Results tagged “Topeka” from jsstudios.com

As I said a few days ago, I started a new job. While I'm still living in cubicle land, at least I have a window that lets in some natural light. It's kind of nice to be able to go stare out the window for a few hours minutes . . .

since I last posted. Yeah, I know. I've been doing stuff. I also noticed that it's been a real long time since I posted any photos . . . so here goes . . .

I found this guy at the annual, Miracle on Kansas Avenue Christmas Parade on Saturday night. My daughter was in the parade with the rest of her gymnastics team. It was cold, but fun. You can see the rest of these photos in my set at Flickr.

All I can say is, "It's about stinking time." Finally, someone gets the backbone to take these people to court and kick their stinking butts across the floor. In case you're not familiar, this is the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS that likes to go to the funerals of dead soldiers to protest homosexuality. Since I live in Topeka, I have to see these people all the time. It sickens me. Why KS has never really taken a stand against them, I couldn't answer. I haven't lived here all my life. I heard that Westboro handed Topeka's ass to them in a court case quite some time ago, but I don't know the details. However, here's the meat of what happened today:

A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.

Good on ya' Maryland.

A couple weeks ago one of the guys I work with offered me some free tickets to Heartland Park, a raceway here in Topeka, for the NHRA Lucas Oil Championships. First I had to make sure there were no conflicting events like soccer, bmx or birthday parties. It fit conveniently in so I checked with the kids to see if they were interested - and they were. I just hoped that they'd be able to tolerate the intense sounds. I remember, very vaguely, a trip to a race when I was very, very young. I couldn't handle it. The roar of the engines is much louder than you can imagine unless you experience it first-hand. Here's one of the many pictures I took:
  We didn't stay for long - about two or three hours. As someone who isn't incredibly interested in auto racing, ( especially drag racing ) it got kind of boring watching for two long. I was able to buy some earplugs at concessions for me and the kids so the noise wasn't really that big of an issue. I managed to take a few pictures and a couple videos. Follow the link below to see them.

I've often ridiculed the place I live - Topeka, KS. While I really don't particularly care for it, there are a few things here and there that I find make living here tolerable. But I'm not going to bore you with the positive things that I could possibly write about tonight.

Hell no!

Recently, the City of Topeka paid $150K for a survey, completed by some consulting group out of Atlanta, GA, to tell them what they need to do to improve the city and make it more attractive to businesses and people. The findings of the survey essentially say that Topeka is unattractive and it "has no sense of place."

"From an outsider's perspective, the community does not show well and does not present a strong sense of place and identity," according to the report. "While community entry corridors (the roads leading into the city) contribute to this impression, it is the city's lack of a strong city core that is the biggest challenge. There is no sense of vibrancy and no center of gravity that a new-urban center of arts, entertainment and housing would provide."

Not long ago I posted a link to a series of short movies on YouTube about a cult of hateful people who just happen to live in Topeka. These people call themselves the Westboro Baptist Church.

You may have heard of them ever since they decided to start picketing the funerals of soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. I learned a lot about them by watching those videos. I still cannot agree with their message or the manner in which they spread it. What I didn't know is that they have been protesting here in Topeka for the last fifteen years.

For a long time the citizens of Topeka decided to ignore them. They clued in to the fact that these people enjoyed the attention they received. When they stopped getting the attention from Topeka they decided to branch out and preach hatred at the funerals ( of homosexuals ) in other states. Then along came 911 and Afghanistan and Iraq. To them it must have appeared they won the lottery.

Since that time several states have enacted laws to prevent the picketing of funerals. Kansas can finally say that they are taking steps in the right direction. Yesterday our Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, signed a bill that will address picketing funerals.

Under the Kansas statute, picketing would be prohibited within 150 feet of a funeral one hour before, during and two hours after a service. The penalty for the misdemeanor offense is a maximum six months in jail and $1,000 fine. The law also contains a provision allowing family members to file civil lawsuits against people who defame the dead.

As I've pointed out before, I'd love to link to Topeka's newspaper website so you could read cjonline's version of the story. But, the Capital-Journal hasn't yet learned that there are other, much better, news outlets on the Internet that understand people don't want to be forced to sign up just to read a news article.

As much as I would like to say, "Bravo!" and give them a standing ovation, all I can seem to muster at this time is, "It's about time." Kansas became the 33rd state in the nation to enact this kind of legislation. The 33rd! Yet they've not only been harboring the very people that this legislation is meant to address, they've also been tolerating it from them for 15 years. The only drawback is the our Governor has directed the Attorney General to mount a court battle against the bill in order to test the constitutionality of it.

Who knows how long that will take?

First off - a bit of a disclaimer. I neither condemn nor condone homosexuality. You live your life and I'll live mine. I won't judge you if you don't judge me. I believe in the right to express your opinion. After all, I wouldn't be blogging with the freedom I have if I didn't. I also don't go to church on a regular basis.

I attended Catholic schools for a portion of my life and it's kind of hard to buy into what great people priests are when they condone the kind of violent behavior I saw ( and witnessed first hand ) while in school. Perhaps it screwed up my faith a little.

I want people to know that the beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church are not my own.

I didn't post this so that I could further their cause. They also do not reflect the beliefs of the vast majority of Kansas or the United States. I find the behavior of the people in this video rather despicable. You really have to wonder what has to happen to someone in their life to cause a deep hatred for others.

I first heard of the Westboro Baptist Church when my family and I lived in Omaha. A student at an Omaha high school had committed suicide and the members of Westboro decided it would benefit society to picket the kid's funeral . . . because the kid was gay. I debated publishing this post because I really don't want to give these people any more publicity than they already get at the expense of human emotion. However, I'm one of those kinds of people that believes knowledge is power.

Well, that and the fact that I have to at least try and answer the question of, "What screwed these people up so badly?"

When I heard about a University of Kansas Student who created a documentary about Westboro I was really interested in the film. However, the night it was to be shown to the public we had an ice storm and the 35 mile trip to Lawrence was out of the question.



So, when I found this documentary by the BBC on You Tube, named, "The Most Hated Family in America," I just had to watch it. I watched the entire thing - it's a seven part series of videos that will consume about an hour of your time.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to see K. Ryan Jones' documentary. I just haven't had one that works as well as watching it over the Internet.