Maybe "Lead" is Chinese for "Exercise"

Why does China have to screw everything up? Every. Single. Thing. Seriously, can they do one f'ing thing without cheating? China is like the person who volunteers to be the Monopoly banker, and then nearly three hours into the game you see him making himself incorrect change and the whole game has been tainted and you've wasted a lot of time and why on earth does anyone play Monopoly?

Not only do they pirate intellectual property, not only do they undervalue their currency by pegging it to the dollar, not only do they have virtually no environmental regulation, not only do they do business with Sudan and Iran (not that the western world is much better with Saudi Arabia and the like), not only do they crush dissent and any movement toward individual rights, but the toys with the lead I mean COME ON. It just doesn't stop. This really grinds my gears. At Babies R Us and Target every single toy - every single toy - was made in China.

Dear China,

I'm not going to buy your shitty, lead-laced toys. Please stop sending them.

Sincerely,
Kinderbloggen

P.S. At least try to keep the beef and broccoli free of toxic materials.

And then their state media issues the cry-me-a-river sob story that OH NOES their toy exports only increased 2.5% last year, as opposed to 20.3% the year before. Sorry, I don't think I can type any more with these tears streaming down my face. Thank the FSM that compassionate conservative George W. Bush made big cuts at the CPSC and FDA, in between committing war crimes, of course. I'm sure it won't be long before China deals with this the way China always deals with things that cause them international embarassment.

Now India may permanently ban Chinese toys. India. India. Permanently. Not the U.S. - the wealthiest country in the world, which could do this to protect our kids and create some jobs - but India. I feel like I am taking crazy pills.

And Jesus Christ now there's lead in vitamins? Why not just give my daughter a big piece of lead to eat as her first solid food, and then she can enjoy a nice sundae topped with cadmium and mercury for dessert?

So what can we do? Try as we might, it's going to be tough to find toys made in North America or Europe. We've got some tips from Consumer Reports and a public interest group that uses XRF to do their own testing, but that and home testing kits are more or less it. Guess we'll try to buy local. If not, guess Baby's getting a Bag O' Broken Glass.