Mattel Toy Recall - once again American women miss the big picture?

Q) Its always the women who spazz out over this. Sorry ladies, had to get that out. Anyways - everyone seems to once again ignoring the big picture. Everyone is thinking Mattel toys - Well what about all the other smaller toy companies which are produced in China? Im talking about those generic non-name brand toys that you pick up at the dollar store for that distant cousins kids birthday, or the kind of cheap toys you find at the checkout line that you throw in the shopping cart to keep your kid quiet. You know the toys - they look like Polly Pocket for instance, but they are not. They have a similar name. A generic copy. If Mattel is having problems, you know these other smaller companies must be as well. Has anyone considered this or is it just me? Im willing to bet within a week we will see massive recalls from these other companies as well. Jaque, buying USA is a great idea. But if you can find me a toy made in the USA i will eat it. We sold our manufacturing industry out years ago. Santa even outsourced the elves jobs at the North Pole to China.

A) It's always American men making jiveass comments about women. Jeez! (Sorry had to get that out!) I know I won't get best answer but how about MAKING your kid's toys with them? I make a TON of cloth puppets, yarn dolls and dollhouses out of recycled cardboard boxes. Or buying unpainted wooden toys and painting them with non-toxic paint and markers? The toy will mean much more to your kid and it won't make them sick! I know the Waldorf schools are big on non-toxic toys. Oh but you might have to look someplace besides Walmart: I think all their toys are from China!

Do you know any preschool toy manuf. (made in USA)?

Q) Any names or websites. I'm not shopping for China toys only American.

A) Check out http://americanmadetoys.googlepages.com/americanmadetoys for a long list of links to companies that sell toys MADE IN THE U.S.A. Hope this helps you out! P.S. Most Fisher-Price toys are made in CHINA or MEXICO.

What Do You Think Of The Lead In Toys Problem?

Q) Why is there so much lead in Chinese made toys? Is it an epidemic? Should people stop buying toys or only buy American toys? Will this impact the Christmas toy shopping season? Opinions?

A) In Canada we are having the same problem. Our friend's 2 cats both got sick from the food and almost died. What is the matter with our governments that they don't or is it won't, stop the imports. I personally think that China is doing this deliberately.

Do you know of any major toy companies which do NOT have their products made in china?

Q) I am going to boycott all chinese imported goods as much as possible, in particular because of the recent spate of harmful imports. But also because I fundamentally disagree with greedy companies exporting our jobs and our livelihood. Now I have two small children, and my biggest problem is to find a major toy manufacturer that does NOT outsource to china. Even smaller mom and pop shops are welcomed in my book. This christmas season I want to support AMERICAN MADE toys. So does anyone know where I can get them? Thanks.

A) i am looking for some co too!! I am clueless on what i am going to do with the holiday season!!

Good American Toys?

Q) I usually do my Christmas shopping early. I'm scared to buy any toys from china right now unfortunately almost all toys are from china. Does anyone know a good solid brand of toys that are made in the U.S.? Toys R Us just had to issue a recall and then with all the Mattel problems.. it's frightening.

A) Absolutely! Good to woodentrain.com. Whittle shortline railroad toys are made in the US and are awesome. My kids love em. We replaced a bunch of Chinese toys with these and my kids couldnt be happier. Good luck!

Does someone have the list of American Corp. that have moved to thirdworld countries in the last 6 years?

Q) Just heard that Hershey Chocolate is now closing shop in America and opening a new facility in Mexico. In the last few years have heard the same regarding Ford motor Corp,GM, and Maytag to just name a few. Does anyone have the complete list? Mattel Corp, recently had a recall of toys that were made in China ( Mattel has always been an American Institution,what happened?? )..anyway, what I am getting at is this, The whole concept behind "trickle down economics " has been that by virtue of blessing the corporate powers that be with tax cuts, they would in turn generate more revenue, hence, more jobs for the masses. Well, apparently this has not proven to be true, as they seem to have taken the proceeds and ran,and never looked back. Again, my question is as follows, what are the names of all the corporations in the last 6 years that have betrayed the average american citizen by opening shop in third world countries?? Chandru,with all do respect,I cannot understand how you can sit here and defend these corporations,over the past two decades they have all but abolished every small family owned business within the states, and now that they have full control, they have closed one factory/industry after another all to the detriment of the average american, They are the ones in control of our lives, not the u.s government, and now,we see them walking away, exploiting the labor in third world countrys,as they expect us to remain patriotic. Where is their patriotism, I ask? In regards to the minimum wage, where do you get your figures from, here in California, they have been stagnant for over a decade now, just recently had a slight increase, while at the same time we have seen the senate voting to increase their salary's practicaly every other year. Your party has bent over backwards paving the road for the major corps, while my party has done nothing to stop it. We basically have one party, with 2 faces

A) OK Chandru - you have gotten just about everything you said wrong backwards or have just made it up. The unions that all the right wing people always love to blame for everything, have had little if anything to do with the movement of jobs from the US to third world countries. They have become such a small part of the US work force as to be trivial at best. The companies are to blame when they close a US plant and send the jobs overseas, only to bring the products back into the US while pretending to be a US company. Most if not all of these so called US companies are owned by foreign investors, not Americans. And when is the last time you saw the price of a product drop by 20 or 40% when the jobs goes overseas? Car companies like Ford, GM and Chrysler who pretend to be US companies, have moved vast amounts of production to Mexico, paying less than 10 cents on the dollar for labor. They claim that 30% of the price of your car is labor, that would be $4500 on a $15K car. So why did the price stay at $15K? Can you say GREED????? And while I am at it - the same CEO's and executives who make these decisions, are being paid 100 to 1000 times the average worker for the company. This is true even if the stockholders are losing money. But the average COE in the UE or in Asia only makes 5 to 7 times what the average worker makes. Maybe that and not all the BS spread about unions and government regs is the real reason that the companies are having trouble competing.

2 Q's, toy recall and peircings......?

Q) what barbies have been re-called? also, has there been any recall on american girl dolls or littlest pet shop? please enter as much detail as possible. DO NOT SEND LINKS TO TOMAS THE TRAIN OR BABY TOYS LIKE ELMO AND SUCH. also, what does it feel like to get your belly button peirced? does it hurt really really really bad? does it bleed? when i turn 13 i want it done. was it worth it? does it feel like someone stabbing you? does it hurt to stretch or move? does it hurt after words? send as much info as possible and use as much detail as possible. how old do you have to be to have it done?

A) THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE!!! I thought that I would lose my mind!

Have you waved your Chinese made American flag to show your patriotism today? Said your pledge of allegiance,?

Q) to that same Chinese made American flag? My heart swells with pride when I see states like Michigan suffering under the free trade agreements that have stricken that state like no other. How great can our country be when we don't even support our own workers any longer? Cheap labor for larger profits is the new theme. If we can't afford to pay Americans for an honest day's labor, we should just fold up shop and sell ourselves to the Chinese. Oh, that's right, we are already. More toxic toys anyone? Christmas is around the corner. Don't forget to support your local communist country, buy Chinese.

A) Hence my question: Won't it be the height of irony if we end up jumping the border to Mexico to work in factories (that should have stayed in the USA) for cheap wages when the dollar plummets?

For American military personnel:?

Q) I'm American, live in a foreign country for 10 years and spent some time working with the US Air Force that has a small installation near here. Why is it that 80% of the people who are sent here refuse to learn any of the local language or culture and spend their days either with other Americans or at their own homes? They don't see the host country, unless it is with a tour group of others like them. They don't make an effort to mingle with the locals and for the most part they act like they're superior to the locals. Why sign up for the military? You won't get to stay in Podunk, USA. You might have to leave. Those Americans who are here represent the USA, and I'm embarassed for them--leaving beer cans in the front yards, toys scattered all over walkways, getting drunk and arrogant in bars So, why do it? Why come here and complain? Don't sign up. Stay in Podunk, shop at Walmart, eat Taco Bell and carry Big Gulps. Or try to enjoy your stay here.... Pobept: How can I be anti-American when I wish people from my country would take more pride in their actions and seek knowledge? Kevin S: Why join? Why not try to enjoy where you are if you are stationed somewhere you hadn't "planned" on? Angel: I grew up in the military too, and lived most of my life overseas where my parents taught me to respect the culture where we were and to learn the language. I rarely lived in the states, my first husband was US Army, and now my second is in the military of the country I'm living in. So, don't writie as if I don't know what I'm talking about. If a young enlistee has to follow rules to maintain decency on base, why can't he be bothered to do so while living off-base? They can't leave beer cans all over base housing, so why is it ok if you live amongst the locals?

A) I'm a little surprised at some of the postings you got for this question. I don't really understand how it makes you anti-American because you want to make your time in the country you're living in the best experience you possibly can. I don't mean any disrespect to carolinaboy or his posting, but I really don't get why he thinks it makes you not like the US as much as other Americans just because you want to make your time overseas better. I love America and it's the only place that I ever want to settle down, and liking the country that I'll be living in for the few years doesn't take away my love and respect for the United States. I'm just trying to make the best of a situation that I know I can't change for the next few years. We're stationed in Italy, and we moved off the Military base last year so we and our children could learn more about the Italian culture, I'm so glad we did it! I know that living off base isn't for everyone, but we just felt it was the best choice for us. We have been so welcomed by our Italian neighbors, and we have the greatest landlords! They have just taken the best care of us, treating us like family. This will be our last duty station because my husband is retireing from the Military in two years, so it also will be our last opportunity to live overseas and to not just see Italy, but to see Europe! Since we got here in 2004, we have had the chance to visit several other countries. it's important that you respect, recognize and make every effort to learn the culture of your host country, and to learn some of the language. I don't come close to speaking great Italian, but I was determined to learn enough to ask simple questions like "Where is the bathroom" if I'm out in public! I wouldn't trade my time here. It's been a good experence. I'll probably make some people angry for this, but I think the responses you received on here is not the way most Military and their families feel about living overseas. You hardly ever hear people not liking it. No, my husband wasn't sent here to be a tourist, but why waste the opportunity to see Italy since we're going to be here anyway. I guess that I shouldn't assume evryone likes to tour and see new places. But for me, it helps pass the time while you're waiting to go back home. To say we aren't here as ambassadors for our country is ridiculous. They're the US Military, so I can't imagine any other group of people that should work extra hard to make a good impression and represent America while in a foreign country. During our orientation after we moved here, ambassadors is the exact word the CO of the base used about the Military and their families. He said it is very important that we make every effort to respect Italy and their way of life. Why do many people think that it's ok for us Americans to expect for foreigners to respect our country when they come there. We feel that they need to learn English because we're not obligated to learn their language since they are in our country, but many Americans don't feel that same way when we are in someone else country. We should give them the same respect that we expect from them. This is their country, and I'm just a guest in it, just as they would be in America .

What do you think about the immigration crack down?

Q) Today I went shopping in the toy aile for my 6 month old son. For learning toys, mind you... so when I began to press some buttons, to my suprise there were buttons for Spanish & English. Since when has Leap Frog come out with bilingual learning toys. Do American citizens think its okay for another language to be forced upon our small children. Do you think that the boarders should be more tightly secured. If not... don't you think that America will eventually be taken over by the Mexicans? All answers are welcome.

A) NO, we should not have our children learning spanish. Not because it could harm them , but because we shouldn't HAVE to. Remember when this country spoke english? And you didn't have to press any flipping number for english??? Did your ancestors learn english, OBVIOUSLY! There is no way the mexicans can "take over". But i say F them! Come here LEGALLY if you like and then become an AMERICAN. Has no one realized yet that we are an actual country with our own history and heritage and customs? We should NEVER have to adopt to any ones BS or lack of want to conform. Send them back to their lives at home and see if they change their tune and language then!