Smoke alarms aren't new. The technology has been around since the 1960s. The single-station, battery-powered smoke alarm, similar to the one we know today, became available to consumers in the 1970s. NFPA estimates that 93% of U.S. homes have at least one smoke alarm. They save so many lives that most states have laws requiring them in residential dwellings. So, why is all the attention being paid to smoke alarms this Fire Prevention Week?

Still a Major Problem

Although 13 of every 14 homes have at least one smoke alarm, almost half of home fires and three-fifths of fire deaths occur in the share of homes with no alarms. Thousands of people still die each year in home fires where smoke alarms aren't present.

In addition, there are now more homes with smoke alarms that don't work than homes without alarms at all. These poorly maintained units create a false sense of security among occupants. Approximately one-third of homes with smoke alarms that experience fires have smoke alarms that aren't working, and hundreds of people die each year in these fires.

Tragically, the grave importance of installing and maintaining smoke alarms has not yet been fully realized. Most people who die in home fires are not in the room where the fire starts; working smoke alarms alert people to fire and give them time to escape in a situation where minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

Working Smoke Alarms Save Lives

Having a smoke alarm cuts your chance of dying nearly in half if you have a home fire. By properly placing, regularly testing and maintaining your alarms, you can ensure that they are in fact working and will alert you if a fire breaks out. Make sure you buy only those alarms that bear the mark of an independent testing laboratory. Some alarms operate using an "ionization" sensor while others use a "photoelectric" sensor. An ionization alarm uses an extremely small quantity of radioactive material to make the air in the alarm chamber conduct electricity. Smoke from a fire interferes with the electrical current and triggers the alarm. A photoelectric alarm uses a tiny light source shining on a light sensitive sensor. The alarm is triggered when smoke from a fire interferes with the light. All tested and labeled smoke alarms offer adequate protection if they are properly installed and maintained.

Make Placement a Priority

A recent NFPA report on smoke alarms found that there is a substantial number of households that do not have the devices on every level of the home, as needed. The majority of fire deaths occur at night when people are asleep. NFPA's National Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72) says homes must have smoke alarms on every level of the home -- including the basement -- and outside each sleeping area. New homes are required to have a smoke alarm in each sleeping area as well. wirelessalarmsystem

To slow the spread of smoke and fumes if a fire develops, NFPA suggests that you sleep with your bedroom doors closed. If you sleep with your bedroom doors closed, install a smoke alarm inside each bedroom. Alarms should also be installed in other areas of your home where people sleep. In new homes, the National Fire Alarm Code requires hard-wired alarms to be interconnected, so that if one alarm is activated, all alarms will sound the alarm signal. On floors without bedrooms, smoke alarms should be installed in or near living areas, such as family rooms and living rooms. stainless steel strip

Alarms that are hard-wired into the home electrical system should be installed by a qualified electrician. If your alarm plugs into a wall socket, make sure it has a restraining device to keep its plug from being pulled out. Never connect a alarm to a circuit that could be turned off at a wall switch. Most alarms are battery-powered and can be installed with a screwdriver and drill and by following the manufacturer's instructions.stainless steel pipe

BRUSSELS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The first preference of the European Union (EU) is "to deepen our partnership with China," EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told the European Parliament on Tuesday.

    "Let me be clear, our first preference is to deepen our partnership with China," the commissioner said when speaking of concerns about the safety of toys and food products from China.

    In September 2006, China and the EU signed cooperation agreements on toy and food safety. The "Roadmap for safer toys" outlines a strategy for improving the safety of Chinese toys exported to the EU.

    Kuneva said the EU will also "step up technical assistance, information exchange and training" and "work in partnership with the Chinese authorities to make EU China RAPEX (Rapid Alert System) fully effective."

    During his trip to China in July, Kuneva met with Chinese authorities and visited a toy factory and the national laboratory for toy testing in Yangzhou of east China's Jiangsu Province.

    The Chinese side agreed that a detailed report on prevention measures and the follow up to European alerts will be submitted to the European Commission in October.

    "The Chinese authorities in July made a clear commitment to significantly step up their enforcement work with EU RAPEX CHINA. I believe that their report in October will send a clear signal of this strengthened cooperation," Kuneva said.gas detector smoke detector pir detector motion detector

BEIJING (AFP) ¡ª After five years in power, President Hu Jintao has finally gained unquestioned control of China's massive military while transforming it into wealthy, high-tech fighting force, analysts said.

Although Hu was named Communist Party chief in 2002 and president in 2003, he did not inherit the mantle of commander-in-chief until a year later and questions had lingered over who commanded the allegiance of the country's rapidly modernising, 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army.

But key military appointments by Hu in the run-up to the five-yearly Communist Party Congress that is due to end Sunday in Beijing should help dispel any questions, experts said.

They include a new general chief of staff, the PLA's highest uniformed position, and new commanders of its naval and air forces.

"It looks like he has full control over personnel now. He has continued to raise the military budget and will continue that. He's well established in power now," said Arthur Ding, a Chinese military expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technology University.

Hu's military priorities were shown in the selection of General Chen Bingde as general chief of staff, observers said.

Chen previously directed the unit that controlled the country's fast-developing space programme, and was a top commander of eastern China forces viewed as crucial to a potential conflict with Taiwan.

"(Chen's selection) was a tough signal to Taiwan and it emphasises the military's modernisation in the high-tech era," said Cheng Li, a scholar with the US Brookings Institution.

Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, upped spending to lift the PLA from a backward, bloated force to a modern military, and Hu has taken the baton with gusto.

The armed forces received 45 billion dollars in funding this year, an annual 17.8 percent increase and Hu has promised more in future years.

The spending has opened new high-tech vistas for the former peasant force.

Last year it unveiled an advanced new homegrown fighter and in January made China only the third country to successfully test a satellite-killer missile, among other new high-tech toys.

"China's technology level is still below that of the United States and Europe, but they are making steady progress," said Kevin Pollpeter, a China military expert at the US-based Centre for Intelligence Research and Analysis.

Questions over Hu's command of the military stemmed from his failure to take the mantle of CMC chairman upon becoming president in 2003.

Jiang surrendered that post a year later, but his appointees remained in top posts.

Experts say there was little risk of the military not obeying Hu up to now.

The PLA once occupied a central political role and wielded huge economic muscle through a massive, and now-disbanded, business empire.

But although the PLA was born of the Communist Party, it is apolitical now, Pollpeter said.

"The PLA is increasingly satisfied to remain a professional military that does not get involved in domestic politics. They realise they have a lot of work to do to make themselves into a modern force and getting into politics only distracts from that," he said.

Still, concern over PLA allegiance remains valid, especially as unrest grows in China over widening wealth disparity, corruption and other ills, said a Western military attache in Beijing.

He pointed out that similar issues gave rise to the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, which the PLA violently suppressed.

"What if there is another Tiananmen? Or China gets embroiled in a military conflict? Anything can happen and the PLA could move back to something like its former prominence," the attache said.emergency button wireless alarm system

Trader Joe's, the hip, wholesome food store with 15 locations in the Chicago area, said Friday it will phase out foods imported from China amid concerns that standards on "organic" products from the country aren't as stringent as they should be.

Alison Mochizuki, spokeswoman for the Monrovia, Calif.-based grocer, e-mailed a statement saying the grocer will phase out single-ingredient products from mainland China by Jan. 1.

"We feel confident that all of our products from China meet the same high quality standards that we set for all of our products," the statement read. "However, our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region and we have listened.

"We will continue to source products from other regions until our customers feel as confident as we do about the quality and safety of Chinese products."

Trader Joe's is owned by German billionaires Karl and Theo Albrecht, who also own the Aldi food chain.

The change apparently does not affect products containing multiple ingredients, of which some may be from China. Mochizuki declined to comment further.

Whole Foods has no plans to stop selling single-ingredient products from China, which make up "a very small percentage" of the grocer's private label products, spokeswoman Kate Klotz said in a prepared statement. The company has processes in place to ensure quality, she said.

Trader Joe's move follows criticism of what's perceived as gaps in the system for verifying organic imports.

China has been faced with a number of exporting scandals recently. In addition to lead-laden kiddie jewelry and toys, Chinese manufacturers have been blamed for selling pet food tainted with the industrial chemical melamine and for exporting contaminated toothpaste. China also famously exports counterfeit consumer goods, from fake designer handbags to phony computer software.china gifts china arts and crafts china toysyiwu

which has been scrambling to re-test the safety of millions of toys made in China, said this morning that delays in shipments of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other popular toys had led to a decline in third-quarter earnings.

The extra testing ¡ª plus the temporary loss of export licenses for some of Mattel¡¯s Chinese vendors ¡ª forced delays of toy deliveries by up to two weeks, which meant that some customer orders could not be fulfilled. Mattel said the problems had translated to a loss of $30 million to $50 million in sales that it would have otherwise made during the quarter. Mattel¡¯s profit for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, declined 1 percent, to $236.8 million.

The news sent Mattel¡¯s stock down 1 percent, closing at $22.22.

The summer of recalls has tallied up to a large burden for Mattel, the world¡¯s largest toy maker and the one most closely associated with the recent recalls of Chinese-made products. In August and September, Mattel recalled 21 million toys either because they were tainted with lead paint or because they contained small magnets that could be ingested by children.

With the all-important holiday sales season arriving, Mattel executives said they would introduce a new advertising campaign for the Polly Pocket line as well as a campaign for a new TMX Elmo toy that is scheduled to reach stores in November.

Mattel is acutely aware of its Polly problem. The company surveyed consumers after the recalls to find out if any of its brands had been harmed, and found that the Polly Pocket line had been the most scarred in consumers¡¯ minds. Polly Pocket toys were among the 18 million that were recalled because they had small magnets attached that could be pulled off and swallowed, causing major digestive injuries. Those toys, though manufactured in China, were recalled because of a design flaw by Mattel rather than a mistake by a Chinese vendor.

Mattel is hoping to brighten Polly¡¯s image with an advertising campaign starting this week called ¡°The Polly Promise.¡±

¡°We want to try to re-engage, particularly parents, with the Polly brand,¡± said Robert A. Eckert, Mattel¡¯s company¡¯s chief executive.

The executives also detailed the mounting expenses that Mattel has incurred from the various recalls. Including legal costs, testing, advertising and collecting recalled products, the losses add up to more than $100 million : the $30 million to $50 million in missed opportunities for sales last quarter, a $28.8 million charge in the second quarter and a $39.4 million charge announced today for the third quarter.

Brazil, an important market for Mattel¡¯s Hot Wheels cars, is still blocking the toy-maker from shipping toys there; a ban was imposed by the country¡¯s trade ministry on Aug. 17. Mattel executives are currently negotiating with Brazil, a Mattel spokeswoman said, but if Brazil does not welcome the toy-maker back it would hurt Mattel¡¯s end-of-the-year sales there.

Mattel estimates that Brazil should account for 2 percent of its fourth-quarter sales, or just over $43 million, according to analysts. Mattel will try to sell those toys elsewhere if Brazil does not lift its ban, Mattel executives said.

More than 850,000 of the recalled toys were sold in Brazil, and Mattel has faced harsher consequences there than elsewhere.

Toy industry analysts say that consumers in the United States and elsewhere may also think twice about purchasing Mattel toys during holiday shopping.

¡°I have to believe that there¡¯s still going to be some backlash that¡¯s showing up in retail sales,¡± said Margaret Whitfield, toy analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach. ¡°A lot of consumers are still a little nervous.¡±

Ms. Whitfield said her research suggested that some Hasbro products were taking market share from Mattel toys. In particular, Hasbro¡¯s Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony lines seemed to be gaining sales at the expense of Polly Pocket toys, which are also popular with young girls, she said.But Mattel executives were more positive, pointing to their research that they said showed that shoppers had gotten over their concerns. ¡°I¡¯m optimistic about the consumer coming back to the toy aisle,¡± said Mr. Eckert, the chief executive. ¡°I think the anxiety about the recalls is largely behind us.¡±

Last year, Mattel made half its profit from holiday sales, so the next three months will be a crucial period. Analysts pointed out that many retail orders for toys in the third quarter were placed long ago, before the recalls and the weakening of the economy, so the next three months will be the real report card for Mattel.

¡°I think current business trends are a lot weaker than they were a few months ago,¡± said Gerrick Johnson, an equity analyst with BMO Capital Market US. ¡°The current retail environment is pretty weak. That will come out of orders.¡±

Still, sales of some toys involved in Mattel¡¯s recalls remained strong. That was the case with toys tied in to the Pixar movie ¡°Cars,¡± Mattel executives said. Fisher-Price products, which are aimed at preschoolers, did not suffer much either, even though they were involved in several recalls. Fisher-Price produces many baby products like swings and high chairs that parents may not associate with toy recalls. Toys featuring the Dora brand, however, did see a decline in sales, Mr. Eckert said.

Mr. Eckert called concerns about Mattel¡¯s sales ¡°the early fall jitters,¡± and said they were normal. Mattel surveyed consumers after the recalls this year and found that more than three-quarters of shoppers were aware of the recalls, and that the ¡°vast majority¡± thought Mattel handled them well, he said. china gifts china arts and crafts china toys

SEATTLE (AP) -- Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit more than quadrupled, and its shares topped $100 in regular trading, but the stock fell back toward $90 as concerns over margins overshadowed an otherwise strong quarter.

Earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 skyrocketed to $80 million, or 19 cents per share, from $19 million, or 5 cents per share, during the same period last year. 
 
Those results beat the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who on average forecast a profit of 18 cents per share.

Revenue climbed 41 percent to $3.26 billion from $2.31 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had predicted $3.14 billion in sales.

Sales on the company's U.S. and Canada sites rose 42 percent in the quarter compared with a year ago, and international sales improved 40 percent. The company said changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter boosted sales by $75 million, accounting for about 3 percent of the overall sales increase.

Books, music, DVDs and other media items contributed 64 percent to Amazon's top line, but sales of electronics, toys, jewelry, clothes and other "soft goods" grew faster.

Sales in the media category rose 27 percent to $2.09 billion in the third quarter. In North America, soft goods sales rose 54 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. Financial analysts peppered Amazon executives with questions about margins during their conference call Tuesday.

Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak said shipping deals and steep discounts for the 2.5 million copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" that Amazon sold during the quarter hurt margins, as did other lowered prices and changes in the mix of products offered by the retailer.

The company's gross margin slipped from 24.3 percent in the second quarter to 23.4 percent in the third.

Analyst Dan Geiman of McAdams Wright Ragen said Amazon's operating margin, which includes the cost of fulfillment and other expenses, was actually stronger than he expected, at 3.8 percent.

This financial measure looked particularly good in the third quarter compared to the 1.7 percent Amazon reported a year ago because it spent heavily on technology and content in 2006. Current-quarter results won't have the benefit of that comparison.

"I think investors are maybe starting to realize the same level of margin growth may not come about in the fourth quarter of 2007 and into 2008," Geiman said.

He added that Wall Street may have set a higher bar for Amazon in the quarter than was reflected in the official Thomson forecast, adding to the pullback after hours.

"They didn't have the blowout quarter relative to expectations the way they have in the past," the analyst said. In the conference call, Szkutak said the number of Amazon Prime members -- people who pay $79 up front for a year of free two-day shipping, which the company offers at a loss -- doubled from a year ago. He declined to say how many people use the service.

The CFO said safety scares over toys made in China haven't dampened shoppers' enthusiasm for the category.

"We expect to see a great, record holiday season," helped by toy sales, Szkutak told reporters.

For the crucial holiday shopping quarter, Amazon said it expects sales between $5.1 billion and $5.45 billion. Analysts forecast $5.16 billion.

The company increased its revenue forecast for the fiscal year between $14.26 billion and $14.61 billion, from earlier guidance of $13.80 billion to $14.30 billion. Analysts are looking for $14.19 billion.china gifts china arts and crafts china toys

For the first three quarters of the year, Amazon's sales rose 36 percent to $9.16 billion from $6.73 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue nearly tripled to $269 million, or 64 cents per share, from $93 million, or 22 cents per share.

Shares of Amazon.com fell $9.30, or 9.3 percent, to $91.52 in after-hours electronic trading, after adding $9.53, or 10.4 percent, to close at $100.82 Tuesday.

The idea connected two unrelated activities -- changing clocks for Daylight Saving Time and changing the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Residents could change their batteries on these important safety alarms almost anytime, but in fact, many didn't. It's a sad fact that approximately 80 percent of fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms. Since hardly anyone neglects to change their clocks, Energizer and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) decided to urge Americans through the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery(R) program to use the "extra hour" to change their smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector batteries.

This year, the day to set your clocks back and change batteries in your smoke detectors is November 4.

The program started in 1987 with just two fire departments in St. Louis and Atlanta. Now as the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery program celebrates its 20th anniversary, more than 5,900 fire departments across the country are participating in the program. And as a result, many Americans have adopted the habit of changing their batteries at the same time they change their clocks.

"We have no way of knowing exactly how many lives and homes have been saved as a result," said Chief Steven P. Westermann, president of the IAFC. "What we do know is that each year more Americans are replacing their batteries before they wear out and that helps make each alarm safer."

Having a working smoke alarm can cut the odds of dying in a home fire nearly in half by adopting this simple habit. Most American homes -- 96 percent in fact -- have smoke alarms; however, more than a quarter of those homes have at least one nonworking smoke alarm, mostly due to worn out or missing batteries. The IAFC estimates more than 25 million homes are at risk.

Each of these reasons is easily remedied by either simply replacing the battery or the device.

"Many people mistakenly believe they will either see the flames or smell the smoke when a fire breaks out," Chief Westermann said. "But most fire fatalities happen while families are asleep. Smoke by itself doesn't provide a wake-up call, but a working smoke alarm surely does."

Westermann also noted that November usually brings the onset of severe weather, a time when power outages are more frequent. He urged residents to avoid using candles, which are often the cause of home fires and to instead use flashlights. Daylight Saving Time is a good time to check batteries in flashlights as well.

The IAFC is a non-profit association representing nearly 13,000 chief fire officers and emergency services leaders worldwide. Its members are the world's leading experts in firefighting, emergency medical services, terrorism response, hazardous materials spills, natural disasters, search and rescue, and public safety legislation.

Energizer Holdings, Inc. ,  headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of primary batteries, battery-powered devices and flashlights. Energizer, a global leader in the dynamic business of providing portable power geared toward the new digital revolution, offers a full portfolio of products including, the Energizer(R) MAX(R) premium alkaline brand; Energizer(R) e2(R) Lithium(R) and Energizer(R) e2(R) Titanium Technology(R) performance brands; Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Rechargeable batteries and chargers; and Miniatures brand batteries. Energizer also offers portable battery-driven power packs for cell phones, portable games and audio devices. Energizer has been promoting fire safety through its Change Your Clock Change Your Battery(R) program since 1987.yiwu china Great Wall welding wire WOW Gold smoke alarm

Fortunately, the children were not in any real danger, but they had an opportunity to practice for a real-life emergency. Officials from the Shabbona Fire Department used a house in the downtown area to help the children learn about fire safety. The house was donated by Beth Einsele, owner of Einsele Real Estate.

Officials from the fire department first had the children tour the house to discuss potential escape routes. Captain Tim Anderson of the Shabbona Fire Department told the children to crawl on their hands and knees and remain low if they ever had to escape from a fire.

¡°Down low is nice, clean fresh air,¡± Anderson told the children. ¡°It might not be real clean, but it's a lot cleaner than up (high).¡±

Captain Dennis Breese of the Shabbona Fire Department told the children that once they escape from a fire they should not return to their house to retrieve pets, toys or personal belongings.

¡°Your mom and dad can replace all that stuff, but they can't replace you,¡± Breese said. ¡°They can always throw the Playstation in the garbage, but they can't throw you in the garbage. They can always buy you a new one, but they can't buy a new you.¡±

After touring the house the first time, the firefighters filled the building with simulated smoke, and the children practiced their escape route. Anderson told the children not to be afraid of the smoke.

¡°This is our training smoke. It's banana oil. It doesn't hurt anybody. You can actually breathe it in. It's for training purposes only, so you never have to worry about it hurting you,¡± Anderson said. ¡°Later on, when we fill the house full of smoke, and you guys come back through it on your hands and knees, you will get to see it and smell it, but it will not hurt you.¡±

The children then crawled through the smoke-filled house, along with the firefighters and their teachers, and followed a long fire hose to get through the house.

Once the children escaped the house, they met at a safe location outside. Many of the children indicated that they enjoyed participating in the program and expressed an interest in becoming a firefighter in the future.

¡°We could always use good firefighters,¡± Breese told the children. ¡°We can even take girls. Girls are good firefighters, too.¡±

Anderson encouraged the children to talk to their parents about establishing an escape route for their home and practicing their escape plan on a regular basis.

¡°You can get lost real easily and forget where you're at. That's why we say you practice and you practice,¡± Anderson said. ¡°It's like basketball, if you keep shooting baskets, you will get better and better. If you keep practicing that escape route, if it gets smokey, you're going to remember how to get out.¡±

Anderson said he was impressed with how quickly the children were able to leave the house.

¡°We had two classes come through, about 50 kids, and from the time the first one went through to the last one, it was maybe about three minutes,¡± Anderson said. ¡°When they're following the hose out, it doesn't take a lot of time. It kind of gives them an essence of what it would be like as far as visibility if they were in a fire.¡±

Anderson said most of the children were not afraid to go through the smoke-filled house.

¡°I've actually only seen one go through that was a little bit scared,¡± Anderson said. ¡°Most of them think it's pretty cool, because we let them know we are using a smoke machine and that the smoke won't hurt them, and the fact that they know there is no fire in here kind of eases their mind a little bit.¡±

Breese said the purpose of the program is not only to teach children about fire safety but to also encourage them to talk to their parents about purchasing a smoke detector or checking the batteries in their smoke detector on a regular basis.

¡°We have a lot of kids who have gone through the program the last three or four years, and they know the system,¡± Breese said. ¡°They know the program. They press their parents. It's to inform their parents also, because sometimes parents have a tendency to forget to check their batteries once a year. Kids are pretty smart when it come to that, and they usually bring it up on a daily basis.¡±

Breese said, during previous years, the firefighters have inspected homes in the Shabbona area to determine if they had a smoke alarm. He said the families that had a working smoke detector in their home received a coupon for a free pizza.

¡°That's kind of an incentive for a lot of these kids to go home and say, ¡®Mom and dad, you better get some batteries, because, maybe, they will come around this year with pizza,'¡± Breese said.gas leakage detector emergency button wireless alarm system gsm alarm

Benton Fire Chief Mickey Marshall and firefighters are still emotional following the second fire fatality in the last three months - the first two in more than 20 years.

¡°This senseless tragedy could have been prevented if only the family had installed smoke detectors on every floor of the home,¡± Marshall said. ¡°For the price of a lunch or two packs of cigarettes, anyone can purchase a smoke detector.

¡°The fire occurred one day before the start of Fire Prevention Week,¡± Marshall said. ¡°If only the family would have practiced this year's theme: Practice your exit drills. We always talk to schools and to civic organizations about the importance of having EDITH, which stands for ¡®Exit Drills In The Home.' We recommend practicing exit drills at least two times a year.¡±

Marshall said studies indicate that even smoke detectors will not wake sleeping children.

¡°There are smoke detectors on the market today that can record parents voices in order to help wake sleeping children in the event of a fire,¡± he said. ¡°Smoke detectors need to be placed outside every bedroom door.

¡°Never take the batteries out of your smoke detector to use in remote controls or children's toys,¡± Marshall said. ¡°And remember to test your smoke detector at least twice a year. Batteries should also be replaced twice a year, unless you purchase lithium batteries that last a lot longer.

 
Firefighter David Moore reminds residents that having a working smoke detector inside homes is the law. Marshall said after this weekend's tragedy, he is considering issuing citations in homes without working smoke detectors.

¡°We check businesses to ensure they have working smoke detectors,¡± Marshall said. ¡°While we can't go into every residence to make sure each home has smoke detectors, if we are called to a residence for any reason we will write tickets if there are no smoke detectors.¡±

Moore said training and practicing fire drills could save lives.

 
¡°Even as adults, in the event of a fire, we do not react the right way,¡± he said. ¡°The best way to remember what you know is to practice. Even I was injured in a fire and did the wrong thing. My leg caught fire and instead of stop, drop and roll, I ran. That made matters even worse.¡±

He also offered tips for those whose smoke detectors sound every time something is cooking on the stove.

¡°If your smoke detector goes off every time you cook, that is an indication you should move it to another location,¡± Moore said. ¡°Don't take out the battery; instead, move the smoke detector.¡±

 
Marshall also cautions residents about using candles.

¡°Statistics also prove that fires caused by burning candles are also on the rise throughout the country,¡± he said. ¡°Be sure to extinguish the flame before leaving a room or going to bed. And always place candles at least three feet away from curtains or other flammable materials.

Moore urges residents never to smoke while in bed. ¡°There is a chance you could fall asleep with a lit cigarette,¡± he said. ¡°It is not worth the risk.¡±

 
Marshall said those with fireplaces should have the chimney cleaned before lighting a fire, adding furnaces should be checked by qualified individuals before lighting them.

¡°The same applies to electric space heaters,¡± he said. ¡°Be sure to replace frayed or worn electrical cords and keep space heaters away from flammable objects. If you ever use an appliance and smell smoke, unplug it immediately.

¡°This is also that time of year when people start burning leaves,¡± Marshall said. ¡°Never burn leaves within 25 feet of a structure and make sure you have a garden hose nearby in case the fire gets out of control. Do not hesitate to call the fire department if you are afraid the fire is beyond your control. And in Benton, it is illegal to burn on curb and gutter streets. Burning in open ditches is permitted.¡±

 
Marshall said with the gift-giving season just around the corner, it is also a good time to consider buying a smoke detector for someone else. ¡°If you know of someone that does not have a smoke detector, they make great stocking stuffers at very little cost,¡± he said.

Moore said residents have been contacting the fire department with donations for the Elizabeth J. Coffey family. ¡°The Red Cross Disaster Fund is helping the family and may be contacted by calling 1-800-272-2984,¡± he said. ¡°The Southern Illinois Fire Relief Fund is another organization that is helping the family. They may be contacted by calling (618) 525-3473 or 457-5114. The president, Tim Carter, may also be e-mailed at .¡±

Marshall said a resident also dropped off a donation this morning. ¡°She wanted to contribute to the Ladies Auxiliary,¡± he said. ¡°The Ladies Auxiliary purchases smoke detectors for us to distribute to those who can not afford one. If you are in need of a smoke detector, stop by the fire department.¡±yiwuGreat Wall welding wire WOW Gold smoke alarm

 
He said those wishing to contribute clothing and household items for fire victims should contact North Benton Baptist Church or the Benton-West City Ministerial Alliance.

Marshall said firefighters would be visiting schools later this week and assisted living centers. ¡°We will be talking to residents about how to save their lives,¡± he said. ¡°We also have information available for those with disabilities.¡±

Screams, not alarms, woke up residents of the Hillcrest apartments in Junction City when a fire started around 3 a.m. Wednesday. A woman and her 3-year-old son were critically hurt and airlifted to hospitals. Today, doctors said 3-year-old Evan Brown is now in serious condition. His mother, Latisha Brown, is still critical.

Now the focus is shifting to whether smoke detectors in the apartment complex worked properly.

"I didn't hear no kind of alarms going off," said Lena Carrington, who lives in the apartment with Brown. "I didn't hear no smoke detectors, no nothing."

Wednesday, the landlord told us the smoke detector in the hall worked fine. Today, we called to ask about the detector inside the apartment, but a man who answered the phone for the apartment owners hung up.

Insurance companies are investigating if the smoke detectors worked at the Hillcrest Apartments.

Former President of the Shawnee County Landlord Association Darrel Eklund said state law is clear when it comes to smoke detectors. Landlords are responsible for making sure detectors work when you move in. After that, it's your responsibility to maintain the alarm and tell the landlord if it isn't working.

"It is our responsibility to make sure the smoke detectors are operating properly when (tenants) move in," Eklund said. "If they call us and say, 'my smoke detector isn't operating. Would you fix it and put a battery in it?' Certainly, we'll be right over to do that."

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment suggests people to test fire alarms every month. Every ten years a smoke detector should be replaced, even if it beeps when you test it. If you aren't sure how old yours is, replace it. Fire officials also recommend that you change the battery at least once a year. The alarms also requires a certain amount of monthly maintenance.

"In order to keep that smoke alarm working, it does have to be dusted," said Marilee Brown, Kansas Fire Injury Prevention Program Coordinator. "You can't just put it up there and forget about it. It needs to be cleaned. It should never be painted over or that could stop it from working."gas leakage detector emergency button wireless alarm system gsm alarm

The fire Wednesday is a reminder that a $15 investment can save lives.

"It's your best insurance that you're not going to die in a fire," Brown said.

Awakened in the early morning hours of July 8, James Barefoot discovered a fire in the kitchen of his family's house on Bailey Place.

Someone else had gotten up earlier and started cooking a snack on the stove. But before satisfying that craving, the family member fell asleep with a pot of hot grease still on the stove.

About 4:30 a.m., the 70-year-old Barefoot walked into the kitchen and found it ablaze.

"He hollered for everybody to get out," said Macon-Bibb fire Capt. Tom Musselwhite.

The house didn't have a working smoke detector.

Four other family members escaped by breaking windows, but Barefoot was found dead in a bathroom. He died of smoke inhalation.

Before a late-night fire over the weekend took the life of a 64-year-old man, Barefoot was Macon's only accidental fire victim during 2007. With cooler weather on the way, Macon-Bibb County fire officials want residents to take precautions and call them with questions - and for a free smoke detector if their home doesn't have one.

They'd also like to hold the line on Bibb County's fire fatality rate, which has been above the national average in recent years.

U.S. Fire Administration information shows that one in 100,000 people died in an accidental fire nationwide in 2006.

In the late 1990s, Bibb County, then with a population of about 150,000 people, recorded an average of six fire deaths each year. That number dropped to four people a year every year since 2000, still twice the national average.

Fire Chief Jimmy Hartley said most fatal fires in Bibb County are just like the one that killed Barefoot.

"Grease fires on the stove have become the most common case of fire death," he said. "And it's usually after midnight."

Musselwhite said electrical fires are also among the most deadly, with the area's large number of older rental properties with insufficient wiring. Fires break out when residents plug in space heaters or other devices drawing a large amount of electricity.

Hartley said the department's program that installs free smoke detectors for anyone who doesn't have one in their home is making a difference.

"We just want to make sure we have and keep a working smoke detector in every home in Bibb County," he said.

Hartley said a smoke detector should be installed on every level of a home and somewhere near the sleeping areas. Smoke kills most people who die in fires long before they're burned, he said.

Since the program began in the late 1990s, thousands of smoke detectors have been distributed throughout the county.

Grants and fundraisers pay for the detectors, and firefighters install them between other duties.

Hartley also credited a hefty emphasis on fire education for the decrease in fatal fires.

"We've energized our fire safety education efforts for the very old and the very young, the ones most at risk," Hartley said, adding that programs are being conducted at area senior centers and for school children.

Today marks the beginning of National Fire Prevention Week, but firefighters are available to help residents be proactive and prevent fires all year long.

Anyone who needs a smoke detector, a home fire safety survey or who has a fire-related question is asked to call the Fire Prevention Bureau at 751-2700.

"Whatever it takes to keep them safe and possibly save their lives, that's what we're here for," Hartley said.Great Wall welding wire WOW Gold smoke alarm

The Chinese government will soon begin using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, developed by Rhonda Folio of Tennessee Tech University, to assess the norms of Chinese children. The PDMS can be used to test a child¡¯s reflexes, stationary balance, locomotion, object manipulation, grasping and other gross and fine motor skills. The goal is to intervene early and provide help to children ages birth through 6 years old who are behind the norm.

"In the early ¡®70s, U.S. occupational and physical therapists began a push to assess children¡¯s motor skills in order to minimize the impact any delays would have later in life," said Folio, TTU professor of Exercise Science, Physical Education and Wellness.

"China is now joining the game; they are where we were in the late ¡®70s as far as knowledge and early assessment," she explained.

The Peking University Medical Press of Beijing, one of the oldest and most important higher education institutions in China, has translated the text for the PDMS. Folio says having "the Harvard of China" translate the text for the Chinese government was quite an honor. Xiuchang Ann Huang, a Chinese student who just graduated with a doctorate in exceptional learning, says she is encouraged that her country is adopting the standardized test.

"With China¡¯s economic growth, there is the opportunity to increase services for young children, and the PDMS will fill the void that exists," said Huang. "Professors and researchers are looking at children¡¯s early stages of development, but it would be very difficult to develop a diagnostic tool as effective as this one.

"For the first time, this will allow therapists to determine who will benefit most from early intervention by establishing a norm," Huang said.

The PDMS comes packaged in a colorful box that contains illustrated text and equipment that may be hard to find to make certain assessments. It provides instruction for a quick computerized scoring program, and it suggests how to create individual treatment programs for remediation. Examples of activities in the subtest include testing children¡¯s abilities to crawl, walk, run, hop, and jump forward. Seventy-two items measure a child¡¯s ability to use his or her visual-perceptual skills to perform complex eye-hand coordination tasks, such as reaching and grasping for an object, building with blocks and copying designs.

Folio released the first version in 1983; an updated version followed in 2000. Currently, she is working on a facelift for a third version that will provide more culturally appropriate exercises.

"Over time, normal basic motor skills in children haven¡¯t changed, but cultural items have," explained Folio. "Now children, even at this young age, use key boards, even cell phones. We are looking to incorporate tests for those types of fine motor skills into the new version.

"There is not much difference in fine motor skills in preschool across cultures," said Folio. "We may look into adding tests related to other cultures, such as adding a test that would simulate a Chinese child¡¯s use of chopsticks, since that is so important in their motor skills development."

Folio anticipates a possible DVD training program, or even a trip to China, to enhance teaching how to use the PDMS in China. She says other countries are seeing the value the United States, and now China, is seeing in how the test can be used to determine who will benefit most from early intervention and how to document progress.

"There¡¯s talk of a Spanish version being developed," said Folio. "A group from Columbia, South America, has asked us to offer a translation."china arts and crafts china gifts yiwu china toys

Beidou (Big Dipper) navigation satellite by China has highlighted all the old sat nav arguments. Will the US be facing a serious challenge to its GPS system?
To date the only serious challenge to the existing Global Positioning System (GPS) run by the USA has come from Europe's Galileo project. Of which China is also already a partner.

However, it currently looks like Galileo won't be ready until 2011 at the earliest. Meanwhile China has thrown up a handful of geo-stationary Beidou satellites to give it a rudimentary navigation system that covers China and not much else.

Beidou is also reported to have an accuracy to within 10 metres which is enough for one of its major commercial applications – helping deep sea fishing boats work out where they are.

The snag is that this fourth satellite looks like the start of a Chinese plan to cover the globe by putting around 30 satellites into space.

More significantly China has also admitted that Beidou will form the basis of a more accurate system to be known as the Compass Navigation Satellite System.

Additionally there is a growing feeling that building some kind of satellite navigation system into mobile phones will become essential. It's being driven by the USA's desire to provide accurate location for its E911 emergency service.

To date the leading supplier of a GPS capability to mobile phone makers has been – Qualcomm. Particularly with its gpsOne on chip offering.

Now if Qualcomm is going to make its chips attractive to Chinese manufacturers and the Chinese market in particular, it may find itself having to provide compatibility with Compass.

Which is all fine and good but Qualcomm may have met its match. The company is renowned for protecting its IPR. And China is renowned for its secrecy. It's going to make for some interesting discussions. china stationary yiwu hotels china auto accessory Great Wall welding wire

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mattel Inc., announced late Tuesday that it is recalling about 700,000 toys that have excessive amounts of lead paint.

The recall covers 675,000 units of various Barbie accessory toys that were manufactured between Sept. 30, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2007. The action also involves 8,900 different toys involving Big World 6-in-I Bongo Band toys from the company's Fisher-Price brand. Those products were sold nationwide from July 2007 through Aug. 2007.

Mattel's reputation had already been battered by two high-profile toy recalls this summer.

Mattel's last recall, announced on Aug. 14, covered about 19 million toys worldwide. They included Chinese-made toys that either had excessive amounts of lead paint or had small magnets that could easily be swallowed by children.

On Aug. 1, Mattel's Fisher-Price division said it was recalling 1.5 million preschool toys featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo because of lead paint. That action included 967,000 toys sold in the United States between May and August.

Lead can cause brain damage when ingested by young children. Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

Robert Eckert, chairman and CEO of El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel, warned at a news conference last month that there may be more recalls of tainted toys as the company steps up its investigations into its Chinese factories and retests products.

Still, the latest action would be yet another blow to Mattel, which had cultivated an image of tightly controlling production in China. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday it's considering a possible investigation of whether Mattel notified authorities as quickly as it should have in connection with the Aug. 14 recall.

With more than 80 percent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are nervous that shoppers will shy away from their products during this year's critical holiday season.

Late last month, Toys "R" Us announced it was recalling thousands of art sets made in China due to excessive levels of lead in some black watercolor paints.

In June, toymaker RC2 Corp. voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. The company said that the surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.

In July, Hasbro Inc. recalled faulty Chinese-made Easy Bake ovens, marking the second time this year that the iconic toy had been recalled.

Last month, Mattel vowed that it would tighten its controls at its factories in China. About 65 percent of Mattel's toys are made in China, where about 50 percent of Mattel's production is produced in company-owned plants. But apparently, the company's controls were not strict enough, particularly when it came to overseeing subcontractors.

Until recently, Mattel had focused testing on materials that went into the toys and had factories do sample testing of its products. china arts and crafts china gifts yiwu china toys

Now, the company is increasing its vigilance at the beginning of production and during production. Factories are now being forced to test every batch of products before they are released to stores. Mattel has also stepping up unannounced random testing of its Chinese suppliers and is tightening enforcement of rules that suppliers use certified paint.

The Aug. 14 worldwide recall covered more than 400,000 die-cast cars modeled after the cartoon movie character "Sarge" that contained excessive amounts of lead paint. Eckert told reporters the correct paint was sent to a subcontractor, which apparently chose not to use it.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Some experts and media have welcomed Mattel's clarification of its recalls of Chinese toys as concern is growing that the design flaws have damaged the "Made in China" label.

    Mattel has recalled more than 21 million toys world-wide in recent weeks. Some of the recalls were ordered because of excessive levels of lead paint found in Chinese-made toys.

    "Flaws in the manufacturing process at Chinese plants have been blamed for the (lead) problem, leading to a cavalcade of negative headlines in the U.S.," said a report carried by the Wall Street Journal last week, noting that the vast majority of the recalled toys didn't have a lead problem.

    The biggest recall, affecting 18 million toys, involved tiny magnets that can fall off toys and can be deadly if swallowed. The recall of those toys had nothing to do with a failure of Chinese manufacturing but rather stemmed from Mattel's own flawed designs, said the report.

    The Wall Street Journal report seemed to be more balanced after Mattel made a public apology to China for the damage to the country's reputation stemming from a spate of toy recalls.

    Thomas Debrowski, an executive of Mattel, apologized last Friday to a senior Chinese official for the inconvenience it has caused to Chinese consumers after recalling millions of Chinese-made toys and pledged to take responsibility.

    He admitted that the vast majority of the toys were recalled because of design flaws rather than manufacturing errors in China.

    Mattel, the world largest toy-maker, also admitted that its lead-related recalls were "overly inclusive" as the company was "committed to applying the highest standards of safety for its products," according to a statement released by the company.

    The recalls have significantly damaged the reputation of the "Made in China" label and led to a series of congressional hearings where China, along with U.S. regulators, were cast in a negative light, said some U.S. media.

    Some conservative politicians, such as Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, even proposed suspending imports of food and toys from China.

    "There has been a cascade and that's caused a U.S. consumer perception crisis of China, not all of it justified," Drew Thompson, director of China studies at the Nixon Center was quoted as saying in a recent report by the Washington Post.

    Dara O'Rourke, an associate professor of labor and environmental policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said that Mattel used China as a scapegoat for its own problems and that the toy maker is now paying the price for that.

    "There was a lot of scapegoating China, but I would argue that this was caused by a system that is designed to push down costs and speed up delivery. There are root causes and Mattel is behind those," he said.

    Mattel's apology also gained praise from some parents, including Arianna McRoberts, 41, of Los Angeles, the mother of two boys, 7 and 14. "It's unfortunate China got the bad rap, but I also think China needs to pay attention a little more carefully to their standards so they comply with American standards," McRoberts was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

    "China has received a lot of blame for the recalls in the West," said Hari Bapuji, assistant professor at the University of Manitoba in Canada and lead author of the report, "Toy Recalls -- Is China the Problem?"

    His report, which analyzed Chinese-made toy recalls by going through recalls issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1988 to August, 2007, found of the 550 toy recalls, 76.4 percent were due to problems that could be attributed to design flaws.

    Of the hundreds of thousands of toys recalled by Mattel in the past month, 80 percent were because they contained small magnets, which is a design flaw, said the report.

    However, all of the media focus has been on the lead paint issue, said Bapuji, who prepared the report with Paul W. Beamish, a professor of international business at the University of Western Ontario. china stationary yiwu hotels china auto accessory Great Wall welding wire

    "Companies like Mattel have a responsibility to ensure that the products that they bring to China to be manufactured are safe and conform to the standards of this part of the world," Bapuji said. "They cannot simply escape the blame by saying 'It's the manufacturer in China'."

A few years ago the anti-globalization movement seemed, to much of mainstream America, a fringe concern. Capitalism and free trade are, after all, our national religion. The protesters who disrupted global trade summits in Seattle and Washington, DC, had little sympathy from outlet shoppers jamming big box stores in Middle America. But things have changed. Wal-Mart stories featuring abusive labor practices shone a spotlight on the down side of low prices. And, more recently, the spate of reports about the poison fruits of free trade with China have hit American consumers in the gut.

"In order to achieve modernization, people will go to any ends to earn money, to advance their interest, leaving behind morality, humanity and even a little bit of compassion, let alone the law or regulations," economic professor Hu Jindou says in an article on Chinese child slavery in the June 21 edition of the New York Times. The article concerns the hundreds of people, including pre-teen children, found to be working as slaves at a brick-making factory in Shanxi Province. Children are routinely pressed into service in China's toy factories. "Work-study" programs ship schoolchildren from poor provinces to factories where they are worked from early morning until late at night without pay.

And then there are the poisonous products--the killer toothpaste containing diethylene glycol found at a Dollar Store in Miami. The questionably "organic" herbs and food products. William Hubbard, the former deputy commissioner of the FDA who now runs an organization called Coalition for a Stronger FDA told NPR about the Chinese food shipments FDA officials turn back at ports after labeling them as "filthy"--that's the term of art for smelly, decomposing, chemical-laden and otherwise obviously unfit food. On NPR, Hubbard described how an inspector found an herbal tea factory where herbal tea was processed by driving trucks over it: "'To speed up the drying process, they would lay the tea leaves out on a huge warehouse floor and drive trucks over them so that the exhaust would more rapidly dry the leaves out,' Hubbard says. 'And the problem there is that the Chinese use leaded gasoline, so they were essentially spewing the lead over all these leaves.'"

And, "That lead-contaminated herbal tea would only be caught by FDA inspectors at the border if they knew to look for it, Hubbard says."

As food imports to our country have exploded, with China leading the way, the FDA's food inspection unit is shrinking. Hubbard estimates that 1 percent of food imports are actually inspected by FDA officials. And funding for food inspection has shrunk from half to one-quarter of the agency's budget since he started his career in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, China is cornering the market on many food products.

Lead-contaminated multivitamins from China are part of what NPR terms "the hidden price of cheap goods." And if the FDA is casting a weak net after these poisons, consumers don't have much ability to protect themselves, either. Food manufacturers are not even required to disclose where they get ingredients.pir detector gas leakage detector gsm alarm system emergency button wireless alarm system

Our political leaders talk a lot about protecting America from terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, we are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of lax regulation and unfettered free trade. We need protection not just from suicide bombers and jihadists, but from business interests willing to push the products of an abused work force and contaminated facilities. The more shocking stories we read about our unsafe food supply, the more mainstream these issues become.

Even as the massive recall was announced Tuesday, company officials warned that it could grow as Mattel implemented more rigorous testing measures to ensure toy safety as the industry gears up for the holiday-buying season.

The government warned consumers to check at home and make sure their children were not playing with any of the recalled toys.

The recalled toys run the gamut, from dolls to toy trucks to action figures, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Nancy A. Nord, acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman, told reporters no injuries had been reported with any of the products involved in Tuesday's recalls. She explained that the scope of the recalls was intentionally broad, to "prevent any injuries from occurring."

Several injuries had been reported in an earlier Polly Pocket recall last November. In all, at least one U.S. child has died and 19 others have needed surgery since 2003 after swallowing magnets used in toys, the government said.

It's the second major recall in two weeks from Mattel, which pulled 1.5 million Fisher Price toys made in China after it discovered they, too, were coated in lead, adds Cordes.

The new recall includes about 9.3 million play sets that contain small, powerful magnets, including Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, and 253,000 diecast cars that contain lead paint. Many of the magnetic toys are older and may have been purchased as early as 2003.

In a conference call, Mattel chief executive Bob Eckert said the company is stepping up its oversight and testing in its production processes. As a result, he noted, more recalls may occur.

"There is no guarantee that we will not be here again and have more recalls," Eckert said, adding "we are testing at a very high level here."

Mattel, in a full-page ad Tuesday in some U.S. newspapers, said the company was "one of the most trusted names with parents" and was "working extremely hard to address your concerns and continue creating safe, entertaining toys for you and your children."

There's a lot on the minds of toy companies, according to industry analyst Chris Byrne.

"The reputation and the business of these toy companies rests on the ability to produce safe toys and have consumers trust that they're safe," Byrne told CBS Radio News. "So I think you're going to see a renewed effort on the part of all these people."

The recall was the latest blow to the toy industry, which has been part of a string of recalled products from China that includes pet food, tires and toothpaste. With about 80 percent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are worried shoppers will shy away from their products.

From toxic toothpaste to tires that explode, it has been a summer of discontent over Chinese imports, with China's government slow to react, reports CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen in Beijing.

One problem is China's leaders are focused on keeping the economic miracle powering on, adds Petersen. Cracking down on factories that make exports means threatening sales and profits.

Lead is toxic if ingested by young children, and under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

"There is no excuse for lead to be found in toys entering this country," Nord said. "It's totally unacceptable and it needs to stop."

The recalled toys include 253,000 "Sarge" car figurines from the movie "Cars," because the surface paint could contain lead levels in excess of federal standard. The 2?inch, 1-inch high car looks like a military jeep.

Also recalled were 345,000 Batman and "One Piece" action figures, 683,000 Barbie and Tanner play sets, 1 million Doggie Day Care play sets and 7.3 million Polly Pocket dolls and accessories.

In the newspaper ads, Eckert said "nothing is more important than the safety of our children."

"We have already taken steps to further ensure the safety of our toys," he said.

Nord said the company has stopped selling the recalled products, instructed retailers to pull them from the shelves and made a production change. Mattel is also offering replacement products.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which negotiated details of Mattel's recalls, reported that in the previous recall of Polly Pockets play sets in Nov. 11, three children had been injured by swallowing more than one magnet. All three suffered intestinal perforations that required surgery.

When more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage, which can be fatal.

In March 2006, another toy company, Mega Brands Inc., recalled 3.8 million Magnetix magnetic building sets after one child died and four others were seriously injured after swallowing tiny magnets in them.

Two weeks ago, Mattel's Fisher-Price division announced the worldwide recall of 1.5 million Chinese-made preschool toys ?featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo ?over lead paint.

Mattel launched a full-scale investigation into all of its factories in China and discovered the latest problem during that investigation, Nord said.

Eckert, the company chairman, said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday that the correct paint for the "Sarge" cars was sent to a subcontractor, who apparently "chose not to use the paint."

Days after the Fisher-Price recall, Chinese officials temporarily banned the toys' manufacturer, Lee Der Industrial Co., from exporting products. A Lee Der co-owner, Cheung Shu-hung, committed suicide at a warehouse over the weekend, apparently by hanging himself, a state-run newspaper reported Monday. china arts and crafts china gifts yiwu china toys

Consumers should call Mattel at 888-597-6597 for information about the recalled toys with magnets, or 800-916-4997 for information about the recalled cars.

HONG KONG - The toy store may seem like a house of horrors to many Western parents nowadays, but the idea of a world without Chinese-made toys might be even scarier to contemplate for the toy industry, as well as China.

In the past decade, toy companies and Chinese manufacturers have grown so intertwined that neither can easily afford to do without the other.

By combining Hong Kong toy makers' shrewdness with China's sprawling low-cost production base, Chinese manufacturers have won close to 80% of the world toy market. In addition, China is estimated to hold a similarly high proportion of the market for small giveaway items such as the toys in McDonald¡¯s Happy Meals, known in the industry as ¡°premiums.¡±

No competing producers in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand or Mexico can provide a ready substitute any time soon.

¡°China has a very systematic toy production system involving layers of suppliers in screws, paint, electronics and other components. No other countries have this kind of cutting edge,¡± said Ben Lau, a Hong Kong-based technical director of toys and premiums at Specialized Technology Resources, an international industrial safety and testing lab. ¡°There is no alternative to China, no contingency plan. If you shift production to other countries, you'll face similar problems or even worse.¡±

China¡¯s toy edge is buttressed by a web-like production system featuring networks of suppliers, often in close proximity to one another, with a well-defined division of labor between them.

China¡¯s increasing dominance in manufacturing complicates any attempt to shift production to another country, promising a loss of efficiencies. If a customer moves orders to Thailand, its factory there would still probably have to source paint or screws from a Chinese factory in Guangdong.

That¡¯s not to say that toy companies couldn¡¯t begin to diversify away, and China ¡ª and particularly Hong Kong ¡ª have a lot to lose if they can¡¯t correct their problems and discourage this. Some 3% of Hong Kong¡¯s exports are toys, and toy manufacturers are believed to employ more than 4 million workers in China. In the booming Chinese toy-producing heartland of southern Guangdong province, more than a million Chinese workers labor in thousands of factories mostly run by Hong Kong-based owners like Zhang Shuhong, a Mattel (nyse: MAT - news - people ) supplier who was driven to commit suicide by its recall of 1.5 million toys Aug. 1.

Their jobs would be threatened if the world¡¯s major toy makers such as Mattel, which sources two-thirds of its toys in China, begin to look elsewhere. Last week, it announced its largest-ever recall of more than 18 million Chinese-made toys. (See: ¡° A Blow To Hong Kong¡¯s Toy King¡±)

With the toy recalls combining with prior scandals over tainted seafood, toxic toothpaste and chemical-laced pet food to tarnish the ¡°Made In China¡± label, the Chinese government is scrambling to action.

It has set up a special 19-member Cabinet-level task force led by its best-know trade official, Wu Yi, to tackle product quality and food safety. The country¡¯s industrial watchdog, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, is expected to announce plans this week to set up a database on the inspection and quarantine of imports and exports and has vowed to begin scrutinizing every shipment of goods leaving the country, taking a giant step from the random sampling currently conducted by U.S. Customs.

Despite the mounting worries over the safety of Chinese products, the total value of recalls that have come to light have not yet reached an alarming level compared to the overall volume of trade. James Zimmerman, a partner in the Beijing office of the law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey, estimated that American recalls of Chinese-made goods have not exceeded 1% of U.S. imports from China, which stood at $288 billion in 2006, up nearly three times from 2001.

Early this month, Mattel estimated its first China-made toy recall cost it $30 million, but did not reveal the figure for its second recall.

A sudden surge in recalls is seen in part by analysts as a reflection of China¡¯s expanding role in the world¡¯s supply chain, the increased sophistication of products nowadays, as well as the limitation of China¡¯s bureaucracy to cope with the strains of the boom in exports.

¡°While trade increased substantially, it is my understanding that the government agencies responsible for supervising the quality standards did not have comparable personnel increases, and have most likely been overtaxed and understaffed in light of the huge increase in production and exports,¡± Zimmerman said. china stationary yiwu hotels china auto accessory Great Wall welding wire

said in a report issued on Tuesday after several months of investigation that the manufacturers ¡ª which served a handful of global players, including Disney, Bandai and Hasbro ¡ª paid ¡°little heed to the most basic standards of the country¡±.

¡°Wages are low, benefits are non-existent, work environments are dangerous and living conditions are humiliating,¡± it said.

The report comes as Chinese exports are under growing scrutiny abroad over safety concerns a week after Mattel Inc recalled millions of toys, including 436,000 die-cast toy cars from its ¡°Cars¡± line, because they may contain excessive amounts of lead.

China has also been hauled over the coals for the safety of food, drugs and other exports ranging from tires to toothpaste. Officials have been quick to say that the vast majority of the country¡¯s exports meet standards.

The report concluded that ¡°short-sighted policies¡± drive major companies to ¡°turn a blind eye to safety ¡ª and to ignore the labor conditions in their supplier factories as well¡±.

¡°Instead of concentrating on improving product safety and workers¡¯ lives, companies spend their energy creating beautiful pamphlets on social responsibility, disputing critical reports and shifting blame,¡± it said.

CHEAP SUBCONTRACTORS

Walt Disney Company International said that it and its affiliates take claims of unfair labor practices very seriously, investigate any such allegations thoroughly and take remedial action.

¡°We have a firm commitment to the safety and well-being of workers, and fair and just labor standards,¡± spokeswoman Alannah Goss said in an e-mailed statement.

Hasbro could not be reached for an immediate comment, while Japan¡¯s Bandai declined to comment.

China Labor Watch listed steps big international firms should take, including: pay supplier factories a reasonable price for their products, help the factories correct violations and take responsibility for suppliers¡¯ legal infractions.

They should also pay better wages and publicize the results of factory audits, it said.

Many foreign companies and experts in Chinese manufacturing say it can be hard to verify whether or not a supplier is living up to commitments to meet labor and environmental standards 100 percent of the time.

Suppliers, including some named in the China Labor Watch report, sometimes coach employees how to answer questions during inspections, and many keep two sets of books to fool auditors.

Industry experts also say that some manufacturers show off clean, inspection-passing facilities to international clients when they visit, but secretly subcontract some of the work to hidden, substandard production lines that are cheaper to run.

In the Pearl River Delta, a manufacturing hub on the southern coast near Hong Kong that drives much of China¡¯s spectacular growth, labor conditions have ¡°improved somewhat¡± in recent years but remain poor, China Labor Watch said.

¡°Corporate codes of conduct and checklist-auditing are not enough by themselves to strengthen workers¡¯ rights if corporations are unwilling to pay the real price it costs to produce a product according to the standards in their codes.¡±

The group said it saw quality problems like Mattel¡¯s as ¡°a result of multinationals¡¯ single-minded pursuit of ever-lower prices and neglect of other considerations¡±.

Eighty percent of the $22.3 billion worth of toys sold in the United States were made in China, said China Labor Watch, which has been promoting labor rights in the country and reporting on working conditions there since 2000.china stationary yiwu hotels china auto accessory Great Wall welding wire

I read with some interest a recent article by Mr. J. Grant Swank, Jr. in which he takes exception to the recent papal announcement declaring the Roman Catholic Church to be the only true church of Jesus Christ.

I wish to say at the outset that most Catholics consider Protestants to be our separated brethren. There is much more that unites us than divides us. We have more in common with each other than with say, Muslims or Buddhists. In this day and age Christianity is under attack from secularists who wish to drive from the public square, historical revisionists who seek to excise us from the history books, and fanatics who kidnap, imprison, torture and murder us in countries such as China, North Korea and Iraq. It would be nice if Christians could someday stand shoulder to shoulder rather than toe to toe. Sadly, it would appear that that happy day has not yet arrived.

Mr. Swank recognizes the dangers that Christians face in today's world. He says, "...every true believer should stand alongside every other true believer, regardless of denominational label. Now this papal statement divides us all the more." One cannot be a true believer if one believes in such things as homosexual marriage and abortion, yet some Protestant denominations do just that. One cannot be a true believer while cherry-picking Scripture to decide what teachings to adhere to and which to reject, yet many Protestant denominations do that as well. The papal statement is not so much a condemnation as it is an invitation for Protestants to return to the richness of Christ's Church.

Mr. Swank offers a casual swipe when he claims that Rome "appears to know more than the Holy Spirit." It was Christ Himself who said that He would be with His Church all days. It is not that Rome knows more than the Holy Spirit, it is simply that Christ has given the authority to teach to the leaders of His Church. The Holy Father would be derelict in his duties if he did not obey Christ's command.

One must ask if Christ came to found One Church or many. At present there are upwards of 30,000 different Protestant denominations. Many of these various groups hold mutually exclusive positions. For example, some Protestant denominations are ordaining homosexual clergy while others hold that homosexuality is contrary to Scripture. Some denominations say that baptism is only a sign while others say that it is necessary for salvation. Some Protestant denominations say that eternal salvation is assured if and when we make a one-time profession of belief, while other denominations say that our salvation can be forfeited. They cannot all be right. To whom does one turn in seeking an answer to these differences?

Catholics are fortunate in that we have a single teaching authority, the magisterium. The magisterium not only presents the truth, it has the right to impose it since its power is the very power given by God to Christ and by Christ to His Church. The teachings of the magisterium are infallible because of the promise of Christ Himself, "Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world."

Protestants, left to interpret Scripture on their own often labor under the most unfortunate misconceptions, errors and misunderstandings and so are deprived of the fullness of Christ's Church. These errors result in differences of opinion and division that separate Protestants into ever-increasing numbers of factions.

It puzzles me that some Protestants claim to believe in Scripture and then in the same breath deny the plain truths revealed within the sacred text. For example, Protestants do not believe in the same sacraments as do Catholics. The sacraments are central to the Catholic faith and chief among these is the Eucharist.

John 6:30 - 66 contains an account of one of Jesus' revelations. In it, Jesus tells his disciples that His flesh is real food and drink, and that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will live forever. Some of his disciples grumbled at this whereupon Jesus repeated Himself. At that, some of his disciples left Him. Had Jesus been speaking figuratively He would have called those disciples back and explained Himself. But He did not. Why? Because Jesus meant what He said. He knew that there was no point in arguing with someone who refused to accept His teachings.

Twelve times in Scripture we see Jesus saying that He was the bread that came down from heaven and four times we see Him saying that His followers would have "to eat my flesh and drink my blood". Jesus clearly chose His words carefully and intentionally, and Paul later confirms the sense of Jesus' words in 1 Cor. 10:16, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?"

It seems to me that if Mr. Swank really did believe in Scripture the way he says he does, he would be obeying Christ's command to "do this remembrance of me". However Mr. Swank objects to non-Catholics not being "admitted to the sacramental table in a Catholic sanctuary." He says, "¡­anyone confessing Christ as Redeemer should be welcomed at His table." It is not Rome who forbids non-Catholics from participating in the Eucharist, it is Paul. "Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. . . . For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27, 29). Paul says that participating in this sacrament unworthily (in a state of sin, or without 'discerning the body' - the Real Presence) is a crime as serious as murder. If it is true, as Protestants believe, that we are only consuming ordinary bread and wine - mere symbols, then Paul's comment makes no sense. It only makes sense if the bread and wine contain the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.

Mr. Swank next says that, "The Early Church was not the Roman Catholic Church." This much is true. Christ's Church was not referred to as "Roman Catholic" until later. However it is also true that Jesus gave Peter the authority to lead His Church. Peter and the others subsequently organized a hierarchical, ecclesial structure and continued Christ's mission as they were commanded. The Catholic Church is the only church that can lay claim to an unbroken line of papal succession from St. Peter right up to Pope Benedict XVI.

Mr. Swank continues his erroneous interpretations with, "What is even sadder is that the pope regards non-Catholics as ¡°defective.¡± I have searched the document in vain for any such accusation. Catholics believe that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God and that all human life is therefore sacred. What the Holy Father did say was, "It follows that these separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation."

That¡¯s quite a difference. Pope Benedict says that while these separated churches and communities contain or suffer from inherent defects, they are still part of God's plan of salvation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it this way:

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."

Mr. Swank then prays, "...for the Pope to see the biblical truth on this matter. I pray for the Roman Catholic Church constituents to be spiritually more mature than Rome in this regard." Pope Benedict XVI is a theologian, a scholar, a gifted author and teacher. He is a vigorous defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values. He was a professor at more than one university in Germany, a theological consultant at the 2nd Vatican Council, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and later a Cardinal. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Dean of the College of Cardinals.

To say that he is unaware of the truths contained in Scripture or is "spiritually immature" is laughable.

Mr. Swank then closes with a prayer "...for all believers throughout this world to band together and forfeit such argumentative nonsense that does nothing but further the work of the devil." Ironically, this is what many of us Catholics pray for as well. We pray that our separated brethren will someday choose to come back to the Church. WOW Gold

When some of Jesus' followers could not accept His teaching on the Eucharist, they left Him. Perhaps these were the same sorts of people John spoke of in Luke 9:49-50 "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you." Catholics do not condemn those Christians who choose not to accept all of Christ¡¯s teachings because we follow Jesus¡¯ command in this regard. welding wire

With muslim fanatics torturing and beheading Christians, shouldn't we be standing together? With secular humanists forcing their twisted, obscene agendas on us and our children, shouldn't Christians be standing together? With revisionists writing us out of the history books and portraying us as intolerant dogmatists, shouldn't Christians be standing together?

Pope Benedict XVI has called all Christians back to the Church. This Catholic thinks it's a great idea. Great Wall