SoCS-3-11-23 Adopting Wesson

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “mat/met/mitt/mot/mutt.” Choose one or use them all, any way you’d like in your post. Have fun!



I didn’t have time yesterday to post a stream of consciousness. I may have skipped it all together, but the prompt gave me an opportunity to talk about a kind of ‘mutt’ dog you may not have heard about.

About 6 years ago, we adopted a dog from a rescue in Arkansas. My adult son wanted a companion and my cousin had worked with that rescue as a liaison to bring some of them to New England. {The abandoned dog numbers in the South are astronomical.]

We asked them which dog they had a special interest in ‘saving’ and we happily adopted Wesson. He was named for the man who had found him hairless and abandoned (at about 8 weeks old) whose last name was Wesson.
Wesson was labeled a terrier/lab mix to avoid the stigma attached to the Pitbull bloodlines, but I can see he has some of that too.
Then a year after we got this extremely smart and devoted dog and he became a member of our family, I saw an ad for a dog adoption site labeled “Potcake”. The dog on that page resembled Wesson in every way. So, I researched the label of Potcake and found the information below. I have no doubt that Wesson is a Potcake Dog. Having been located in the Delta region of Arkansas, all of the clues further came together.
I’ve only known one dog equally as intelligent. That was my former pal, Ollie who was an Irish Jack Russell.
Wesson has been a beautiful addition to our family. I encourage anyone seeking to adopt dogs to check out rescues in our southern states. They are quite desperately overwhelmed. Wesson’s specific rescue was from Humane Society of the Delta in Helena, Arkansas. I got another dog (Norah) from there two years later. Sadly, their transport system across the country has since been shut down because of our current dismal economy.
Hope you had a wonderful Saturday, my friends.


Potcakes are mixed breed dogs originating from the Caribbean Islands.[1] They can commonly be found near the islands’ beaches or wandering the islands as stray dogs, but Potcakes are sometimes rescued by organizations or tourists and, despite their unknown gene pool, have since evolved into a breed with a common look. Though Potcakes are mixed breed dogs of unclear descent, many share similar traits with one another.
Did you know? Potcakes were named after their original food source, which was the caked remains of pot rice and pea dishes. As strays on the streets, they had to beg for this food, and likely because of this, they are known for having especially tough stomachs and can supposedly handle some foods that other dog breeds can’t.

https://lindaghill.com/2023/03/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-11-2023/

Unanswered Question: Why don’t we think for a change?

Yes, I am angry.
I am also disgusted.
I’d mind my own business but there’s a concerted effort to ‘infect’ our children with bad ideas. My granddaughters are going to be exposed to them too. They simply can’t go unchallenged any longer.
If I hear about “equity” anymore, I may explode. LOL
Below is a picture meant to express the ‘marvelous nature’ of “equity”. Let’s examine the messages.

Well, there are three children of different races and sexes in this diagram and an imaginary dotted line. What’s the line mean? I would guess it has something to do with reaching ‘success’. Everything presented in this diagram has a purpose. The white male child is the tallest, the female child is shorter, and the black child is too short to reach the ‘success’ line in the first picture. Oh, I see diplomas in the hands of the “successful”. Could it be the getting of a diploma is a perfect goal?
Seems odd that the taller boy can more easily reach the goal when more women are graduating with college degrees these days.
Seems repulsively racist that the diagram depicts the black child as needing help to achieve the same goal. I hope they aren’t suggesting black children are not as smart as white kids! Somebody ought to tell Dr. Ben Carson or Barrack Obama about that a.s.a.p.
The black child not only seems to need ‘help’, but he’s also depicted as needing the most help. That’s a sorry message, I hope it was not intentional. [wink]
So, when it comes to “equality” it seems giving everyone a fair “equal” chance isn’t enough but giving ‘selected people’ according to their ‘appearance’ better unequaled advantages is shown as a ‘good’ thing. Don’t forget…that ‘good’ thing is a diploma. They don’t regard (in this diagram) success as being achievable any other way. That’s okay. They can’t cram all the possible ways we achieve in only one diagram because we know they are endless, right?



Now, let’s look at the heading. “Apply Equity to Women’s Advancement”. I’ve established many reasons that “equity” is condescending and unfair. How might the application of it advance women?
What possible measurement does the artist use for “advancement”? I already said more women are getting degrees than men. I can tell you, the women I know without degrees are advancing in there “life goals” nicely too. All motivated people strive to advance themselves toward goals. I surely hope being a devoted mother and/or caregiver or an excellent free-lance writer meets that undefined (but subliminally suggestive) advancement criteria.

I could go on…
But I’ll just ask, “What in the world is going on?”
WHO are polluting our children’s minds and WHY are they doing this?

Depicting white males as already ‘advanced’ when I’ve seen so many work tirelessly to achieve their goals.
Depicting women and blacks as “less-than”. Wow! That’s a stupid and racist message.
Depicting ‘advancement’ narrowly as the “buying of a degree” (That’s all it amounts to in most cases.)
Depicting that our needs for assistance should be measured by our immutable traits not by our individual situations.

Why don’t we think for a change? Let’s consider who benefits from such messages.
Not white males… they’re ‘privileged’, so “you’re on your own guys”. We’ll even let people cut in line before you for jobs.
Not females…if they embrace the nonsense in the diagram, they may resent men especially ‘white men’ for having some made-up advantages. Oh yes, and ‘educated’ women resoundingly consider black people as so disadvantaged without them, that they are empowered to “tell them just what they need” because they know better. How condescendingly ‘kind’ are those ‘educated women?
Not black children… they’re harmed the most. They can’t (and told they shouldn’t) believe in their own potential when it’s clear they’re going to need a lot of help. Some may not even try with those ‘oppressive’ odds.

The only people who benefit are those who want to expand government and control outcomes. They don’t even use their own money but thinking up ‘equity’ programs while using taxpayer funds (and hiring family members) is their favorite pastime. It makes people appreciate the NEED for them, you know.
They (government bureaucrats and Marxist activists) purposefully disrupt our constitutional order of an “equal chance” to “pursue happiness” and sell a divisive message ending with “You need our help. We’re here to help.” because we’re the ‘nice’ guys.

That’s the best description of “authoritarian” control I’ve ever heard. Please “wake-up”. We’re not each other’s adversaries but those suggesting we are, aren’t looking out for you. Beware of the term “equity”, it’s a trick.








Reena’s Xploration Challenge- To My Granddaughters

I took the image and suggested prompt below and turned it on its head. As my blog’s primary purpose is to offer my views to my granddaughters, my interest is in their futures as truly strong women who believe in themselves. I would fail them if I suggested a vantage point, that I completely disagree with that suggests they should feel aggrieved or behave like entitled ‘victims’ of imaginary forces SO some may be offended. Hey… so be it.

The picture above seeks to capture your heart,
On terms now used more often to split us apart.
Women are special in their own beautiful design.
Their different abilities from men work just fine.
Equity tells us we need the same results,
It’s our diversity and efforts that term truly insults.
Our sizes and shapes don’t need to conform.
In Nature uneven potential’s the norm.
If you lift up a frog, it won’t learn to fly
Because all his value is swimming, that’s why.
Our potential is honored by being treated the same,
Not by deciding who gets a boost in the game.
Equality tries to promote sunny days
For everyone hoping to shine their own ways
But well-meaning people take an odd pride,
Thinking working achievements require a ‘ride’.
When fudging one’s gifts or in granting a perk,
Equity values no claim to your own work.
You’re not entitled to be all the same height.
It’s your equal chance to grow that’s your right.
The big no-brainer is we aren’t all the same.
Embrace your own talents for winning your game.
Equity enforces shortcuts chosen for some they enhance.
Equality promises you’ll all get a fair chance.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2023/03/10/i-am-confused-ich-bin-verwirrt-reenasxploration/












The Dawdler 3/9/23 Don’t Mess with History

Rory has asked more questions.



Have you ever watched a long-running televised series from start to finish, and once you have reached the end, you wanted to watch it again or is once enough for you and time for a new long-running series?

No. There were many that I enjoyed but my time and interests have always been fluid. As I dislike schedules, to interrupt life to sit in front of a TV at a specific night and time, wasn’t a high priority for me. Once shows went into syndication, it was a delight to happen upon episodes that were new to me, though.



Do you think traditions are essential to society – if so, why and if not, why not?

Absolutely and unequivocally, “Yes”. Traditions are the glue that binds a society and country. That alone is a sound reason for limited and merit-based immigration practices. To dilute traditions, endangers the whole of a society. IMHO… Immigrants must show an interest in assimilation or be denied.
For anyone gasping over this, assimilation doesn’t mean erasing any immigrant’s cultural or religious customs (In the case of the U.S.-unless they are directly ‘at odds’ with our Constitution).
Assimilation means there’s an importance for the immigrant to learn the primary language, respect that country’s laws and customs, and to raise their children to participate in the country’s traditions. [Otherwise, they are no more than tourists.]
I know of no country that allows for as many exceptions to their own traditions (even to the point of allowing the villainization of basic principles and historical records) more than the U.S. It will be our undoing and those who encourage those exceptions, are either ignorant of the lessons of history or maliciously promoting that division.



What would be easier to throw away deep love or deeply lined rich pockets – flipside – can money buy love?

There are many, many, kinds of love. Romantic love seems the most fragile, IMHO.
As for money ‘buying’ love, there are also many ways people define “love”. (IMHO… sadly a great many have never known ‘love’.) I assume some people think that it can be bought but it’s not me.

To me personally, money means very little, but for others, money is their security, status, power, and motivation for living. Those people are actually the most impoverished among us.

As for those ‘kinds’ of love, I would never suggest to anyone, who values their health, to test the depth of the bond of (most) fathers and mothers with their children or grandchildren. You won’t enjoy the outcome.


https://earthlycomforts.uk/2023/03/09/a-wild-aloha-to-you-25/



Unanswered Question: Why not spend more time teaching kids how to cope?

It appears to me that there’s a great amount energy spent trying to ‘cure’ the World of unpleasantness and ‘evil’. That’s quite a heavy task. It’s almost as absurd as humankind supposing they are empowered to “Save the Planet”, but I digress.
When I had a group of preschool kids in my home on a daily basis, the pleas for ‘justice’ and my intervention were sometimes incessant.
“Susan! He’s in MY spot!”
“Susan! She’s taking MY blocks!”
“Susan! He won’t stop looking at me! “…”Susan! Susan! Susan!”
My approach to those complaints was to offer them a self-initiated way to cope or compromise.

“Does that ‘spot’ have your name on it? Find another one.”
“If there aren’t enough blocks for you to work with, you can choose to come and draw for now, then I’ll give you time alone with all of them later.”
“You must be looking at him to know that. Stop looking at him.”

I pity the current kindergarten teachers. Kids, today, are routinely taught to lodge complaints rather than resolve their own problems. On top of that, mere irritations have now been given “problem” status. This is a sad situation for all involved. Many, many, people have opted to label themselves as victims, and few realize they have the ‘power’ (and responsibility) not to be one.

We can agree that many of us have been true victims of crimes, and wrongdoing, at no fault of our own. But by instructing kids to ask, “What might I do differently?” or “What may I have done to avoid that?”, I assure you the ‘victim’ statistics would be cut in half in no time. That would happily allow for more attention to ‘real’ victims too.

I’ve gotten a lot of push back and ridicule for asking people who are complaining about their problematic situation, “Could you have handled that better?” Those people ‘triggered’ by my question seem to think there’s a ‘side’ to be taken more than a ‘problem’ to solve. I suggest that the most prudent first step in solving all of our own problems is to ask questions of ourselves. Your problems don’t just belong to the world ‘at large’.

“But unkindness is BAD, and evil is destructive!” I totally agree. Yet I realistically understand the only power I have, when facing those things, is my own reaction and approach. Throughout life I’ve learned I’m a participant in ‘goings on’ not an irritated, aggrieved, observer. News Flash: Those “evil and unkind” dynamics of life aren’t going anywhere.

So why don’t we spend more time teaching kids how to cope? Complaining is an overall waste of time compared to taking a personal initiative.

To adults who were raised as individuals, the online ‘bullying plague’ could be solved by suggesting teens turn selected apps off, opt to “block” offensive content, or ‘unplug’ all together. Those options are readily available. The kids who feel that they ‘can’t possibly’ do that, have already IMHO shown they place a stunning level of importance on “What others think.” and those kids could have used more early intervention and instruction in “How to handle yourself safely and confidently in life.”

My final note is about the Big Picture of “individualism” versus “victimhood”. Free countries can only exist with one of those mindsets. I have no doubt that Marxism is currently winning the battle between those two.


Sunday Poser #122 Get a Hobby and Leave Me Alone

“We shouldn’t have to!” is my immediate response.

What we do, as long as it’s legal is our own business. But as new laws are constantly being created, (That’s what legislatures seem to feel is their non-stop goal.) there isn’t going to be much that IS legal soon.

Civil disobedience is the only ethical approach to too many laws, I’m afraid.

But there are definitely people in my life who can’t seem to avoid offering their “two cents” on what I do and it’s annoying. What happened to hobbies and volunteer work?

On the other hand, I will defend what I say until it becomes clear that I’m wrong or that the other person simply doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Opinions are all we have many times. If you can articulate the thoughts and experiences you used in creating your opinion, go for it. We might learn something important. But if you have an opinion, express it, and can’t or won’t defend it, you’re just wasting everyone’s’ time and trying their patience. I refer you to the ‘getting a hobby’ suggestion above.


https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2023/03/05/sunday-poser-122/