Christmas Grinch: Feds declare some holiday lighting 'substandard product hazard'

[Viligant_Warrior]

Feds to regulate Christmas lights

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a regulation for Christmas lights on Monday, deeming some holiday decorations a "substantial product hazard."

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission ... is issuing a final rule to specify that seasonal and decorative lighting products that do not contain any one of three readily observable characteristics (minimum wire size, sufficient strain relief, or overcurrent protection), as addressed in a voluntary standard, are deemed a substantial product hazard under the Consumer Product Safety Act ("CPSA")," the final rule said.

The ruling applies to a variety of Christmas decorations, including "stars, wreathes, candles without shades, light sculptures, blow-molded (plastic) figures, and animated figures."

No worries! Solar-powered products are exempt!

We've got ISIS to deal with while overly shrinking far too drastically our military, we're living in a "shadow recession" with monumental hidden unemployment, our banking industry is rolling down the same road to destruction it was on in the collapose of 2008, we teeter on the brink of a race war -- and "consumer protection" is our utmost concern?

In reality, this is just another shot fired in the war on faith. No, it doesn't require Christmas lights to celebrate Christ's birth, and many people decorate their homes at Christmas with not an ounce of faith within them. Still, the season is celebrated by all, and it gives us an opportunity to share Christ.

We can still do that without lights -- but what kinda stupidity is it that attacks seasonal lighting systems that are an indirect way of "lighting the world" with Jesus?

 

[GodIsSalvation]

I don't think they're banning all Christmas lights. I think they are just trying to make them more safe so houses don't burn down in the middle of winter.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

I don't think they're banning all Christmas lights. I think they are just trying to make them more safe so houses don't burn down in the middle of winter.

You know how many house fires started last year in the U.S. because of Christmas lights? Zero.

The year before? Zero.

The year before that? Maybe one, and that's debatable, in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Before that, you have to go back seven years, to 2008, to find one that was caused by Christmas lights. That was in Philadelphia, and the state fire marshal said in his report he wasn't sure that actually was the cause, but there were suspicious marks under an eave of the house that looked like a short had occurred. Local fire marshals have a bad habit of attributing fires to "Christmas lights" when it isn't the lights, its the cords and house wiring to which they are connected.

This is bogus b/s. The Discovery Channel MythBusters proved that in a show a couple seasons back.

Can Christmas Tree Lights Cause House Fires

Today's Christmas tree lights come standard with safety fuses in the plugs to ensure overzealous decorators don't overwhelm the electrical circuits in individual wall sockets. The MythBusters loaded up a Christmas tree with the manufacturer's recommended five strands, left it overnight and returned to find no sign of fire.

To circumvent the safety precautions and up the ante, Jamie and Adam dressed an extremely dry Christmas tree in 2,500 lights — five times as many as before — by using a number of extension cords and separate wall outlets. After just 40 minutes, the ambient temperature around the tree reached 225 degrees Fahrenheit. That sizzling heat would certainly get Santa sweating, but it wasn't enough to ignite the tree.

It's a myth that Christmas tree lights start house fires. What starts house fires is overloaded extension cords, faulty wiring inside the wall, and poor attention to the watering needs of natural trees.

Facts, however, aren't going to stand in the way of Uncle Big Brother telling you how you can celebrate Christmas.

 

[GodIsSalvation]

You know how many house fires started last year in the U.S. because of Christmas lights? Zero.

The year before? Zero.

The year before that? Maybe one, and that's debatable, in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Before that, you have to go back seven years, to 2008, to find one that was caused by Christmas lights. That was in Philadelphia, and the state fire marshal said in his report he wasn't sure that actually was the cause, but there were suspicious marks under an eave of the house that looked like a short had occurred. Local fire marshals have a bad habit of attributing fires to "Christmas lights" when it isn't the lights, its the cords and house wiring to which they are connected.

This is bogus b/s. The Discovery Channel MythBusters proved that in a show a couple seasons back.

It's a myth that Christmas tree lights start house fires. What starts house fires is overloaded extension cords, faulty wiring inside the wall, and poor attention to the watering needs of natural trees.

Facts, however, aren't going to stand in the way of Uncle Big Brother telling you how you can celebrate Christmas.

I'm just saying what their goal is, and their goal is not to ban Christmas lights. It seems to me their goal is safety precautions. If housefires are started because of incompatibilities with the wires then the three objectives of Christmas wire reform makes sense.

Me thinking this ain't 1984, but if your Christmas lights are from that time, maybe you should consider getting some new ones.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

I'm just saying what their goal is, and their goal is not to ban Christmas lights.

Got any proof for that? Or, as usual, are you just touting the party line?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

The government never has figured that one out. Their motto is "Fiddle with it until it does break, then throw money at it -- unless it furthers Christianity, in which case, just stomp it out."

 

[GodIsSalvation]

Got any proof for that? Or, as usual, are you just touting the party line?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

The government never has figured that one out. Their motto is "Fiddle with it until it does break, then throw money at it -- unless it furthers Christianity, in which case, just stomp it out."

Your own article doesn't say they are banning Christmas lights. Do you have any proof that they are?

Also Christmas lights aren't necessarily Christian, they are lights. I don't see anything about them in the Bible. You can have Christmas without Christmas lights, or you can make your own Christmas lights. Be creative.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Your own article doesn't say they are banning Christmas lights. Do you have any proof that they are?

Tell me why they lied and claimed 258 deaths over a 33 year period have "been tied to Christmas lights" when the best numbers available don't link any deaths directly to Christmas lights malfunction? This is the same nonsense as your proposal -- in conjunction with your role as a DNC operative (saying that only half-jokingly) -- to "wipe guns from the face of the Earth." What utter stupidity!

As MythBusters proved and you have ignored, Christmas lights don't cause fires. You and the feds constantly repeating it as fact doesn't make it any more so.

 

[GodIsSalvation]

Tell me why they lied and claimed 258 deaths over a 33 year period have "been tied to Christmas lights" when the best numbers available don't link any deaths directly to Christmas lights malfunction? This is the same nonsense as your proposal -- in conjunction with your role as a DNC operative (saying that only half-jokingly) -- to "wipe guns from the face of the Earth." What utter stupidity!

As MythBusters proved and you have ignored, Christmas lights don't cause fires. You and the feds constantly repeating it as fact doesn't make it any more so.

I am not a DNC operative, you can keep your slander to yourself.

I said what their rationale behind the new regulations are. Even your own article says it. You tell me why your FOX News article says what it says.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Even your own article says it. You tell me why your FOX News article says what it says.

It is merely quoting the CPSC, which is the one claiming "Christmas lights are dangerous," which, again, is a lie.

Fox News itself makes no comment one way or the other -- unless you count the fact their home page used the word "Grinch" in the link to the article before I used it as the thread title.

 

[GodIsSalvation]

It is merely quoting the CPSC, which is the one claiming "Christmas lights are dangerous," which, again, is a lie.

Fox News itself makes no comment one way or the other -- unless you count the fact their home page used the word "Grinch" in the link to the article before I used it as the thread title.

Then there you go.