This is disgusting!

This was forwarded to me from a friend. Just when you think the world couldn't sink any lower . . .

March 29, 2011 - ACTION ALERT

Biotech company using aborted fetal cell lines to test food flavor enhancers

(Largo, FL) Children of God for Life is calling for a public boycott of major food companies partnering with Senomyx, a biotech company that produces artificial flavor enhancers using aborted fetal cell lines to test their products.

In 2010, the pro-life organization wrote to Senomyx CEO Kent Snyder, pointing out that moral options for testing their food additives could and should be used. But when Senomyx ignored their letter, they wrote to the companies Senomyx listed on their website as "collaborators" warning them of public backlash and threatened boycott. Food giants Pepsico, Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, Solae and Nestlé are the primary targets of the boycott.

Senomyx website states: “The company's key flavor programs focus on the discovery and development of savory, sweet and salt flavor ingredients that are intended to allow for the reduction of MSG, sugar and salt in food and beverage products....Using isolated human taste receptors, we created proprietary taste receptor-based assay systems that provide a biochemical or electronic readout when a flavor ingredient interacts with the receptor.”

Their collaborators provide Senomyx research and development funding plus royalties on sales of products using their flavor ingredients.

“What they don’t tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors”, stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director for Children of God for Life, a pro-life watch dog group that has monitored the use of aborted fetal material in medical and consumer products for years.

“They could have easily chosen animal, insect, or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors”, she added.

In writing to their collaborators, it took three letters before Nestlé finally admitted the truth about their relationship with Senomyx, noting the cell line was “well established in scientific research".

Both Pepsico and Campbell Soup also responded.

Shockingly, Pepsico wrote: “We hope you are reassured to learn that our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers. This will help us achieve our commitment to reduce added sugar per serving by 25% in key brands in key markets over the next decade and ultimately help people live healthier lives.”

Campbell Soup was more sensitive in their response: “Every effort is made to use the finest ingredients and develop the greatest selection of products, all at a great value. With this in mind, it must be said that the trust we have cultivated and developed over the years with our consumers is not worth compromising to cut costs or increase profit margins."

While Campbell didn’t state they would change their methods, their response, gave Vinnedge hope.

“If enough people voice their outrage and intent to boycott these consumer products, it may convince Senomyx to change their methods”, she noted. “Otherwise, we will be buying Coca-Cola, Lipton soups and Hershey products!”

See www.cogforlife.org/senomyxalert.htm for mailing addresses of Senomyx and the food companies.

We shouldn't be surprised at the world but ashamed . . .

One of the main concerns in the world today, are the children who are growing up without values, little needful education and a warped sense of what is right and wrong. There is a try to do unto before you are done to mentality which is wrecking havoc on our American way of life. In our pursuit of happiness, many are conveniently forgetting Who is blessing us with our gladness in life. The powers that be on earth are certainly not in line with the Power that is in Heaven.

An older person (who should have known better!) explained to me once that politicians have to please the majority in order to keep peace in the land. And, if the majority favors agendas that might be personally against the morals of the political leader, well then he or she will have to strive to keep his or her personal feelings out of it and govern with a compromised term of office. It is very much a contradiction when you consider “There is no power but from God.” yet many people translate authority to meet their desired way of life rather than using God’s Commandments.

The last few months have really brought to light the definitely skewed values that are held by so many people. The mentality seems to be that you should do your job and try not to get caught if you stray in any way with your personal life. Integrity doesn’t seem to have a place in many life styles and beliefs today. And anyone who is shocked at these seemingly sudden turn of events must have been sleeping the last couple of decades or so.

We now have laws in our land that sanction and even promote abortion for any reason. Euthanasia is no longer the stuff of science fiction novels. Partial birth abortions that result in total anguish and death for the unborn child is being fought over with the death squads winning. Marriage is an outmoded way of life and pro-creation is reduced from a God-given blessing to nothing more than pro-recreation thanks to the contraceptive mind set being cultivated.

The world is not a place to take at face value anymore. Simple trust is not feasible if you want to survive the spiritual holocaust that is feeding into our lives from all sides of our lives. Just perusing the morning newspaper reveals a climate that is, for the most part, incompatible with gaining the final glory of Heaven. The sad thing is that very few are being educated to care about this. And the future of the world depends on the education of the children of today.

I suppose you could read these mental wanderings of mine and find me rather pessimistic. Perhaps so, but take a moment to reflect. How many elected, political officials lack basic morality and integrity? How many laws have been passed that are in reality, incompatible with a basic, moral life? How many people overlook elementary yet essential values when voting in elections? How many Catholics are in this group?

Something different . . .

I love to cook and bake and am always looking for new and interesting ways to change or improve my recipes. This recipe has an interesting use for corn meal which makes for a good cookie that goes well with milk for the children or a well-deserved cup of tea for me!

True Grit Cookies

The cornmeal creates an interesting texture while the citrus give these cookies an unusual zest.

½ cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
Grated zest of two lemons and two oranges
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla and zest. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder until completely blended. Shape into rolls directly on sheet of waxed paper. Chill for at least two hours. May be kept up to three days in refrigerator.

Unwrap dough. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/8-inch slices. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake in a 325-degree oven until pale gold, about ten to 15 minutes. Makes about four dozen cookies.

Going deaf rapidly . . .

I once had an interesting experience. I was enjoying a busy morning of cooking and baking in my kitchen, watching the children play right outside the window. Suddenly, the air is infused with the most horrible of sounds that jolt me out of my wellbeing and startle the children and the dog. It took be a few seconds to determine that it was actually 'music' from someone's stereo and they had the bass turned all the way up to insure every neighbor's house was seemingly shaking on their foundations. Although it is against the law to disturb the peace ANY time of the day, it seemed outrageous that someone should require this sort of stimulation at that volume at ten in the morning. I discovered that it came from two houses down the street so I walked over to ask them to PLEASE turn it down.

I walked up the path to the door and the music was even more vibrant up close. It seemed like the noise was almost oozing out of every window and door. I knocked at the door. No answer! I rang the doorbell. No answer. I knocked even harder. No answer! I finally just leaned on the doorbell and soon the teen of the house yanked open the door. Before I could request a drastic volume reduction, she yells at me, "STOP ringing and knocking! My dad is sleeping and you will wake him up!" I had the presence of mind to kindly request that she turn down the volume or I would see that her dad was notified. She did so and we both walked away shaking our heads in disbelief!

Especially the first quote!

"Never judge a book by its movie."
-- J. W. Eagan

"We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police."
-- Jeff Marder

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."
-- Margaret Bonnano