Althouse: At the Black Sheep Café...

August 12, 2012

At the Black Sheep Café...

... you can't go too far astray.

61 comments:

KJE said...: I just got back from my first trip to Sturgis, and it absolutely kicked ass. Outlaw bikers, HOG members, and Biker's for Jesus, all in the same bunch.; 8/12/12, 11:24 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: ... you can't go too far astray.

You can if "God justified deceit when a righteous purpose is served,..."

And - with Mr. Romney - we seem to be headed down that road riiiight now,...; 8/12/12, 11:37 PM
rcommal said...: So, 40 years ago. Well, wink--or something like that.; 8/12/12, 11:51 PM
wyo sis said...: Crack, please---it's so old. If all the shit you predict happens I'll admit you're the greatest man on Earth. In the meantime give it a rest.; 8/12/12, 11:55 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Sturgis, Meade county South Dakota.

Named for Samuel D. Sturgis. Sturgis is famous for being the location of one of the largest sturgeon festivals in the world, which is held annually on the first full week of August.

It's little known among ordinary people who are not Air Force brats that as part of the Ellsworth Air Force Base complex, the land north of Sturgis, on a regular map that would be on the top, so on the top of Sturgis, that area, is dotted with 50 Minuteman missile silos only 3 and a half mile away. North. On top.

Now those silos are filled with water and stocked with ... wait for it ...

trout.

Sturgeon don't do well in silos.

So don't go there, north of Sturgis, on the top, because you could easily fall in one of those 50 silos. The silos no longer have lids. Those were removed so Russian satellites could confirm. Originally we tried to fake them out with false covers painted like an empty silos but the people on the ground noticed and that whole thing was busted.

But you can still get pretty good sturgeon caviar up there in Meade county.

But that's not why I dropped in.

This is the sort of thing that would crack up my dad but disturb my mum. Frown seriously, and I mean seriously and look askance in disgust as if she cannot stand the sight of me, or gave birth to a monster, so when she says I'm my father's son (not hers) I cannot respond because that's funny and now we're both cracking up.

The plate of rice with lamb is nothing to look at and nothing at all special so I don't know why I described it this way. There's no point to it.It's the sort of thing that just baffles my mother. So don't tell her please.; 8/12/12, 11:59 PM
rcommal said...: (Addendum: Maybe the majority of you would prefer this version.; 8/13/12, 12:06 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: wyo sis,

Crack, please---it's so old. If all the shit you predict happens I'll admit you're the greatest man on Earth. In the meantime give it a rest.

Why? I haven't been proven wrong yet - about this or anything else I've claimed - so what's your problem? Other than a discomfort with the truth?

You know what's "so old"? Being talked down to be a bunch of delusional wishful thinkers, that's what. And what's up with that anyway?

You so-called "conservatives" have been dissing liberal utopianism for four years now - only to back the Mormon version of it.

You so-called "conservatives" have been dissing liberal socialism for four years now - only to back the Mormon version of it.

You so-called "conservatives" have been dissing liberal belief systems for four years now - only to back the Mormon version of it.

You so-called "conservatives" have been dissing the liberal resistance to facts for four years now - only to back the Mormon version of it.

You know what's "so old," sis? Your hypocrisy. You don't "believe" in anything - any more than the Mormons do - and listening to your jawboning like you ever have is downright ancient.

Don't you dare propose to lecture me, because I've got your number. My bitch has been about integrity for years - and we all have years together now and can see who has it and who doesn't.

You wanna back Romney and his cult? Fine. But don't try to act like you have the right to say shit to me when you do so because you're backing all the same things you claimed to hate for the last four years.

I'm a conservative - and I plan on staying that way.; 8/13/12, 12:13 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Crack is the black sheep ;); 8/13/12, 12:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: How you doing, Lemmy?

Somehow, I've missed seeing your posts,...; 8/13/12, 12:23 AM
Palladian said...: I have to make a confession: I hate motorcycles. Not all motorcycles, just the loud ones. I knew someone who had some Triumphs and I liked those because they weren't particularly noisy, but American motorcycles just make me cringe. I also find motorcycle culture boring and irritating, almost as boring and irritating as I find horses.

Yes, that's right, I hate horses too. Not the animals so much, more the culture around horses. Nothing bored and irritated me as much as horses and cowboys and the Wild West.

I think there must be a link between my dislike of horses and my dislike of most motorcycles.; 8/13/12, 12:30 AM
Wally Kalbacken said...: I used to be all fucked-up on drugs.

Now. I'm all fucked-up on Jesus!; 8/13/12, 1:05 AM
Steel Turman said...: Crack?

You need to get out more.

Check for mold or something.

Maybe Chinese drywall.

Get help.; 8/13/12, 1:08 AM
Palladian said...: ... and, even worse, people on loud motorcycles trying to bring me to Jesus!

That's almost as bad as someone on a horse trying to bring me to Jesus!

Jesus, as we all know, eschewed both motorcycles and horses for donkeys.; 8/13/12, 1:20 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Steel Turman,

Crack?

You need to get out more.

Or maybe you do.

Do you deny the information at the first link I posted? If not, then explain to me why you would elect a guy who's part of a cult that tells you - to your face - that it's members will lie to you for their own ends.

Check for mold?

Buddy, you need a fucking exterminator,...; 8/13/12, 1:32 AM
Carnifex said...: Who else saw the crowd and Mitt slap down Garage at the rally in Wi. tonight. Someone isn't in the 99% anymore.; 8/13/12, 3:23 AM
Carnifex said...: Deadbeat Debbie Wassermanhater denies she knows the politics of the superpac that put out the dead wife ad. Do democrats have no shame of the sheer syupidity of their lies?(rhetorical question. We know the answer); 8/13/12, 3:27 AM
Carnifex said...: Breitbart has a story on how Zero treats reporters...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/11/Obama-Campaign-Officials-Ban-Journalists-From-Interviewing-Voters-At-Rally

Nice.; 8/13/12, 3:42 AM
Jim S. said...: If anyone's interested, the consensus of scholarship agrees that there are a few historical facts surrounding Jesus of Nazareth that are demonstrable, provable, established historical facts. Here are a few that I consider most relevant:

1. Jesus was crucified and killed.
2. Jesus' corpse was interred in a solid rock tomb.
3. A few days after his death and burial, Jesus' tomb was found empty.
4. Individuals and groups of up to 500 people saw, heard, and spoke with Jesus after his death. This includes skeptics.
5. The earliest Christians believed that Jesus had been physically, bodily, literally raised from the grave. This belief arose immediately after it allegedly happened in the same place it allegedly happened (Jerusalem).

It should also be pointed out that very few of these scholars accept Jesus' resurrection. They're not biased in favor of it. One can certainly deny these facts, but then they have to explain why the actual experts on the subject disagree.; 8/13/12, 4:16 AM
edutcher said...: The woman The Blonde is helping take care of probably won't last the week. To her credit, Herself brought down her blood sugar and temp when both were at the lethal levels this weekend.

When her friend said she was building good karma, The Blonde answered, "No, I'm securing my place in Heaven".

And she is.

And yes, Madame, God is looking out for you, too.

Chip Ahoy said...

Sturgis, Meade county South Dakota.

Named for Samuel D. Sturgis.

Colonel of the 7th Cavalry at the time of Little Big Horn; his son was killed in the fight.

Dad was on staff duty in St Paul.; 8/13/12, 5:48 AM
RazorSharpSundries said...: The dude who just bought a Harley next door and starts it up and leaves it running in the bottled up courtyard by my apt. bldg where the earth-shaking sound has nowhere to go but bounce off my apt. walls on a daily basis at 5 am and 5 pm - he can meet Jesus anytime now, please God, put him to sleep in Jesus' lap.; 8/13/12, 5:57 AM
Farmer said...: I'm filling out a form for my first physical therapy appt. So after the hundredth irrelevant, annoying question I come to this:

Because abuse is so common in our society it is (our) policy to ask all patients about abuse in their lives.

Abuse is so common in our society? I don't think I believe that. And then...

Are you now or have you been in a relationship in which you have been hurt, injured, threatened or emotionally abused.

Emotionally abused! They thought they could sneak that in at the end!; 8/13/12, 6:42 AM
John said...: "Abuse is so common in our society?"

Because we are all victims... because if we were not there would be no need for a protector or savior. Because we cannot take care of ourselves we need surrender to 'the one' or to the many.

Along the same lines - it has become common practice in the local doctors office to ask if there are guns in our homes. You know, an ounce of prevention and all...; 8/13/12, 7:10 AM
Clyde said...: "Blessed are the bikers, for they shall have bugs in their teeth."

I think it's in the Good Book somewhere...; 8/13/12, 7:18 AM
KCFleming said...: "Are you now or have you been in a relationship in which you have been hurt, injured, threatened or emotionally abused."

If you answer yes, they won't do anything about it except women get a Women's shelter card and men get, uh, well, women get a Women's shelter card.; 8/13/12, 7:25 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Someone here--it may have been Michael K--suggested that I read Steven Pressfield's Killing Rommel after I mentioned thoroughly enjoying Gates of Fire. I would like to thank him for the recommendation, as I am about 1/3 of the way through it and liking it a lot. But it's a bit depressing to me, just the same, as many WWII books are. Such a generation will never be seen again, I think.

My nephew is the same age as the young men who fought WWII, and he's perfectly content in his physical/spiritual weakness and cultural/historical/literary ignorance while yet knowing everything there is to know about entertaining himself with video games and anime culture. He has a degree, but is utterly uneducated about enormous swaths of his own Western civilization. (He once said to me, "Was that Caesar guy Greek or Roman?" Also, he took one literature class as required in college, but other than that has never read anything--not one single thing--written before 1950.) There are many more like him these days, as has been observed by many people. I don't mean to disparage our fine military, but if WWIII happened today, the average young people in our society who would of necessity join the military are so soft and spoiled that they could never achieve what was achieved by average Allied kids in WWII raised on a steady diet of hard work, cold water, books, moral expectations and scarce resources.

In fact, when I read him the quote from a British Army circular at the front of the book ("Only men who do not mind a hard life, with scanty food, little water and lots of discomfort, men who possess stamina and initiative, need apply.") he snorted derisively and said, "They need a new marketing person." It was a totally foreign idea to him that a person might be motivated toward circumstances marked by something other than a selfish, childish concern for comfort and entertainment.

So I expect to continue enjoying reading the book, but it bothers me to have the thought continually arise that I'm not sure we could win that war today. It seems kids of my generation (I'm 32) and younger were raised to think mostly in terms of what's in it for them.

Or maybe I'm wrong and I just know particularly lazy twentysomethings.; 8/13/12, 8:01 AM
Anonymous said...: Such anti woman sentiment the last few weeks around here by the male of the species. Talk of women having an advantage because they can choose to either stay home or work, or talk of women having children only to secure a cushy job as a stay at home mom, or Even comments by one commenter saying boomer women are unhappy bitter bitches who don't love their children. Now Pogo being envious of abused women because there are such things as women's shelters, really Pogo, sre you serious?

I never knew there was such anti women sentiment, maybe it's just because I've been hanging around this blog and reading the deepest darkest feelings of resentment and envy of and for women, by conservatives men. I'm shocked, actually.

Do liberal men resent women in the same way, I wonder? Or do they resent women at all? Or is this more prevalent on the right?; 8/13/12, 8:11 AM
campy said...: So Oop doesn't think there are any abused men. Why doesn't that surprise me?; 8/13/12, 8:35 AM
edutcher said...: "Anti-woman sentiment" consists primarily of not buying Oop's moby nonsense.; 8/13/12, 8:44 AM
KCFleming said...: "really Pogo, sre you serious?"

Yes, certainly.; 8/13/12, 8:45 AM
Anonymous said...: Ed if you had an ounce of common sense, you would've discerned that I am not a Moby by now. Actually Ed you make your fellow conservatives look pretty bad at times, I suspect it is you who may be the Moby.

Campy, yes I acknowledge there are abused men, but in what numbers? Enough to warrent opening men's shelters in the same numbers that women's shelters exist?; 8/13/12, 8:51 AM
Carnifex said...: How about just opening up the same shelters any abused person?; 8/13/12, 8:53 AM
KCFleming said...: We live, largely, in a matriarchy, Allie.

Black Americans, and an increasing number of whites do so directly, the rest of us indirectly, via the State, our national Mommy.

NY City and Chicago are the worst examples. Homeland Security is another.

And the matriarchy isn't going so well.; 8/13/12, 8:58 AM
Anonymous said...: So Pogo, what should we as a society do, open some men's shelters, or close women's shelters, or do nothing and continue to resent the fact they exist at all.; 8/13/12, 8:59 AM
Carnifex said...: Drudge linking to the "moderators" for the up-coming debates. I don't know who negotiates for the R's but they suck at it.

Anyway it's Jim Lerher of PBS(which side of the aisle does he hang out on?)
Candy Crowley, she of the death ticket wish comment about Romney/Ryan this past weekend.
And Bob Schieffer. Say no more! Say no more. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Hey RNC! Get the Priceline guy next time. He'll do a better job than the current nin-com-poop.

I swear, I don't think the RNC is happy unless they are committing suicide.; 8/13/12, 9:01 AM
KCFleming said...: I'm not anti-woman, but rather anti-feminism.

I don't resent women's shelters, except where they treat all men as rapists. I was not allowed to bring food and clothing donations to their house in town. My wife had to do it.

I am male and therefore guilty.

I don't ask for men's shelters, just that you take note how women find such abuse a cause for laughter or at least indifference.; 8/13/12, 9:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Carnifex, you have a point there.

Pogo, did the patriarchy era produce less abused women? Maybe less men were abused.

Ah well, I hope some young men and women can still come to a meeting of the minds and other things and continue to fall in love, marry and not resent each other in the end.; 8/13/12, 9:05 AM
Carnifex said...: How about a moderator list of John Stossel, Bill O., and Juan Wiliams instead?(Williams is a lefty that got kicked to the curb for daring to question D dogma. He doesn't do it near as much but every now and then he does let the truth escape his lips.; 8/13/12, 9:07 AM
KCFleming said...: "Pogo, did the patriarchy era produce less abused women? Maybe less men were abused."

Why would you think the latter occurred? Boys, like men, have always been disposable.

The matriarchy has landed us in the same hateful place, merely switching genders for the favored jobs in businesses and government.

Which was in fact the point of feminism. Nothing else.; 8/13/12, 9:16 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: "Anyway it's Jim Lerher of PBS(which side of the aisle does he hang out on?)
Candy Crowley, she of the death ticket wish comment about Romney/Ryan this past weekend.
And Bob Schieffer. Say no more! Say no more. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

That is bullshit. All pro-dem lefties.
Obama: Why don't people understand how wonderful and amazing you are?
Romney: When did you stop beating your wife?; 8/13/12, 9:18 AM
Æthelflæd said...: Erika-

I know quite a few of just the sort of young men you are talking about. However, I know even more young men who will make the world a better place. Maybe it is because I hang out with homeschooled Christian kids in Texas, who still tend to play football, hunt, become Eagle scouts, build houses in the summer in Haiti, and read old books. All is not lost.; 8/13/12, 9:19 AM
Carnifex said...: Here's the problem. Most women find alpha males alluring, but they mistake the physicality of an abuser for that alpha maleness(if I use poor words it's because I lack the proper ones) So they get burned. Tragic, but then most of life is.

I can't tell you how many women would only have 1 date with me until I learned that lesson. They would always tell me "You're too good for me." When I finally actually listened to them I got more action than I could handle.

You want the bad boy, you get the bad boy. I feel sorry for those women. I've got 1 in the house now running from her abusive boyfriend. I had to listen to how "He was her soulmate" and crap like that while she's having hysteria.

But I can't pretend that a lot of women don't put themselves in that situation.

Ps

The abused woman living with us says I'm okay, because I'm "safe". ie. I'm too good for her.

You women have no idea sometimes.; 8/13/12, 9:22 AM
Anonymous said...: Pogo, you deny that until the Suffrage movement and beyond, there was not a patriarchy? It was legal for a man to beat his wife, because she was his property. That doesn't sound like a matriarchy to me.; 8/13/12, 9:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Carnifex, some women are dumbasses.; 8/13/12, 9:26 AM
KCFleming said...: "Pogo, you deny that until the Suffrage movement and beyond, there was not a patriarchy?"

No.

In replacing it, matriarchy merely demands that women win and men lose, especially the white ones.

Now women can accuse men of rape or child molestation without any proof, and the man is guilty. They get kicked out of colleges on one co-ed's say so, even if all proof says otherwise.

Women are promoted over men because they are women, in Homeland Security and other places.

The same bad ethics, the same evil, but women think it's better because they've won. No different than Islam in my book; both want a boot on the neck.; 8/13/12, 9:31 AM
Anonymous said...: Pogo, women haven't won, if men now resent the hell out of them, there that proves I'm not a feminist, I'd be rejected as a feminist failure.

I still put love and respect above having it all and being a "conquerer" of each other. What about equality, give and take, ying and yang?

I hope my daughters husbands don't end up resenting them, or their own daughter's.; 8/13/12, 9:43 AM
Fen said...: Allie Ooops: yes I acknowledge there are abused men, but in what numbers? Enough to warrent opening men's shelters in the same numbers that women's shelters exist?

"The ignorance! It burns!"; 8/13/12, 9:52 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Now we see where the democrat faithful got their talking point.
Bullshit from on high.

The Romney and Wyden-Ryan plans preserve traditional Medicare

"The Obama campaign, upon learning of the Paul Ryan pick, went straight for the jugular. Ryan’s plan “would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors,” said Obama spokesman Jim Messina this morning. But that’s not true.

As we’ve documented extensively at The Apothecary, the Wyden-Ryan Medicare plan—so named because it was coauthored by progressive Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.)—only applies to Americans younger than 55 years of age, and gives those younger individuals the option of remaining in the traditional Medicare program, or choosing a comparable private-sector insurance plan.; 8/13/12, 9:52 AM
Ralph L said...: What I find weird is the women who go from one abusive relationship to another. I guess it's imprinted in their brain when young, but isn't that one definition of insanity, repeating the same thing and expecting a different result?; 8/13/12, 9:54 AM
Fen said...: There are 2000+ abuse shelters in the United States, 1 of which is dedicated to men.; 8/13/12, 9:56 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/13/12, 10:04 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Because abuse is so common in our society it is (our) policy to ask all patients about abuse in their lives

You are signing up for a "physical therapy" class!!! Not psychological counseling.

Why do they think that they have the right to ask you those questions? What does that have to do with being able to do reps to improve your abs or strengthen your back muscles? Furthermore.....just what do they plan to do with that information.

I would either tell them to take their policy and stuff it......or make up the most horrific and grossly detailed answers possible and see what happens.

Just like the doctors asking if you have a gun in your house. My answer is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.; 8/13/12, 10:10 AM
KCFleming said...: @AllieOop said...
"I hope my daughters husbands don't end up resenting them, or their own daughter's."

Best of luck to them, though the deck is stacked against it.

They will make more money than their husbands, and the husband will have few rights in the marriage or divorce.

The reasons for men getting married in the first place are diminishing as well.; 8/13/12, 10:22 AM
John henry said...: Carnifex asked:

"Pogo, did the patriarchy era produce less abused women? Maybe less men were abused."

It was not very long ago that severe physical abuse of men by women was the object of hilarity in the Sunday comics:

Andy Capp's wife beating on him with the small suitcase she carried as a purse.

Mr Dither's wife (in Blondie) beating him with an umbrella.

Luizy beating on husband Snuffy Smith with a cast iron frying pan.

Maggie beating on Jiggs with a rolling pin.

In radio, there was a recurring character in Fibber McGee, Mr Wimpole, who was constantly getting beaten by his wife.

When women abuse men, it is a matter for humor and mocking.

Woman on man abuse should be viewed as just as despicable as man on woman abuse.

One fact about domestic abuse is that it occurs at similar rates man on woman, woman on man, woman on woman (lesibian relationships) and man on man (gay relationships)

Domestic violence is about violence without regard to gender.

John Henry; 8/13/12, 10:38 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The war between the sexes. The war that never ends.
Advantage: women. Certainly, men still have the physical advantage. Looking ahead at the youths of today - a generation of angry boys raised on angry rap music and video games - what will be the end result? I do not think it will be good.
I see both females and males are reared with self-indulgence and not enough work ethic. In fact, no ethics. Just - give me mine/ government will give me mine/ screw you.

I'm pretty pessimistic.

Still, some individuals give me hope and inspiration.; 8/13/12, 11:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Interesting article with statistics on domestic abuse and lots of links from Freakonomics; 8/13/12, 11:05 AM
Carnifex said...: Thanx for the shout out, but that wasn't me ;-)

As far as women moving from one abusive relationship to another, I think it's a product of low self-esteem. Wifes ex-best friend,ex because she kept doing this and we we're expected to pick up the pieces...after so long,20 years, we said enuff was enuff, don't do it any more. She went out and did it again. Married a guy she knew for 2 weeks AFTER catching him banging her underage daughter. That was the last straw for us.; 8/13/12, 11:40 AM
John henry said...: Allie Oop pointed us to an interesting Freakonomics article. Something that jumped out at me was this:

Female victims often experience domestic violence in multiple forms, including physical violence, rape, and stalking. The vast majority of male victims, meanwhile, experience physical violence only.

Stalking = violence? I agree that it is threatening and scary and has a potential to become violence. I don't have a problem with it being illegal. But it doesn't seem like "violence" to me.

It also sounds like domestic violence when applied to men does not include stalking.

If there is a different definition of domestic violence for men and women, how can they be compared in any meaningful way?

One idea that strikes me is that men may not feel as threatened by a female stalker as vice-versa and may not report it as frequently.

John Henry; 8/13/12, 2:24 PM
Farmer said...: Dust Bunny Queen said...
Why do they think that they have the right to ask you those questions? What does that have to do with being able to do reps to improve your abs or strengthen your back muscles? Furthermore.....just what do they plan to do with that information.

Hell if I know. They were nosing around with their annoying bullshit at the hospital when my girls were born too. A breast feeding consultant heard me say "goddamnit" while I was changing a diaper. This was reported to the social worker who came up to talk to my wife (I was downstairs getting a coffee), the idea being, as far as I can tell, that saying "goddamnit" while changing your first diaper after having just been through a 27 hour labor followed by a c-section, followed by a day and a half of the twins waking up constantly and the nurses coming in to take blood pressure, making sleep next to impossible, is apparently a sign that I might have been abusing my wife.; 8/13/12, 2:41 PM
Farmer said...: Allie, I don't know if you were referring to me but I take domestic abuse very seriously. I don't take the term "emotional abuse" very seriously because it can, and often does, mean things as trivial as losing an argument, or being called a name.

And in any case, I think it's absurd for them to imply that asking every single patient if they've been abused is going to reduce the level of domestic abuse in the community. Does anybody believe there are a bunch of abused women out there keeping it a secret until somebody finally asks them about it on a questionnaire at the doctor's office?; 8/13/12, 2:45 PM
Anonymous said...: No Farmer, I was actually taken aback by Pogo's comment, not yours. I agree that delving into people's privacy is getting absurdly common.; 8/13/12, 3:08 PM
Æthelflæd said...: " Hell if I know. They were nosing around with their annoying bullshit at the hospital when my girls were born too. A breast feeding consultant heard me say "goddamnit" while I was changing a diaper. This was reported to the social worker who came up to talk to my wife (I was downstairs getting a coffee), the idea being, as far as I can tell, that saying "goddamnit" while changing your first diaper after having just been through a 27 hour labor followed by a c-section, followed by a day and a half of the twins waking up constantly and the nurses coming in to take blood pressure, making sleep next to impossible, is apparently a sign that I might have been abusing my wife."

This happened to my husband, too, after the birth of our fourth child. We never did figure out what he'd done to set off the wife-beater alarm. He probably told a nurse to get the hell out and let me sleep, instead of waking me up to take my very normal blood pressure yet again or some such nonsense.; 8/13/12, 6:34 PM