Venting.....Why oh why ????

[Jean_B]

Why the heck are we importing ANY toys from China??? I realize that everyone wants what they THINK is a good bargain and given the fact that labor over there is barely above slave wages, we can import stuff cheaply.

But these are OUR KIDS that are at risk...first it was all the different toys painted with lead-based paint (Hello?!?!? That was banned in the US back in the 50's for crying out loud!!!)

Now the latest is some toy that has some coating that if ingested turns into the same stuff as in the "date rape" drug.

What gives here??? Is this accidental? Makes one wonder.

Me??? When buying stuff for the grandkids - I will CAREFULLY research where it is made, thank you very much!!!!!

 

[sfmini]

Scares me and I don't have kids!

For my Christmas shopping for little ones, I went to Amish stores and bought a hand carved train made out of ash, and a cute rag doll with a great dress.

The older kiddies are getting gift cards!

 

[Fullmoon]

We just spent the weekend in Branson, Mo and although I always look to see where things come from before I buy I was amazed to see a group of people asking a clerk in Bob Evans if they had anything for sale that wasn't made in China.

 

[Buckskin gal]

It is good to hear that people are asking. If we stop buying this China made products the manufactures would have to think again. What realy bothers me is the medicines that are being made over there and are not being checked and then sold through our pharmacies..ye gads no wonder we are a sicker bunch than ever!

Mary

We just spent the weekend in Branson, Mo and although I always look to see where things come from before I buy I was amazed to see a group of people asking a clerk in Bob Evans if they had anything for sale that wasn't made in China.

 

[StellaLenoir]

You should check where you FOOD is grown, made,ect. I was a local farm, and the farmer gave a talk, and said how the American small farmer is being sold out to China and places that can make food really cheap. I had never thought about that aspect of MADE IN CHINA stuff. Now I always look at my food. You almost cant find made in usa apple juice. If they screw up toys, what about food?

Not just that, but I saw in the news that they may have to close some days of the Olymics, due to the horrible smog in China. They ground planes sometimes due to it. THat is really gross, and thats the air growing our food.

 

[iluvwalkers]

very scary indeed

, I was looking at toys in Walmart yesterday, everything is from china! here is a link that has recalled toys, pass it on to family and friends, I keep it in my favorites and check it for updates. http://www.toyinfo.org/toy-recall-info/recall-list.html

 

[nootka]

Exactly, Jean...when I heard the thing about the glue dots toy (aquadots) turning into the poisonous date rape drug, I was seriously thinking it was a JOKE.

It is not. It is true and I doubt we've seen the tip of the iceberg.

I have been calling toy manufacturers who send me this huge mountain of catalogs and asking them where their toys are made. When they say China, I am saying no, thanks.

I am going to start writing to these companies as well, and let them know that I am done buying their c-r-a-p.

My mission this year per my previous post is to purchase locally, and to purchase things made right here in the USA. I have donated items to CMHR, too, that are made in the USA, that are suitable for gift-giving.

Enough is enough. I may be able to buy less volume for my money, but what I get will be safer, will be nicer, and mean much more.

Oh, and Starbuck's...guess what, all their signature drinking cups and mugs are made in china. Guessing that while kids don't drink coffee, chances are none of US need any more lead in our diets, either. They say the things meant for adults are getting less scrutiny because children are more vulnerable, which is true, but please, if you are buying something, find an alternative and do your research. ESPECIALLY if it is food and for food preparation. ASK if it's not clearly labelled. Let them know exactly why you will NOT be purchasing their items when you do find out.

UGH. Thanks for the rant, I had one of those days I needed to join the rant, too. (looking for locally produced gifts in local stores!!!)

Liz

 

[Minimor]

I don't buy toys, but all the toy recalls do make me wonder about other products--I now refuse to buy any fish that isn't strictly Canadian, and I find myself checking labels on absolutely everything. The other day I was in Canadian tire & picked up a kettle & looked to see where it was made. There was nothing on the kettle nor on the label to indicate where it came from so I put it back down. If there is lead in the paint and something that is "same as" the date-rape drug on beads on kids' toys...what might there be in a kettle, and what might leach out into my tea water if I use that kettle to boil my tea water...ick.

I wonder overall how many people are changing the way they shop because of all the recalls. With some items there is an alternative to buying "made in China" products, even if the alternatives cost a bit more, but some things there just doesn't seem to be a choice of products. It comes down to either you buy the chinese made product or you go without the product. I have to wonder if enough people are willing to do without those products--enough people that the companies selling the products will notice and decide they have to change the way (and place) that the products are manufactured?

 

[iluvwalkers]

[SIZE=12pt]what about Mercury (Thimerosal) in vaccines? this is really scary also, my daughter is 4 and I was talking to a friend today who is a doctor, I told her I wasn't sure about getting a flu shot for myself or my daughter because of the mercury in them, she said the childrens doses are mercury free...I checked into it and they are NOT free from it. all other childhood vaccines are now mercury free except the flu shot...

...it would scare you to know the other things that are in them, we try to protect our children by vaccinating them and we could be poisoning them...o.k. that's my rant...Nikki [/SIZE]

 

[Cathy_H]

This was in our newspaper today. I copied this from SFGate.com - Not toy related but makes you wonder where they are getting all of their $$$ .......... Toys???

The United States has more billionaires than any other country: 415 by the last count of Forbes magazine.

No. 2, and closing fast? China.

A year ago, there were 15 billionaires in China. Now, there are more than 100, according to the widely watched Hurun Report, and 66 according to Forbes.

Yet who they are and what they decide to do - or are allowed to do - with their money and newfound influence will have political and economic consequences in China and probably far beyond, analysts say.

China's new billionaires are building their staggering wealth on the backs of the richest companies you have never heard of.

Thanks to the capitalist stock mania sweeping the communist mainland, Chinese private and state-owned companies issuing stock for the first time are becoming the most valuable companies in the world - sometimes overnight.

"A lot of people are surprised at how fast this has happened," said Jing Ulrich, an analyst at JPMorgan. "But this is the power of the capital markets. A lot of people's wealth is based on newly listed companies."

The emergence of the super wealthy is a dramatic turnaround in a country that once branded enemies of the state "capitalist roaders."

But as much as the bounty of billionaires is a source of pride, it is also a potential cause for concern in a nominally communist country. Per capita income in China is less than $1,000 a year.

This article appeared on page A - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...p;feed=rss.news

 

[Danielle_E.]

Minimoor, I know EXACTLY what you mean, it hits me double here. I work for Health Canada, Product Safety, and for the past 6 months or so it's been absolutely INSANE with all these recalls. I almost dread going into work each morning because we get the heads up about 24 hours before you hear about it. I usually walk in now and say "okay, what is it today, what product is being recalled from China". There are not enough inspectors out there, either in Canada or the U.S. for the amount of product coming in from China. Because of the cheap labor, that is why so much is imported. People want to buy things inexpensively and the companies are trying to make bigger and bigger profits

at the publics expense, that is what it boils down to.

Another person mentioned the small family farm.... it will come when we will have wished we had treated our farmers better for the sake of our health and for safer food but so many small farmers have gone under, they just can't make a go of it and why not? Because everybody wants to pay less for local produce. Take an example of a local poultry farmer. His cost to raise chickens is much more than lets say someone in alot of other countries. The overhead costs are higher to produce a chicken from birth to slaughter and that is why you pay more for organic chicken raised in your own countries.

There are so many products we use on a daily basis that have added chemicals, etc, cosmetics and food No wonder cancer is on the rise and various other things. Look at hair dyes for example

Our society has evolved so fast and we make so many products that make our lives so much easier, from prepared foods to all kinds of things but at what cost????

 

[Jesper]

trust me, you don't want to know the costs, they are much too great.

support your own country and make sure your own country does it right, thats all I can say.

we have tons of problems with unclean food from other countries but our own is of a very high quality, but it is also higher prices, so people buy the cheap stuff and then complain when they get sick.

same with china products, you get what you pay for, you can find toys made in your own country, but kids expect those shiny plastic things from china.

the worst thing is your brand new car, it poisons you for the first 5-8 YEARS after coming out of the factory with all sorts of different toxic fumes, it is especially bad if the car stands in the sun.

 

[Jill]

It's all about $$$ and that most Americans want to spend a little but get a lot. And, none of "us" wants to work cheaply. I really do not think the future of the American work force is going to have much to do with manufacturing.