Letters: Way too much Kirstie Alley

Regarding your May 24 article on overweight celebrities, (“Famously Fat,”) Kirstie Alley exemplifies for me a case of self-absorption, gluttony and exhibitionism replacing talent, and it irks me to see her splashed on your front page.

Please, leave her to her natural home, the tabloids. There must be so many more suitable subjects for the Health section.

Marilyn O’Kane

Torrance

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You report that, despite the advantage of nutritionists, diets and fitness experts, certain celebrities are still getting fatter. Why? The popular answer is that Americans are gluttonous and have modern machines that do not require any physical exercise. I will convey the unpopular but correct answer: Americans are programmed by their DNA to get fatter.

In the 1930s, fatter Americans died later than thinner Americans because of tuberculosis, which allowed fatter Americans to survive longer than thinner Americans. So fatter Americans passed on their genetics to the next generation.

Today tuberculosis is ravaging Asia. Therefore, Asians, who are thinner and more fit than Americans, will pass on their fatter genes to the next generation, who, in turn, will get fatter — and so on.

Robert Ligon

La Crescenta

Irritating talkers

The article on cellphones [“Hang Up, Please, May 24] really hit the mark. If anything can be too ubiquitous, “halfalogues” are. Being exposed to a half a conversation on a cellphone is really intrusive and annoying.

Congratulations on the story; hopefully more exposure and publicity on this subject will be forthcoming.

Hugo Jones

Oceanside

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