You are too stupid to own magnets.

[Pulsar]

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.

 

[Bowfinger]

Dumb. I ordered four sets of them this afternoon. Here's hoping they fill the order before the legal department sends down the word.

 

[Spungo]

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.

 

[Bowfinger]

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.

They can certainly be dangerous, but that's why they are covered with warnings about keeping them away from children. The problem, as I understand it, is that if a child swallows one, then swallows a second one before the first has passed, their attraction is so powerful that they may actually work their way to each other through the walls of the stomach, intestine, whatever. Not pretty.

 

[11thHour]

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.

there are warnings on alcohol too but since people are incapable of managing themselves, laws are made. i agree with the ban. as long as people continue proving they're not capable of keeping them away from kids and pets, ban them. they're just a toy anyways.

 

[MovingTarget]

Damn, I was wanting to pick some up. Banning magnets? Thats just crazy. Buckyballs aren't marketed to 3-year olds.

 

[xj0hnx]

there are warnings on alcohol too but since people are incapable of managing themselves, laws are made. i agree with the ban. as long as people continue proving they're not capable of keeping them away from kids and pets, ban them. they're just a toy anyways.

Ridiculous. The fucking nanny state is disgusting.

 

[sMiLeYz]

First they came for the magnets, but I did speak up for I was not a magnet...

 

[Pulsar]

there are warnings on alcohol too but since people are incapable of managing themselves, laws are made. i agree with the ban. as long as people continue proving they're not capable of keeping them away from kids and pets, ban them. they're just a toy anyways.

Please tell me you don't live in the United States. Please.

That type of thinking, that it's ok to let the government think for you to keep you safe, is sickening. Making laws to keep the lowest common denominator of our society safe means giving up freedom left and right.

Tell you what. How about we make a law instead that says idiotic parents who leave these in the reach of children be thrown in prison?

Oh right! We already have child abuse and negligence laws on the books. But those are obviously far too difficult to enforce.

Let's get rid of slip-n-slides too. Because of the broken arms that kids suffer.

Pools need to go. Too many drownings.

Bikes need to go. Too many serious head injuries, even though we TELL them to wear helmets.

Seriously. I can't think of anything polite to say to a person with your total lack of reasoning skills.

 

[Drako]

Goodbye sweet America :| :thumbsdown:

 

[Jaskalas]

Lack of reasoning skills, or lack of respect for individuality in the face of the communist wet blanket?

Some folks insist on being ruled and use their vote to ensure tyranny.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Nanny state strikes again.

 

[blankslate]

Some people just shouldn't have children...

 

[DaveSimmons]

First they came for the magnets, but I did speak up for I was not a magnet...

LOL! An old joke, but still a good one

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

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

Next they'll be banning bags of glass.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Please tell me you don't live in the United States. Please.

That type of thinking, that it's ok to let the government think for you to keep you safe, is sickening. Making laws to keep the lowest common denominator of our society safe means giving up freedom left and right.

Tell you what. How about we make a law instead that says idiotic parents who leave these in the reach of children be thrown in prison?

Oh right! We already have child abuse and negligence laws on the books. But those are obviously far too difficult to enforce.

Let's get rid of slip-n-slides too. Because of the broken arms that kids suffer.

Pools need to go. Too many drownings.

Bikes need to go. Too many serious head injuries, even though we TELL them to wear helmets.

Seriously. I can't think of anything polite to say to a person with your total lack of reasoning skills.

Lets gut free speech out too until it loses its meaning anymore because some people are too stupid to handle mere verbal criticism. The Founding Fathers must rolling in their graves.

 

[rudder]

My son wants some so I guess I better hurry and order them.

But really... BB guns can easily put your eye out. They are still in stores. Hell there are any number of toys that can maim. Pretty soon the only toy out there will be a 12 inch foam block.

 

[Exterous]

there are warnings on alcohol too but since people are incapable of managing themselves, laws are made. i agree with the ban. as long as people continue proving they're not capable of keeping them away from kids and pets, ban them. they're just a toy anyways.

Are you fucking kidding me? Did you read the report? Do you realize how small and inconsequential the numbers are? 2.2 million units sold and the report is that 'more than a dozen' incidents reported. So....lets take that nebulous 'more than a dozen' and make it 500. That means that there is a 0.022% chance that someone will get injured from one. Do we really need to ban something that has a 0.022% chance of injuring someone?! That is really fucking small and we would need to ban a whole shitload more of things if that is what you really believe. Hell you have a much higher chance of being in a school shooting (~0.04% per year) than getting injured by these. And its not like your kid is dead either - swallowing one is a perfectly survivable (although inconvenient and potentially expensive) incident

We would have to ban all sports too. A child is (under 14) more than 7000x more likely to get injured playing sports than from these. 7000!
But since we can't keep people from getting injured there we should just ban that too right?

 

[werepossum]

first they came for the magnets, but i did speak up for i was not a magnet...

lmao +1

 

[NeoV]

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.

 

[Oyeve]

My son wants some so I guess I better hurry and order them.

But really... BB guns can easily put your eye out. They are still in stores. Hell there are any number of toys that can maim. Pretty soon the only toy out there will be a 12 inch foam block.

Not in NYC, hell, I cant even order one from amazon or ebay and have it shipped to NYC. But I can probably go to any street corner and buy a real gun from some hood for a hundred bucks. Go figure.

 

[Todd33]

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

 

[Spungo]

Damn, I was wanting to pick some up. Banning magnets? Thats just crazy. Buckyballs aren't marketed to 3-year olds.

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.

 

[TheVrolok]

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

 

[Jaskalas]

...
Pretty soon the only toy out there will be a 12 inch foam block.

Ingesting foam is dangerous, no? Ban it.