Details…
Attention to detail is the key to Military Parachuting! That was what the “Black Hats” hollered at us all the time back in 1987 when I was in US Army Airborne School (Roster Number 137, Class 26-87, Alpha Company). It was/is the truth, too. Attention to detail is what keeps you alive in a VERY dangerous occupation like Airborne Infantry.
Realistically, jumping out of an airplane is NOT a safe occupation, however much fun it may be. (And I thought that it was a LOT of fun…) Just like bungee jumping and all of the other extreme sports, the danger is what gives the adrenaline rush and what the people who participate in those sports are looking for. It’s why they keep going further and further, to more and more extreme things - to keep getting that rush.
I ride motorcycles. I have been riding since I was about 9, so that is a LONG time. I also teach the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s courses. (Basic Rider and Experienced Rider Courses and soon I hope to be teaching the Sport Bike Course, as well). I think that they are good courses, very well done, and the benefits from them (reduced insurance rates, increased awareness of the risks involved and the ways to reduce and manage the risk) are well worth the time required and the effort involved.
Since I am a motorcycle rider, I am also a member of the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) because I think that it is a good organization, too. I have gotten some interesting information from them on a few things, as well…
How many of you remember the big issues that we had with the lead paint on things, and toxic chemicals in things, coming from China? The issue with the lead paint on the toys really came to a head in August of 2007, then the tainted milk in September (only in China, none ever came here) and cribs with lead based paint in October of 2007. Subsequently, Congress passed a bill called The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Remember that? It was a VERY hastily passed bit of legislation and has had a number of ill effects because it was done so quickly… “Strike while the iron is hot” (while the voters were up in arms) before the election!! That seemed to be the deal, anyway.
If you go back and look, the ONLY injuries/deaths in this country were actually to pets, from the dog food that was being imported in 2007. I remember it because we have 3 dogs and were checking to make sure that the food, and treats, that we were feeding was OK.
Why does that matter?? What difference does it make to anything?
Well… If you look, there were some lawsuits filed against Mattel, mostly for the cost of the toys (that were voluntarily recalled and refund was offered) and for the cost of testing of blood levels in the children who played with them. No lawsuits were filed that claimed injury, death or cognitive issues. You can go to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s web site and check. It has to be publically reported. No injuries claimed or reported.
What did the new law do? First, we’ll look at what it didn’t do. Well, it didn’t make lead based paint illegal; it has been illegal since 1978 in the US. It didn’t offer any new requirements to milk or dog food where there were injuries and deaths. (None from milk in the US, but there were some in China.)
So, what did it do? What it did was to establish a new testing requirement for all products either manufactured or imported with the design or intention of the product being used by children age 12 or under to exclude the presence of lead. That is ANY product, regardless of what it is. The LOWEST figure that I have seen for the cost of the testing was about $2,500 per lot; most of the time the price has been closer to double that. Now, this is for ANY PRODUCT. Diapers, baby wipes, toys, books, stickers, Trapper Keepers, lunch boxes, wooden toys, furniture, bicycles, motorcycles, car seats, clothes, you name it… If it is manufactured or imported for the use of children, then it has to be tested… And the cost of the testing is to be borne by the manufacturer/importer. Which means that Mattel-Fisher Price and all the other huge conglomerate corporations can and will continue to have things manufactured cheaply in China (where lead paint is available) and the small manufacturing companies in the US (where lead paint it NOT available) will end up having to close down and go out of business because they can’t afford to pay for the testing.
So… What does all this have to do with anything that I was talking about earlier?? The AMA has been trying to get this law repealed, or at least amended, to get an exception to motorcycles. The cost of the testing is just about more than the cost of the little motorcycles that are designed and sold for kids and I just don’t think that any kids are going to lick or in any other way ingest a motorcycle or any motorcycle protective gear. I have been following this legal proceeding since it got started with the AMA and they have not had any success with it as yet. This is keeping a lot of people from being able to buy motorcycles and ATV’s for their kids, or, in one case, for a dealer to sell them, anyway, and try (unsuccessfully) to get arrested for it so that they could bring a legal challenge to the validity of the law. I had been thinking that surely some one of the small wooden toy manufacturers would bring a suit but they have not as yet.
And what does this have to do with anything else going on? It is just an example of what happens when Congress rushes to “throw a bunch of legislation” at something… You get garbage that doesn’t have anything to do with the perceived problem and that has a drastic impact on a lot of other things that were never a part of the problem to start with. In this case, the laws that existed at the time worked as they were supposed to and as soon as the lead paint was discovered the products were recalled, the consumers were refunded and no one was injured. However, the ripple effect from the legislation that was thrown at a non-existent problem has put small business out of business, has consolidated the toy manufacturing business into a few conglomerate corporations, and has denied the access to motorcycles and ATV’s to many kids, denying a really fun family activity.
Also, you can look at this as an example of what might come to be with the rush to get the health care bill passed. IF they can screw up something as small as this, a bill as short as this one was with dramatically fewer complications and implications as this one, how much more damage can be done by the 1,018 page monstrosity that is the health care bill? This bill will affect everyone in the United States and will affect every aspect of our daily life and our families from now on. We need to step up to the challenge and contact our Congressional delegation and tell them to SLOW DOWN. Passing this health care bill is not like passing a kidney stone, something that will be momentarily painful but will be better the quicker it is done. It is something that should be done slowly, something that we need to digest, to study, to be sure that it is done correctly, and will be a good thing if/when it is complete. Closer to a Van Gogh, a Leonardo De Vinci, a Matisse, a Monet or a Picasso than a Velvet Elvis or Poker Playing Dogs, which seems to be what we’ve been offered in this bill…