Recently in kansas Category

I know I'm awfully hard on Topeka, but nine times out of ten they deserve it. However, today I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that someone, somewhere has a small amount of common sense, ambition and vision. I'm not 100% sure who that person is, but they deserve a round of applause.

In case you've been living under a rock lately, you just might know that Google wants to install an fiber optic network capable of gigabit per second speed in some city.

Prior to moving here we used Cox Communications for our broadband internet service provider. We never had any problems with them at all and the speed was top notch. Since moving here we constantly have problems and calling customer support is really not that beneficial.

The only other choice here is AT & T . . . Thanks, but no thanks.

Both of them charge about the same amount of money. So, really one has to wonder if there is any choice at all other than not having broadband. Both of them are more than happy to tell you that you will have up to X mb/s speed, but whether or not they actually deliver is kind of a crapshoot.

Which brings me back to Google. How awesome would it be to get some serious bandwidth up in this bitch! People around here are really serious about attracting Google and the fiber they'll bring with them - so much so that someone started a site specifically for the purpose of spreading the word and influencing others to participate and help. The mayor decided to participate as well. He has changed the name of Topeka to Google for the next twenty-some-odd days. So for the duration of the majority of March I live in Google, Kansas. I suppose that's better than Topeka - a good place to grow potatoes.

I hope we do get this opportunity. It would be kick ass. Perhaps living here would be bearable with Internet surfing speeds that fiber optics can bring to the table.

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?