Letters on Iran deal, gay rights, Chattanooga shooting, street sweepers, beautifying yards

Iran agreement helps avoid war

The Peace and Social Justice Center applauds President Obama’s achievement of an agreement with Iran. We are thrilled at this rare choice to avoid the lunacy of war and move toward a future free of nuclear weapons.

Although Iran does not even have nuclear weapons, there are three nuclear powers that do have substantial arsenals of nuclear weapons and have so far refused to allow inspections and join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Israel, Pakistan and India. North Korea has withdrawn from the treaty and has developed nuclear weapons.

To move to a safe future, the nuclear nations (United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom) must do more to decrease their arsenals. Instead, both Russia and the United States are spending money on maintaining and improving the quality of their warheads. We hope this agreement will lead to more sane policies in the future.

Orwellian tactics

Congratulations to the art establishment and to the media on their triumphant manipulation of society regarding gay rights and same-sex marriage. The tactics were sometimes nasty and heavy-handed, but as we all know, fear is a great motivator for social change.

One wonders why certain sexual practices were ever frowned upon, or why marriage was ever sanctified, or why heterosexuals are not much bothering with it.

Also, mention should be made of the prompt editorial condemning the attempt to protect religious establishments against legal action (“Extend full rights,” July 9 Eagle Editorial). Training the public to think and act correctly takes a stunning amount of vigilance and power. George Orwell would be smiling.

Not safer

Fort Hood, the Washington Navy Yard and now Chattanooga, Tenn. Apparently the decision to disarm base personnel hasn’t increased security at military installations. Those four U.S. Marines would have been safer in Afghanistan, where at least they could defend themselves. Here in America, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez only would have been considered a threat if he had been carrying a Confederate flag.

Mythical object

As I was walking along a street in west Wichita last week, I saw an incredible sight.

It was extremely hot, as the heat index was hovering around 104, so you could understand my skepticism as I peered through hot, wavy air as it rose in ripples off the asphalt street. There in the distance was an object I had only heard about through rumors and tales from the elders.

As I kept walking, this object kept coming toward me. Was it a mirage, or could this actually be true?

This slow-moving object was humming and whirring. It had funny-looking wheels with brushes that turned around as they touched the pavement. I stood motionless, somewhat afraid, but my curiosity kept me from running away. I took out my cellphone and, keeping a safe distance, snapped a picture. I then hurried home to Google what I had just seen.

It was a street sweeper.

I shared the picture on Facebook; soon my posting was being ridiculed, and I was labeled as an old fool. But I will go to my deathbed remembering that 16th day in July 2015 when I saw a street sweeper in action.

Beautify yards

Go across the street and sit on your neighbor’s porch once a week and look at your own yard. You will either see how beautiful it is or what needs to be done to improve your yard – like get rid of weeds, mow the grass, pick up trash, park cars in the garage or at least not on the grass, and keep trash cans out of sight.

You will think of other things to do – things that don’t cost anything but a little time. Let’s make Wichita more beautiful.

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Letters on Iran deal, gay rights, Chattanooga shooting, street sweepers, beautifying yards."