Celebrating the holiday vegetarian style

Here are 10 great reasons for barbecuing veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs on Independence Day gatherings, rather than ground animal parts:

Focusing on traffic and fireworks safety rather than food safety.

Giving your eyes a break from reading government food warning label.

Avoiding cancer-causing compounds if barbecue temperature is too high.

Not sweating nasty E. coli and salmonella bugs if temperature is too low.

Giving your body a holiday from saturated fat, cholesterol and hormones.

Not sweating the animal cruelty and environmental devastation guilt trips.

Not having to explain to your kids why we cherish Fido but eat Babe.

Enjoying the exploration of veggie meal offerings in your supermarket.

Celebrating a day of independence from the meat industry. Sam Lostus

Santa Fe I don’t know about you, but I’m glad my kids are grown. Herman I. Morris

Plano

A dog’s life at Meow Wolf

I want to compliment the fine staff at Meow Wolf for averting a tragedy. Recently, my husband and I went to Meow Wolf and parked in the lot.

We decided to eat at a food truck there. While my husband went to get a menu, I waited in the car.

Hearing a noise, I turned and saw that a small dog had been left in the closed, parked car next to us. It was a hot day, and the car was parked in full sun. My husband noted the out-of-state license number and car description and informed the staff inside, who immediately took action.

They made announcements, came outside to see the situation and were prepared to call the police if no one responded. Fortunately, a family emerged shortly thereafter. Unhappy that their visit had been cut short, the family got in the car and drove away.

Thanks to the fast and pro-active attention of the staff and artists, that little dog’s life was saved. Lynn Clark

Santa Fe the greatest policy achievement by a Republican Congress in generations.” Will it? Roy says the free market health reform will “maximize the number of American who can afford health insurance.” But the Congressional Budget Office says that 22 million Americans will lose coverage.

Roy says the Senate bill will repeal Medicaid expansion. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says the bill is likely to increase drastically both the number of uninsured New Mexicans and the burden of uncompensated care borne by the state’s healthcare providers.

Health care premiums and other costs have “skyrocketed.” Perhaps they have for some, but we must face the underlying the cost of care per person per year — $8,233 in the U.S. versus $3,433 in the U.K. (2012 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data) with no better health outcomes.

As a start, let Medicare negotiate for drug prices, allow drug importation and reduce the amount of unnecessary procedures. Jenny Johnson

Santa Fe