Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Government being bored is a terrible thing. Next up for regulation, Christmas lights.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a regulation for Christmas lights on Monday, deeming some holiday decorations a “substantial product hazard.”
“The Consumer Product Safety Commission … is issuing a final rule to specify that seasonal and decorative lighting products that do not contain any one of three readily observable characteristics (minimum wire size, sufficient strain relief, or overcurrent protection), as addressed in a voluntary standard, are deemed a substantial product hazard under the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”),” the final rule said.
The ruling applies to a variety of Christmas decorations, including “stars, wreathes, candles without shades, light sculptures, blow-molded (plastic) figures, and animated figures.”
However, “solar-powered products” are exempt.
The CPSC said the regulation is necessary because Christmas lights can be dangerous.

The CPSC was not to be out done by the EPA:

The Environmental Protection Agency has its eyes on pollution from backyard barbecues.
The agency announced that it is funding a University of California project to limit emissions resulting in grease drippings with a special tray to catch them and a “catalytic” filtration system.
The $15,000 project has the “potential for global application,” said the school.
The school said that the technology they will study with the EPA grant is intended to reduce air pollution and cut the health hazards to BBQ “pit masters” from propane-fueled cookers.


Hopefully we can get to the important things in life, regulation Halloween candy.

We get the government we elect and deserve what they do to us.

6 comments:

  1. Yes, I now know government is serious in fixing the problems in the USA.

    Times Square -- the "crossroads of the world" -- is beautiful just as it is, thank you.

    That's New York City's official response following reports that the city is facing federal pressure to remove its iconic oversized billboards from the site, perhaps best known as the backdrop to the country's New Year's Eve celebrations.

    Capital New York and CBS2 first reported that a 2012 federal transportation law had ensnared Times Square by declaring that the storied Broadway and 7th Avenue intersection -- and other city streets -- fell under the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, because they were arterial routes to the federal highway system.

    The 1965 law says billboards within 660 feet of a highway can't be more than 1,200 square feet. And Times Square's looming luminous signs certainly fall outside those restrictions.

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  2. "We get the government we elect and deserve what they do to us."
    True enough Lou and please remember it is not only in the United States that the problem exists. Having been part of the problem for almost eight decades, I see how the system has changed over time. As a youth I listened to my father as he preached the wonders of capitalism and the evils of socialism. When I reached the age of 18 I duly went to the polling booth and placed my mark on the Conservative line. I honestly had little idea of what I was doing but at least I was one step ahead of the "Donkey" voter who followed me into the booth and simply put a cross on the first name he came too.

    At the next election I had attended evening classes and had learnt a bit about life so my Conservative vote was cast with just a little more surety. The Donkey voter was still in the line and repeated his effort of three years before. More and more reading and a little more formal education and my Conservative vote has gradually assumed more and more importance and unfortunately the “Donkey” is still crapping anywhere on the ballot paper but his children are both active in the local political organizations, one on either side.

    I am sure the voter is better informed now and unfortunately the choices of candidates with electoral potential has fallen. So many now are apparatchiks from the administrative branches of the party or ex Union organizers. Both stand on the stump and spew rhetoric and we elect them and are despairing when they fail to deliver.

    The great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome eventually fell and I fear the same fate will befall the western world as we know it today

    Cheers from Aussie

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    2. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

      John F Kennedy.

      In the US we have much the same minus mandatory voting. Today people vote for what's in their best interests. Not what's best for the country. Who offers the most FREE. We have a media who is no longer objective and many rely on information from a biased source to base a decision.

      So few people in the US take the time to understand what's wrong with the country today and who will best address the issues. What's wrong in the world and who will best address the issues.

      Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" — a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

      JFK.

      In any case I don't disagree with your assessment with every passing law. The few regulations above are added to the mountain of regulations that control our lives. Some of the laws/regulations are very good. Many are just bad laws/regulations. One day Americans will wake up to find it to late to change the megamonster government machine that seeks to ever expand and control.

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    3. "So few people in the US take the time to understand what's wrong with the country today and who will best address the issues. What's wrong in the world and who will best address the issues."

      While the voter certainly has a huge role to play in educating themselves, more and more, government at all levels isn’t only not talking about the real problems that need to be addressed but is actively working to obfuscate issues to the point where even someone who is trying to pay attention can’t help but be confused… Case in point is the TPP. This treaty is all about preventing the American public from knowing what it is…

      The elections here in the UK are interesting. Essentially there are 6 active candidates of which only two will receive the lions share of the vote. Because of the direct confrontation between the candidates, many issues and verbal slights of hand are being called by the other candidates. For those who have an active interest in the process, it is fascinating and something I would love to see in the US… the problem is, those who aren’t reasonably well versed in the economy or foreign policy tend to curl up in the fatal position and revert to the party line vote of their parents… ‘Coalition’ is an interesting bit of governmental compromise and watchdog all at the same time given that your 'partners' have to be at the table all the time...

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    4. I tend to believe the public votes for what's in their own best interests.

      The ACA lovers generally receive subsidies, medicaid and support democrats the creators of the newest entitlement program.

      SNAP beneficiaries would never vote to end their benefits.

      The elderly, SS/Medicare regardless of the perilous finances of the pay as you go programs would never support a candidate that would change their entitlement.

      The 2 established parties ensure that a 3rd party will never gain a foothold and become viable.

      As far as voter education, it it can be done in under 30 seconds, Americans with their short attention span are up for it. Any longer and they miss most of the message as they have they head for more snacks for the next round of Dancing with the Stars.

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