fledge capable of flying, from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge; akin to Old High German flucki capable of flying,
Old English flEogan to fly -- more at FLY
intransitive verb, of a young bird : to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Saturday...wait!

Mattel Inc., world's largest toy manufacturer, the company which recalled two million toys because of lead contamination, the company that worked closely with government regulators to write the provisions of the CPSIA, the company which therefore received a huge head start in achieving compliance, this same company... wait...

...wait for it...

...this same company has--very quiety--received (ready for this?) a waiver from the government's requirement to third-party testing!

Mattel will be allowed to use their own labs.

Did you read about that?

And there's no conflict of interest there, really, because... because ... um ... Mattel says so ... They used a good word to describe their very own testing labs: "Firewalls." Ooo: "Firewalls." Good word. "Firewalls" in Indonesia, China, Mexico...

Supposedly, the few inspectors that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has are currently knocking on thrift shop doors to make sure they are in compliance.

I'm singing a new line for the Alanis Morrisette classic in my head..."It's like raaaain on your wedding day...it's like a big corporation being allowed to bend the rules, because they're big and because they spent over one million dollars in lobbying efforts according to federal records and in this economy, if they had to comply with the regulation for which they in large part are responsible, it would be the end of civilization as we know it..."

I'm not a good song writer. But I'll argue my song sounds better than this waiver...

5 comments:

Lola Nova said...

Did you just hear my heart plummet to the floor?

lissilulu said...

oh.....my...word!! well thats a fine dandy to all the homespun toys who never had lead in their toys to begin with isnt it? the land of the free!

Missy said...

grumble...gruMBLE...GRUMBLE...ROAR...I'm so disgusted, frustrated and disheartened by the whole mess.

princesstomato said...

EEK! (did you hear that???) It's the sound of yet another way to SHRINK the middle class, push us back down closer and closer to the bottom. infuriating! bailout, schmailout. oh hey, anyone want to buy a house? there are a few for sale real cheap!

Sarah said...

WHAT!?! That's just crazy and beyond irritating. Grr! Why is it the ones who should be monitored the most are able to step out of it, so to speak?!?

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