What if Shirley Phelps died in a fire?

So you may or may not have heard that Shirley Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church won their Supreme Court case yesterday. If you don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain. The Westboro Baptist Church, with Shirley Phelps as their most outspoken member, are the ones you see on the news from time to time, protesting the funerals of fallen soldiers. Typically they carry signs that say things like "God Hates Fags" If you'll notice, that's actually their church website. I'm not making that up. I should note that when I tried to go there to investigate further, my browser wouldn't load the page. Maybe as a way of saying "I'm sorry, Dave. But I'm really not comfortable going to such a hateful place. I would rather go to 4chan than be a part of that."

Now I don't like to get into political type stuff. And I don't like to get into religious type stuff. It all makes my head hurt. But that's not what I see here. I don't see politics or religion. I see hate. And way too much of it. Regardless of your religious or political leanings, you have to see that this is all a bunch of hate that we just don't need. I was always taught that God loves all his children, but apparently he changed his mind and now he doesn't like the gay ones. Kinda makes me wonder who else God hates. Does he also hate his Asian children? Or what about his children with Alzheimer's? Maybe he hates his children that are left-handed?

I'm not a religious person, but I do believe this: if there is a God, he doesn't hate anyone. But I bet he's very disappointed with these hateful people.

Now, the Supreme Court ruled that these people could continue protesting the funerals (just Google Shirley Phelps to find countless articles about this) so it is legal for them to be assholes to the families of dead soldiers. But as Larry Wachs of The Regular Guys said: Its still legal to accidentally drop a bucket of urine on Shirley Phelps' head.

There's a Worst Everything

Earlier today I was watching a George Carlin special  from the 80's on Netflix. Much like everything Carlin did, it was hilarious. But there was one thing that he said that really stood out to me. I can't remember the exact quote, but it was something to the effect of:

Somewhere in the world is the worst doctor, and someone has an appointment with him tomorrow.

Think about that. I mean, really think about it. There is a worst doctor out there. It could even be your doctor. You might be that appointment. You could even get more specific with that. There's a worst Urologist, a worst Gynecologist, a worst Oncologist, even a worst Dentist. Or worse yet, a worst Neurosurgeon.  And you could be seeing any one of them. Now its one thing to have to deal with the worst waiter or worst tailor, but a doctor has your health in his/her hands.

There are only a few other things that can come close to comparing to this: worst mechanic, worst building safety inspector, worst nuclear power plant technician.

I don't mean to scare you with this. I'm just saying, make sure you check out the people you trust your well being to.

Meat Week 2011: Day 8

That's it. Its over. We're through. Meat Week 2011 is in the books. I can't believe I made it all 8 days. But its like I've said all week, "Its called Meat Week, not Meat A-Couple-Of-Days." We spent the last day at Captain Tracy Galasso's house affectionately dubbed The Galasso Home for Wayward Carnivores. I hate myself for not remembering the names of the people who actually cooked the meats but they did an amazing job. The kitchen smelled like what I assume heaven smells like. Everything was delicious. I spent at least an hour after eating just sitting on the couch trying to keep from passing out into a meat induced coma. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience. It was great to meet so many interesting peole and I hope to see them all next year, if not sooner.

I'd like to thank our Captain Tracy for going out of her way to make sure it was a great Meat Week for everyone. I think we can all agree that she did an amazing job. I'd also like to thank our Meatographer Jeff for capturing all those great moments that you can see on the Meat Week site. Finally, I'd like to thank and congratulate every Meat Weeker who came out to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with us. Thank you all for being awesome people and making the experience all the better.

Now, get ready. Prepare yourselves. There's less than a year until the next Meat Week. Will you make it all 8 days?

WHAT I ATE:
Pulled pork (with some kind of peach sauce that was awesome), Sausage (I can't remember what kind but it was awesome), A fried chicken breast, Various sides and desserts, Sweet Tea


As always, pictures can be seen over at the main site for Meat Week

Meat Week 2011: Day 7

Almost at the end. Its been a long hard road but I've enjoyed it. Community Q BBQ was good. Not great but good. The Mac n cheese was actually pretty delicious. Got to meet a few new Meat Weekers and get to know some familiar faces a little bit more. Not a lot to say about it other than I may have caught the dreaded ittis. You know that feeling that you just can't go on anymore and you can feel the met coma slipping over you. That's where I was yesterday afternoon. I've had a great week but I'm honestly glad its almost over. Just one more day.

WHAT I ATE:
Beef brisket sandwich, Mac n cheese, coleslaw, Sweet Tea (bad)/ Mr Pibb (good)

Pictures can be seen over at the main site for Meat Week

Meat Week 2011: Day 6

By far, the best night yet. We ate at Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q in Atlanta. Now I'll admit, after last year, I wasn't that impressed with Fox Bros. But in 365 days they got something right. I loved everything I tried there. Last year I felt that everything was just kind of blah. But this year it was amazing. It was packed as it always is on a Friday night. The group actually showed up in waves and it was so crowded that we actually had tables scattered throughout the restaurant. But that didn't stop us from having a great time and eating some delicious BBQ. I highly recommend...everything. It was so good. The things they do with chili and tater tots are phenomenal. If you ever have the chance to go there, by all means please do. The head chef even took us to the smoke house and let us look around in the smokers. It was absolutely incredible. They had some specials last night as well including friend ribs. They fried the ribs! They double battered them and fried them! These came with a special white barbecue sauce that was amazing. They also had the best brisket that I've had all week. In fact, it was the best brisket I've ever had. The chili mac was incredible. It was all so delicious. You should go there now...if not sooner.


WHAT I ATE:
Fried ribs, Chopped brisket, Chili mac, Tater tots, Sweet Tea

Pictures can be seen over at the main site for Meat Week

Meat Week 2011: Day 5

Last night was a good time. Saw a few new faces and ate some great food. D.B.A. Barbecue is one of the best places we've been to this week. They have a pretty huge menu with a lot of variety. They are also one of the few BBQ places I've seen with appetizers. One of which being boiled peanuts, which I love. Not a lot to say about the evening. It was pretty normal. A bunch of cool people hanging out, talking and eating. One thing I can say about the place is their drink selection. Not many barbecue places offer a full bar and even fewer have moonshine on the menu but there it is. There's even a bacon martini.

WHAT I ATE:
Boiled peanuts, Pulled pork, Mac n cheese, Coleslaw, I also tried a piece of fried bacon and a corn muffin

Pictures can be seen over at the main site for Meat Week

Meat Week 2011: Day 4

Last night was cold. Even inside of Rolling Bones Premium Pit BBQ. It didn't really help that all they had were metal chairs and tables. But the meat warmed us up. It was a bit different than last year. Back then we had so many people that they actually shut down the restaurant for us. Then they just brought out pans of pulled pork and chicken, bowls of baked beans and coleslaw and as much bread as we could eat. This year, we didn't have nearly as many people so we ended up just ordering for ourselves. Not a lot to say about last night. It was good but not great. I enjoyed it but it doesn't really stand out.

WHAT I ATE:
Beef brisket sandwich, French fries, Sweet tea/Sprite (the sweet tea was kinda nasty so I had to switch)

Pictures can be seen over at the main site for Meat Week