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Wisconsin Designates State Microbe
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that state legislators in Wisconsin raced against the clock to pass a bill designating Lactococcus lactis as Wisconsin's official state microbe. 'The first time I heard the idea, I thought, I've got more important things to do than spending my time honoring a microbe,' says Gary Hebl, a Democratic state representative who proposed the bill which, he says, would make Wisconsin the first state in the nation to grant such a designation, 'but this microbe is really a very hard worker,' added Hebl, referring to the bacterium supported by the Department of Bacteriology at UW — Madison used to make cheddar, Colby, and Monterey Jack cheese. The proposal faced only one detractor in committee ('the opponent was clearly lactose-intolerant,' says Hebl), and there was no sign of a last-minute campaign from other bacteria, so by evening, the Assembly had approved the measure, 56 to 41. In case there were any doubts about Wisconsin's priorities, a separate bill also awaits consideration in Madison, declaring cheese Wisconsin's state snack."
... now that's just cheesy!
America, Home of the Brave.
Salmonella
that the really important problems are tackled, without fear or failure....
What's next, Michigan delcaring Fe(OH) their state mascott?
Proposed legislation will attempt to make Saccharomyces cerevisiae their State Bacteria.
Orwell was an optimist.
Well at least they're just engaging in harmless silliness - they could be screwing things up like most politicians seem to be good at.
delicious
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Wisconsin is the state synonomous with cheese. Nothing else, really. Just cheese. Everything they do, seemingly, is cheese-related. Oh, yeah, they have a pretty good football team from their city Green Bay. The team's fans are called "cheese-heads," and attend games wearing giant wedges of cheese as hats.
Seriously.
Well at least they're just engaging in harmless silliness - they could be screwing things up like most politicians seem to be good at.
Like everything else that ends up going horrible awry, this is starting "small" and "innocent". Just give them enough time and encouragement.
Something tells me that Wisconsin will be Jamie Oliver's next destination.
Actually, lactose intolerant people often appreciate it when bacteria break down the lactose before they eat the food.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
...we're fighting over bingo. So, you know, legislating official microbes actually sounds productive.
FAQs are evil.
The Onion always cracks me u... wait, what?
Actually, lactose intolerant people often appreciate it when bacteria break down the lactose before they eat the food.
brought memories of an old SNL skit - Pre-Chew Charlie's - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xas2fz_saturady-night-live-pre-chew-charli_fun
Funny how associative memory works....
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.
Unfortunately this suggestion did not survive. I believe the time is ripe to try again to implement this new motto.
If you think I invented phony "facts," see http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/us/wisconsin-s-license-plates-won-t-say-eat-cheese-or-die.html
--- Often in error; never in doubt!
i'm not really sure why, but in my mind, wisconsin means cheese and badgers
i'm not sure if that association is normal or random
PANIC! A SNAKE! SNAKE, AUGH SNAKE.... Aaargh, it's a Snake!!!
Mushroom Mushroom!
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I think the most serious issue they have is high cholesterol.
In case you think this is stupid, I just want to say that I'm from Wisconsin and I also think this is stupid.
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
Angry Wisconsin Resident here.
So they're willing to look at a bill for a microbe, but won't even touch an important bill such at the medical marijuana one.
http://www.immly.org/index.html
It's sort of unfair to refer to "American beer" when what you're really thinking of is Bud-Mil-Coors. Not so long ago, it was certainly true that you had a choice of crappy mass-produced beer and nothing else. But nowadays, decent beer is available in every podunk town. Of course, there's still an ocean of the swill produced, but good domestic beer is easy to find.
As a Wisconsin native, I can assure you that things run very smoothly compared to most states I've lived in, and if you read the article you can see that it took almost no time in all to put this through. We're generally very pleased with our politicians (as much as that's possible with politicians). We even have one of the few congressmen to vote against the Patriot Act.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
At least, unlike most state's official state birds, this microbe has a direct effect on the state's economy.
Legislatures do a hell of a lot of purely laudatory actions, we only hear about them when they're strange or funny. For example, Michigan's no-meat Saturday, responded to by a US Representative from MI proposing National Meat Appreciation Day. Sure, it's also a bit of political wrangling, but it's still equally a waste of elected official's time.
Write your representatives! Repeal the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics!
It costs money to print up stuff to tell people about this nonsense. They'll have little fliers or somesuch detailing all the official state things, and now a new run will have to be made up for this addition.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Texas attempts (seriously) to solve that problem by only allowing its legislature to meet every other year. Unfortunately, the governor works overtime in the off-years to make up for the stupid-government shortfall (and he can call the legislature into special 30-day sessions even in the off-year, if he needs their approval for something.)
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
When I was a kid, I grew up hearing my dad and all his friends refer to Leinenkugel (Chippewa Falls) as "squaw piss". And it really was back then. Since then, they've made huge strides in making the brand an upscale brand now.
I know that there are many craft breweries around Wisconsin. I visit many of them. But Wisconsin has never particularly been known for them.
I spend my springs/summers in NW Wisconsin and enjoy this part of the country very much.
They should have named Saccharomyces pastorianus the state microbe.
We don need no stinking Badgers, not when we have the fighting Lactococcus Lacti!
available nationwide:
Local choices will vary by location, but most mid-sized and larger towns have at least some kind of a local-ish beer choice as well.
The renaissance in homebrewing in the US really forced the beer industry here to get its act together. Having tasted the real thing, people became much less willing to drink the swill.
It serves two purposes. The state is the first to designate a state microbe, and as such will get publicity on news channels for it. Most states have large scale ad campaigns to encourage business and tourism. This is no different. The state is honoring, and making the public aware of one of the important players in one of Wisconsin's most well known industries. Whether it's wholly effective or not, they are, in fact, serving their constituents.
While I smiled when I heard this on the radio, and thought it was very cool, we here in southeast Wisconsin also need to get the regional transit authority (RTA) bill passed. Bus service in Milwaukee County has been reduced by 20% over the past several years, and we're about to lose a full third more if this doesn't go through. With our incumbent county executive who's got a penchant for starving government, we won't see any progress without the RTA. As I doubt my state legislators are reading /., I'll be calling them instead of just posting on here and hoping it gets done.
-- haaz.
While the bill is campy and fun, it does promote science and learning in an interesting way. You can bet that hundreds of science teachers will do a quick lesson on this microbe and why it's so valuable to their state economy.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Being from Wisconsin, I can tell you that they definitely find the time to screw things up. This is just a diversion. But really it is a diversion that gets attention for one of our state's largest industries. You're reading about Wisconsin cheese right now, and that's kind of the point. Free publicity.
We actually take a lot of pride in the state in our dairy industry, and many of artisan cheesemakers in the state win awards and prizes at a national and even international level every year. We still proclaim ourselves "The Dairy State" on our license plates, even though California* has surpassed us in total production. Milk is very much a part of our culture.
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
What is this "tator" addendum you speak of? BYT, I live in Houston.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Somehow I would have thought that Saccharomyces cerevisiae would have been a better choice for Wisconsin's state microbe. I'm only 2 states away from WI and I don't see much Wisconsin cheese on the shelves. Plenty of Wisconsin beer however.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Here in California we just voted to make the collective intellect of the state government and employees the official state microbe. :-)
Where can a buy the T-shirt so I can show my pride in the state's microbe ?
So this is what one of the nation's highest tax rates goes to pay for.
:(
Yes, we shouldn't ever focus on anything like "local culture" or find things to be proud of as residents of a certain place, or promote anything that isn't monotonous, requisite, fiscally appropriate. We ought to be freaking out and struggling to keep our heads above water at all times. There's no time to be human beings, we have drudgery to deal with!