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There's a television show in France called Groland that is sort of like the Daily Show à la française (meaning, there was cussing and nudity). One of the most memorable sketches I can remember was a fake report about growing frustration in Groland (a made up country somewhere in Europe) over shoddy Chinese products that break too easily.

Long story short, the last scene was a couple about to faire l'amour. Looking under the sheets, the woman was impressed at how large the man's baguette was and went to grab it. The man screamed as the woman pulled his broken, bloody baton from under the sheets in horror. Upon inspecting the bottom, she read "Made in China" in small letters.

Not funny? Guess you had to be there.

There's also the Simpson's where they go to China to adopt a child. You can see the plane loading something like "Aunt Betty's Homemade Apple Pie" along with other things (like maybe American flags).

Anyhow, according to this New York Times article, factories in China were responsible for every toy, twenty-four in total, that was recalled by the US government this year [via The Consumerist]:

Much of the rise in China’s ranking on the recall list has to do with its corresponding surge as the world’s toy chest: toys made in China make up 70 to 80 percent of the toys sold in the country, according to the Toy Industry Association.

Combined with the recent scares in the United States of Chinese-made pet food, and globally of Chinese-made pharmaceuticals and toothpaste, the string of toy recalls is inspiring new demands for stepped-up enforcement of safety by United States regulators and importers, as well as by the government and industry in China.

“These are items that children are supposed to be playing with,” said Prescott Carlson, co-founder of a Web site called the Imperfect Parent, which includes a section that tracks recalls of toys and other baby products. “It should be at a point where companies in the United States that are importing these items are held liable.”

That would be great, but:

In the last two years, the staff of the consumer product commission has been cut by more than 10 percent, leaving fewer regulators to monitor the safety of the growing flood of imports.

Some consumer advocates say that such staff cuts under the Bush administration have made the commission a lax regulator. The commission, for example, acknowledged in a recent budget document that “because of resource limitations,” it was planning next year to curtail its efforts aimed at preventing children from drowning in swimming pools and bathtubs.

First of all, they do that? All along, I thought it was the vigilant eyes of my parents and local lifeguards who kept watch over me as a little tyke. Now, I know it was the Consumer Product Safety Commission who kept me afloat all that time.

Oh, the horror of being a Bush-era infant: war, deficits, moral relativism, and no Consumer Product Safety Commission field officers to keep watch over you on your first jump off the diving board.

For you parents worried about lead paint on your children's toys or the buoyancy of your progeny, you can sign up for the CPSC's automated recall alert emails here.