You are too stupid to own magnets.

[xj0hnx]

They should redesign them to be bigger than a kids mouth hole. Giant Bucky Balls!

They actually have a large set, don't know how big they are, but they are a lot bigger than the little ones.

 

[sm625]

I wonder when alcohol, butter knives and glass will be banned as well

When the general population has been dumbed down enough to where they will accept that without revolting. Not long now... judging by all the stupid morons who cant wait to rush out and vote for four more years of Obomney.

 

[TheVrolok]

Bought some today just in case!

 

[Spungo]

They actually have a large set, don't know how big they are, but they are a lot bigger than the little ones.

Some people can fit a billiard ball in their mouth.

 

[halik]

At least, according to our appointed, non-elected friends in yet another consumer protection agency.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-idUSBRE86O1LN20120725

Sigh. Yet another 'must protect the stupid from themselves' agency.

I have 3 of the bucky cubes. They are awesome, fun, and HAVE NO FREAKING BUSINESS being around children. Of course.... clueless parents will be clueless.

I wonder when alcohol, butter knives and glass will be banned as well, just in case a kid gets his hands on it.

Time to ban all ball bearing balls (Ace hardware sell them) and rare earth magnets. Same danger. OMGZ.

 

[momeNt]

My family has already felt the damages of this irresponsible product, and wish the government had acted sooner. I have lost cousins, nieces, and nephews to these, the danger far outweighs the benefits of these toys. I applaud those that spoke up, I only wish it was sooner so that it could have saved more from a senseless death.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

while I agree a ban is over the top, is asking for a much greater awareness of the dangers of these products a bad thing? They are in fact sold in toy stores and marketed to kids.

The company clearly gives warnings, but then again every pack of cigs has a warning, too. You either have to let people be stupid and also deny litigation or pull them. Our nanny state decides to pull them, of course.

 

[halik]

Some people can fit a billiard ball in their mouth.

 

[Bowfinger]

Well, mine all shipped today, so I'm looking forward to my contraband magnets. Remember, when magnets are outlawed, only outlaws will have magnets!

 

[sandorski]

Well, mine all shipped today, so I'm looking forward to my contraband magnets. Remember, when magnets are outlawed, only outlaws will have magnets!

Children Outlaws.

 

[Abraxas]

Well, mine all shipped today, so I'm looking forward to my contraband magnets. Remember, when magnets are outlawed, only outlaws will have magnets!

I will be by shortly to eat them.

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Nanny state strikes again.

How can we as a civilized society come up with something as smart as a seat belt law, and something as dumb as this?

 

[mattpegher]

Its not like the idiot parents are giving these thing to the children to play with. And if any of you have kids, you know that keeping them away from things is damn near impossible. As many of you know, I am an Emergency Medicine physician, and I see kids that swallow things, or stick things in ears and nose, all the time. Often with very competent and caring parents. Often things that the kids had no business playing with, but got a hold of. Sometimes, the little buggers will snoop through parents drawers and closets looking for "cool stuff".
Selling to parents with warnings aren't going to prevent this. And since the product has no real value, the risk to benefits ratio is just too great.
Hell we didnt wear bike helmets, and statistically the rate of Traumatic Brain injury is low but the consequence is severe enough to create a safety device. This isnt really any different,however there really isnt any way to make these safe.
The outrage over the loss of a useless toy is a bit petty.

 

[Bowfinger]

Its not like the idiot parents are giving these thing to the children to play with. And if any of you have kids, you know that keeping them away from things is damn near impossible. As many of you know, I am an Emergency Medicine physician, and I see kids that swallow things, or stick things in ears and nose, all the time. Often with very competent and caring parents. Often things that the kids had no business playing with, but got a hold of. Sometimes, the little buggers will snoop through parents drawers and closets looking for "cool stuff".
Selling to parents with warnings aren't going to prevent this. And since the product has no real value, the risk to benefits ratio is just too great.
Hell we didnt wear bike helmets, and statistically the rate of Traumatic Brain injury is low but the consequence is severe enough to create a safety device. This isnt really any different,however there really isnt any way to make these safe.
The outrage over the loss of a useless toy is a bit petty.

I don't doubt your sincerity, but there were only a very few cases of injury reported. While such injuries are indeed sad, I'm sure with a little thought you could come up with literally hundreds of examples of equally "useless" items or activities that have caused far more injuries. For example, how many children are injured (and even killed) playing football? Jumping on a trampoline? Swimming? I read once that balloons and small balls are the single biggest source of choking injuries and death. Should they be banned? What about other choking hazards like Legos?

In short, this ban seems a gross overreaction to a comparatively rare risk. Unfortunately, we cannot child-proof the world.

 

[FerrelGeek]

We have all these stupid warning labels because we live in a litigious society - someone has to pay for people's stupidity. The classic example of the idiot lady that put a hot cup of coffee between her legs at a McD's drive-through and got burned when she spilled it. Sued McD's and won the initial case.cuz she wasn't adequately warned that her hot coffee was hot. If judges would slap the snot out of lawyers for bringing stuff like this to court, we wouldn't be in such a mess. But most of them are liberals and as such believe that it's someone else's responsibility to take care of them.

The side effect of putting warnings on everything is that warnings don't mean anything anymore. Plastic bags have warnings on them saying they are not an approved method of strangulation. Coffee at mcdonalds has a warning to remind me that boiling water is boiling hot and I should not attempt to wash my penis in the hot coffee.
The world would be a much safer place if there were fewer warning labels. Then people would follow the labels when there is a label. It would also be nice if the warning label for the balls was more specific. It should say in clear english that swallowing them causes them to get stuck in your intestines and that you need to get to a hospital immediately.

 

[Bowfinger]

We have all these stupid warning labels because we live in a litigious society - someone has to pay for people's stupidity. The classic example of the idiot lady that put a hot cup of coffee between her legs at a McD's drive-through and got burned when she spilled it. Sued McD's and won the initial case.cuz she wasn't adequately warned that her hot coffee was hot. If judges would slap the snot out of lawyers for bringing stuff like this to court, we wouldn't be in such a mess. But most of them are liberals and as such believe that it's someone else's responsibility to take care of them.

You're parroting the anti-lawsuit talking points well. If you actually look at that case, however, you'll find you've been played. There is far more to it than a stupid old broad who didn't know hot coffee was hot. This particular coffee was unreasonably hot, and that particular McDonald's had several prior complaints about it. Yes, she was dumb to put hot coffee between her legs. McDonald's was also negligent in knowingly selling dangerously hot coffee. And that's why the jury ruled the way it did, splitting responsibility between the two parties (IIRC).

Certainly there are plenty of cases of abusive lawsuits. This isn't really a good example to tout, however.

 

[bfdd]

Bowfinger gets it.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Probably, but it's the first one that came to mind and I'm at work, so didn't have time to get a better example. And I did say INITIAL. IIRC, things got settled out better in the appeal. And I am by no means 'anti lawsuit', so please don't be hasty in making that assumption. We, as a society, are still very litigious.

You're parroting the anti-lawsuit talking points well. If you actually look at that case, however, you'll find you've been played. There is far more to it than a stupid old broad who didn't know hot coffee was hot. This particular coffee was unreasonably hot, and that particular McDonald's had several prior complaints about it. Yes, she was dumb to put hot coffee between her legs. McDonald's was also negligent in knowingly selling dangerously hot coffee. And that's why the jury ruled the way it did, splitting responsibility between the two parties (IIRC).

Certainly there are plenty of cases of abusive lawsuits. This isn't really a good example to tout, however.

 

[hal2kilo]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/115713

Next they'll be banning bags of glass.

or Log!

 

[Bowfinger]

Probably, but it's the first one that came to mind and I'm at work, so didn't have time to get a better example. And I did say INITIAL. IIRC, things got settled out better in the appeal. And I am by no means 'anti lawsuit', so please don't be hasty in making that assumption. We, as a society, are still very litigious.

Fair enough. I agree with your conclusion, just not that one example. Cheers.

 

[Spungo]

Time to ban all ball bearing balls

Ball bearings don't stick together. I think you can still swallow those without surgery. It would be like swallowing a penny.

You're parroting the anti-lawsuit talking points well. If you actually look at that case, however, you'll find you've been played. There is far more to it than a stupid old broad who didn't know hot coffee was hot. This particular coffee was unreasonably hot, and that particular McDonald's had several prior complaints about it.

Maybe the physics in your state work differently. The boiling point of water in Washington is 212F at sea level. I know my espresso machine uses steam that is even hotter than 212 but the liquid that comes out is only 212 or less. I can't make it hotter than that even if I heat it with a tiger torch.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Ball bearings don't stick together. I think you can still swallow those without surgery. It would be like swallowing a penny.

Maybe the physics in your state work differently. The boiling point of water in Washington is 212F at sea level. I know my esspresso machine uses steam that is even hotter than 212 but the liquid that comes out is only 212 or less. I can't make it hotter than that even if I heat it with a tiger torch.

To be fair here, coffee is usually brewed at less than 212 and is usually 'kept' at a temp lower than the brewing temp. And yes, some places do keep their coffee at a higher temp than other places. Hope that made sense. I need more coffee.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

How can we as a civilized society come up with something as smart as a seat belt law, and something as dumb as this?

Hell, the guy who invented seat belts got shut down by the big three automakers when he tried to create a safer & better car for the masses. Welcome to America, where "FREE ENTERPRISE" reigns (yeah, when I said free enterprise I was being sarcastic, because like trickle down it is a lie).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Tucker

 

[CPA]

My initial response to this is a good example of why those are dangerous. I thought they would just pass through like any other object swallowed but the article says they get stuck in the intestines and require surgery to remove.

We should just not allow anything smaller than the opening of a normal human's mouth to be sold in this country.

 

[dali71]

Shit, I've always wanted a set but never managed to order.

There's still time. Order them from http://www.getbuckyballs.com and use the promo code "SuckitGroupon" for 45% off and free shipping.