Great Name Great Name So Jonathan ...

So Jonathan Karl's writing an article that has a whiff of liberal bias is far more nefarious than CNN business "journalist" Lou Dobbs' espousing right-wing commentaries at the end of Moneyline ("MUGGER," 6/4)? Or Fox News' own business journalist Neil Cavuto calling Paul Krugman a sanctimonious twit and an ass? How does that work exactly?

David Bourgeois, Brooklyn

Taylor: Slammed!

Mr. Taylor: While we are no strangers to the pleasure of girl-on-girl action, it should be noted that lead singer Velocity Chyaldd, stage hostage Natasha and myself all fuck men ("B-Listers," 6/4). We just don't fuck men like you.

Ameryka, manhattan

He's Got Tired Feet

C.J. Sullivan: Thanks for the most fascinating piece of non-reportage I have seen in a very long time ("Bronx Stroll," 6/4).

Reporting on Jersey City from Brooklyn reminds me of something?I'm not sure what. It gives me an idea. I plan to do an article on the sordid history of a mobster from Manhattan. I'm thinking of interviewing a guy who lives near me?he mumbles to himself a lot, but knows some third-hand apocrypha, so I think it's real solid. He'll be my only source. Don't worry, you won't have to pay travel expenses, I'll just do the whole story here, in my comfortable apartment in Jersey City.

Jonathan Miller, Jersey City

When Hacks Attack

Regarding J.R. Taylor's recent assessment of the MediaBistro "Almost Famous" music journalism seminar ("Music," 5/28): As the "aspiring hack" who "questioned Halperin's suggestion that writers concentrate on bands with attractive performers," I really wish Taylor had approached me for comments or elaborations before speculating on the nature of my reaction and submitting the article. If Taylor were truly "more into figuring out why anyone else would bother" entering the world of rock journalism, it wouldn't have been hard to ask me or any of the other attendees why we would.

I won't bore you or the readership with a treatise on why I want to be a music journalist (or why I already am one, an option Taylor fails to consider, being so consumed with the "aspiring hack" motif). I will simply say that I learned a valuable perspective on the industry from someone who has been in it far longer than I have, and whether I agreed with all of Halperin's assessments or not, it was well worth the admission fee.

Joseph McCombs, Manhattan

Come and Get It

In reference to the Burlesque Brunch ("B-Listers," 6/4), I think it was exceptionally rude to make a comment such as "The NYC talent, of course, is reliably pathetic..."

Is this to say that we, all NYC entertainers, are reliably pathetic? This is completely rude. I would like J.R. to come out and see my work before he/she makes such stupid comments.

If J.R. would like to come and see one of my shows, give him my email, and I would be glad to forward info about my upcoming shows.

Amber Ray Cutting, Manhattan

Hot Chile

Trailer tales. Great stuff ("The Gist," 6/4). Trouble is, Bush will take it seriously and before you know it, we'll need the railroads back!

Gerry Frederics, Santiago, Chile

Courses for Horses

Spike Vrusho: You're a horseracing fan like a Yom Kippur Jew is righteous. Your lack of knowledge about the sport is equaled only by your know-it-all grandiosity. Where do you get your information? Oh, you told us?on the OTB crapper. ("New York City," 6/4).

First of all, anyone who bets at the OTB windows is a chump because the parlors take a five percent bite out of your winnings. Meanwhile, an OTB phone account, which is free, pays track payoffs. (So does the racetrack itself, but I wouldn't expect to find you there.)

Secondly, the best payoff on any race, from a maiden claimer at Finger Lakes to a Triple Crown stakes, is not a feeble exacta but a trifecta, which typically pays between five to 10 times as much as calling the top-two finishers. Even a blinkers-on handicapper like you might be able to find the win, place, and show horses in a six-pony field like this year's Belmont Stakes.

Thirdly, Jose Santos is not a jockey who is seen "going seven-wide." Only at bush league tracks do you see riders go that wide; Santos is known for positioning his mounts along the rail. Santos was the jockey who ended Angel Cordero's 11-year domination of the Saratoga riding title, and most racing fans in New York?which hosts the world's best thoroughbred racing?will include the Chilean in their list of top five jocks in the universe, along with Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Edgar Prado and Jorge Chavez.

So don't waste your ignorant pity or arrogant sarcasm on Jose Santos, who's such a loser he got 40/1 Volponi to the wire first in a minor race last October, the $4,000,000 Breeders' Cup Classic.

K.T. Harrison, Manhattan

Wearing It on Our Sleeves

It's a truism that those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. Bad enough, but, damn it; they also expose the rest of us to the dangers their ignorance has brought about. But I have a solution. Let everyone show his colors, so that an Arab hot to avenge the trashing of a loved one in Palestine or Iraq or wherever will know who to strike.

To put it bluntly, why should those who work and contribute and march for justice and peace be blown up along with the oil mongers and their ignorant (or paid) dupes? Let's wear armbands. Red would be pro-war, blue against. That way, a suicide bomber, surrounded mostly by blues, would delay his martyrdom; but when he finds himself in the midst of a bunch of cakewalking, high-fiving, backslapping reds...well...hey.

Dale Walker, Hoboken

What Bad Blood?

Alan Cabal: Just a short note to thank you for your kind review of my book Clubland ("Books," 6/4). I thought it was particularly gracious given the bad blood between the Voice and the New York Press.

Frank Owen, Manhattan,

Prudent CNN

Russ Smith's demi-rant ("MUGGER," 6/4) regarding CNN's squelching of news in Baghdad is not completely on point. Using some of the information the bureau obtained would have fingered both reporters and ordinary Iraqi CNN employees. If you create a story using a tip from an Iraqi employee, you consign them and his or her family to a horrible death. Ask yourself: how many times have you assigned a reporter to do a story that would result in the murder of an innocent person?

David Evans, Chicago