misbehaving, like an exuberant tree, whose fall leaves litter the neighbor’s lawn. Parents want kids to study law so that they can settle the case, while kids want to develop an app on how the two neighbors can settle it without paying attor

Jeremy Clarkson's column about Meghan Markle sounds like a Trump instruction. Jeremy Clarkson, a British broadcaster, hates Meghan Markle so much he wishes her dead. In the December 16 column published by the Sun media group, he said he has sleepless nights. “….. dreaming of the day she is made to parade through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant “Shame” and throw lumps of excrement at her.” The Trump Connection Jeremy Clarkson and Donald Trump have something in common: platforms. For two years, Trump denied that he had lost the 2020 election. He told his followers to do something about it on 6 January, with the directive that it will be ’wild.’ It came to pass. Jeremy Clarkson also has a platform, which puts Meghan Markle’s life in danger. He has been on British television for many years and has garnered fans that might agree with what he wants for Prince Harry’s wife. Is she safe when they are in Britain, shaking hands and accepting flowers? Clarkson is t

Men have other interests besides women. Most women live just for them. It’s nothing personal. Most men are not bad humans. They just love two or three women, more in cultures that accommodate polygamy. Because women misunderstand men, they end up with broken hearts, some commit suicide, others end up in mental hospitals or commit murder. It’s nothing personal. That is why polygamy was in-built in ancient societies. Men had limited importance. The overall focus was on the society: children; collecting food; putting in place structures to ward off nature when it was angry; music to celebrate food and to praise local gods. The heart is the engine that ensures we sleep and wake up. It is therefore irresponsible to equate such a delicate but vital organ with a man’s decision not to take your calls, to go out with other women, not to come home on Friday, or to disappear into thin air. Ancient women knew he will come back, so they didn’t call missing persons. Women don’t understand men becaus

Better late than never? Not for me. We look forward to December holidays because we can sleep late and not worry about being late for work or school. Once upon a time before the pandemic, we were so good at time management we adjusted seamlessly to changes around us. There are many examples. 1.  Road construction. Four lanes reduced to one. No problem. We didn’t want to be late for work or school, so we woke up earlier or found alternative routes. 2.  Snow storms. We cannot use that as an excuse for being late. So, leave the car at home and take the train or bus. 3.  Terrorism led to office buildings, hospitals and other places of business looking like airport check-in. Security will frisk you, bags and keys on the conveyor belt. Some more frisking and finally, we approach departure gates. 4.  The city changes bus routes. No problem, we find the most convenient one for going to work. Time Management Then came the pandemic. Lockdown is over now, but our time management is still erratic

Some Canadian provinces are in a low visibility mode because snow storms are slowing down anything that moves. We know about airports that have been turned into camping grounds because of flight cancellations. Ontario and Quebec highways are slow-ways this December and it affects you. Gifts you bought online might not arrive on time to be wrapped and placed under a tree. I once saw on TV a woman who said she buys everything online. Does that include groceries? Therefore, we shall assume she also bought Christmas gifts online. What if they are late? Will friends and family believe they are delayed in transit? You know how family is. That blood is thicker than water stuff doesn’t work any more. Generosity does. You must constantly give to be loved. That’s why this bad weather might strain family harmony. You’re not lying. You did order gifts online. How about showing them Amazon tracking on your phone? It will show when the gifts left the warehouse and where they are out there, in the sn

Redefining social media. It should be called self interest media because we’re all there to peddle something, to prostitute ourselves for something, to barter in exchange for ideas, products or humans. We are either subtle about the self interest or blatant. Then we have the audacity to shame people who go online with no clothes on because they are honest about the self interest, which is, they’re selling just that, flesh. It’s not only the bare naked ladies. Give me businesses anytime because they are upfront about selling coffee, credit cards, lawn mowers, monster trucks, non ageing cream, chocolate bars, computers, cults, religion, bigotry, hatred for women, robots or political parties. The internet cannot end self interest. It is the oil that keeps the whole thing moving. We have podcasts so that we can brag that we interviewed a Bollywood icon or NBA bad boy. Twitter, Face, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, all benefit from self interest. They make more money on ‘where are my clothes p

What are drug dealers reading this holiday season?  12 Years A Slave  should be required reading for drug dealers, also known as street pharmacists. What drugs do to the mind is tantamount to slavery. Money occupies premium space in drug dealers’ minds and they are everywhere: on Wall Street, Bay Street, Hollywood, Milan, college dorms, basketball courts, condos, castles, celebrity yachts, Lagos or Sandton. Drugs don’t have a race or class. 12 Years a Slave must be required reading, particularly for drug dealers that work in the race. Slavery was about the destruction of a race. It involved lynching, rape, whips and chains. A drug dealer in 2021, is a slave master turning back the clock on the blood of departed slaves. 12 Years a Slave  is Solomon Northup’s story, a free man living with his family in Saratoga New York, of how slave traders duped him with a promise of work as a violinist. They kidnapped him and sold him to slavery in Louisiana where he was sold and re-sold, like real es

No bin liners in future. Starting 20 December 2022, Canada is not making any plastic such as drinking straws, grocery bags, takeaway knives and forks and anything plastic. No imports also. The goal is to be plastic free by December next year. What will happen to bin liners? I must find an alternative, especially the bin under the kitchen sink. I used to line it with plastic bags from the outlet store, my rudimentary recycling. If bin liners are part of the plastic ban, it means I must throw kitchen waste in a naked thrash can, then wash it every time I empty it. Tying up the bin liner then throwing out kitchen thrash is easy and stress free. Yes, because we don’t touch the rotten things we throw in there. It’s human nature. We don’t like touching our own thrash. We even dread cleaning bathrooms. Newer condo buildings and houses have those fancy incinerators in the sink. They growl while crushing potato and carrot peels then whoosh! For the rest of us, we have to think twice about what

The Hummer used to be a war automobile. He wouldn’t dare. American people won’t allow it. Back space a little bit, check history, and find the Vietnam War. Americans marched to stop it. They voted to pull out because they didn’t understand why sons, lovers and husbands returned home in funeral boxes draped with the American flag.  Biden might formally declare World War 3 because of tradition. Every U.S. President has a war. It sells books called memoirs. You don't think so?  After all, it’s a war between Ukraine and Russia. Wrong. Ukraine is proxy for the U.S. Suspicious 2023 Budget 1.  Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky flies to Washington in a U.S. military plane. 2.  Zelensky addresses a joint session of Congress. 3.  Senate approves about $45 billion for Ukraine’s fight against Russia and other funding for ‘emergency’ situations. 4.  Increased funding for NATO, America’s Number 51 state. Zelensky’s visit to Washington is the most suspicious. It might be part of the communicat

It’s none of our business what happens in America, but the democracy scar Donald Trump left behind, is. Would this happen in a country under America’s armpits? No. James Bond 007 clones, would have stopped Trump invaders before they got to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. What happened on 6 January is our business, because the U.S. sees itself as god of the world, despite the defeat in Vietnam and quite recently, Afghanistan. Charity begins at home. If the U.S. cannot protect Washington, the seat of government, what gives it the right to shed blood in other countries to defend supposed democracy? Dollars. War is an industry and the U.S. has dollars to fund it. The planned 2023 budget sees a 9% increase for the Defense Department. Senator John Tester said it will keep America safe with cutting edge technology “….. that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia .” They are not enemies. They have land and its resources, something the U.S. wants today and tomorrow.

Did Donald Trump ever concede to losing the 2020 election? Did I miss it? Is it on record somewhere? I don’t think so, because he went to the extent of sending criminals to wreck the Capitol on 6 January 2021. Vuma . That’s the word for accept in the language called isi-Zulu. Human beings accept love in different ways. Unfortunately, we would never know how it’s done in many countries because of Hollywood. You need a diamond ring, a restaurant or some crowded place and a man on his knees saying, would you marry me? Human beings also accept defeat in different ways. A rich politician who loses an election finds it difficult to accept defeat, after all the dollars he sprayed around like confetti, but he doesn’t give up. He’ll spend more money in the next election. When Hilary Clinton realized that Barack Obama was going to win the nomination for Democrats’ shot at winning the presidential election, she offered to work with him. Apparently, that’s how it is done in America. Accept and ali

Broken democracy, courtesy of Donald Trump. Now that the 6 January Committee has tabled its report, it is time to trace the roots of Trump, the stump to America’s democracy. When did it all begin? July 19, 2016 can be regarded as one of voter suppression’s birthdays. Voter suppression is nothing new in the South of the U.S.A. African Americans have lived with it since the formal emancipation of slaves in 1861. Formal was one thing, letting them go was another. Plantation owners were not prepared to part with the two scoops of free labor, children and parents. July 19, 2016 is one of the historic dates for voter suppression laws because of Donald Trump, the man the Republican Party chose  to run for president. Improbable. Ludicrous. Never. Are you kidding, are some of the things said about him. Some Americans threatened to move to Canada should he be elected. He could never be the President of the United States of America. He did and liked it. Time and tide waits for no man, so his term

South Africa, like most African countries has a system of naming children. Names tell a story about where the child is born, its people, religion  and circumstances surrounding its birth. Ask your Nigerian friends why most of their names have ‘ chukwu ’ or ‘ ade .’ In Zulu,  Nomvula  is a popular girl's name because it means it was raining when she was born. Or, parents wish that her life is full of rain, which is good luck because it makes food grow. My name tells a story about what went down between my parents and my grandfather. Amazing! Hollywood move out of the way. You know nothing about storytelling.   Names reflect parents’ wishes for themselves or the new baby.  Kids are also named after what happened when they were born. NAME MEANING Fika Arrive. Mfundo Education. Lunga Be good. Langa The sun. Madoda Men. Thula Be quiet. Thulani Be quiet (many people). Themba Hope. Simphiwe We have been given. Muzi Home. Khaya Home. Musa The kind one. Zakhele Build for yourself. Zenzele D