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Oklahoma senator files bill to ban paper straws
https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/oklahoma-senator-files-bill-to-ban-paper-straws ^

Posted on 04/24/2021 5:15:25 AM PDT by LouAvul

TULSA, Okla. — In honor of Earth Day yesterday, Senator Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed Senate Bill 1065 to ban paper straws in the state of Oklahoma.

“You have states, like California, where the leftist loons have banned plastic straws because they saw a video on social media about a sea turtle that was harmed by ingesting a straw,” Dahm said. “So, under the guise of helping the planet, they’ve banned plastic straws, resulting in who knows how many trees now being cut down to make paper straws.”

Under the bill, if passed, any licensed food establishment in the state of Oklahoma that provides a customer with a straw cannot distribute straws made of non-plastic materials, including paper or pasta.

“Hatred of paper straws is nearly universal,” Dahm said. “I’ve never met a single person who enjoys using a paper straw. They fall apart and turn to mush quicker than Joe Biden trying to string together a coherent sentence.”

Since the bill was filed after the filing deadline, the measure can only receive a hearing as a committee bill or it can be refiled ahead of next year’s session.

“Some may think this bill is silly, and I certainly would prefer if we just legalized freedom and pursued an actual free market,” Dahm said. “But as long as there are those interfering in the market with things like plastic straw bans, I’ll engage in any way possible to expose and counter those regulatory schemes.”

While some may not find the seriousness in this issue, Dahm said plastic straws should actually be celebrated.

“In all seriousness, plastics and petrochemicals have changed our planet for the better. Many people don’t realize the plastic they use every day is a byproduct of our oil and gas industry," Dahm said. "When we talk about Earth Day, we should be celebrating the industry that fuels our cars, heats and cools our homes, has advanced farming and food production and helped raise the standard of living for people across the planet.”

Dahm also made some disparaging remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, expressed his disappointment regarding Dahm's comments.


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I especially like this:

“I’ve never met a single person who enjoys using a paper straw. They fall apart and turn to mush quicker than Joe Biden trying to string together a coherent sentence.”

1 posted on 04/24/2021 5:15:25 AM PDT by LouAvul
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To: LouAvul

The first time I encountered a paper straw, it was when I ordered a milkshake.

I could hardly believe the stupidity. The straw was not in any way up to the task of transporting a thick liquid milkshake from the cup to my mouth. It just became soggy and collapsed every time you tried.

I ended up going back and having to get a long plastic spoon in order to consume the thick drink.

What is worse for the environment? A thin plastic straw, or a long plastic spoon?

Typically stupid Leftism and Environmentalism.


2 posted on 04/24/2021 5:26:09 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: LouAvul
A couple of years ago I flew to Ohio to visit In-Laws. On my return, I'm sitting in a bar in the Columbus airport, ordered a Bloody Mary. Bartendress slides me the drink and I asked for a straw. She goes all Katy Couric Perky, and with a big smile says "Here at the Columbus Airport we're going Green to Save the Planet!" I said "Yeah, I can see where 4 inches of plastic, which could be re-cycled, would be so much worse than burning the half million pounds of Jet-A since this conversation started."

She turned off the Perky.

I slid he tip back into my pocket.

3 posted on 04/24/2021 5:28:55 AM PDT by Feckless (The US Gubbmint / This Tagline CENSORED by FR \ IrOnic, ain't it?)
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To: LouAvul

Does anybody remember the pea shooter with a paper straw?


4 posted on 04/24/2021 5:33:15 AM PDT by HighSierra5
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To: Feckless

So you didn’t tip her because of a decision made so far over her head she had no idea who made it? Or was it her cheerfulness that pissed you off? Either way, you’re a jerk.


5 posted on 04/24/2021 5:35:50 AM PDT by stormer
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To: stormer

She was too dumb to see the irony, too.


6 posted on 04/24/2021 5:37:54 AM PDT by Feckless (The US Gubbmint / This Tagline CENSORED by FR \ IrOnic, ain't it?)
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To: LouAvul
It was the same place I ordered a sundae once, and when I asked for a cherry on top, they said they didn't serve cherries anymore because they were "unhealthy".

As I started to sputter, I felt my wife's hand on my back, a sure sign she was trying to calm my incredulous indignation down.

I said "What? Really? Unhealthy? More unhealthy than a fat and sugar filled sundae?" as I pointed at a sundae another customer was walking away with.

See...it wasn't about the cherry per se, as nearly everyone I tell this account to seems to assume.

It was about something far more dangerous than a cherry-it was about the acceptance or legitimization of GIVING other people the power to make choices for you about something as innocuous as a maraschino cherry. And in my gut, as I sputtered trying to express what my instincts told me, I knew my outrage I was feeling had nothing to do with a stupid cherry. I could buy a jar of them at a store less than five minutes away.

It was about someone telling me what was good or bad for me, and not allowing me to make my own decisions on that.

Because if they will eagerly assume that power and exercise it over a cherry, think of other areas of life they would be willing to employ it in. Look at what we see with mask mandates, social distance requirements, and vaccination endeavors. Same thing.

And this paper straw BS is the same thing. Exactly. We ban them because we think it is good for you.

It brings to mind a famous quote by C.S. Lewis:

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult.

To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals."

7 posted on 04/24/2021 5:39:45 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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Do they still use paper straws? I guess I haven’t paid that
much attention but I don’t remember getting a paper straw
any time lately.


8 posted on 04/24/2021 5:43:06 AM PDT by deport ( )
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To: deport

There are places where plastics straws have been outlawed by legislation. There are companies that have chosen to eschew plastic in favor of paper straws as a way to Green virtue-signal.


9 posted on 04/24/2021 5:50:00 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: LouAvul

10 posted on 04/24/2021 5:54:23 AM PDT by Daffynition (*Mega Dittoes and Mega Prayers* & :))
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To: LouAvul

Another frivolous Oklahoma politician. I sort of get the point but I have not seen a paper straw since Noah was a child.


11 posted on 04/24/2021 6:05:45 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (Politicians are only marginally good at one thing, being politicians. Otherwise they are fools.)
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To: LouAvul

Did you think they would stop after plastic straws? Do you think they will stop after paper straws? The goal is to bring down the entire industrialized society that depends on petroleum products.


12 posted on 04/24/2021 6:07:09 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Voltaire: To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.)
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To: LouAvul

The best way to insure that your plastic straw ends up in a sea turtle’s nose it to recycle it.

Regular trash goes straight to your nearest landfill. Absolutely zero chance of the straw getting to the ocean.

But if you recycle it, it could be shipped overseas where it is manually sorted for recycling. Unfortunately dirty plastic won’t be used so it gets dumped in the nearest river or body of water. Cue the sea turtles.

So feel free to use plastic straws but don’t fall for the recycling scam.


13 posted on 04/24/2021 6:07:37 AM PDT by 5by5 (ad)
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To: Daffynition

Paper straw in big plastic cup. Careful - they will ban the plastic cup next


14 posted on 04/24/2021 6:11:08 AM PDT by FatherofFive (We support Trump. Not the GOP)
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To: 5by5
don’t fall for the recycling scam.

Here’s an article about Tulsa recycling. We only recently incorporated recycling into our virtue signaling trash collection regimen, but the plant burned. And it's not expected to reopen for 6 to 8 months. That likely means another year.

Yet, people are still segregating their trash and putting out the recycling cans.

15 posted on 04/24/2021 6:25:44 AM PDT by LouAvul (Lying headlines from fake news articles written by pimps masquerading as journalists.)
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To: LouAvul
I think everyone (left AND right) are missing a fundamental fact in this discussion: the use of the phrase "single-use". For both plastic cups and plastic straws.

For the eating establishments, not having to run glasses, spoons, and straws through the dishwasher means that, for smaller stores, they don't need a dishwasher. Ever get take-out at a sit-down establishment? When you ask for utensils, you get plastic, but when you order in you get stainless steel.

Paper straws are a cop-out -- they don't work.

In my case, I have a nice drawer of reusable dinnerware, so when I do take-out I bring it home and not add to the plastic waste stream.

16 posted on 04/24/2021 6:26:03 AM PDT by asinclair (Political hot air is a renewable energy resource)
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To: LouAvul

I tend to agree. I had few paper straws at Disney and it changes the drink. I was hoping it’d improve the drink. Boomers always brag about how tasty the shakes were when they were kids and used paper straws. Once again, boomers get it wrong. No surprise.


17 posted on 04/24/2021 6:27:33 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016 )
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To: stormer

he may have withdrawn the tip after “she turned off the perky”


18 posted on 04/24/2021 6:40:05 AM PDT by ronniesgal (Hillary wants to be Governor of New York!!)
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To: Feckless

So you didn’t tip her because of a decision made so far over her head she had no idea who made it? Or was it her cheerfulness that pissed you off? Either way, you’re a jerk.


19 posted on 04/24/2021 6:46:43 AM PDT by stormer
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To: I want the USA back

Dentists won’t be happy when no one has a toothbrush any more.

Plastic-—every single bristle....plus handle.

How about your comb? Brush?

Who has taken a few minutes to WRITE DOWN as many things as they can that will be affected???


20 posted on 04/24/2021 6:47:46 AM PDT by ridesthemiles ( )
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