[Libloather]

"They just put weapons in our hands."

What would happen if one compact fluorescent was accidentally busted on the Capitol steps? I guess that would be considered a terrorist attack...

[SERKIT]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

[Free State Four]

Keep Our Own Kids Safe program

Closely related to the Keepers of Odd Knowledge Society.

Will I let one of those compact flourescent lightbulbs into my house? NO! But, please.

[sionnsar]

Sheesh. As a boy, every time a fever thermometer broke I collected the mercury to play with (20 or more times a CFL’s mercury) and decades later I’m still perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perfectly fine perf

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

Congressman Poe (Texas) takes this point up in a speech in the U.S. House: http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-LOtKIIKcg

[Retired Chemist]

What a load of BS.

[Cicero]

I hate to say it, but this sounds like two cases of hysteria, with Rush feeding the frenzy.

Is he serious about this, or is he joking?

Jonathan Edwards as your trial lawyer if you drop one of these bulbs?

Good grief.

[JRandomFreeper]

I went to CF bulbs long before the libs started noticing them. Then the LED bulbs.

I'm assuming that my pack a day habit is much more dangerous.

This is a bogus, distracting issue.

Those of us that want to engineer a living space that requires the least amount of energy ($$) with good living conditions have been looking at conserving resources (my re$ource$) for a long time.

Energy($$s) saved at home can be expended on the range, and when precision 50BMG rounds from Arizona Ammunition are more than $5US/round... I need to save pennies.

/johnny

[Retired Chemist]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/26/mercury_leaks_found_as_new_bulbs_break/

[cripplecreek]

[uglybiker]

[Zhang Fei]

This is an interesting account. My experience has been different. I’ve been around quite a few broken fluorescent tubes (the four foot kind) - back when I was working at a hardware store to pay for college, and never encountered symptoms remotely like the ones described.

[LibertyRocks]

My MIL & FIL were both urging my husband and I to get rid of our “regular” light bulbs because it would “save money”. We tried to explain to them the risks associated with these new “compact flourescents”, but they are from Illinois, and they simply wouldn’t believe us because after all the government there had just passed a law about requiring them! *rolls eyes*

Anyway, it’s not just about accidental exposure to a broken bulb that I’m worried about here - what about our landfills and waterways? I don’t recall any special programs being toted out to take care of disposal of these bulbs. The general public has NO CLUE that they even contain mercury to begin with.

Very scary, and just another example of how the liberals (especially politicians) - when something “feels good” or “sounds right” are so quick to jump on the bandwagon.

[redhead]

I have a “XXXX” allergy to mercury in any form, including the vapor. For me, it takes the form of a “poison ivy” rash all over my body, which itches agonizingly, and takes several weeks to clear. Needless to say, I try to steer VERY clear of any place where mercury might be present.

[Tired of Taxes]

My husband started stockpiling CFLs a few years ago when he was able to buy them cheap through his employer. He replaced every incandescent in the house with a CFL bulb. I didn’t know about the mercury until recently. We probably broke a few of them and just threw them in the trash, not knowing any better.

A month or so ago, I warned my sons about broken CFLs and what I’d been reading. Days later, one son accidentally knocked over a CFL in our garage, and it broke. He immediately ran out of the garage to tell me. I searched the internet and followed the directions, airing out the garage for 15 minutes before scooping it up and wiping the surface. But I wasn’t as careful as required. Both my son and I are fine. We had no reactions at all.

I find the caller’s story just too incredible.

(FTR, I do oppose the gov’t telling us we have to buy them.)

[jonrick46]

I sensed that Rush was milking the broken fluorescent “victim” for all its worth. Rush's target is the socialist in Congress that would dictate what products we can and cannot use. Rush was doing this as an exhibit of the ways of unintended consequences and how humans, for selfish reasons, can make up consequences or make them look worse than they are for personal gain. This also goes for those who will capitalize on a perceived problem for political gain. I cite the mercury consequence as a means for govenment to further invade our lives:

Suppose the government decides that this mercury problem from compact fluorescents was a major problem. Suppose a home owner had to get government clearance of mercury levels in ones household before one could sell a house. Imagine that such home inspections would cost the home owner big hefty fees for someone to come out and wave their high tech detectors around. If mercury were found, imagine the cost to decontaminate the house. Imagine if this inspection was required for renters before they could leave a rental and the inspection fee and possible decontamination fee was included in the rental deposit. This is a case of how the government is setting up the public for huge costs much like people in years past painted their homes with lead based paints, only to find out later they had a toxic material to clean up.

[MarkL]

I remember playing with mercury (which Rush called "elemental mercury" on his show) with my bare hands when I was little. Granted, I didn't eat it, but I remember trying to pick it up, and then rolling some of it around in the palm of my hand...

Should I call the hazmat team? Granted, it's been about 40 years... Hey, maybe "elemental mercury" is more dangerous now than it was then! Sort of like how a guy at work keeps telling me that the ethanol made from sugar cane is better for your car than the ethanol made from corn or other sources. I tried to convince him that "ethanol is ethanol," but no go.

Mark

[singfreedom]

I'd be in favor of taking them into the Capitol and dumping them on Pelosi and Reid's desk. Maybe all the enviro halfwits will die of Mercury poisoning—more ominously, maybe all the rest of us will die of mercury poisoning. That would make all the tree huggers happy wouldn't it? Perhaps the real reason for these “dem bulbs” is the population reduction enviro nuts so covet?

In the meantime I'm buying a huge supply of incandescent bulbs. I'm NOT bringing those things into MY house!

[marsh2]

Remember the “Mad Hatter” in Alice and Wonderland? Hatters often suffered from mdaness because they used mercury in the top hat making process.

[maine-iac7]

http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/homeowner/cflbreakcleanup.htm

[ADemocratNoMore]

I remember an event a few years ago where someone broke a mercury thermometer in the street and the guys in moonsuits showed up and had the street blocked off for over two days while they decontaminated. My thought at the time was that somebody was really cleaning up while they were cleaning up.

Figuring $100/hour for each man in a 3 man crew plus a supervisor along with other costs probably meant the taxpayers paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000. Easy money once you've established the mindset that you have to call in the hazmat guys.

Coincidently, on the subject of mercury, did you know that the Michelson - Morley apparatus sat on a slab of marble 1.5 meters square by .3 meters thick that floated in a pool of mercury, which, I'm sure had far more than a few thermometers worth of the stuff in it.