TO THE EDITOR:

The Oct. 21 headline "Few minorities on suburb ballots" is absolutely trivial. What's the point?

Would we suburbanites be better served if it weren't so? I think not. The headline goes on to read "Despite major shifts in population." Well, there is your answer.

If, for instance, the African-American population had only recently increased in huge numbers in the city, would there be that many black candidates on the ballot for city council? Of course not.

Only established residents with some name-recognition usually run for office. Besides, why can't we elect Americans for once without looking for her or his skin color.

Hermann Deing, Finneytown

All the talk sending contradictory messages

I watched some interesting things on television last week.

A Democratic congressman stated that the Bush request for $87 million to rebuild Iraq and maintain a stable armed presence there would not be passed because there were too many things in this country that needed fixed because of the terrible economy.

Then a senator, also a Democrat, was arguing against this appropriation on the grounds that George Bush had created a terrible circumstance with his "go it alone" attitude that closed out the possibility of any cooperation from specific European nations and the United Nations; that the cost was too high to ask the taxpayers to carry in a destitute economy; and that Bush's actions in Iraq were unnecessarily costing American lives and we needed to get out.

As the morning went on I heard news about how Russia had joined the United States, and had pressured France and Germany to vote for the U.N. resolution, which will free troops and funds to assist in Iraq without giving control to the United Nations. I heard further news about how our economy was growing, with greater speed each day, with most economists giving the Bush tax cut as the major reason.

I also heard that Bush's request for $87 million was sure to pass. I heard the comparison by an economist of the $87 million sought to the $310 billion cost to our economy from the 9-11 attacks, who suggested that, economically, we should make such an investment in fighting terrorism on foreign soil.

A retired general suggested that the regrettable loss of American lives was, first of all, far less than the major loss of lives among terrorists and that, secondly, it was far less than if we would experience another 9-11 attack. Far better for car bombs in Baghdad than New York.

Ernest Bein , Anderson Township

It was wrong for U.S. to invade Iraq

Does the failure to find any stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so far, mean that is was wrong for the United States to invade that country?

This is not an easy answer, but a short and painful one. It was wrong for the United States to invade Iraq. I already knew that. I was for pursuing a multilateral, U.N. solution. Is it more wrong because the alleged reason (weapons of mass destruction) was "smoke and mirrors"? I would rather focus on what we can do now, and one thing is to allow the United Nations to be in charge of the reconstruction effort.

Deborah Jordan, Price Hill

No accident that Yanks are better than Reds

Jim Borgman's "Damn Yankees" cartoon [Oct. 18] highlights his small-mindedness. The New York Yankees have been successful for decades. It isn't an accident.

They don't tolerate mediocrity. They don't pay huge salaries to home town boys who don't produce or fire managers for having the guts to go after them (Jack McKeon).

The Yankees' financial success comes from winning, not whining. They fill stadiums wherever they play. Cincinnati taxpayers bought a beautiful professional stadium and were rewarded by the owners with a firesale of talented players. The second half of the season we paid top dollar to watch a farm team. I'd prefer the Florence Frontier League to that. At least you get what you pay for there. As for a professional team, I'll take the Yankees any day.

Bruce Suhr, Villa Hills, Ky.

This Tall Stacks visitor enjoyed it

A few hundred thousand people sure do feel sorry for Mark Helling and his wife ("Tall Stacks didn't impress this visitor," Oct. 18). Where in the world did they expect to find river boats? On Fountain Square? And buffet at the Maisonette? Our son had a buffet cruise aboard the General Jackson, here from Nashville, Tenn. He and his wife were "absolutely thrilled" with their experience, spent long minutes enthralled with the "awesome paddlewheel."

He praised the accommodating staff working the 1,100-passenger craft. He even said the buffet was good, the guitar pickers on one deck were great and the entire audience roared at the Hee Haw-type stage show.

Our daughter treated my husband and me to a cruise aboard the Celebration Belle (from Moline, Ill.) for the Parade of Tall Stacks. Oh yeah, it was crowded. Our daughter asked one of the staff members if he could please find a couple of chairs for her parents. He brought them within a few minutes. How fun it was to see all the dressed pleasure boats (tall stacks wannabees) along side, the volunteer and Coast Guard boats, hundreds of people lining banks and the Purple People Bridge, and thrilling to be parading in line with so many proud, fabulous Tall Stacks.

Evie Wandstrat, Dillsboro, Ind.

Baltimore visitors pleasantly surprised

My husband and I were in Cincinnati for the Ravens/Bengals game Sunday. While the game didn't end the way we would have liked, our stay in Cincinnati was so nice that I felt I had to write. Everyone we encountered in the Cincinnati/Covington area was so helpful and courteous. I was a bit nervous about wandering through the "jungle" of Bengals tailgaters, but we were welcomed by some great fans.

We were unaware of the Tall Stacks Festival when we made our plans to go to the game - what a pleasant surprise! We were only there for a weekend and weren't able to fully participate in the festivities, but we hope to take full advantage of the 2007 celebration.

Thanks for the hospitality.

Ann Hess, Baltimore

Bengals fans among best in the country

Five friends and I drove for nine hours from Baltimore to watch our team, the Ravens play the Bengals this past weekend.

As one might expect we got a lot of good-natured abuse from Bengal fans. During the game six young people who appeared to have had too much to drink began to scream obscenities at us mainly directed toward the women in our group.

This continued without stopping for more than a quarter of the game. That's the bad part. The good part is many Bengals fans came forward to try to quiet the unruly group. Eventually security controlled the situation. We spent the rest of the game having a good time talking and laughing with some of the nicest fans in the NFL. After the game we were approached by other fans, telling us how sorry they were for the behavior of that rowdy group. In the end we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to your city. We met many friendly people and are looking forward to returning and spending more time enjoying your wonderful area.

Tom Demetrakis, Lutherville, Md.