News about Sarah Palin being taken apart in Vanity Fair, or of Mark Sanford's dalliances, Michael Jackson's death, or Al Franken finally claiming the Minnesota Senate seat -- well, each in its own way, was not really surprising to me. I was stopped cold, however, by word of a recall -- for the second time -- of potentially deadly, full-length women's chenille bathrobes.

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Is nothing safe? Is trouble lurking everywhere? Now there's a killer bathrobe? Do I have to worry about everything?

No, yes, yes and yes.

I got the news via a press release from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. I follow her mainly because she is involved in a big Illinois political drama right now, and is deciding whether to run for the U.S. Senate or for governor. She was at the White House earlier this month to discuss with President Obama a possible Senate run and then to huddle with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Madigan just e-mailed out a "consumer alert" about some 2,500 "dangerous robes" still in Illinois homes.
The full-length robes, sold by Blair, were worn by six people, three of them in their 80s, who died after their robes caught fire while they were cooking. Five of the victims were women.

In April, Blair worked with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall some 162,000 of these robes sold nationwide. Despite the recall, the word did not get out sufficiently, and those six people died. That's why the nationwide recall was renewed this month.

Practical info: the Women's Chenille Robes have the following item numbers: 3093111, 3093112, 3093113, 3093114, 3093115, and 3093116.

To get a refund or $50 gift card, contact Blair LLC toll-free at (877) 392-7095 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday. Web site at www.blair.com/recall, e-mail at blairproductrecall@blair.com.

As for me, I'm sticking with terry cloth.



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