Nonqaba said ...

He held up the line at the drugstore today. The cashier patiently counted the money, mostly coins. We craned our necks to see what was holding the line. You know how it is, people wasting our time. Paying cash. Who does that? It irritates us to no end, we the swipe and tap nation. We even pay with our cellphones. What kind of person pays with cash? Cash is backward. It is yesterday. It’s a sign of poverty. Ironic isn’t it? Cash money, used to be a measure of wealth. It bought everything. It bought slaves from Africa. The British Empire, French and German colonies had land, but no coins so they were deemed ‘poor.’ In Victorian England, money bought working class women who worked as sex workers. There are thousands of movies about treasure chests full of gold and coins. When did money lose its value and social standing? Technology. We swipe and tap cards to buy coffee or hamburgers. We punch our access codes online to gamble or buy forbidden men and women. Sorry. We don’t take cash becau

Abused women.  I stay for my kids . It makes social workers angry, because kids cry when dad hits mum. Some mothers tell daughters to stay in the marriage, ‘ your father used to beat me and we’re still together .’ Rich women and women who live for the camera stay for a variety of reasons. Let’s subtract money from the discussion, because some actresses and heiresses have their own millions, that are under the protection of ante-nuptial contracts. When physical or mental abuse becomes intolerable, celebrities audit the cause, which turns out to be different interests. Women feel the pain more, because they were once the interest. Therefore, they can easily tell when it has moved from New York to Melbourne Australia. The audit is not a prelude to divorce, but a weigh-in of what each needs for career or publicity purposes. A divorce is bad news for some careers although it is not stipulated in any letter of employment. It is bad news in the entertainment industry, where red carpet events

A person sitting down during a standing ovation is not feeling well. The standing ovation is perceived as the highest honour for excellence, for a riveting speech, a great concert, stage play etc. However, it is not, because of the way it unfolds. It is not unilateral like lighting. It starts like light rain, with one person who knows the performer or playwright standing up to clap, followed by a few of the same persuasion, then the full scale rain when the whole concert hall stands up and claps. The first standing ovation I found myself in, was when the friend who had stood up to clap gave me the evil eye with one message, stand up and clap. I did. On the way to the subway station to catch a train, I received a short lecture on the standing ovation, something to do with being ‘cultured’. It’s what sophisticated people do I was schooled. Actually, the standing ovation is pure fear. That’s why people in the concert hall or conference hall look around first to see who is clapping. They j

Barack Obama former U.S. President and Angela Merkel former Germany's Chancellor. Photo credit, online pic. Ukraine is the pawn in the chess game called ‘Cold War’ where the premium pieces - the king and queen - are U.S. or Russia, depending. How can a war be cold? Because both countries have an understanding that they will not invade each other, that they will respect their respective backyards. Before Ukraine, the U.S. had ‘hot’ wars in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Iran in particular has crude oil, which the U.S. regards as a national interest, because every aspect of life in America depends on it. It went to the extent of wrongly accusing Iran of having chemical weapons. The U.S. and Russia are enemies because they are poles apart ideologically. The U.S. stands for let free enterprise reign: buying and selling farm produce, precious minerals, oil, health care and everything else for profit. Russia believes in communism, where the government controls the economy and ideas b

I cannot imagine living in a war zone, a thought common in Canada and United States. We did, in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown. We ran out of toilet paper and baked beans. We couldn’t use season tickets to baseball and basketball games. We postponed flying to Trinidad and Tobago to play mas at the annual Carnival. We canceled weddings and surprise birthday parties. In a nutshell, we couldn’t do the luxury things, we consider the good life. In fact, we thought life had stopped because our movements were restricted. Living in a war zone means no movement at all, for fear of one thing we fear the most: death. In 2020, we thought about catching the virus so we avoided human contact and got vaccinated. There are no prevention measures in a war zone, the heart’s battery can die any time. Living in a war zone means the reluctant marriage between day and night because citizens are indoors all the time, thinking about how to escape death. By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Labour is the brick and mortar of the New Democratic Party (NDP). It is regarded as the voice of the working class, which includes men and a few women, who drive trucks between Canada and its neighbour and also domestic delivery trucks. The Party denounced truckers who took part in the January 2022 Ottawa blockade. They said they were protesting the requirement to be fully vaccinated as they go in and out of Canada and United States. The majority of truckers did not take part in the anarchy. What next then for truckers who were in the blockade? Form their own political party, because the party that is regarded as working class distanced itself from them. But do truckers vote NDP? The vote is secret but the answer is yes and no. Some do, some don’t. We shall assume that most do because they don’t own the means of production, which is land or money. That makes them part of the working class. Most of them have loans from banks to buy or rent rigs. They are in the same situation as farmers

Photo credit: online pic. NBA players are human, but they look like kindergarten when they fight on the floor. They should know better. Games are recorded so, trash talk and scuffles are immortalized. The NBA as an organization has come up with all kinds of rules, do’s and don’t, in its role as kindergarten teacher. It must be frustrating for players when the NBA keeps tightening screws on how such a contact sport is played. Ex NBA players can shed light on this. They can give us a run down on how certain fouls came about and how the NBA attached a dollar figure to punishment. Until we hear from these former players, it is not far fetched to assume that it was human error. Players behaved in a particular way, the NBA deemed obnoxious. Despite fines and suspensions, players continue to erupt against each other on the floor, which brings me to coaches. I sometimes think that coaches are redundant, because players are creative. They got the game. The street is the best coach.  After all,

  Book review: City of Ash and Red. Truth is stranger than fiction. “ Official announcements that the epidemic had become a pandemic were posted all over the city. Health centers in every district were expanded, and quarantine levels rose.” Page 182, City of Ash and Red, by Hye-Young Pyun. This novel is not about the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. It’s about a man wrongly transferred to a foreign country, only to find it in a high-blown pandemic and forced quarantine situation. It was published in 2010 and translated into English by Sora Kim-Russell in 2018, two years before the current pandemic. We don't know the man's country. The book doesn't give us his name. Readers don’t miss his identity because they are hypnotized by a story that has a uncanny resemblance to their present. The man-with-no-name is a hero because he literally lived underground, foraged for food like a rat. Correction. He feels that rats are more intelligent than him because they know how to by-pass adversity

Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang. My mother was all that, and more. Architect. Chief Financial Officer. Human Resources Director. Land Surveyor. Customer Service. Chef. Relationship Consultant. Doctor. Dentist. Professor. Security. Counselor. Make that a billion mothers. We observe International Women’s Month to salvage the guilt, that persons that carry life in the womb for nine months, deliver it to the world, nurse it, school it and eventually plan its wedding doesn’t have an auspicious job title. What is fascinating about corporate Canada, America or European Union is title creation. You probably understand, because you once found yourself among six or more managers in a boardroom, debating what to call a new position they just created. Weight. The title must have substance, to justify why they created it and its medal, the salary. The title should trigger awe and respect, when the manager hands out business cards. Women who bear children only have one title: mother. It is mama, in many l

There are still book reviews that say more about reviewers' upper class status,  than what the book is all about. Books are easily available in this century, not like 17 th  century England and France, but time has stood still for book reviews. It is still an idle class system. Publishers ask select people, mostly authors, to review books. In doing so, they demonstrate that they are part of the class that has money to buy books, time to read them and time to write reviews. In my simplistic mind, a book review should skim the surface a bit, just enough for me to buy it and read at my leisure. It can also add some crumbs about the structure. For example, some authors prefer long, very long sentences. Other books strangle readers in creative writing, a product of college degrees. Then comes exclusionary book reviews. “Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you’ll  immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlow or Sam Spade.” “In the tradition of Kafka, Camus and Mura

Farm equipment on the auction block, when farmers can't repay loans. Borrow money in order to build creditworthiness. I’ll never understand it even if I hear it a thousand times. And what does creditworthiness mean, exactly? It is the ability to pay back loans, thus making you worthy of being given credit for big ticket items like houses, cars or farm equipment. To be in banks’ good books, so to speak. Mark Zuckerberg the Meta chief and Aliko Dangote the Nigerian billionaire are one of the few that can buy cars, cash. You live on salary, so where do you go when you want to buy a house or car? The bank. It checks if you took loans from somewhere and if you repaid them on time. You did not default, to use finance-speak. How about bankruptcy? When does it kick in? Being creditworthy is good for banks, but bad for common sense. Being bankrupt is a finesse way of saying you’re broke. How did you lose everything? It must be because of creditworthiness. You had a history of paying back lo

Odunlade Adekola, Nigerian actor and producer. Photo credit, online pic. Who is Odunlade Adekola? He is presently the most popular actor in Nigeria, if we use online page views as a meter. They have their flaws but, they’re all we have to gauge online interaction. Odunlade Adekola is Yoruba. He was born and raised in the language. He might have started as an actor, but he’s a big time producer and director now. He also does musical scores using his beautiful voice. What is the connection between Odunlade and myself? Languages. My umbilical cord is buried in KwaZulu, in a country they call South Africa. I speak and understand a little Yoruba thanks to Odunlade, fellow actor Taofeek Adewale, actresses like Fausat Balogun, Mide FM Abiodun, Ronke Ojo, Joke Muyiwa, Yewande Adekoya, Wunmi Ajiboye, Wunmi Toriola and many others. Yoruba and Zulu are sister languages, although Nigeria is up there in Africa and Kwa-Zulu, down under in South Africa, guarded by the Indian Ocean. What is common abo

Muhammad Ali boxing champ refused to fight in Vietnam. Senators must leave their air-conditioned offices and go to ditches and desserts, in times of fresh wars. Members of parliament in Canada and the United Kingdom too. Members of Germany’s Bundestag too. Members of Japan’s Diet too. Members of  Parlamento Italiano  too. While there are many Congress members who once served in the U.S. army before their political careers, serving in the army or navy during current wars, should be mandatory. They are the best people to die for their country because they approve staggering budgets for killing citizens of foreign countries. Politicians run for office various reasons. They want: l  To make things better for people in their cities, provinces or states. l  To protect the status quo, e.g. privileged economic status. l  To reverse voting rights in America. l  To protect insider trading in politics. l  To protect obnoxious political traditions like gerrymandering and the filibuster. l  To enjo

September 11, 2001, World Trade Center twin towers attacked.  America shocked. Online pic. Biden should ask previous presidents about American foreign policy. They’ll advise him that it is a no-go area. It is pre-ordained, pre-paid, pre-approved. No new president can change the America-Russia tug-of-war. No two bulls can live in one kraal. So, what is the solution? The two countries divided the world into spheres of influence. The U.S. has Europe in its pocket because it saved it from Adolf Hitler, during World War 2, while Russia has the grandfather clause on countries like Ukraine. The world is mad at Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine. Equally, he is mad at America for trying to sneak into his sphere of influence through the back door, which is Ukraine. The two spheres of influence represent two ideologies. America is supposed to be the democracy torch-bearer, while Russia represents communism. The two spheres are backed up by submarines, air power, drones, land artillery and spies

Lewis Hamilton, F1 motor racing driver born in Britain. Online pic. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok and Chinese platforms I don’t know, are called social media. That’s why they have the COMMENTS section. Social comes from the word society and that implies people, and what do people do? They talk. Comments are a form of talking. The comments section is an assumption of many things. l  Birds of the same feather flock together, so they want to share flying thoughts. l  Hunters want information about birds they want so they send comments. l  Theatre of war, where birds elude hunters and they in return continually improve technology as a weapon of destruction. DISABLING COMMENTS The scary part about social media is hypnosis. At what point do we forget that it is not real? Unfortunately, we do. We disable comments when they hurt us, make us cry, commit suicide or destroy ‘real life’ lives. We are hurt because we are human beings. We don’t know who sent the comment because ther

Photo credit: HuffPost, online pic. Except for warm oceans in the Caribbean, Africa, South America and the Pacific , waves on the shore get lonely in winter. Waves miss all kinds of drama playing out on the sand. What they miss the most are their friends, the kids. What kind of kids? Definitely not toddlers, for obvious reasons. Let’s say 3-5 years old. Waves miss seeing kids’ fascination with the chunk of water that knocks, plant kisses on the shore and retreat into the ocean. Kids are wise enough to know that it is a dangerous force, but they still want a taste of it. They take a step inside, then run for cover when waves puff and prepare for landing. The shore is also a world of opposites for kids. That is where they seek refuge from the boisterous waves, but guess what? Sand beneath their feet seems to move, drawing them into the sea. They sense danger and grab parents' arms for something solid. We shall never know if waves think kids are dumb with the hide and seek games, or i

Online pic. What if, voter suppression states like Georgia and Texas break away from the Union, the way Donetsk and Luhansk declared their independence from Ukraine? What if, more southern states join them? Will Biden send troops to bring them back? Will history repeat itself, and result in another civil war like in 1861-1865? It is highly unlikely, because much as the South wants to go back to plantation days, they don't want to leave the economic and social benefits offered by Washington’s blanket. It won’t happen because U.S.A. is synonymous with democracy. It values it so much, it is linked to its foreign policy. It allocates funds to help other countries defend or establish democracy where it doesn’t exist, Ukraine for example. That’s why Americans should condemn voter suppression with the same vigour they condemn Russia for invading Ukraine. Democracy is under fire, as more states enact voter suppression laws to erode it. If Georgia, Texas and other pro-Trump states destroy d

Kids need to go out, icy pavements are an obstacle. Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang. The City of Winnipeg must think outside the box with this year’s snow removal, especially pavements. Non-profit organizations can volunteer to shovel them with either Bobcats or hand held snow shovels, if it has exhausted the snow removal budget. Iceberg pavements are a danger to parents with strollers and senior citizens using walking sticks or walkers, and those are just the brave ones. Many other city-dwellers with limited mobility decide to stay indoors, rather than navigate uneven pavements, with deadly bottle smooth ice underneath. Winnipeg, like any major city has a maintenance budget and snow removal plans. The city centre is the priority, because of the economic activity that generates revenue. Pavements in urban residential areas are behind, in the queue. It will be easy for the City to identify areas with a high concentration of seniors and small families because of zoning. It’s all there in the c

Afghans storm Kabul airport after U.S. withdrawal. Online pic. The Ukraine Soviet Union war over Donetsk and Luhansk won’t be the last one. Why? Army generals do not submit report cards on how countries like Vietnam and Afghanistan, defeated superpowers. We don’t know much about Afghanistan. That is why it is regarded as the bad guy. What we know is that it crippled the military giants: l  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia) l  United States of America (America) How? Land. The two superpowers had superior hardware like tanks, air power, electronics, and money to buy local spies but they did not know the land: mountains, valleys and secret water resources in Afghanistan. It’s called guerrilla warfare. Afghans understand what might seem mundane to invading enemies: significance of the bloom of a certain flower, mountain plants and animals that are food, how locals dress at various times and why, and the hammer, languages. Languages are the key in guerrilla warfare. Wise tourists