Recently in Topeka Category

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.

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."

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.

It doesn't take too much to start trouble in this booming metropolis called Topeka.

According to the local newspaper a state employee has a bumper sticker on her vehicle that states, "F*CK WAR." Although I prefer to replace the appropriate letter to complete the "F" word with an asterisk, the bumper sticker leaves no letters out. The state employee parks her vehicle in the statehouse parking garage. Evidently House Majority Leader Ray Merrick came across the car in the parking garage and he found it rather offensive. From there, he registered a complaint.

The owner of the vehicle was reminded:

. . . a research department policy restricting employees from participation in partisan political activities.

What does a bumper sticker that portrays that message have to do with partisan political activities? There's a bit of controversy brewing here as well. According to some sources, the owner of the vehicle's job was threatened if she did not remove the bumper sticker. However, Merrick denies that he suggested that she be removed from her position. So, who's not being 100 percent honest?

The Governor has come out in support of the employee's right to free speech. And clearly this is free speech. While I may not necessarily agree with the way the message reads, it is entirely non-partisan and the opinion of the owner. It could be phrased differently, for example, "WAR SUCKS" could send the message just as effectively.

If you would like to read this article, follow this link. However, this newspaper doesn't seem to understand just yet that people don't really want to have to create a login just to read one piddly news article. So, here's a link to bugmenot.