Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/29/williams-sonoma-fined-3-18m-for-labeling-foreign-made-items-made-in-usa.html
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So we got a test for Pb to see if there was lead in any of our dishes, what with having recently picked up some vintage odds and ends and having some doubts.
It turned out that not only were all the vintage plates and bowls (stuff we remembered from when we were kids) testing positive for heavy metals, but also recently purchased brand-name dishes as well, albeit they were more hit and miss.‡
Never mind that we had just gotten rid of some stuff from another (slightly-too-chic-for-its-own-good) brand which proved to chip and crack at a rate I wouldn’t accept from a cheaper brand.
‡ Names omitted to avoid a lawsuit, since we didn’t perform testing to the level one would expect from a decent laboratory.
There are consequences to this type of nonsense that go beyond merely parting fools from their money.
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What was the test? Is it something that works on water and food as well?
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What about their right to free speech!?
/s
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A swab test kit we got from Amazon.
We tried two different brands, one of which turned out to be less sensitive than the other.
This Consumer Reports story was what caught our attention after the thought occurred to us in the first place.
The FDA list is… scary…
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Love that turn of phrase. So apt.
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what’s a $3m fine to a company whose revenues top $8 billion a year?
This applies to SO many things. SEC fines stick out in my mind, along with labor violations ranging from stealing wages to unsafe workplaces.
They don’t give a shit, because the fines are nothing and no one person or group of people who are responsible for the crimes are actually punished.
I always come back to this, but a reminder - in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008/9, not one person saw a day of jail time for almost cratering the entire world economy.
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Otto tried to warn us
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Corporations are people, right? Time for some corporate criminal law. Skip the fines and go straight to some jail time for the officers and directors. (
wait a minute, if I own shares in a company, and a company is a person, do I own a person?)
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Should really have to display that address of the factory, that would be much cooler.
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