Ah lead, the bane of Superman and knocking engines. The Mayo Clinic has this to say on lead-Lead is toxic to many of your tissues and enzymes. Children are more susceptible to lead poisoning because lead can accumulate in their nervous system as they grow and develop. Death by lead poisoning is uncommon, but dangerous levels of lead in children may cause serious health problems, including lower intelligence and poor school performance.
Mattel, Inc., the parent company of Fisher-Price, has followed the mad rush to China to save production costs and make a bigger profit. As always and ever in business, Greed is Good. It does seem that at some point this world view might change, at least as far as cheap labor and products from China are concerned. I mean, is it just me, or are the Chinese trying to kill us? Well, why should they be any different from the rest of the world. I just think maybe we shouldn’t be paying them to do it.
Ferengi Rule of Acquisition number 51-Never admit a mistake if there’s someone else to blame. Mattel is in a bit of trouble on this one, as they are famous for their strict quality control and how they run their business in China. So the rest of us will go ahead and blame the Chinese for them.
Fisher-Price is recalling 83 different toys, many of them Sesame Street. All of the toys are for preschool children who live to stuff crap into their tiny little mouths. Hence the recall. In their efforts to save a few dollars, they will be losing about 30 million dollars on the toy recall. Which it must be said, is likely a bit less than they would lose if kids start dying or going into comas from lead poisoning. Of course, the more subtle brain poisoning may not show up in symptoms for years. Needless to say, don’t let your kids play with these toys.
