Article

2007-12-11 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Christmas lights have unsafe levels of lead

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 05:40|| || Front Page|| [11127 views ] Top

#1 The levels of lead are not to be taken lightly this article suggests.

For heavens sake, it's from CNN. MSM is in the business of generating crisis and fear otherwise who'd pay attention to them. That doesn't imply NOT taking reasonable precautions but this is just degenerating to the level of irrational panic. It's a repeat of the 70's when every week, the every day the news media trumpeted another 'agent' responsible for causing cancer in lab rats, even though the rats were feed or injected with amounts that no human [heck, no city of humans] consumed in years or that the 'experiment' was to induce cancer rather to see what happens in natural environments/populations. The madness went on till some Colorado researchers duplicated the experiments using small bits of coins and bills. Getting the same results, they pressed for the same protocol to be employed to recall all currancy from circulation. That put a break on the circus.

Hell, people die of water poisoning. Let's recall water. Or let us understand, life is about trade offs and there are a lot that are conceptually scary but practically are really insignificant. Just think about natural gas being pumped into your house. Some do go 'boom' every year, but it is extremely rare. We do a rational trade off. Let's get back to that.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-12-11 08:39|| 2007-12-11 08:39|| Front Page Top

#2 if you're biting live electrical cords, long term lead-poisoning should be the least of your concerns

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-12-11 12:30|| 2007-12-11 12:30|| Front Page Top

#3 NEWS FLASH: This just in! Lead, reported to have unsafe levels of lead!

Posted by Hupuper McCoy5571 2007-12-11 13:18|| 2007-12-11 13:18|| Front Page Top

#4 So if you were to unscrew one ( the whole string goes out) does all the lead go out too?????

Posted by USN,Ret. 2007-12-11 15:28|| 2007-12-11 15:28|| Front Page Top

#5 I don't want my little one playing with the lights then sucking hand/fingers. It says right there on the back of the package 'wash hands thoroughly after handling'.

Posted by swksvolFF 2007-12-11 15:33|| 2007-12-11 15:33|| Front Page Top

#6 Maybe a stupid question but why would they use lead in the first place? Just wondering.

Posted by Icerigger">Icerigger 2007-12-11 15:56|| http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm]">[http://coonlakebeach.com/support_mn_troops.htm] 2007-12-11 15:56|| Front Page Top

#7 Ice, lead's cheap, does the trick (preventing the plastic wire coating from degradation--there are other methods but the keyword here is cheap/i>). As Gorb says, Beat the kids if they get near them. or show 'em the washroom door.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-12-11 18:32|| 2007-12-11 18:32|| Front Page Top

#8 Procopius: Personally, I never even thought there was any kind of panic or breathlessness in the article. CNN reported, people read, and now they keep their kids away from an unnecessary source of lead. Simple, orderly, effective. Seems good to me! I can't imagine a significantly better way to do this.

Water poisoning and lead poisoning are two different things. Water poisoning will kill you or it won't. Lead poisoning erodes your brain. And it stays that way permanently. How much and what your child loses only God knows. But I do know if I keep them away from products that contain lead, they don't stand the increased risk. If such a simple action as keeping your kid away from electrical cords can save your kids five points on their IQ score, would you do it? How about one point? Would it be the straw that breaks the camels back and tips your kid over the brink into the autistic spectrum? Hmm. It's easy to manage so it's a tragedy if you don't. Did you benefit from your parents' knowledge that lead-based cold remedies are not good for kids (or even adults, for that matter)? Car exhaust? Diesel exhaust? Mercury or TCE exposure? PCBs? A zillion other things they were made aware of through mass media and they weren't even aware of it? What if you had all of these bombs dropped on you? And there are certainly a lot more today in the plastics we have for starters. Gotta start somewhere.

And no, the folks at CNN are not sitting around a conference table trying to drum up things like lead poisoning to panic about. Instead, they are trying to get Hillary elected so they can rule the world! :-)

Now that I think about it, it's contradictory. Wouldn't CNN want to keep quiet about this so that more people would get all kinds of lead poisoning so their brain function was diminished to the point that they could get the Dems into power? Hmm . . . .

Posted by gorb 2007-12-11 19:14|| 2007-12-11 19:14|| Front Page Top

23:53 gorb
23:52 gorb
23:51 ryuge
23:42 twobyfour
23:36 www
23:33 gorb
23:23 JosephMendiola
23:22 McZoid
23:20 JosephMendiola
23:18 JosephMendiola
23:09 JosephMendiola
23:05 JosephMendiola
23:03 trailing wife
23:02 JosephMendiola
23:01 trailing wife
22:59 trailing wife
22:58 www
22:56 JosephMendiola
22:54 trailing wife
22:53 www
22:40 M. Murcek
22:39 RD
22:37 Phinater Thraviger
22:36 RD