Michael Fumento

Think your publication gets blasted by angry readers? Check out the hate mail sent to Michael Fumento, www. fumento. com. But be forewarned: This can be strong stuff.

The science and medical journalist, a former editorial writer at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and legal correspondent at The Washington (D.C.) Times, specializes in busting what he calls popular media "myths" such as the "overblown" dangers of heterosexual AIDS, the "Gulf Lore Syndrome" and "Anthrax Angst Syndrome."

Fumento also whips readers, many of whom claim to be Gulf War veterans, into incoherent fury.

In one of the calmer dissensions to the "Gulf War Syndrome" article, a respondent writes: "I hope you die a painful death from extreme prostate cancer, you [expletive]. Good Day."

Fumento claims he receives a lot more fan mail than hate mail, but "the nasty stuff makes for more interesting reading."