Food Fight
I'm writing to you about [Cover story, "Cheap Bastards," Aug. 18, 2005], specifically the Top Five Lunches Under $5 list.

Every day, when you walk out of the City Paper office, there hangs a sign on the door of the Khyber that reads: "Tacos $1.50 or 4 for $5.00/Meatball Sandwich $4.00." Granted, Taqueria Veracruzana is a quality establishment, but the rest of your list is fraudulent. The crispy orange roll? You'd be better off with four Little Debbie snacks for $1. Even more hysterical is the $3 bag of salad with last night's chicken. Come on, really?

The Khyber meatball sandwich boasts Esposito's beef, DiBruno Brothers cheese and Sarcone's bread. It fills someone's belly way more than any tuna club ever could. How about two tacos for $3 and a bottle of Pabst for $2? That equals $5, City Paper! Khyber also plans $4 seasonal specials like the chicken pesto and provolone sandwich and the maple glazed ham and brown sugar sandwich. I'm just saying let's pick our heads up, notice our surroundings and give the Khyber its due. In these troubled financial times of George W. Bush-League America, I've gone out of my way to keep the price under $5, so let's notice. Go Eagles.
Casey W. Parker
Daytime bartender, The Khyber

Revisionist History
In her latest rant, Nancy French writes, "Kerry's unwillingness to apologize for past actions demeaning veterans surely served as a catalyst for those Swiftboat ads" [Slant, "No Apologies," Aug. 18, 2005]. Boy, when it comes to rewriting history, you sure can't beat these neo-cons! "Past actions demeaning veterans"? Opposing a war that was wrong was demeaning veterans? Trying to prevent more people from being killed was demeaning veterans?
Terry Callen
Gloucester City, N.J.

Give Him a Raze
Demolishing the Dilworth home would satisfy the standard of serving the public interest for two reasons [Loose Canon, "Clever Vinnie," Bruce Schimmel, Aug. 11, 2005].

Firstly, it's acknowledged in architectural and preservation circles as a not-so-good fake Colonial home. It just sort of degrades Washington Square. The argument for preserving the home has nothing to do with its architecture but rather solely with history. The book Philadelphia: A 300-Year History mentions Dilworth's move to the Square (which is not actually in Society Hill) in a single sentence, but, while few people dispute that Dilworth was the principal political architect of Society Hill's revitalization, the authors do not attribute its rise, either wholly or in part, to the construction of the home. It seems to be the stuff of legend. Demolition would also serve the public good by apparently improving, with the erection of the proposed tower, the structural integrity of the architecturally significant Athenaeum building that is adjacent to the Dilworth home.
Bill Faust
Center City

Correction
[News, "Science and Human Nature," Doron Taussig, Aug. 18, 2005] stated that the University of Pennsylvania, in its HIV-vaccine study, would enter the names of participants into a database. Penn will not enter names; it will assign participants ID numbers, and enter those to preserve confidentiality. Also, while most participants are expected to be African-American, women of all races and ethnic back grounds are being recruited.