To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:01:05 -0500
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] "new" rules for the CPSIA legislation


I hope the regulations can be avoided by our colleagues and friends.


Real-life experiences forced me to learn a tough lesson:

Laws/Regulations and common sense don't always match, if at all.
Doubly true if those laws or regulations are big corp or governmental, 
thrice if both.
(or at least, it often feels that way).
feelings aside, every regulation and law must be evaluated by everyone, and 
definitely taken with a grain of salt.

I grew up with toys that today would be toy marketer's nightmares. Not all 
of them were the considered as safe as Fisher Price. I played with rusty 
metal parts, had a heavy and rusty commercial garbage container fall on me, 
I once ate papers and plastic wrappings for fun, I tried to save a bloodied 
Raven that had been shot down by BB shots. I never got sick from any of 
those.

Although I'm all for a system of quality control, especially against the 
toxic substances in foods and in toys, I say we should all exercice common 
sense and reclaim our right to choose.
Imposing overzealous rules that will hinder small producers hurts the entire 
economy.

The reasons for unreasonnable laws and regulations are many and not limited 
to the following:


-A lot of people get paranoid and over-protective, encouraged by the 
fear-mongers.

-some law makers exagerate the conditions or regulations to protect their 
asses/assets, therefore the resulting laws often don't match reality.

-the law makers face pressures from big corp and big money: again, not 
matching true reality but rather business plans.

-law makers/pushers can and sometimes do make law variations and addendums 
to perpetuate a system that benefits them or their backers, even when such 
systems are no longer necessary, valid, or even when they actually are 
causing troubles.


Reminds me of an episode of Farscape (great Henson puppets in that show), 
where an entire planet is ruled by Lawyers, who are served by laborers. The 
only way the society could sustain so many lawyers was to grdually make the 
law so complicated that it would justify their numbers. In fact, as pointed 
out by a barman (laborer), their entire law system could be explained in a 
single small and thin pocket book (which he procured, helping our heroes 
save the day).

The one redeeming quality in their society was that if a lawyer was found 
guilty of liying for a customer he knew to be guilty, the lawyer would face 
the same sentence as the accused. 

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