Geee Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Washington Examiner: It's come to this: In the name of protecting parents from their own lack of responsibility and common sense, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is waging all-out war on an innovative consumer product company in New York. The vengeful, destructive feds won't stop until the world is safe from tiny, magnetic Buckyballs -- and until every last job created by the firm is wiped out. While the White House doles out billions of taxpayer dollars to failed crony ventures, this phenomenally successful toy maker is fighting for its life. Last week, the agency filed an "administrative complaint" against the manufacturer/distributor of Buckyballs and Buckycubes, New York-based Maxfield and Oberton Holdings LLC. The legal action -- only the second of its kind in 11 years -- seeks to stop all sales of Buckyballs products, force a recall and order full refunds. According to the bureaucrats, "dozens of young children and teenagers swallowed" the adult desk toy, causing "internal injuries requiring surgeries." A dozen swallowing incidents have been linked by the CPSC to Buckyballs since 2009. Compare that to the estimated 30,000 emergency room visits that occur every year as a result of children swallowing government-minted coins. There are no fewer than five cautionary labels on every Buckyballs or Buckycubes product box; the company distributes an educational video on the dangers of swallowing the toys. And Maxfield and Oberton has cooperated with the government on safety policy since its inception. Yet, several feckless retailers (including Brookstone, Amazon and Urban Outfitters) under the regulatory gun have already yanked the magnets from their virtual and physical shelves despite the company's clear warnings that Buckyballs and Buckycubes are for adults -- not children. "Obviously the bureaucrats see danger everywhere, and those responsible people -- like our company who have vigorously promoted safety and appropriate use of our products -- gets put out of business by an unfair and arbitrary process," Craig Zucker, founder and CEO of Maxfield and Oberton, said in a statement. Obama's big-business pals sit on do-nothing jobs councils and host countless dog-and-pony shows touting their commitment to "Startup America." But when a 3-year-old startup that has earned $50 million in sales all on its own faces ruthless bureaucratic extinction, the government jobs blowhards are nowhere to be found. "I don't understand how and why they did this without following their own rules before allowing us to make our case," Zucker said. "It almost seems like they simply wanted to put our products and industry out of business." The magnetic toy company is not alone. The heavy-handed CPSC is notorious for imposing nonsensical rules that have decimated small businesses across the country. A hysterical overreaction to lead in children's toys three years ago ushered in a trial lawyer-friendly nationwide witch hunt against handmade toymakers, manufacturers of artisanal books, sellers of musical instruments and other educational entrepreneurs. In 2001, I reported on the CPSC's crackdown on baby bath seats -- which was based on dubious fatality statistics that whitewashed parents' idiotic decisions to leave infants alone in the seats or with younger siblings who dumped the babies into the tubs to drown. According to the manufacturers, all but three of the bath-seat deaths cited by the feds over the past two decades occurred when a child was left alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 @Geee I have recently completed a long term in depth study, availing myself of the latest sociological, medical, anthropological programs out today. I am now ready to announce the result of this study. I have found and believe it can be shown conclusively that every human since the beginning of recorded history who has ever been injured of died has been alive. That's right I am saying in no uncertain terms that life is the leading cause of injury & death in human beings. Now there are those who will say we should ban life in order to prevent all these injuries and deaths. IMO this is not a viable option. Therefore I make a modest proposal....the banning (or at a minimum controlling/regulating) of everything that could possibly in any way harm of kill human being. I fully understand this is a major undertaking and to that end I am purposing the formation of a national umbrella organization National Institute of Coordinated Experiments. Now it must be admitted that there may (probably will) be some unforeseen and unexpected glitches...miscalculations...one might almost say errors in implementing this, but the results will far outweigh any slight...inconveniences to the general population. So I say we must go forward with this bold and innovating plan. Secure in the knowledge that at the end there is a bright safe and secure future for all citizens of this great nation. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Why not wager war on staples or paper clips or thumb tacks or pennies 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Why not wager war on staples or paper clips or thumb tacks or pennies Or dried beans, marbles, and whatever else you can think of that kids swallow, stick in their ears and up their noses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearvision Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Oh please not marbles! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Why not wager war on staples or paper clips or thumb tacks or pennies Or dried beans, marbles, and whatever else you can think of that kids swallow, stick in their ears and up their noses. One of the most fascinating factoids I discovered in my study was that apparently pennies were a real problem for the neolithic people...particularly in the Orkney islands and on the Anatolian Plains. It should be noted however that staples & paper clips while they were a problem, were not yet an overwhelming one, I have found they were not a real issue until the late bronze age in northern Spain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 They will get our legos from our cold dead.... Oh good grief. I still laugh every time I think of the panic the train that ran right through our school yard every day during recess would cause among today's parents. No fence, nothing holding us back. We'd often line up within feet of it to wave to the conductor, and race to the tracks to get our flattened pennies after it had gone by. Today, that would make parents and school administrators faint. Not once did anyone ever get injured, not even close, by that train. We must have been incredibly smart little munchkins, but at 6 we'd been taught to not run out in front of the train because, hello, you could be killed! Go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 They will get our legos from our cold dead.... Oh good grief. I still laugh every time I think of the panic the train that ran right through our school yard every day during recess would cause among today's parents. No fence, nothing holding us back. We'd often line up within feet of it to wave to the conductor, and race to the tracks to get our flattened pennies after it had gone by. Today, that would make parents and school administrators faint. Not once did anyone ever get injured, not even close, by that train. We must have been incredibly smart little munchkins, but at 6 we'd been taught to not run out in front of the train because, hello, you could be killed! Go figure! OMG! It just just pure luck the whole class wasn't crushed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 They will get our legos from our cold dead.... Oh good grief. I still laugh every time I think of the panic the train that ran right through our school yard every day during recess would cause among today's parents. No fence, nothing holding us back. We'd often line up within feet of it to wave to the conductor, and race to the tracks to get our flattened pennies after it had gone by. Today, that would make parents and school administrators faint. Not once did anyone ever get injured, not even close, by that train. We must have been incredibly smart little munchkins, but at 6 we'd been taught to not run out in front of the train because, hello, you could be killed! Go figure! OMG! It just just pure luck the whole class wasn't crushed! If you knew my grade school class, it's miraculous our teachers didn't push us under that train. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 @pollyannaish And not just pennies for flattening but nuts, bolts, nuts and bolts, anything that you could put on a track. Physics in action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 @pollyannaish And not just pennies for flattening but nuts, bolts, nuts and bolts, anything that you could put on a track. Physics in action. Ah, those were the good old days. Every once in a blue moon I still hear the train going through town early in the morning, but they are mostly gone. Sure miss those things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Remember erector sets? That was one of Mr.n.'s favorite toys. Wouldn't be allowed under the new rules, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Two questions. Why is our site not accepting the space between paragraphs? And How many people know what a 'blue moon' is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Two questions. Why is our site not accepting the space between paragraphs? And How many people know what a 'blue moon' is? 1. Probably an html formatting issue from the original site. But I fixed it for you. 2. A blue moon. I can't remember, but isn't is sort of the full moon equivalent of leap year? An adjustment in the number for full moons in a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Thanks for the fix. A blue moon is the second full moon in the same month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Remember erector sets? That was one of Mr.n.'s favorite toys. Wouldn't be allowed under the new rules, I guess. Erector Sets 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geee Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Two questions. Why is our site not accepting the space between paragraphs? And How many people know what a 'blue moon' is? Started happening when we had the new changes. I sometime put them there, but mostly don't have the time. I think it looks better with the spaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I have been going back and putting the spaces in too. Glad there was a fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Two questions. Why is our site not accepting the space between paragraphs? And How many people know what a 'blue moon' is? Started happening when we had the new changes. I sometime put them there, but mostly don't have the time. I think it looks better with the spaces. I'll help out when I can. Thanks for all the posts. It always makes my breakfast so enjoyable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Two questions. Why is our site not accepting the space between paragraphs? And How many people know what a 'blue moon' is? w h a t s p a c e s a r y t a l k i n g a b o u t ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino67 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 The lengths some people will go for a good laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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