Still President Bush has gone on record once again stating that he will, in fact, attend the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.  Despite harsh criticism from human rights groups world-wide, Bush has stated that he doesn’t need to skip the ceremonies to show his position on religious freedom and human rights.

I wonder if he understands that his presence there will give tacit approval to the government of China for their horrific policies in Tibet, their own country and their policies regarding Darfur.  I mean, we assume he’s smart enough to recognize that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem, right?  But given his record and the ability of almost everyone in Washington to pull the wool over his eyes, we might just be taking too much for granted.

It’s been clear to everyone except himself that Still President Bush isn’t the sharpest crayon in the box.  Maybe someone actually needs to sit him down and explain just how much of a public relations coup his presence will be to the Chinese government.

Oh, wait, I forgot.  Bush actually wishes he could treat his citizens in the same way that China treats theirs.  In fact, now that I think about it, Bush is going as a show of solidarity to the country that he feels gets it right in their treatment of the populous.

Rights Groups Disappointed With Bush’s China Olympics Trip

By James Butty
Washington, D.C.
04 July 2008

Human right activists say they are disappointed with President Bush’s decision to attend the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The announcement by the White House Thursday is the first confirmation of the president’s plans to attend the August 8 ceremony. It comes despite calls from some U.S. lawmakers and activists for a boycott because of China’s human rights record and support for the Sudan government.

In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Mr. Bush reportedly said he views the Olympics as a sporting event.

Jerry Fowler is president of the Save Darfur Coalition, an advocacy group that is working to end the violence against civilians in Sudan’s Darfur region. He told VOA President Bush has ignored the appeal of many to stay away from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

"We’re very disappointed to hear that the president has announced that he’s attending the opening ceremonies, and we suspect that he’s disappointed too because he chose to release the news at the beginning of a three-day holiday here in the United States, which is usually when you put out news you don’t want anyone to hear. In doing this he basically rejected broad-based bi-partisan calls from activists and members of Congress not to attend the opening ceremonies unless China is helpful in resolving the violence in Darfur, and so far they have not been helpful," he said.

In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Mr. Bush reportedly said he views the Olympics as a sporting event, perhaps agreeing with those who believe that sports should be separate from politics.

But Fowler said China itself had played politics with sports in the past by boycotting the Olympics on many occasions.

"China sort the Olympics for political reasons in order to demonstrate their emergence as a world power. So the idea that the Olympics are separate from politics just doesn’t make sense. And in fact, China boycotted the Olympics for most of the second half of the 20^th Century for political reasons. But more importantly, we did not ask President Bus not to attend sporting events. We asked not to attend the opening ceremonies unless China started helping being part of the solution in Darfur," Fowler said.

He said rights groups asked President Bush not to attend the Olympics opening ceremony because it is blatantly political.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao reportedly said that boycotting the Olympics for political purposes would not help resolve the Darfur crisis.

Fowler said not attending the Olympics opening ceremony would have made a stronger political point about China’s support for the Sudan government.

"Given that the president is going now, I do hope that he would take the opportunity to personally press the Chinese president in a very vigorous manner about the things that China can do to be part of the solution in Darfur instead of being part of the problem, which is what they are right now," Fowler said.

China has in the past said that it had been pressing Sudan to end the violence in Darfur. But it also blamed Sudan rebel groups for the violence.

Fowler said China has been Sudan’s main arms supplier and protector at the United Nations.

"The facts are China has been Sudan’s heat shield at the United Nations, protecting the Sudanese government from any multi-national consequences for the violence that they are responsible for. China is also a major arms provider to the Sudanese government; it’s a huge financial patron. So I think the record is clear that China is part of the problem and not part of the solution," he said.

Last July the UN Security Council approved a hybrid United Nations-African Union civilian protection force for Darfur. But that force has yet to be half deployed.

Fowler said his organization had wanted for President Bush to skip the Olympics opening ceremony unless the civilian protection force was fully deployed.

[Thanks, Voice of America]

Take an opportunity to sign a petition and document of support against the atrocities that the Chinese occupiers are conducting against the subjugated Tibetan People.  Click HERE.

Amnesty International is concerned that China’s history of flagrant human rights abuses will continue in this time immediately prior to the Olympic Games as China seeks to remove dissidents from the ‘public’ eye.  Visit Amnesty International and learn how you can help.

The European Union Parliament passed a resolution yesterday calling for all European countries to boycott at least the opening ceremonies in Beijing this upcoming august 8th.  The resolution further demands that China re-open negotiations with the Dalai Lama regarding the controversy surrounding Tibet which has been unlawfully occupied by the Chinese for the past 58 years.

China is not reacting well to these criticisms.  The US Congress passed a resolution calling on Beijing to stop cracking heads in Tibet and talk to the Dalai Lama.  The head of the International Olympics Committee has even issued a statement criticizing the human rights record of China.  That’s gotta’ sting.

European Parliament passes resolution urging Olympic boycott

BRUSSELS, April 10 (Xinhua) — The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday passed a resolution urging European Union (EU) leaders to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics despite opposition from the international community to attempts to politicize the games.

    The resolution urges for "a common EU position with regard to attendance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with the option of non-attendance in the event" unless the Chinese government resumes talks with the Dalai Lama.

    However, the resolution was branded by Member of European Parliament (MEP) Adrian Severin as "hypocritical, short-sighted and irresponsible."

    The Romania MEP told a press conference following the vote that the EP had politicized human rights issues by approving the resolution, thus missing the opportunity to exert its influence for the best solution to the Tibet issue.

    The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that there was sufficient evidence to prove that the Lhasa riots were masterminded by the Dalai Lama clique and staged by "Tibet independence" forces in and outside China.

    Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Monday that the Chinese government is willing to continue contacts and talks with the Dalai Lama as long as he truly abandons advocating "Tibet independence," stops activities aimed at splitting the motherland and current activities to fan and mastermind violent crimes in Tibet and other regions and to sabotage the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, and admits the fact that Tibet and Taiwan are both inalienable parts of the Chinese territory.

    Meanwhile, a number of governments and senior officials worldwide have warned against linking sports with politics.

    The Afghan Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the Olympic Games is an opportunity for making peace and should not be linked with politics.

    Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Tuesday he did not believe in any boycott of the Beijing Olympics and the world should not mix athletics with politics.

    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on March 28 that he was opposed to a boycott of the Olympics opening ceremony over the Tibet issue.

    President of the Singapore National Olympic Council Teo Chee Hean has also voiced opposition to politicizing the Olympic Games.

[Thanks, China View News]

Related Stories:

• China Accuses US of Interference
• China Says U.S. House Tibet Resolution Is `Rude Interference’
• Politics follows Dalai Lama to Seattle
• Chinese anger and terror warnings cloud Olympics

When did that happen?  In 1950 the Chinese invaded Tibet and started a 58 year subjugation of a populous.  This enslavement of a religious people by a communistic regime is a horrific blight on freedom loving people everywhere.

So, Australia, like many other nations, recognizes and condones the genocide that is currently being conducted by the Chinese against the people of Tibet.  How special.  I mean, you can confront anyone about anything.  But if you sit and watch you are no better, (and maybe worse), the the the country guilty human rights violations.

Rudd confronts China on human rights

Michelle Grattan and Mary-Anne Toy
April 10, 2008

KEVIN Rudd, defying official protests from Beijing, has used the first day of his China trip to highlight human rights abuses in Tibet and to vow to pursue the issue with Chinese leaders.

The Prime Minister surprised and wowed students at Peking University as he addressed them in Mandarin, at some points cracking jokes and at others criticizing their Government and its human rights record.

"Australia, like most other countries, recognizes China sovereignty over Tibet but we also believe it is necessary to recognize there are significant human rights problems in Tibet," Mr Rudd said. "We recognize the need for all parties to avoid violence and find a solution through dialogue. As a long-standing friend of China, I intend to have a straightforward discussion with China’s leaders on this."

As Mr Rudd was being enthusiastically received by the students, he came under renewed attack from within Communist leadership ranks, with Tibet’s Governor declaring that his recent comments on human rights abuses were "totally unfounded".

Qiangba Puncog, chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, said Mr Rudd and others who criticized China had no right to do so and were ignorant of history.

Asked about previous criticisms by Mr Rudd, Mr Qiangba, a Tibetan Chinese, said: "Australia and other countries should have a better appreciation and understanding that people in Tibet are now enjoying democracy and wonderful human rights protection and those remarks are totally unfounded."

The attack came a day after it emerged that the Chinese Government had officially complained to Australia about criticisms of its human rights record Mr Rudd made during a joint media conference with US President George Bush in Washington last month.

Quizzed yesterday about China’s complaint, Mr Rudd said he stood by his comments made in Washington. "I will be putting my views forthrightly," he said.

Pressed on the attack by the Tibet Governor, Mr Rudd said it was important to have a relationship that was capable of handling disagreement and putting views in a straightforward fashion.

The Tibetan issue has blown up into a serious diplomatic dispute for Mr Rudd’s four-day trip to China. Today he begins the official talks with a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao.

Mr Rudd said there was a body of opinion around the world on Tibet and "my job is to reflect the views of the Australian people, of the Australian Government". He said it was important to work on the things that China and Australia had in common and to be frank and straightforward about areas of difference.

He repeated that all the security for the Olympic torch in Australia would be provided on the ground by Australians — which would preclude "Olympic attendants" who ran with the torch in London.

Asked for his view on the suggestion that people should turn their back on the Olympic torch, Mr Rudd said Australia was "a robust democracy and people could express their view in any way they chose".

Mr Qiangba said he had no doubt that a small number of dissenters would try to seize the occasion in Tibet, but vowed that the torch would be safe and the relay successful.

"Today over 95% of the people in Tibet enjoy probably the best human rights on record. Therefore, the Dalai group and other people have absolutely no right to accuse our human rights record," he said.

"It was exactly during the rule of the Dalai Lama that Tibetan people had no human rights to speak of."

Mr Rudd told the students that as China hosted the Olympics, the eyes of the world would be on it. "It will be a chance for China to engage directly with the world, both on the sports field and on the streets of Beijing," he said.

He also pointed out that China’s economic growth could cause anxiety abroad. "Some people are concerned about their jobs moving to China. When people overseas are faced with big changes and uncertainties like these, they get nervous. We all need to appreciate these anxieties and their origins."

He said the global community looked forward to China "fully participating in all the institutions of the global rules-based order, including in security in the economy, in human rights, in the environment".

[Thanks, The Age]

In what has become one of the most controversial of modern Olympics, China is set to bring the running of the Olympic torch to the streets of San Francisco.  This good-will torch tour has become less a public relations coup and more of a public relations nightmare.

From London to Paris and beyond, police officers of many nationalities have been forced to protect the torch bearers from those who see this as an opportunity to criticize China for it’s recent human rights debacle in Tibet.  There have been protests and demonstrations of many kinds these past few days which has threatened the safety of the torch runners.

Security concerns have been responsible for at least one 14 year old runner dropping out of the line-up with hopefully more to follow.  I would just as soon see this torch bearing ceremony canceled, or at least held somewhere else.  How about the Marshall Islands??

I don’t think that we should be encouraging a country that has a human rights record like China.  And I’m not speaking about past violations by any means.  I’m talking about the head-cracking and murder that is going on right now as the people of Tibet try to shake off the shackles imposed upon them after the occupation of their country by the Chinese.

I don’t feel very confident in our government to act upon these most recent atrocities and genocide by the Chinese against the people of Tibet and Buddhist monks in particular.  Bush seems to admire this type of totalitarian government which can squash dissenters under the grimy heel of government will.  As they strive to rip our Constitutional Rights from us in the name of security, Bush and Cheney become more like the Chinese government and less like the Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama.  Who would you rather be?

Anxious San Francisco Braces for Torch Protests

By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: April 9, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — The Olympic torch arrived at the airport here from Paris in the wee hours Tuesday morning, exited out a side door and was escorted by motorcade to a downtown hotel. There it took a well-deserved break in a room complete with cable TV, room service and views of the city’s popular Union Square shopping district.

“It has very comfortable accommodations,” said Mike McCarron, an airport spokesman, who said the flame — ensconced in a handsome brass lantern and accompanied by several backup flames — was “treated similar to a head of state.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the flame will be under no such bushel as it makes its only appearance in the United States on an increasingly tense international tour en route to Beijing. It will star in a two-and-a-half-hour relay along this city’s waterfront, involving six miles of pavement, 79 runners and untold scores of law enforcement officials.

The precise route remained in flux on Tuesday as the torch extravaganza threatened to become more civic migraine than celebration in the face of potential protests by those upset with China’s human rights record and recent crackdown in Tibet. Mayor Gavin Newsom met with police and relay officials amid concerns that disruptions in London and Paris this week not be repeated here.

“I can only confirm that the route is dynamic,” said Nathan Ballard, a city spokesman.

The San Francisco Police Department canceled days off for patrol officers and called in state and federal agencies and officers from nearby cities to help patrol the relay route. A no-fly zone was established overhead, the Coast Guard beefed up its fleet and Bay Area police planned on a pair of motorized water scooters patrolling the waterways.

Downtown buildings also stepped up security, and restaurants along the route pulled in — rather than pulled out — patio seating. Sources of anxiety were everywhere: protests atop tourist attractions, famous and not-so-famous Tibet supporters and, of course, the city’s lunatic fringe.

“We got monks tomorrow, Desmond Tutu and Richard Gere here today, and a nude torch relay in the works,” Mr. Ballard said. “And I have no hope of leaving here without tripping over hundreds of members of the foreign media. I’ll tell you one thing: it won’t be boring.”

As in Paris and London, police officers are expected to be running alongside the torchbearers, an inspiring group that includes a 75-year-old minister (and “avid recycler”) and a high-school student who has devoted her young life to switching households to compact fluorescent bulbs. (One runner, a 14-year-old girl, dropped out Monday out of security concerns, said David Perry, a relay spokesman.)

Groups were already rallying in the city on Tuesday, with Tibetan supporters carrying flags in the shadow of City Hall and a large crowd protesting in front of the Chinese Consulate. On Monday, seven members of the group Students for a Free Tibet were arrested after several protesters scaled the suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge to unfurl pro-Tibet banners they had sneaked onto the bridge in baby strollers. (The bridge authority has since increased inspections of bags, backpacks, and, yes, strollers.)

And while protesters say no interruptions of the flame will occur here, some local Chinese leaders are offended that Wednesday’s event has become so politicized by Tibetan supporters.

“There’s a Chinese saying: river water and well water don’t mix,” said Rose Pak, the general consultant to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which supports the relay. “You do your thing, and we do our thing. Why is it you have to disrupt our celebration, when none of us went and disrupted their celebration?”

Ms. Pak and other Chinese-American leaders here are particularly vexed at the actions of the city’s Board of Supervisors, which voted on April 1 to condemn China’s human rights record. Chris Daly, the supervisor who wrote the resolution, went further on Monday, posting a blog entry calling on followers to “build on the message that’s been delivered” in Paris and London.

San Francisco was chosen as the torch’s only American stop last year — shortly after a failed bid for the 2016 Games — in part because of its large Chinese population. On Tuesday, some Chinese-American residents said they were upset that the Games, which begin in Beijing in August, might be tainted by what happens here.

“It’s terrible,” said Lily Chang, 58, an American citizen who immigrated from Shanghai six years ago and now works at a gift shop in Chinatown. “This is not political. It’s sports.”

Politics, of course, is its own type of sports, and a lot seems to be riding on San Francisco’s success at keeping the peace. A spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, Emmanuelle Moreau, said its executive board would meet Thursday and Friday in Beijing to discuss the problems in London and Paris and along the remaining route of the international torch relay.

But she said there were no plans yet to change the route or to discuss canceling the international leg. “As we speak now, the expectation is the torch will follow the planned route,” Ms. Moreau said.

At the same time, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who has been mentioned as a possible 2010 candidate for governor, has also been trying to balance the First Amendment needs of protesters, a particularly sensitive topic in a liberal city that never met a rally it did not like.

“Nowhere in the United States has such regular and active protest activities,” Mr. Ballard said. “We’re good at accommodating free speech and keeping the peace. And we’re going to accommodate those twin objectives.”

How far that devotion to free speech will go, of course, depends on how rowdy crowds get along the still-evolving route.

Lhadon Tethong, the executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said she expected about 1,500 of her group’s supporters to line the relay route. “We’re not planning on grabbing the torch or putting it out,” Ms. Tethong said.

Other local groups say they will protest in other ways, including a team that plans to run naked behind the torchbearers.

“Many more people would have been interested,” said George Davis, the team’s organizer, in an e-mail message. “But it’s the middle of the week, many live out of the area and this has been set up with a fairly short notice.”

Among the torch runners will be the swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals at the Games in Athens and is expected to make the team again this summer.

Ms. Couglin said she was not worried because the U.S. Olympic Committee had assigned a retired F.B.I. agent to run with her.

“How many times will I ever get to do that?” she said about the run “That was a definite yes.”

The most exposed runner of all, of course, will be the naked flame at the end of the torch. Organizers would not divulge the flame’s exact location on Tuesday, but said it was being well taken care of at its hotel.

And how did the flame look, after all of its travails?

“Let’s just say,” said Mr. McCarron, the airport spokesman, who got to work at 3 a.m. to meet the flame and its jet-lagged Chinese Olympic delegates, “it looked better than we did.”

[Thanks, NY Times]

Hillary called upon Prez. Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing unless the Chinese government makes major changes to its human rights policies.

Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. Why are you wasting your breath? Are you speaking just because you believe someone wants to hear your voice? Lets look at a couple of things before we go spouting off at the mouth.

1. Bush and Cheney don’t actually see what all the fuss is about.
2. Bush and Cheney support the repression of free speech, it’s what they have tried to accomplish here in America.
3. Bush and Cheney admire the Chinese and the way they have systematically removed all traces of human rights from their citizens.

So, basically, it’s useless to try to condemn a government that is held in such high esteem by our administration.

Clinton to Bush: Snub Olympics open
By Kathy Kiely and David Jackson, USA TODAY

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Bush on Monday to boycott the Olympics’ opening ceremonies in Beijing “absent major changes by the Chinese government” on human rights.

Clinton said the violence in Tibet and Beijing’s failure “to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop” genocide in Darfur present “opportunities for presidential leadership.”

Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel in boycotting the opening festivities. The decision by the two world leaders, and Clinton’s call, illustrate the growing pressure on the U.S. government to respond to China’s violent crackdown against a democracy movement in Tibet.

Most leading U.S. politicians — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a vocal China critic — have stopped short of calling for a presidential snub of the Olympics, which run Aug. 8-24. Clinton’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, did not address a boycott directly in a statement issued Monday. But he said “there should be consequences” if China does not ease pressure on Tibet.

Bush is scheduled to attend the Games’ opener, and White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Monday that “there hasn’t been any change” in those plans. Fratto said the administration has “a great deal of concern about human rights in China.” He added: “We have never been afraid to express those views either directly by the president or the president’s senior advisers when they travel to China.”

John Bolton, the Bush administration’s former ambassador to the United Nations, said he agreed with Clinton’s call. “Boycotting the opening ceremonies doesn’t hurt the athletes,” he said, “but it does send a political message.”

Ken Lieberthal, a China expert at the University of Michigan and former member of Bill Clinton’s National Security Council, said he’d advise against “insulting the Chinese directly on an issue of face.”

Lieberthal said Bush should quietly reassure Chinese President Hu Jintao of his plans to attend the opening ceremonies but express concern that domestic political pressure is making it harder for him to stick to that position. Bush “might actually get something out of this” if he asked for concessions to guarantee his attendance at the ceremonies, Lieberthal said.

Lieberthal said Americans have plenty of reasons to avoid antagonizing the Chinese, chief among them that “they loan us more money than almost anybody else does.” In addition, a friendly approach is more likely to win Chinese cooperation in resolving the civil war in Darfur and in persuading the governments of North Korea and Iran to drop their nuclear ambitions.

Contributing: Mark Memmott; AP

[Thanks, USA Today]

The consumer advocates over at The Consumerist have compiled a list of all of the toys recalled for lead in this past year and the total is shocking!

17,181,210 toys were recalled for lead contamination.  Note that this total has nothing to do with all of the other safety related issues.

The full list is HERE.

What is meant by the concept of "acceptable loss"? Airlines, auto makers, etc. use this term to justify profit against human injury or death. The Department of Defense has a whole different definition based on military strategic or tactical objectives rather than monetary profit

Erin Burnett, on the other hand, seems to think there is some kind of formula we can apply to deadly Chinese imports, Walmart pricing, and our children and come up with an ’Acceptable Loss’.

Sucks Too Much Lead Paint?

I’m sorry Erin, but the reality here is that with that type of thinking I’m getting the impression that you’ve been sucking on Polly Pocket dolls for quite some time now.

Look, there is no formula that we can apply to this issue. There is no acceptable loss. Not one single child should be sacrificed to keep our "greatest friend" happy.

I think the only acceptable loss we should suffer from this story is Erin Burnett herself. I’m calling for a ban of CNBC (Seattle Comcast Channel 46) as well as the CNBC.com website.

I had been toying with the idea of getting a Blackberry and a Data-Only plan so that I could be connected to my e-mail all day long. I could check and respond to e-mail as I walked to and from work. A fun idea in theory. I’m just still trying to decide if I really need something like this.

Regardless, I went to the T-Mobile site to do a little investigation into the whole question. They have an unlimited data only plan that is $5 less than anyone else’s that I’ve found. I know that signal strength is important so I went to the T-Mobile coverage map and entered my zip code. And then the fun began! Below find a copy of the map and the text of my e-mail to T-Mobile Customer Care.

I’m considering purchasing a Blackberry and signing up for a data only plan.

I thought it would be a good thing if I verified the coverage in my neighborhood.

I went to your Coverage Area page (http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/) put in my zip code (98133) and was presented with a map. On that map I saw four (4) colors of green. Above the map there is a Signal Strength guide that matches colors to signal strength bars. There are 5 colors of green and one white box in the guide, the white box indicating no signal at all. The mouse-over pop-up states 0 bars, No coverage, for the white box.

All perfectly understandable. Except for one small thing.

The colors depicted in the Signal Strength Guide and the colors depicted on the map are different hues of green. There is not one single color that has the same RGB values between the two objects. I can’t tell what the signal strength would be on my street. On the map I am the second lightest color. Could you tell me what signal strength that is supposed to represent? 2 Bars or 3 Bars?

Is this an intentional misrepresentation of your service coverage area? Are you hoping my mind will subconsciously select the better of the two choices? I’ve posted a PDF and a JPG document on my web site so that you may examine the difference. Here are the links to the documents:

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.jpg

http://www.daily-nonsense.com/images/T_Mobile_Coverage.pdf

Please advise exactly what level of coverage I can expect. Thank you.

The Chinese are seriously trying to kill or maim our children. It appears as if Mattel is going to announce another series of recalls and people in the know say that it will be another round of Chinese manufactured children’s toys. I wonder if the Chinese let their own children play with this crap.

Another Big Recall May Hit Mattel

Latest Incident From China Involves Cars, Magnet Toys; More Pressure on Factories

By NICHOLAS CASEY and NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
August 14, 2007 8:50 a.m.

Mattel Inc. is close to announcing its second big recall of Chinese-made toys in as many weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, expanding a mounting crisis for the toy maker that could grow even more problematic as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Mattel earlier recalled more than a million toys — including ones based on characters from Sesame Street and Nickelodeon — that may have been tainted with lead paint. Now, people briefed on the matter say, it will recall possibly hundreds of thousands of more items. One of the recalled items is a die-cast car that may contain lead paint. Other items involve toys with magnets that can be harmful to children if swallowed. The items involved in the new recall may come from different factories than the plant that made toys involved in the first recall, according to these people. The magnet-related recall is expected to involve several years worth of the affected toy, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mattel didn’t return calls seeking comment. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had no comment.

Magnet issues surfaced recently in another toy recall. In 2006, the CPSC issued a similar recall for 3.8 million "Magnetix" sets, a toy produced by Rose Art Industries Inc. of Livingston, N.J. The sets consisted of tiny magnets that, if swallowed by an infant, bonded together in the stomach and caused fatal intestinal perforation in at least one instance. The CPSC documented 34 incidents involving the magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. A 20-month-old boy died after he swallowed pieces that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage.

"The possibility [of a new recall] has been discussed within the industry since last week," said Chris Byrne, an independent toy analyst based in New York.

The emergence of a second recall is bad news for Mattel, which has so far weathered the bad news with little damage to its share price. The company announced a $30 million charge to its second-quarter earnings related to the first recall. But more bad news is likely to hurt as parents begin to think about toys for the coming holiday season.

News of the second recall, which was previously reported by the Associated Press, comes as an owner of a Chinese toy factory at the center of the recall earlier this month reportedly committed suicide just days after Mattel identified his company as the manufacturer.

While it is unclear whether Cheung Shu-hung’s suicide is linked to the recall, the incident is likely to be seen as a tragic symbol of the mounting pressure Chinese manufacturers face to improve their operations in the wake of recent high-profile product recalls. Mr. Cheung, an owner of Hong Kong-based Lee Der Industrial Co., killed himself Saturday at his factory’s warehouse in China’s southern Guangdong province, according to an official at the public security bureau in Guangzhou.

[Thanks, WSJ]

California has taken the forefront on a new danger from our Chinese ’friends’. Starting next month the new law which bans lead in children’s jewelry goes into effect. The recent spate recalls, bans and boycotts of all things Chinese has not actually stopped them from either making the products or getting them into this country. The recent discovery of fish packaged in China that got through the customs despite the FDA ban on five types of fish is shocking to the extreme.

And now the focus is on our children. Some recent discoveries of lead in children’s jewelry has caused the Consumer Product Safety Commission to impose this ban.

Lead in Kids Jewelry from China Prompts Ban

by Wendy Kaufman

All Things Considered August 9, 2007 · High levels of toxic lead are turning up in inexpensive children’s jewelry — much of it made in China.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled millions of pieces of jewelry in recent years, but it now says the only way to deal with the problem is to impose a ban on such items.

Congress is considering the issue. California isn’t waiting. Next month, a new law banning lead in children’s jewelry goes into effect.

[Thanks, NPR]

There is a good write up by the State of California here.

I recently posted a link from the NY Times that indicated ALL of the toys recalled this year were manufactured in China. I guess I wasn’t the only person struck by this news. It has affected two of Michigan’s state lawmakers so much that they have introduced a law that would ban the sale of ’Toxic Toys’. The following is a story from the Saginaw News site:

Two county lawmakers target ’toxic toys’

Friday, July 27, 2007

BARRIE BARBER

THE SAGINAW NEWS

Andy Coulouris, the father, says he reacts differently these days when he sees toys belonging to his 1-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

Coulouris, the Democratic state representative from Saginaw, said the recall of so-called "toxic toys" in recent weeks shows why he and state Sen. Roger N. Kahn, a Saginaw Township Republican, have introduced bills to ban the sale of toys contaminated with toxic substances such as lead.

"That’s a very scary thing for parents," Coulouris said. "This process has rearranged the way I look at the toys that are in my daughter’s room."

Said Kahn, "They should be viewed as just that, toxic toys, toys imported into our country to damage our children. It’s a callous disregard for the safety of the products they sell."

The U.S. Consumer Protection Agency has recalled 1.5 million Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys imported from China, saying they pose a lead poisoning hazard, the agency said. Those with "WJ" or AZ" codes are not included in the recall.

Chinese-made products have made headlines in recent months as regulators issued recalls or warnings about toothpaste, tires, cribs, notebook computer batteries, seafood and lead-tainted jewelry. Those are among thousands of products China manufactures and exports to the United States and other countries.

[Thanks, Saginaw News]

So far this year the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 24 kinds of toys. And every one of them was manufactured in China. From the recent lead paint coated Thomas the Train series to Hasbro Easy Bake Ovens the list is getting larger each year and more disturbing.

As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China

By ERIC S. LIPTON and DAVID BARBOZA

WASHINGTON, June 18 — China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators.

The latest recall, announced last week, involves 1.5 million Thomas & Friends trains and rail components — about 4 percent of all those sold in the United States over the last two years by RC2 Corporation of Oak Brook, Ill. The toys were coated at a factory in China with lead paint, which can damage brain cells, especially in children.

Just in the last month, a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene. Sets of toy drums and a toy bear were also recalled because of lead paint, and an infant wrist rattle was recalled because of a choking hazard.

Over all, the number of products made in China that are being recalled in the United States by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has doubled in the last five years, driving the total number of recalls in the country to 467 last year, an annual record.

It also means that China today is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000.

[Thanks, NY Times]