Letters to the editor, April 8

PETA: Pink slime or not, meat is gross

The top producer of pink slime - bright pink ammonia-treated meat that has long been used as a filler in ground beef - has halted production at three of its four plants. It's a start, but once meat production stops entirely, then we'll really have something to celebrate.

All meat - whether it includes pink slime or not - is gross and unhealthy. It's high in cholesterol and saturated fat, and contributes to heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. A recent Harvard study shows that people who eat red and processed meats are much more likely to die prematurely.

Instead of eating meat - which is the flesh of thinking, feeling animals who raise families, form friendships, mourn when they lose a loved one and are terrified by the sights and smells of the slaughterhouse - why not enjoy tasty mock meats and other healthy and humane vegan foods?

See www.PETA.org for free recipes and product suggestions.

Heather Moore, PETA Foundation

Norfolk, Va.

Why do we pay top dollar for filler in beef?

Having watched the news regarding the pink slime that has been reported in hamburger, I wonder why, including myself, I have been paying top dollar for ground chuck or extra lean at any price from $3.79 a pound to $4-plus.

The Food and Drug Administration claims that the product is safe, but, why am I and many others paying top dollar for a filler? The FDA claims that the pink slime is only 10 percent in hamburger. Fine, but I should not have to pay top dollar for a product that claims to be extra lean.

After checking my hamburger, it does state 100 percent ground beef. It does use ground beef, but does not state any other additive.

Where do we go from here? Nowhere. The beef industry does use pure beef in their products, so, according to the FDA they are accurate. That is what they go by. Where do we go from here?

Sue Holmes

Dayton

Oil laws need to be enforced

Way to go Deano! That's going to bat for us. After bad-mouthing the oil companies and the billions of tax dollars they receive in subsidies all week, our Senator stayed with the party line and voted against repealing them. Recall this front page headline? "Heller: Plug big oil federal tax breaks."

That was the day before March 28. Will we see "Heller folds"? I wonder.

I don't claim to be any sort of economist, but I think I can understand the fact that a weak dollar contributes to higher oil prices. However, the fact that at least 50 cents of that dollar, weak or strong, goes into the pockets of the oil companies or commodities speculators every time we pull up to the pump has not changed. Don't blame OPEC.

Here are some fun facts: It costs the oil companies an average of around $20 to produce a barrel of oil. It ranges anywhere from about $5/barrel for domestic land production to $35 for the most expensive deep sea wells. Oil is at $106? The oil companies own 53 percent of the refining capacity of this country. The Enron loophole, slipped into a farm bill back in 1999, allowed investment banks and hedge funds to control unlimited numbers of commodities' contracts making manipulation of energy markets possible.

The Financial Reform Act of 2010 gave the government the power to regulate these speculators, but these laws aren't being enforced. Why not?

How about some answers Senator Heller?

Patrick McGuire

Carson City

Heller should back up his talk with votes

Appointed Senator Dean Heller has proven once again that he is nothing more than a lackey for Big Oil. Less than 48 hours after urging Congress to close some oil company tax loopholes, Sen. Heller voted in lockstep with his fellow Republicans to continue $24 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the five biggest oil companies.

With oil prices hovering at approximately $100 a barrel and oil companies netting billions of dollars each financial quarter - the three biggest U.S. oil companies made more than $80 billion in profit, with Exxon pocketing nearly $4.7 million every hour - what justification can Sen. Heller give to continuing these taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil?

Not content with these subsidies, Big Oil is charging a premium at the pump. They are making record profits by hitting us twice - first with the subsidies, then with exorbitant gas prices. And, mesmerized Republicans think this is a good idea?

Sen. Heller has shown that he will say anything to the people of Nevada, but when it comes to voting, he takes his marching orders from Washington Republicans, not his constituents.

Jeffrey L. Russell

Minden