HOLIDAY WISHES

"Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever,

his faithfulness continues through all generations"

Psalm 100: 4-5

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Kimba

Apple won't repair Macs if owners are smokers | News | TechRadar UK

Apple won't repair Macs if owners are smokers News TechRadar UK: "The reputation a lot of Mac fans have of being smug and holier than thou certainly won't be helped by the news from the US that Apple is apparently refusing to repair computers that show signs of cigarette smoke.
According to reports from Mac owners seeking repairs under warranty, the company claimed evidence of cigarette smoke inside the machines in question constitutes a 'biohazard'.
One, presumably ex-, Mac user was told that 'Apple would not require an employee to repair anything deemed hazardous to their health.'
As the company's Applecare warranty does not specifically exclude machines showing the presence of smoke or nicotine from repair, it's likely that Apple will fall back on its 'extreme environment' clause that lets it off the hook."

THE MISTAKEN NOTION THAT WE CAN POLICE THE WORLD

One month into the Obama administration, SOS Hillary Clinton gave the following quote when asked of the U.S. role in Chinese affairs...."human rights should not interfere with other issues in a bilateral relationship." And as repugnant as that is to say, I had hoped that this would mark some semblance of reality in U.S. relations around the world. Obviously, we are counting on China to continue to prop up our economy through the purchase of US bonds, and in doing so we are entering into a deal with the devil; the price of which is our lack of power or ability to criticize China for their human rights stances.

As a nation, we have long taken on the role of the world's watch dog and the world's policeman of sorts. We have toppled dictators, and we have propped up others. In the case of Saddam Hussein, we have done both, until we finally took him down.

Our role in the Middle East has less to do with 9/11 than with the Bush administrations desire to achieve regime change in no less than four Middle eastern countries (the now famous Rumsfeld white paper). But where has this involvement gotten us? Do we feel safer now than ever? There has been no subsequent 9/11-like attacks, but is this a direct result of our fighting two civil wars?

What it has done is killed our armed forces, divided our country and helped to put our own economy in a very precarious footing, to say the very least.

Sometimes, our views and foreign actions make no sense whatsoever...we do business with China with its human rights violations, but continue to embargo Cuba for its human rights actions...an action which has not achieved a regime change, but has seriously hurt the day to day standard of living to most Cubans.

President Obama ran on a "change" platform, let's see some. He ran on the promise to end our involvement (and vast money drain) in the Middle East, let's see it. Let's see some of the promises fulfilled. Let's see a change to our hypocrisy, let's see a less dictatorial foreign affairs stance, and a more humanitarian overview.

We need to stop the bleeding in Iraq and Afghanistan (literally and figuratively), we need to decide what to do with Gitmo, and we need to open up relations with Cuba by years end. And we need to turn a less blind eye towards our own peoples need before squandering our resources outside of the country. Do I support a new Monroe Doctrine? Of sorts. we need to roll up our borders to immigration, we need to raise import fees, and we need to force Americans to buy American. We need to tell the world we will not fight the good fight all over the world while they sit blithely by. We need to stop helping others...at the expense of not being able to help ourselves; and if that sounds Lou Dobbsian, so be it. When our economy eventually rebounds, we can rethink our foreign affairs posture, until then, we need to focus our attentions domestically for the good of the people.

And that is the world....."the World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading (or listening).

THE HOT TICKET

They are the hottest toy of 2009, an $8.00 interactive hamster that makes 40 sounds and squeals, and inhabits many, many accessories.....all at an extra price, of course. They are ZhuZhu pets, and they go forward, backward, drive a car, and roll around your floor in its own ball. Check out the video and watch the toy that is...no COULD take over the world like tribbles took over the U.S.S. Enterprise...

Only one problem, the stores (Walmart, ToysRus, Target, etc.) are completely out of them. No one, but no one has them, believe me I have checked...over and over again. The clerks are sick of me asking. Getting one of these is like winning the lottery, except for one place, the mighty Internet.

Oh, they are available on the Internet, EBay and on line retailers, except what would be $8 at Walmart are fetching upwards of $50 a piece, and more for the highly coveted three pack, in different breeds / colors / names of course.

The manufacturer Cepia Toys, a very small manufacturer, is straining to produce more before the holidays, and it says shipments are increasing up to the holiday shopping season. They just had no idea these would prove to be so popular until they test marketed them in Arizona, and by that time the die was cast.

OBAMA'S CHINESE TRUMP CARD

President Obama will embark on an Asian tour next week to visit the major players of the Asian community, with China in the forefront. Potential hot button topics with China include their involvement or help in reducing; global warming issues, North Korea's nuclear capabilities, trade imbalances, and China's money system (Yuan) which undervalues their currency through devaluation and makes it impossible for us to compete around the world with them in trade.

Although we all hope Obama can make some headway, many if not most journalists are warning us he has no clout to push any agenda at all, thanks to our current situation. Our economy is tanking, it is hypocritical for us to talk about pollution, the trade imbalance is largely of our own doing, and our cold war mentality over the past eight years with foreign countries hostile to us has exacerbated situation with leaders hostile to us.

Yup, we have zero clout.........no wait. We (Obama) has the ULTIMATE cloud over China. China holds over 800 Billion dollars in bad debt from this country, in the form of American bonds. If we tank, they take it in the shorts. China has a huge stake in this countries success, or failure, and they know it. In fact, China has been begging us for three years now to guard the value of the dollar with a death grip. They have counseled us on over-spending and building enormous deficits. In fact, one might say they seem to care more about the health of our economy than our own government, which is more than willing to spend and spend, regardless of which party is in the White House, Bush or Obama.

So, unless they are looking to foreclose on our country, they better had listen to us. or accept pennies on the dollar for their 800 BILLION dollar investment in our little country. Take that and put it in you lead based paint, suckers.

WHY I WOULD HAVE VOTED NO

Late last night...late on a Saturday night, the House vote on health care took place, which to no ones surprise, passed by a narrow margin. One.........yes, one Republican voted for it. Most, but certainly not all Democrats voted for it, no surprise. The bill now goes to the Senate for its up or down vote, which in Obama's mind should take place by the Christmas break. Speaker Reid came out and declared he would not be driven by a time line, a guarantee that we are looking at late January.

Most would think that I, a left wing liberal would stamp my vote of approval on this bill and send it to the Senate, were I a member of the House. And while I am not unsympathetic to the plight of the uninsured, I would have voted no...for the following reasons.

1. It's too soon. What's the rush? This is not the nations highest priority, not in a sour economy.

2. We have elections coming up next year we need to win. Any whiff of taking on more debt right now will go over with the American electorate like a fart in church.

3. It has failed to garner any bi-partisan support, and will appear to be ramrodded through by the liberals, who will be solely responsible for its success or failure.

4. It uses taxpayer funds to perform abortions (although severly hampered by an earlier vote, it still gives loopholes).

5. You have failed to convince the American taxpayer it will be revenue neutral.

6. It is anemic on tort reform.

7. It's too big...1900 pages big.

8. It mandates forced health insurance on people...we are supposed to be free.

9. It will hurt small business.

10. It makes government bigger, not more efficient.

11. It does little for wellness other than provide talking points.

12. The tax increase on millionaires need to go towards more productive agenda items.

13. It has dominated Congress for months, when they should have been focused on the real issue killing the nation, and the nation's economy...JOB GROWTH.

14. and most importantly: It will put a smile on the Botox supported mug of Nancy Pelosi, the joke of the Beltway.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

After numerous arguments with conservatives about the Obama one year job performance...I challenge anyone who actually thinks the country would be better off if Bush and Cheney were allowed to add one more year to their last term, to click on the word "comments" immediately below this post and explain it to me. I am a fairly open minded person...convince me Bush and Cheney could have turned it around...or tell me what they would have done differently, and how the nation would have responded.

WHY HE TOOK THE PRIZE

"Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free of nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is now confronting. Diplomacy and human rights are to be strengthened.

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the leading spokesman. The committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."