Nazi uniform worn as part of WWII reenactment
Re: “Newsmakers,” Oct. 12
It is preposterous to fault Ohio congressional candidate Rich Lott for wearing a Nazi uniform while taking part in activities with a reenactment society.
Did people fault Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin, and John Banner for wearing Nazi uniforms while making the popular 1960s television show Hogan’s Heroes? All three were Jewish (Klemperer was half-Jewish) and all three fled Germany under the Nazis. Banner’s family was murdered in the death camps.
Yet as actors, all three wore Nazi uniforms to play their roles. And that is all that Rich Lott is doing: wearing a Nazi uniform as an actor, playing a role.
Stephen Kosciesza
Silver Spring
Planned Parenthood abandoned founders’ eugenics
Re: “Poor school performance traced to single-parent families,” From Readers, Oct. 10
John Naughton’s letter attacking Planned Parenthood is just plain wrong. PP has not been around “for over a century”; it was founded in 1916. It left behind Margaret Sanger’s eugenics ideas (which were common throughout the world before 1930) generations ago, and exists today to promote women’s health and help them plan the sizes of their families.
Poverty, single parenthood, dropping out of school, sexually transmitted diseases, and the need for abortions are all problems that Planned Parenthood works hard to solve.
Attitudes like Naughton’s are the problem, and Planned Parenthood is the solution.
Edd Doerr
President,
Americans for Religious Liberty
Silver Spring
Drug industry cannot solve nation’s obesity problem
Re: “Abbott voluntarily pulls Meridia off market in U.S. and Canada due to heart attack risks,” Oct. 8
Last week’s withdrawal of the diet drug Meridia marks the latest setback in a long and frustrating quest for a pharmaceutical solution to our national obesity epidemic. Despite millions of dollars spent by drug companies, none of the handful of diet drugs on the market is considered very effective.
This is most unfortunate, for obesity has become the nation’s No. 1 public health problem, affecting one-third of our population. It’s a precursor to heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses that account for more than a million premature deaths each year.
Leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and inadequate exercise. This is particularly critical during childhood years, when lifestyle habits become lifelong addictions. The failure of the drug industry to come up with a dietary silver bullet places added emphasis on the diet/exercise solution.
The time has come to replace meat and dairy products in our diet with wholesome grains, vegetables, and fruits and to undertake a regular exercise program. Parents should insist that their schools introduce wholesome school lunch choices and should set a good example at their own dinner table.
David Konell
Arlington
