It will become illegal to eat human fetuses... wait.. what?

[custosnox]

Our legislative body at work.  What kind of stupid do they feed them over there?

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/21/oklahoma-republicans-introduce-bill-that-prohibits-the-consumption-of-human-fetuses-would-ban-stem-cell-research/?fb_ref=facebook&fb_source=home_oneline

[Jammie]

It looks like the politicians are bored and just playing more political games since the article says there's already a federal law banning it and the info that they are being used in food comes from a group with an agenda. If their Democratic counterparts vote against this silly bill, can you imagine how many people will believe the stories that Democrats  now support cannibalism? There's no intelligence or ethics left in the world of politics.

[patric]

http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB1418

We desperately need this, like we needed to make hashhish production punishable by life in prison last year.
Dont you know they just want to protect us?

[nathanm]

http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB1418

We desperately need this, like we needed to make hashhish production punishable by life in prison last year.
Dont you know they just want to protect us?

What? Why do they keep outlawing my business ideas. First the fetus-fed dogs (fetuses are good for the coat, you know!) and now the hashish manufacturing plan? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

[Ed W]

What? Why do they keep outlawing my business ideas. First the fetus-fed dogs (fetuses are good for the coat, you know!) and now the hashish manufacturing plan? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

You'd think this measure would be desirable just from the standpoint of the jobs it would generate.  I mean, Gov. Fallin said that the tar sands pipeline would have produced 250,000 jobs.  Big Tobacco is responsible for 53,000 jobs here in Oklahoma, and the porn/anti-porn business employs another 103,000.  Don't forget that as restaurants spring up serving new, exciting items like Irish Soup ala J. Swift, it will also spawn jobs for counter-protestors, ranting radio personalities, and cops to keep the peace.  It's a recipe for full employment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal

Just remember that 93% of all statistics are simply made up.

[patric]

http://www.goddiscussion.com/88742/christian-anti-abortion-group-says-aborted-fetuses-are-used-in-food-taste-enhancement-tests/
 
PepsiCo has a strong set of defined values we strive to live up to. Unfortunately, there is some misinformation being circulated related to research techniques that have been used for decades by universities, hospitals, government agencies, and private companies around the world. These claims are meant to suggest that human fetal tissue is somehow used in our research.

   That is both inaccurate and something we would never do or even consider.

   It also is inaccurate to suggest that tissue or cells somehow are being used as product ingredients. That's dangerous, unethical and against the law. Every ingredient in every one of our products is reviewed and approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

[custosnox]

http://www.goddiscussion.com/88742/christian-anti-abortion-group-says-aborted-fetuses-are-used-in-food-taste-enhancement-tests/
 
PepsiCo has a strong set of defined values we strive to live up to. Unfortunately, there is some misinformation being circulated related to research techniques that have been used for decades by universities, hospitals, government agencies, and private companies around the world. These claims are meant to suggest that human fetal tissue is somehow used in our research.

   That is both inaccurate and something we would never do or even consider.

   It also is inaccurate to suggest that tissue or cells somehow are being used as product ingredients. That's dangerous, unethical and against the law. Every ingredient in every one of our products is reviewed and approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

You don't expect them to use something like facts, do you?

[Townsend]

NPR grabbed the story.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/20/145539661/state-bill-outlaws-use-of-fetuses-in-food-industry-meets-visceral-reaction?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

A bill introduced in the Oklahoma Legislature has some folks scratching their heads, as it prohibits "the manufacture or sale of food or products which use aborted human fetuses."

Since the bill was introduced late last week by State Sen. Ralph Shortey, a Republican from Oklahoma City, corners of the Internet have been buzzing with the news, as people try to figure out two things: 1) is this real; and 2) is there any reason the bill might be needed?

News of the bill was first reported by the AP and The Daily O'Collegian, a student newspaper at Oklahoma State University. It sparked a lively debate in the O'Collegian's readers' comments section, which is connected to Facebook.

The AP and the O'Collegian say that Shortey didn't respond to calls for comment. Two calls from NPR to the senator's office went to voicemail and were not returned. But Tulsa radio station KRMG managed to get in touch with him to ask about the legislation, Senate Bill 1418.

The senator says that his research shows there are companies in the food industry that have used human stem cells to help them research and develop products, including artificial flavorings.

"I don't know if it is happening in Oklahoma, it may be, it may not be. What I am saying is that if it does happen then we are not going to allow it to manufacture here," Shortey tells KRMG's Nicole Burgin.

To that end, his proposed statute reads, "No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients."

My own research suggests that Shortey may have noticed a boycott directed at PepsiCo, which since 2010 has worked with flavor research firm Senomyx to develop sweeteners and other flavorings.

Based in San Diego, Senomyx has been accused of using proteins derived from human embryonic kidney cells in its research, which has been used by many large food companies. An article in the Miami New Times summarizes those claims, notes the company's denial of them — and also notes that in 2003, the company filed a patent for "recombinant methods for expressing a functional sweet taste receptor."

That patent, for what is essentially an automated taste test, was granted in 2008. It mentions HEK 293, or Human Embryonic Kidney 293, a widely available cell line that was originally cultured in the early 1970s from a human embryo in the Netherlands.

 
So, it seems that Sen. Shortey's bill mostly targets the potential use of stem cells in food research. But in the past decade, several attempts have been made to use animal stem cells to produce food. For instance, NASA has tinkered with using pigs' stem cells to grow "lab meat," according to a Popular Mechanics article from 2009.

The article continues, "Today, scientists funded by companies such as Stegeman, a Dutch sausage giant, are fine-tuning the process. It takes just two weeks to turn pig stem cells, or myoblasts, into muscle fibers."

And the group New Harvest has long been involved in the search for "meat alternatives," in the form of "plant-based meat analogs and cultured meat," according to its site.

Shortey's bill was among hundreds submitted just before the state's Thursday deadline, as Oklahoma legislators vied to get their bills entered for discussion in the upcoming session, which runs from Feb. 6 into late May.

Thanks to NPR Southern Bureau Chief Russell Lewis and KOSU's Rachel Hubbard for flagging the story.

[dbacks fan]

And people wonder why I don't want to move back to Oklahoma.

[dbacks fan]

Excuse me while I have a neighbor  over for leftovers.......

[custosnox]

Excuse me while I have a neighbor  over for leftovers.......

Do we dare ask?

[dbacks fan]

Oh, you can ask, just don't pay any attention to Jeffery, he's a picky eater........

[patric]

NPR grabbed the story.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/20/145539661/state-bill-outlaws-use-of-fetuses-in-food-industry-meets-visceral-reaction?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

The FOX affiliate in OKC apparently thought the allegations of Senomyx wanting to make fetuses food was real, and they got an interview with Shortey.

Really, they should know better than to tangle with PepsiCo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSGXe-x-E9g
(not safe for work)

[Townsend]

The FOX affiliate in OKC apparently thought the allegations of Senomyx wanting to make fetuses food was real, and they got an interview with Shortey.

Who said Fox talent was Mensa material?

[cannon_fodder]

I like that it specifies aborted fetuses.  It leaves aloje my niche market of miscarried fetuses for food products and various addidtives.  Its big in clean diesel.

Also on the agenda:
- Repeal of don't ask don't tell for OK National Guard (no word on how that works with DoD mandates or when called up)
- anti anti-discrimantion law for cities (ie. Cities can't say they won't discriminate on orientation)
- silencers for high powered rifles, for hunting... presumably hunting the most dangerous game

Already resolved issues: the economy, infrastructure, education...