a dying breed?

Well, here's the last of them.  These guys will be taken out of my Etsy shop tonight.  According to the CPSIA, they will magically become hazardous on February 10.  Yes, yes, I know about the stay of enforcement of testing for one year.  But read the fine print - I don't have to test, but I can't sell anything containing lead.  How am I supposed to know it doesn't contain lead unless I test?  Somehow I find little comfort in the CPSIA's statement that they will "generally" not prosecute someone for making, selling or distributing  items made of fabric even if it turns out to have too much lead.  I've heard all the rumors that it's still okay to sell children's items as long as you're reasonably sure they don't contain lead.  But I've heard just as many rumors of the special-interest groups who will be trolling shops (like mine), looking for trouble.  I guess I'm a weenie - it's just not worth it to me.  Great to live in a country where we are protected from the evils of little stuffed critters.  Please forgive my cynicism, but if the laws that were already in place had been enforced, there would not have been a need for the CPSIA.

Here's an awesome article by Rick Woldenberg, chairman of Learning Resources Inc.

Here's what Forbes Magazine has to say about the CPSIA.

*sigh* And that's all, folks.  Guess I'll just have boring grown-up stuff in my shop from now on.  I've lost very little compared to a lot of manufacturers and sellers.  And the pink whale has already been adopted - by Lydia!  Maybe when the dust settles and they get this thing sorted out, I can go back to the fun stuff.