451°F

Uncle (of all elephants) linked me to this appalling state of affairs.

under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s products, the federal government has now advised that children’s books published before 1985 should not be considered safe and may in many cases be unlawful to sell or distribute. Merchants, thrift stores, and booksellers may be at risk if they sell older volumes, or even give them away, without first subjecting them to testing—at prohibitive expense.

Why does it not surprise me that a microscopic risk of lead poisoning should be treated as reason enough to destroy books, and even more to the point, prevent children from reading them? What the fuckity FUCK McFUCK sort of person thinks this, with all its repercussions, is a good thing to do? Presumably the sort of person who thinks children shouldn't be doing anything as subversive as reading in the first place.

I'll just wait for someone in the UK to decide that its ever such a good idea to import this wonderful piece of legislation over here, though it'll presumably be having impact right now on availability of pre-1985 books that might be construed as being for children from US-based online sellers.