She's A Barbie Girl, In A Barbie World
Just in time for Christmas shopping season, boys and girls...
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Campaign for America's Future:
Accessories for Barbie dolls were among the tens of millions of imported toys recalled this year because of toxic levels of lead paint or other serious safety problems.
The lack of reasonable oversight and inspection over goods coming into this country is scary. How many toy recalls or potential children made ill needs to happen?
As American consumers buy a sharply increased share of their goods from overseas, the American government has been cutting back its ability to regulate and inspect imports. Americans consumers are thus exposed to increasing numbers of products that were neither produced in America nor subject to American safety standards. The results put people at risk. Our report, "Toxic Trade: Globalization and the Safety of the American Consumer," (.pdf) documents these two trends. Government statistics show that imports have increased by 338 percent since 1974, the year the Consumer Product Safety Commission was created. Yet the budget for that agency today is less than half what is was in that year. In effect, we have been disarming our ability to protect ourselves, even as the need to do so has been soaring.
That Nancy Nord is so unwilling to actually do her job, and so willing to accept perks from companies that she's supposed to be watching makes her a perfect Bushie, but a really bad head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
You can sign a petition here demanding Nord resign.
UPDATE: And now, it's not just lead poisoning we have to worry about. Aqua Dots --one of this year's hottest toys-- contains a chemical similar to GHB (the date rape drug) and has already sent one boy into a coma.
Fine the shit out of companies that have their goods produced in unregulated, cheap labor countries like China. Corporate scum only understand the lingo of $$$.
If I was a parent, I would be afraid to shop this Christmas!
Every single Democratic candidate should mention this in every single speech they give as reason to throw the bums out.
so much for women being the ones that are more caring about children than the males.
but i guess if you're a fascist repuglican bush sycophant there's no limit to your bloodthirsty corporate protectionist agenda
think of all the tainted junk in the cheap ass dollars store across the usa.
you ain't seen nothing yet, folks!
This story reminds me of when I was a child and my father always preached "buy american"
Apparently, the unions had it right from the beginning.
Are these same products sold to people in China? If so do they also get recalled over there?
I'm invited to a Christmas party and everyone is supposed to bring new toys to be donated to the Salvation Army. I don't know what the hell to buy. I sure as hell don't want to poison some little kid. I'm thinking of just buying books. Kids might not be crazy about them but so far no kid has gotten sick from reading.
So there's lead in the toys -- what's the big deal? I thought you kids liked heavy metal.
The lack of reasonable oversight and inspection is the primary goal of the Republican Party. Mission Accomplished!
Well, now we have a market for some US toy maker to get busy. Forget the cheap plastic shit and make quality toys right here at home.
Well, I told my kids that there will be no toys this christmas, just books and clothes. I am just waiting to be told that the clothes made in china are also tainted with some godforsaken chemical!
I'm so glad I never had kids!
Poor nancy. She's probably hiding in her office praying that shrub doesn't show up for a photo op. Does she hear the words "heck of a job" in her nightmares? LOL!
She should call one of her corporate buddies and ask for a free vacation.
I knew Barbie Girl, I've worked with Barbie Girl, and you sir are no Barbie Girl.
Overheard at a Republican debate addressed to ghouliani.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw
pissed off patricia @ 7:
The short answer is that no these products are not sold, legally, in China. China Follows EU regulations which not only forbids the sale of such contaminated toys, and lead's not the only 'contaminate' in toys, but the government tests said toys. Oh, you thought we tested toys? Nope. BushCo. is only the latest in a long line of U.S. adminstrations which has so neglected the rising sea of chemical poison in our manufactured environment that we are no drownin in it. Find out more here................
and here...............
pissed off patricia @ 7:
Give them Canadian money!
This certainly must be Clinton's fault.
The replies you'll get from these companies suggests we the consumers want cheaper ingredients (not they the stockholders want larger quarterly dividends). Basically they are trying to say it’s our fault they out-source to China.
Joe (6-pack) Nascar will still amble on down to his local WallyWorld for some "Made in China" lovin'.
Then he'll vote for dipstick Republicans all day long, never realizing the irony.
I'm looking to glue my cell phone to my face. What's better epoxy or super glue?
Lest We Forget- this is what Reagan REALLY meant when he said "We want the government off our backs".
I have a new idea for the perfect gift for the Neotard child:
Waterboarding Barbie!
Now with enhanced GHB beaded necklace!
Maybe we could all send our Barbie Dolls and accessories and Fisher-Price stuff to Jenna for her upcoming birth.
19 Kenneth
87)
What about other products coming from China? Things that adults use and things like pet toys, anyone checking those out?
"Waterboarding Barbie"
...priceless
rk @ 11:
They are, a number of books as well.
pissed off patricia @ 24:
Well, Bush has his royal food taster so all is well.
I have a neat idea: let's not buy ANYTHING that says "Made in China"--for children, adults, pets, etc. Not one dime.
No hard feelings toward the Chinese, mind you. It's Western companies that profit from their (lack of) safety standards.
When I heard them say on tv that Curious George could be toxic, I had to laugh because Curious George makes me think of non-curious, george bush, and he's always been toxic.
Symes @ 26:
Primarily lead buttons/zippers or buttons soldered together with lead solder.
Also any plastic buttons.
And in the books it's the ink, so if your kid is a chewer don't go there either.
Pssst, wanna buy some aquadots.
overheard at a street corner
The elderly mother of a woman I once worked with used to go to high end fabric stores, buy remnants and make the most gorgeous Barbie outfits. Then she sold them at craft fairs for a dollar or two each (barely covering the cost of materials). That is until the IRS came around and asked for her tax ID card. They told her she was illegally selling the doll clothes because she didn't have one. She was so scared she quit making them. I guess the federal government thinks it's better to have the Barbie clothes made in China.
pissed off patricia @ 24:
The lid blew off this thing when American Pets started dying from Melamine poisoning in pet food last March.
This thing is far more hideous than you can imagine. 1 percent of what is shipped in is tested. China is classified as the filthiest country for food production in the whole world.
Our human population in the U.S. has been ingesting, wearing, breathing their toxic wastes and poisons as early back as 1995.
xoites defends Constitution @ 27:
What indeed...
http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart2.htm
I have one of the first Barbie's ever made along with the box she came in and several original outfits. I bet she's worth more now because she isn't poison.
Support your local thrift stores. Mine is run by the PTA.
[I just bought a Tiffany crystal candle holder for $1.00]
What don't they just market it as Toxic Barbie and sell her in an impervious bubble.
Wait... what does impervious mean?
[Deleted]
This is what is wrong with America. A guy with a law degree and an MBA with no expertise in chemistry, biology or animal health can import ingredients from a 3rd world country that poisons the nation’s pet food supply, and pork and chicken industry. Three people in a warehouse in Vegas can do this because the only thing American companies care about is cheapness. These people depended on the certification from the seller in China? Their web site talks about their expertise in obtaining ingredients from China. From the results, I’d say they aren’t very good at this. They did no independent testing? What about all the consumers who thought they were buying top quality brands when the stuff is really made from industrial chemicals from China. I’ll bet none of the labels said that…
http://www.lvrj.com/news/7590507.html
hadenuf @ 36:
What if people donate toxic barbies and date rape aqua dots?
xoites defends Constitution @ 23:
87? I don't get.
PassedPawn @ 40:
They probably will, someday soon.
I heard Nancy Nord on NPR the other day defending her travel with the rationale that she needed to explain our laws to these other countries so that they could abide by them. So, her excuse is not that she is corrupt, her excuse is that she was INCOMPETENT. Obviously, she went to the very companies that sold us toys with lead paint and GHB, and "explained" US law. So, clearly these other companies either did not understand that the US has standards, or they understood that Nancy Nord intended to do very little oversight and toy standards testing (since she only has one person hired to do that). She sounded very reasonable and articulate, which I thought was scary as hell. Like all the other Bushies, her excuse is not that she planned to fail, but that she had no idea she was failing. Oy. I cannot believe people were dumb enough to vote for this guy twice.
Americans have had no oversight for years with a republican congress. Trusting these liars an thieves with protecting our children is pretty stupid. They just lie and cover up just like they did in the page scandal.
Republicans simply cannot be trusted.
Wake up America.
George_Metesky @ 34:
Ouch, ouch, ouch.....
I'm glad I never had kids and I'm also glad my little dog is too old to give a damn about dog toys any more.
I'm thinking the real toxin is GWB not GHB.
being a free trader means never having to say you're sorry
pissed off patricia @ 46:
I can't believe that I hope I don't have grandchildren.
Appointees don't have to be qualified nor competent. This can be fixed by just dropping "Safety" from the commission's name.
I don't know if every generation feels this way as they age, but I do sincerely feel sorry for little kids being born in this country today. I'm not sure what the future holds for them but I'm afraid it's going to be a different world, and not in a good way. First of all they will be given a huge financial debt the minute they take their first breath. That's so sad and depressing.
I would create a comment macro that says "how much worse can this administration get" if I knew how and save my self about a million key strokes per month.
Thanks for posting this Nicole. As a Father of a 3 year old I'm very concerned about all the crap my son is exposed to. I looked over the Org. putting this petition forward, and I'm impressed with the members. I signed and hope others will to.
Peace.
pissed off patricia @ 51:
I think people used to be more optimistic about the future for their children. The old Sicilians where I grew up used to say stay away from hospitals and banks, e.g., but I never heard them worry about their children's or grandchildren's future.
And America thought Wal-Mart was its friend! Welcome to true deregulation, China style.
Kenneth @ 41:
87) (read it sideways)
xoites defends Constitution @ 56:
You know what they say--big nose, big... [?]
xoites defends Constitution @ 56:
Gotcha! :D
Big handkerchief?
Ricky Bones @ 2:
...and with the exploding subprime and loan debts, parents were probably going to shop less this Xmas anyway.
Since roughly half of the US economy is consumerism (read: merely buying bullshit), the shit's really going to hit the fan as soon as Q4 2007 numbers start coming out (around Feb. or Mar.).
MN USA @ 32:
Gee... I didn't realize the IRS were hired henchmen for Mattel Inc... unfuckingbelievable! >:-(
That sort of reminds me of the small toy store in Washington, I think it was, where the DHS tried to bust them for selling knock-off Rubik's cubes... despite the fact that the patent ran out long ago. Since when did copywrite laws have to do with Homeland Security?
Great example of why the "free market" needs government oversight and regulation.
Take that, libertarians.
The problem is ALSO the adoption of America's idea of a 'free market' in the exporting country. They have little to no regulation there, ergo what gets shipped here is sometimes caught in the regulatory system we have left.
Is it just me....but the Aqua-dots thing seems like it may have been planned...could the Chinese be trying to poison our kids...or am I just paranoid?
pissed off patricia @ 24:
For sure. Its a challenge to find any adult product that isn't made in China or some other questionable country; clothing, electronics or ordinary household gadgets. I wonder what chemicals are leaching out of the cell phone I have pressed to my head part of each day...
deregulation / outsourcing / greed
NO one gives a shit.
StevenMN @ 65:
We should boycott all chinese products then...no joke
There was something on the news today about something that is in cell phones. I don't know if it was a chemical or what. I just caught the very end of the report and whatever it is, companies are saying they will correct it.
Just from an old fashion point of view, these aqua dots seem like something you would not buy for a small child just because common sense tells you a little tot is going to put them in his or her mouth and they have a possibility of choking a little kid.
GHB is not "the date rape drug". That is called rohypnol (roofies). GHB is used as an intoxicant, but it is not what is popularly referred to as "the date rape drug".
Isome @ 63:
The Chinese central government has laws against using lead paint, toxic chemicals, etc., but industry growth has exploded so fast that they can't enforce these laws. It's no co-incidence that we suddenly have a flood of toxic products coming out China within the past year, and the fact that about 18 months ago, the Chinese central government told the local governments and factories to do the enforcement, because Beijing can't keep up with it.
Signed the petition against Nord.
How will this affect the adult sex-toy industry?
"Throw down you dildo, and come out with your hands up!"
Dr. Acula @ 71:
Me too :)
Wake up, middle America - first they outsourced your livlihood, now they are poisoning your kids. What will it take for folks to finally realize that the current Republican ethos, is 'I've got mine, the hell with you.' Maybe when the stock market collapses and the dollar drops so low we look like Weirmar Germany. They took your pension and told you the 401K was just as good, what will happen to you when the rich and powerful take their profits and leave you holding worthless stock? You will have to work until you collapse and your kids will be unemployed, because no one can afford to retire.
But, hey - gay marriage is a bigger threat, right?
Right, Powkat -- and the "war on drugs".
Better yet, let's all stop buying this crap for our kids. My daughter doesn't want to play with Barbie dolls.
We usually buy our kids wooden toys (Ostheimer from Germany and the like) and plant-based paints and markers from our local Waldorf School, but our relatives always end up giving the kids plastic crap for Christmas and birthdays. We recently filled five boxes with plastic toys to donate to Salvation Army when my four-year-old son started to protest, "why would we want to donate poison to someone else?". I was so proud of him...
pissed off patricia @ 24:
Latest issue of Consumer Reports has an article "New worries over Lead". It's everywhere: dishware, glue stick caps, vinyl backpacks, etc.. Items not found on any federal recall list.
paddy boy @ 77:
That's a good kid ya got there!
She can't be allowed to resign, she needs to be forcibly removed. What's the legalese? Fired with cause?
paddy boy @ 77:
Good for you! My 3-year old wants me to point out which toys are made from 'cheap China junk' when we go to a toy store (we've made a game out of it). Maybe there's some hope for the future...
Melissa and Doug toys are really nice and I think they're made in the U.S.A.
CantankerousDave @ 80:
Fired with cannon?
How can we expect her to do her job when the administration that appointed her can't do theirs? Zero accountability in this country now. How I miss the days of Jefferson. I salivate at the thought of a Jeffersonian candidate.
How many cannons do you need to squeeze to make cannonade?
I cannot believe that you find systematic evidence of corruption, and you find evidence of a conspiracy to murder (this is what this is. Knowingly and willing putting children in harms way is attempted murder) and you say they couldn't have "conspired to do anything else".
Bullshit.
Amazingly you only want her fired.
You have found evidence of a person using there position to KILL YOUR CHILDREN, and you only want her fired?
Wow. America's balls have gone down a few notches.
liberalNmoderation @ 79:
Wow. He's the type of kid that grows up and gets elected for president.
Course, really good socialist presidents and candidates get shot by the CIA for not accepting the totalitarian 'rich man rules'. Course you would have to watch something like JFKII or some crazy conspiracy theorists like the BBC to know it.
What Americans need to know is that it is not some crazy conspiracy. They just do this. Socialism is a threat to Capitalism.
Socialism "What is good for society comes first"
Capitalism "What's good for the money comes first"
How the hell can you guys be confused when all the other free countries of the world are not?
Your son is a good man who thinks of others. I hope in his lifetime he knows true freedom and helps heal his damaged country.
I guess this is why the childrens don't learn.
I lay the blame on Wal-Mart. They import $18 billion worth of goods from China each year, which accounts for 10% of all U.S. imports. And they're not even checking the quality of these Chinese imports! I mean, c'mon, they listed Aqua Dots as a safe "must-have" toy. A product that was on their "must-head" list was made with date-rape drugs. That's unbelievable.
I'm doing some work with Wake-up Wal-Mart, and if you want to join the fight check out our blog at http://blog.wakeupwalmart.com.
Here's a little something to keep under your tinfoil hat:
A small reputable company that has done rather big business for a while supplying laboratories, universities, and schools with traditional chemistry items (raw elements, tesla coils, magnets etc.) saw a government sponsored contest to store hydrogen. The contest winner could win a ton of cash for research, and the business owners had a great idea. So they started developing their idea, and excitedly published the tentative results on the two prototype vehicles (actually switchable gasoline/hydrogen fuel systems). While far from perfect, this was not the fly-by-night snakeoil, this worked. Period. Things looked good! So did they win the contest?
One morning they woke up to THE GOVERMENT RAIDING THEIR HOUSE AND BUSINESS. No kidding. While the physicist that used to work for one of the National Labs and his wife were held at the point of M16s of dozens of soldiers, guess who they were told ordered the raid?
The Consumer Product Safety Council. Yep, the same CPSC that let ALL these tainted toys and drugged dolls get freely sold to American children, poisoning who knows how many! Wired Magazine for some odd reason was the only media outlet to cover the story... Gosh, coincidence I'm sure.
Of course, far more dangerous items are sold on the market without ANY hassle every day. So get it right: dead children A-OK. Getting off of oil? Unacceptable. This is your government telling you to sit down and shut up, yet again. And you'll do it, won't you...
The business is called United Nuclear, by the way, and has many fun toys (for adults, or adult supervision only) on their website. For anyone confused or already brainwashed by the government that all knowledge and materials supplied to education the public = evil, this myth debunking forum may help break you out of zombie-mode.
The also have plenty of safe gadgets (and coffee mug type trinkets) for those of us that failed chemistry... Personally, I'd support them against the CPSC any day. I have no contact or interest in them, but my fav BY FAR is the insanely cool super-bright glow in the dark paint. Awesome stuff!
Oh, and the contest? Yeah, a giant mega-corporation got the grant (that had major lobbying in D.C., and is yet another Bush buddy). Surprised, right? Hmm, oil breaking $100 a barrel....
I'm with Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Diane explains that if we get rid of Nancy, then President Bush will put in someone just as bad. So I say we leave Nancy in.
Does anyone sell an appliance that consumers can use to test the toxic level of the products we buy? Apparently consumers are on their own now. No government assistance with product safety.
I went to the dollar store and bought some measuring cups and some liquid hand soap. All made in China, but packaged and distributed by some companies in the mid west. Did I just bring home toxic substances?
kerplunk @ 93:
There is no way (within reason) for you to be sure. You could have a sample tested in SEVERAL different ways to determine safety, but I guarantee that it would be far cheaper to throw it away and buy from a known vendor that you trust. Preferably one that is monitored by institutions like the FDA and CPSC. You are still rolling your dice, but with slightly better odds. But then... we can't really count on even that from this administration can we? Especially with "cosmetics" which are unregulated anyway. Lipstick still has LEAD in it for crying out loud. Lead. On your lips and in your mouth. Smeared on little kids cheeks. Sure looks purdy though, and that's what matters...
There was also a time when I personally would think, "well, at lease my fellow Americans would be less likely to produce a product that kills me... if not for altruism, they could be caught and punished here. Far easier to ship your crap overseas." I'm not sure that is true anymore. But plastic from China? Yeah, I'd find another way -- they've been lying continuously about the mold release agents used. But that's just me. And heck, maybe American made products suck now too. We've show we won't hold the big corporations responsible.
The need for such agencies are one reason that I'm a little disturbed at the populist rabble rousing of Ron Paul and wouldn't mind a pitbull against the corporations like Edwards in office.
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