How to turn Aquadots into the Date Rape Drug

If you're here to learn how to turn aquadots into the date rape drug, you've come to the right place.  It turns out, all you have to do is swallow the micro - I mean aquadots, and wait.  After a little while, you'll get woozy, and the next thing you know, it's Tuesday and your butt feels like a rotating door.

This all would have been so funny to me if only I hadn't purchased Aquadots for my six year old daughter.  My daughter loved them so much, we've been buying aquadots for all of her little friends for their birthday parties - and last night, I got to call all of them and tell them that we gave their children the date rape drug.

All of this is due to CPSC's failure to protect American consumers from tainted goods coming from overseas.  It is now obvious that we need protection from Chinese products, which is why I now wholeheartedly support "Country of Origin labeling."  If every product from China needed to have a big red communist China flag on the front of the box, and every American product had a big American flag on it (and so on), I think it would go a long way in correcting some of the problems we've had with trade.  

Americans want to buy American, they just don't know.  I sure didn't - I don't bother to check, at least I used to not bother to check.  From the toys your child gets at the McDonalds drive through to the computer I'm typing on right now - China needs to be dealt with before it is too late.  This was the final straw for me - giving my child the date rape drug is where I draw the line.  
Use your brain and buy American - and while your at it, call your representative and tell them to support the country of origin labeling bill.  

•  What if they changed the law?

  Right now, products made by Chinese slaves kidnapped and brought to the Northern Marianas Islands are labeled "Made in the USA" because the Islands are an American protectorate.

  That didn't used to matter. But Jack Abramoff lobbied to allow goods manufactured there to be labeled "Made in the USA."

  So here's what it takes, in the Bush administration, to get around your proposal: just say it's OK for people who contribute to your campaigns to say the stuff is made wherever they want.

  Other than that, though, uh... what's this story? Got a link? I think people might like to read it. Sounds pretty damned awful.

  by Kagro X on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:22:43 AM PDT

  •  here is your link

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

    by CryMeARiver on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:38:18 AM PDT

  •  And another for CNN....

    Link

    U.S. safety officials have recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots bead toys that contain a chemical that has caused some children to vomit and become comatose after swallowing them.
    art.bindeez.toy.jpg

    Scientists have found the popular toy's coating contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic "date rape" drug GHB, or gamma-hydroxy butyrate, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson told CNN.

    by PatsBard on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:51:44 AM PDT

•  Is anything Made in America

  ...anymore? And the way employees have been paid lately cheap shit from China is all we're ever going to be able to afford.

  by born socialist on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:29:46 AM PDT

  •  Walmart is now selling clothes made in Pakistan

    The "Puritan" brand. Their website, however, says the Country of Origin is USA and/or Imported. The shirt I saw says "Pakistan" quite distinctly on the inside of the collar.

    by PatsBard on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:57:04 AM PDT

    •  The garment industry is big in Pakistan

      I am sure if you looked closely that you could find a lot from there, going back more than 20 years.
      What you have to look out for is clothing made in Azerbaijan, Mongolia, or other head-scratching nations, as those items are often made in China and then transshipped to avoid quotas and or duties imposed on Chinese goods.

      by Zorge on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:20:42 AM PDT

    •  And it's a good thing, too

      Hate to say it, but what do you think would happen if we stopped buying clothes from Pakistan?

      On top of the political instability Pakistan already has, the country would slide into the same poverty as Afghanistan.

      On the flip side, what do you think would happen if we managed to establish Afghanistan as, say, a prime supplier of window blinds or ficus trees?

      What happened to Peru when we established that country as a prime supplier of asparagus? We stabilized the country and eliminated a large chunk of the drug trade.

      No, buying goods internationally is generally a good thing for everybody involved. Including us.

      It is, among other things, a form of international aid - and a very powerful one at that, far more powerful than any aid the US government can give directly.

      Now I'm not saying that all is fine and dandy there (or here). Labor rights are a big issue, as well as many other things. But the point remains that on balance, buying clothes from Pakistan is a good thing. The China issue is different, because they seem to be cutting too many corners in terms of consumer protections. It seems that these issues are limited to just China, though.

      What we really need to do is replace the old industries that countries such as Pakistan can do well with industries where we as Americans excel - instead of trying to cling to 19th century industries. And fortunately, that is happening.

      The problem we have is that this transition is extremely poorly managed, and it got worse under Bush.

      by sdgeek on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:50:26 AM PDT

      •  Actually I'll have to disagree

        Free trade does not stabalize countries and the major beneficiaries are the multi national companies that take advantage of slave labor.

        Peru does not have a free trade agreement with us yet it's being voted on today. Hopefully it fails.

        by born socialist on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 10:04:13 AM PDT

        •  Ooops

          Peru does not have a free trade agreement with us yet it's being voted on today. Hopefully it fails.

          Another nutty (but very thin) foreign policy shell wrapped around a creamy domestic economic policy center.

          If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow - G. Bush

          by superscalar on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 11:02:12 AM PDT

        •  Short term vs. long term

          First of all, let me be clear: I'm not talking about unfettered free trade. I'm talking about a "middle ground" approach.

          That said, in the short term, you are actually right. The problem is that this only works temporarily, and then causes far more severe pain.

          In the long term, not having free trade is deadly for all involved.

          There are two problems with closing off trade.

          The first one is that it also closes off our own foreign markets. If Pakistan can't sell textiles to the US any more, do you think they'd buy Boeing airplanes? They'd buy Airbus from the Europeans, who have a much stronger history of free trade policies.

          In a recent trade dispute, Europe told the USA that they were going to close their markets to Florida Oranges unless the US opens their steel market.

          The second is even more insidious: protectionism is a form of corporate welfare. You are flat out wrong when you say that it benefits major corporations; more often than not, major corporations are lobbying against free trade.

          The US steel industry is a prime example. It was protected from foreign competition for a very long time. As a result, they didn't see the need to modernize equipment and used machinery that was nearly 100 years old. Steel in the US was approximately seven times as expensive as steel from Europe or Korea.

          Eventually, the Europeans had enough of that protectionism (that was what the Florida Oranges issue was all about).

          Now the US steel industry is in dire straits because they are so outdated and expensive that they just can't compete. End result: jobs lost.

          With free trade early on, that wouldn't have happened. The US steel industry would have made the necessary investments 40 or 50 years ago to remain competitive, and they would still be competitive today.

          Another example is sugar. Sugar is heavily protected in the USA. As a result, sugar is several times as expensive here as it is on the world market.

          End result? Hershey's just announced that they are moving a major plant to Mexico - because of the sugar prices.

          As for the Peru deal, I don't know enough about the terms to know whether it is a good deal or not.

          by sdgeek on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 12:00:27 PM PDT

  •  No. Virtually nothing.

    I made an inventory of all my kids toys. All were made in China, except one that was made in Mexico.

    by Dartagnan on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:59:04 AM PDT

•  A good Holiday for home-made gifts

  There's still time to make your child a rag doll or hobby horse.  

  I'm surprised there aren't 8 gazillion "playah" sites explaining exactly how to use your child's playthings to score with da ladiez.  Though there probably are, I just haven't googled them.

  by Tracker on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 07:30:34 AM PDT

•  This is a vast left wing conspiracy..

  to turn children into promiscuous sex addicts.  

  See, we start out by providing birth control and sex education to teenagers, then we inject the date rape drug into our childrens' toys.

  /snark

  by second gen on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:03:38 AM PDT

•  Why the surprise

  I am surprised that nobody questioned the safety of a child's toy that involved activating a solvent strong enough to fuse apparently inert plastic beads together.

  In another thread I explained this was possibly Gamma Butyrolactone or GBL (or a precuror to it that activates in water.) This is converted by the body into GHB, a so-called "date rape" drug although it should be noted that it has both theraputic uses and naturally occurs in the body and some foods.

  Actually the FDA issued a consumer advisory notice about products containing GBL in 1999. Because it has industrial uses, GBL is sold legally in some countries where GHB has been made illegal.

  GBL is normally sold as a liquid but I suspect a dried form was used in these toys so it could be activated by the addition of water but not stick together in the pack. It will in fact attack many types of plastic or surface coating and has to be stored in glass, metal or high density polyethelene (HDPE) plastic bottles. The effect depends on the type of plastic used in the beads. In most cases this is just enough to melt the surface and weld them together. Others like expanded polystyrene packaging will collapse with large holes.

  by Lib Dem FoP on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:17:06 AM PDT

  •  One further point

    GBL (which the Australian link I gave above confirms is the solvent involved) can be absorbed through the skin. While this route is unlikely in industrial circumstances where protection would be worn, children using it would not have this. They or their parents would also be likely to dismiss the fluid as just water.

    The adverse effect could arise without actually swallowing the beads even if this was more dangerous. With an unknown amount of active ingredient left on the surface of the finished projects, it would be advisible to thoroughly wash them in water if your child wants to keep any of their efforts. The recall should have included advice whether this is fully effective or whether the results should be returned as well.

    by Lib Dem FoP on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:28:33 AM PDT

•  Beyond checking the labels

  it is important to let merchants know that you will not buy anything made in China. The more they hear it the more they will try to source their items other places.  In every store you frequent, ask what they have that's made in the US.  Until merchants start telling their distributors that there is a demand for US or non-Chinese goods, not much will change.

  by Lujane on Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 08:25:40 AM PDT