OH HAPPY DAY! My baby brother not only lived to see his 54th Birthday...

He is off the ventilator 22 hours of the day!  Still has trach tube, cannot talk of course, has to have ALL his food pureed, but he's ALIVE!!  Baruch HaShem!  

Phoebe Allen's Hummingbird in a Rose Bush Cam

Is she lovely?

 Here's the link to Phoebe Allen's website and LIVE cam:

                             http://phoebeallens.com/

HUMMER CLOSEUP and LIVE

Link is right below.  It doesn't look like a link, but it is.  
Link---> HUMMINGBIRD CAM

Here's Abilgail's website: http://www.abigailsings.com/hummingbirds/

PHOEBE - love that name!

Phoebe's Nest is the size of a golf ball.  It is located in this rose bush.  She is nesting now.  Click on link below to see her streaming live video.  She's beautiful isn't she!   http://phoebeallens.com/

Phoebe - is a non-migratory Channel Islands Allen's Hummingbird

Soon & very soon...Dvorah graduates from Olympic Colleg>looking for employment.

Money plants! Lol! SO excited-BEEN watching for 2 mos. wondering-is it $ plant?

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Jeopardy Q: This country has

Jeopardy Q: This country has 104 nuclear reactors, more than any other.

Our Beloved BUNNY, BELINDA REED

MISSY TAVENNER REED & BELINDA our 'Bunny'

3 Sisters: Winnie Grace RIP Dolly

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Dvorah Hartson Hayly Tavenner Brandon Farrell Tavenner @Ft. Flagler WA

Hayly Tavenner Dvorah Hartson Salt Creek Tongue Point Strait of Juan Fuca WA

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Cousins Desiree Reed & Hayly Tavenner @ Hayly's brother Nathan's grave.

Hayly Alyssa age 7

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Son #1 > Farrell

Earthquake-report.com/2011/05/22/earthquakes-list-

Earthquake-report.com/2011/05/22/earthquakes-list-may-22-2011/

wiseGEEK: http://goo.gl/JnHjv Bats are not

wiseGEEK: http://goo.gl/JnHjv Bats are not blind.

4 ingredients & a half-hour

4 ingredients & a half-hour can get you cereal better than anything that comes in a box http://lifehac.kr/mUMFEY

@JYuter: Jews who are flying

@JYuter: Jews who are flying today celebrate Jet Lag Ba'Omer

lifehacker: Upload photos, art more

lifehacker: Upload photos, art more quickly with 5 of the best services for quick & easy image sharing: http://lifehac.kr/jXi80x

@Jeff_Jacoby: "We hang the petty

@Jeff_Jacoby: "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" -- Aesop, c. 550 B.C.

HB Missy>1yo smiling: "Mommy, I

HB Missy>1yo smiling: "Mommy, I distincted up the bathroom." She was SO PROUD of herself using a BIG WORD! 4'11' & 41

@lifehacker: Mouse hand tired? Access

@lifehacker: Mouse hand tired? Access your browser's address and search bars with your keyboard - http://lifehac.kr/lF21XO

MediaBullpen: Why Homeschool? It's About

MediaBullpen: Why Homeschool? It's About Choice: http://ow.ly/4Z3XG Dip in # of CO home-schoolers

Mah yafeh hayom, Shabbat shalom.

Mah yafeh hayom, Shabbat shalom.
How lovely today is, Shabbat shalom.

Happy Mother's Day 2011 to my mother.

1947. My mother at age 15, had to get permission to marry Eugene Hartson.  She did, and they did. A little over a year later I was born.  But Mom was already separated from Jerry and with the man who raised me as his own.  So in the space of little more than 1 year, my young mother was married, separated, gave birth, divorced and remarried.  The first time I ever heard the song for which I was named, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen," I was 31 yo.  It was sang by a Catholic priest, while he played his own accompaniment on his guitar, and it was like an angel singing down from the heavens.  It is a very sad song.  I cried to think of what this young woman, so full of life, had been already gone through by her 16th year.  
Her life would not get better, but my mother is NOT a victim.  She took what life gave her, exercising almost no control over her own life, and made the best of it.  She converted to dad's religion, Mormonism.  His family is beset with alcoholism, and he did not escape it, but he kept it well hidden to us, other than the behaviors that accompany such a choice.  

My mother was a dedicated Mormon, a good wife, a compliant housewife.  Being the youngest of six daughters herself (and the tallest), 


with the other sisters old enough to have left their mother's home years before, mother had not learned much in the way of the science of domestic engineering.  She did however, put her shoulder to the wheel (a Mormon phrase) with all her heart, and learned to cook, bake, sew, clean, and most importantly to LDS women, bear babies.  Mother bore six of us, with a miscarriage in between.

Dad did not give mom the amount of money he should have to allow mom to properly cook, but what she was given, she made extraordinary use.  She could cook a pan of fried scalloped potatoes the likes of which I have never tasted in even the finest of restaurants, and to this day, because of her cooking, and what she taught me in the kitchen, I will opt for a home-cooked meal over restaurant dining any day!!  Whatever she cooked was better GOOD!!  She baked cakes, cookies, bread, cinnamon rolls, fudge, all from scratch, and I'm sorry but there is no bakery out there that can equal my mom in the kitchen, though some of the natural bakeries are getting close.  I've never been the cook mom was, only my sister Grace cooks comparatively, and my daughter Missy, excels.  Missy has the time & great patience to create works of art in the kitchen. ( I need to get those pictures posted.)

At age 7 my mother taught me to do stamped cross-stitch, and age 8, embroidery.  I recall sitting on our swingset on S. Laurel Street just a block away from Briscoe Elementary School.  I would swing a little with my embroidery in hand, stop, embroider, swing, stop, embroider.  It was a sunny day, and the sun felt good.  In that house I suffered a horrible episode of strept throat which turned into Rheumatic Fever. My memories of the pain are significant, and I recall Dad giving me a glass of Alka-Seltzer which made me feel so much better.  In those days, for whatever reason, I used to wear my oxford shoes to bed.  Here is a picture of a girl symbolizing what one would wear if their parents had money.  We didn't look this good, though we certainly were this skinny. NO EATING between meals!  Also, our shoes were all white and had to be polished EVERY night before bed! Trust me.  They needed it every night.  In those days, if you were poor, you paid particular attention to your appearance, so as to at least present oneself as respectable member of society.  This way it was showing that we weren't bums, shleppers, slackers, but "contributing" members of society.  We had pride in ourselves, a forgotten value among the middle classes of today.  Actually, we weren't THAT poor, but dad's occupation as a floor-layer was seasonal.  Houses were built or remodeled in the summer months, so the rest of the year could get LEAN.  Also, I'm certain he stashed away income for stealth, closet drinking, which periodically, came out of the closet, but only once in my 18 yrs. at home did I EVER smell it on his breath.  There was NEVER any alcohol in our home.  After all, we were a respectable LDS family.  
But back to honoring a young woman who had 6 live births in 9 years by the time she was 25 yo!  Mom was attentive, a whiz in the home-making department, and played silly games with us.  I recall living on "The Farm" in Sherwood, Oregon, and her playing "Penny, Penny, Who's Got the Penny?" She played many other games with us, sang to us, read the bible stories to us, from the bible, ad-libbing to make it easier to follow.  
She sewed, and sewed, and sewed, and somewhere, I have pictures of me, age 3, in bibbed-pants with an appliqued face of a cocker spaniel.  I LOVED those pants!!  She made my sister Grace a pair, too.  When we were in high school, she made Grace & I beautiful dresses, always putting Grace in the browns and me in blues.  Grace has the picture of us in the dresses that were made of a satin sheen print material.  

This Mother's Day we are keeping a secret from her.  The secret of her last baby, in the hospital, on life-support, Oliver, who is now 53, and will be 54 this coming week, G-d willing.  
The Farm was my favorite home, and where when I told Mom I wanted her to make a cake, she suggested I make it.  She got out the Betty Crocker recipe book, now in my possession,:)  and told me to pick out a cake recipe.  With her help, I selected the Applesauce Cake, and painstakingly, ingredient by ingredient, she guided me through following the instructions, and I made my first scratch cake.  The batter was very ugly, and disappointingly not tasty, so needless to say, my expectations for my first scratch cake were LOW.  However, as it cooked in the oven, this wonderful aroma of cinnamon & apples wafted through the large country kitchen.  I thought, well at least it smells great.  That was some consolation.  When it came out of the oven, we let it cool enough to cut and serve it.  It needed no frosting, which also added to my misgivings about my choice.  I can report that it turned out a great success, and I have made that cake ever since, especially for the holidays. I now use only dark brown sugar in it as my own specialty. It is much too sweet to put frosting on it, and the flavor is so good, but people who look at it before eating it, say "No, Thank you," but are then cajoled into trying a piece never look back, enthusiastically endorsing it! 

Mom also taught me to bake bake bread from scatch, the proper way to knead the dough.  Bread-making machines are pffft! There's nothing like getting one's hands into the dough, kneading it, shaping it.  I taught myself to make Challah, the symbolistic bread we eat on Shabbat, Friday evenings, and thanks to Mom, I knew how to work with bread dough.  I've added my own variations of course over the year, but my sister Grace STILL makes the best bread.  Her secret is she buys the grain and grinds it at the time she is making bread, something I still desire to attain to, G-d willing.  
Grace was, and is, the best cook in the family, but she also had support from her husband financially to purchase many things Mother was never afforded.  Grace, like Mom, has a natural ability in the kitchen.  Whatever she touches turns out very good.  I always had to use a cookbook, and believe it or not, Grace was jealous that my baking, when we were at home, was consistently better than hers because I (had to, for lack of real culinary talent) followed the recipes in a cookbook EXACTLY, while hers was hit an miss.  She hadn't yet started experimenting, nor had the confidence to do so, but that would come in a few short years.  Then of course, she excelled both in baking and cooking.  
My daughter Missy obviously got Mom's cooking & baking genes & showed an early disposition towards creativity and baking, making her first pie while I was at work.  I have pictures somewhere of her and my god-daughter, LeeLee (Sonia Allen), making pies while I'm gone to work.  Pie making is the more difficult baking because the dough has to be handled as little as possible or the crust will turn out HARD & if the correct amount of liquids is not used in the pie filling it will turn out either too wet preventing the bottom crust from cooking, or too dry, making the pie - UGH DRY, unedible.  Missy's first try was exceptional because it was edible, and the dough was not too hard, just a little bit. THAT is a feat, believe me.  If you bake pies, you know exactly what I'm talking about. She was only 9 or 10 yo! She started making pies years ahead of me!  I was so proud of her, though I don't think I showed it.  My job as a bus driver took A LOT out of me.  It was a very abusive job.  But I was thrilled with her confidence to try on her own & with her skill & creativity.  I wouldn't gain that type of confidence until my early 30's!  It's important to pass on the confidence in children that helps them explore & accomplish things in life, until that confidence is so great they don't need to get it from anyone else.  

Mom, in spite of living with an emotional abuser who learned every button on her, and how to push them to make her look like the unreasonable and crazy person, plugged ahead.  It took a great toll on her.  In those days, we did not have the term domestic violence.  It might be said that a man beat his wife, but the higher IQ male, like Dad was much too smart to do that, though I am aware of a few times he slapped her.  In our society, LDS, we were to portray the perfect families.  LDS did not admit to "dysfunctional" families or marriages because, simply put, we were Mormons and Mormons are perfect, or at least, they were back then in the 1950's and 1960's.  
So Mom was denied any support from LDS leadership, or from the women in the church.  In Mormonism, it was considered a sin to talk against your husband, GOSSIP, so Mom couldn't share with any other female in THE CHURCH or it would be considered a very dishonorable thing and she would have been shunned!  
In fact, when I wanted to tell my bishop of the really bad physical abuse, beatings I got from Larry Tavenner, before I could, my bishop told me, "Now Sister Tavenner, being a GOOD LDS wife, it is your duty to UPHOLD your husband's reputation, blah, blah, blah,...." Effectively, my bishop was counseling me to not talk about the truth of what was going on in my home behind closed doors because THE CHURCH and my husband's reputation were more important than my physical well-being.  
I'm certain my mother heard similar bullshit!  THE CHURCH instead sent her to professional wonkers aka social workers in Medford, Oregon, where they subsequently put her on dangerous pyschotropic (MIND-ALTERING) drugs such as Valium.  But that's another story for another day & you WILL hear me rant about the destructiveness of so-called anti-depressants, and their related mind-altering drugs.
My Mother with virtually no support but PRESSURE from her CHURCH to be the good, QUIET, LDS wife, or support from society, started a downward spiral, which is typical of anyone getting on these MIND-ALTERING DRUGS.  Another factor that is critical to remember is that as an LDS, you are forsworn to secrecy in their temples, to not gossip (even if a child is being molested), and THE CHURCH is literally YOUR WHOLE LIFE & BEING.  There are exceptions to everything. There are perverts who hide behind the protective cloak of THE CHURCH, just as has been revealed in the Catholic Church.  The hold over Mormons by the Mormon Church is much greater apparently than that of the Catholic Church, as you can read from blogs by ex-Mormons.  
It is a great religion in many aspects, but it's better not to get into it because it requires more of you than even G-d requires because G-d requires truth & honesty, regardless of the consequences for the perpetrating perverts.  G-d refuses to hide perverts.  The Mormons welcome & protect them, so long as the pervert pays his/her tithing, and meets all the superficial requirements of appearances as a good Mormon.  These requirements are to observe all the laws of the land (Thank G-d we aren't Germany & this isn't 1940), to attend half of all the required church meetings; do not swear; keep the Word of Wisdom - no smoking, drinking alcohol, coffee or caffeinated teas, colas - (but obesity from eating gluttonously is okay, indeed, encouraged); keeping oneself chaste (this one is highly over-looked, similar to Christianity in that one can repent & humbly go about one's business); pay all tithes.  
With the superficiality of appearances, acting humble is key, and is TAUGHT from an early age.  Do not be swayed by LDS' appearances of humility.  Behind closed doors, they, especially the men, are quite arrogant.  They believe they are G-d's Chosen, and that ALL MUST BE BAPTISED by "worthy" LDS in their temples to be able to get into the kingdom of G-d, at what level, I do not know.  LDS have a few levels, and I'm sure the complexity of the levels has changed since my departure 40 years ago.  This arrogance that Mormonism is THE ONLY WAY is only one of the things taints them, causing a true air of superiority, arrogance, and virtual looking down upon everyone not of their faith.  Of course, behind your back they have submitted your name for vicarious baptism by a "worthy" member in one of their temples, nevertheless, they still look down on people who are not LDS, behind closed doors.  Openly they have the appearance of a very humble person, a delusion, I can assure you.  Are there exceptions?  Indubitably!  Thank G-d, but I am speaking of the overall view, so you can be forewarned not to mistake them for something higher than they are in real life.  
The Mormon Church especially lacks in its ability to inspire their men to treat women as highly as they think of themselves.  There's reasons for that.  It's their teachings.  I'm very suspicious of LDS husbands, knowing that behind closed doors many of them treat their wives with far less respect that when they are "fronting" in public.  
My mother learned the hard way that THE CHURCH would not lend her the resources nor advantage a woman in her position needs.  She is still a dedicated Mormon, probably out of fear, a useful tool used by most all religions to maintain control and manipulate their members.  

But she is MY mom, and she did an outstanding job with us, as far as she was able.  I forgot to mention that mom only had an eight grade education.  I'm not sure what she was doing during her Ninth grade.  I believe she was living in the Portland area with her sisters by this time, with permission from her mother, Grandma Bessie.  
Mom had lovely handwriting, impeccable grammar and sentence & paragraph structure.  She taught us our ABC's, simple counting, how to color pictures and how to color in the lines, something even public schools no longer believe is an important skill.  She taught us how to sit quietly through church services from a young age, therefore when we went into first grade (we didn't need Kindergartens back then when Mom's stayed home and taught their kids things BEFORE they went to school), we were PREPARED how to sit quietly, how to pay attention (we had no such thing as ADD, ADHD, though I believe I do have ADD), and so the teachers were able to proceed teaching us because our mothers had prepared us for success in the classroom.  It wasn't the job of teachers how to teach children to sit still and to pay attention to the instructor, be that person was mom, dad, or teacher.  It was the parents' job and it has to started on DAY 1 of a child's life, not when some crackpot called a Early Learning Specialist or Child Development Specialist says the child is ready. EVERY child is DIFFERENT, and mothers not burdened by the demands of a career have the mental space to be intuitive of each of their children.  My mom took mothering far beyond her own education level.  Had she come from a background of educated people, my mother could have guided us better.  For what she knew, she did extremely well!  Remember, too, that that pervert, Dr. Spock, came out with his baby book, completely screwing up parenting ideas.  He was part of the New Left, before we called it that.  I found myself in the same situation as mom, but thanks be to G-d, I got exposed to a congregation of parents of whom 99% HOMESCHOOLED, and they pretty much turned my learned ideas of education upside down on its head.  Baruch HaShem.  Unfortunately, many still did not know what many are learning now.  In my next post I will have a story of a 16yo HOMESCHOOLER, youngest WSU grad, yesterday, with a GPA of 3.71.  And I will tell my own experiences with my youngest child Dvorah.  Had I known about the differences between children's developmental stages, providing a learning environment from DAY 1 in my home, OMG!  My kids are very smart!!  But it has to be given the resources to explore & learn.  I'll also post a helpful book.  
So Mom did extraordinarily well considering her lack of resources, her culture in Mormonism, her marriage.  Extraordinarily well!  She instilled in us a love of learning, and later in her own life took up college classes, painting, and piano.  She taught us a love of music, purchasing I believe at Fred Meyers in Portland a series of Classical Albums, and another series of Children's Music, all of which I loved, but only got a couple of the records for my own.  Some in my family do not realize what our mother did, do not appreciate her abilities wo resources, and her attitudes.  She was a good mom.
Mom took up smoking in her teens, not an uncommon thing back then, but she stopped when she converted to Mormonism, upon marrying my dad, Jack Hamblin.  She did struggle with drinking Pepsi later on, but hey, if you were expected to be an excellent homemaker, cook, mother, wife, church-member, have your kids spit spot polish clean & in church several times a week, put on a humble smile, eyes-downcast to show your place, have your husband's 5 work uniforms AND suit perfectly ironed & pressed, not to mention all our clothes ironed & pressed, don't you think your energy would need a pick me up, too?  
Mom had to deal with two sickly children.  I was seven when I had the first bout with Rheumatic Fever, eight when I was hospitalized with hepatitis (the hospital was 25 miles away from our home in Sherwood), Oliver was born a year later, with critical respiratory complications that prevented mom from taking him home with her (see my last week's post for how this affected her gravely), and then I get Rheumatic Fever again at age 10.  Oliver finally comes home but while still an infant, she rushes him to a hospital for an emergency tracheotomy, and he's hospitalized again.  He is allergic to everything.  There's hardly anything she can feed him that he isn't allergic to.  Meanwhile, dad is off the wagon again, and his abuse of her accelerates.  So here is this young woman 25, 26 yo with two very sickly children (I almost died from the Rheumatic Fever), and Dad, beset with his seasonal occupation, learned alcoholic manipulativeness, pushing mom's buttons, emotionally messing with a woman with no support system other than her sisters & I have no clue how helpful they were or not, as they weren't doing a whole lot better in there marriages.  Yet, she taught me how to bake a cake from scratch, played games with us, taught us, and she kept a clean house, and clean children, and we were all in church every time we were supposed to be.  Yeh...AMAZING!!
Just the ironing alone was a phenomenal job!  All the boys (3) and Dad's Sunday shirts, Mom's and we (3) girls Sunday dresses, we girls school dresses!  It was incredible amount of clothing that had to be ironed, and I can assure you, there wasn't a day that went by that ironing wasn't being done!  We forget with the fabrics & fashions of today just how much our mothers slaved over the ironing boards of yesterday.  
Oh! And let me not forget aprons, and tablecloths! They had to be ironed, too. Tablecloths were a part of everyday meal preparation!  
Yes, when I look back, play in the back of my mind (it's too painful to listen to on YouTube) that song my 16 yo Mother named me after, all the babies, all the requirements she had to perform at an exceptional level, all the work, the hard times Dad made for her, the lack of a support system, yet, through it all she DID NOT COMPLAIN, and she PRESSED ON, until her inner pain became too great.  Dad's emotional abuse worsened & I attribute his progressive behaviors as the cause of her downward spiral.  He was also having affairs.  I knew.  Certainly she knew.  Was that what some of their fights were about?  Or was it Dad pushing her buttons to cause a fight so he had an excuse to leave the house to go drinking and....   And Dad, to assuage his conscience, I'm sure blamed it on Mom, after all, he was an alcoholic.  
The beauty of my mom is that she refuses to hold grudges.  She's just that way.  She no longer attends LDS services.  I think it's just too much effort for her, not that she has left THE CHURCH.  
She can be a kick in the pants.  Her idea of breakfast is a cup of coffee, a can of Coke, and three cigarettes.  When I pressed her on what she had for breakfast she added, "Oh, and I have a piece of toast."  I don't believe you Mom on the toast. LOL!  
Mom gave her kids the best life she was afforded.  I can only imagine the dynamic woman that was never allowed to fully blossom under the yoke of Mormonism, it's complicity in allowing her to be abused, and a husband who abused her for his own selfish reasons.  That's what I hate about all addictions, be they drugs, legal drugs, gambling, drinking, gaming, or addiction to a career or a church.  Selfishness is for those who do not marry, do not have children.  If one commits to a relationship, and a family, there is no room for SELF.  
My Mother was a selfless woman.  And, an extraordinary and remarkable woman.  
I AM BLESSED by her love, and May G-d reward her for her unselfishness all those years, for her loyalty to her values and her family.  She DESERVES ALL THAT AWAITS HER, and I am confident that she will be well taken care of and well-rewarded, not by the Mormon god, but by the One True G-d.  Baruch Hu.

SISTERS Winnie, Grace, Dolly

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My Mother, Winnie, w/daughter Missy & great-daughters Desipunzel & Hayly. Not sure where Dvorah was hanging out, probably w/her cousins.

Tomorrow, Thursay~Take the kids &the

Tomorrow, Thursay~Take the kids &the camera & head over to the MOF! It's FREE! 5~9pm. Museum of Flight! I LOVE the MOF Gift Shop!

Drs. unable to stabilize BP-renal

Drs. unable to stabilize BP-renal function on Oliver-gave him 2 units of blood. CO2 level between 55/60-ventilated, aspirated.

Catch Hood Canal cam while

Catch Hood Canal cam while it's light outside: www.drdale.com/cam/index.htm

Oliver, family reunion

Beloved Grampa of Ozbaldo, Alex, Daniel, Jonathan, Gabriella, Metzlie.  

And Grampa LOVES his grandkids!

Update on Oliver

Spoke with my baby brother Oliver's daughter this morning, Rebecca, on his status in ICU.  Oliver is in the above photo, in the back, in the middle.  Rebecca states his CO2 levels are down from 146 to 70, not yet normal but MUCH better than when he was admitted; they have taken out a lot of thick gunk in his lungs, thus the respiratory failure.  The doctor got his BP up which was affecting his kidneys, thus the renal failure.  He's pee-ing now.  He is on life-support systems, including a ventilator.  The doctor will try experimenting with his toleration level of discomfort with the ventilator to see how much they can adjust Rx's used to sedate him.  It is not likely he will come off the ventilator.  We are preparing ourselves for the worst.  
Rebecca is a strong woman, holding up everyone else while maintaining her duties as a wife & mother of six children.  The picture below is old and 2 of the kids are missing in this picture.  My grandson Alex, son of my son Giovanni, is on the far right in the picture.  

     From left to right: Alex, Ozbaldo, Rebecca holding Gabriella, Jesus- Daddy-, Daniel, and my Alex.  I will try to update the pictures on my next visit with them.  Hopefully, not soon!  We are NOT telling Mom at this point bc it would be too difficult on her.  
As a 9 yo when Oliver was born, I VIVIDLY recall the day we drove from our farmhouse in Sherwood Oregon into Portland to pick Mom up after she gave birth to Oliver.  We are in a station wagon.  It is raining.  Our breath against the car windows makes them foggy & we write or doodle on the windows.  Dad tells us to stop.  
     We arrive at the hospital, and Mom is ushered to the car.  She gets in, says nothing to us, but just silently stares out the window at the hospital.  Then with tears forming in her eyes, her voice cracking while trying to hold back the tears, she says, "This is the only baby I've ever been not able to bring home."  The depth of her sadness was palpable.  You never heard 5 kids sitting in a car behave so silently.  
     Mom's extreme sadness made such an impression on me that day that 53 years later it still makes me cry to recall it & write it down for this blog, so my children & their children, and Rebecca & her children understand a mother's love for her children is quite possibly the most amazing thing given us by our Creator.  
       NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE LOVE OF A MOTHER FOR HER CHILDREN.  
It is so close to Oliver's birthday, and Mother's Day: we don't know what we will be experiencing on these days, this year, yet.  
Unrelated, yet, connected, today is YOM HASHOAH.  I will explain that connection more on the next blog post.

Tibor Machan faves: Personal Destinies-David

Tibor Machan faves: Personal Destinies-David L. Norton; Acs of Our Being-Ed Pols; Liberty & Nature-Rasmussen & Den Uyl

Tibor Machan fave bks: Metaphysics-Aristotle;

Tibor Machan fave bks: Metaphysics-Aristotle; 2nd Treatise of Govt-J.Locke; Intro to Objectivist Epistemology-Ayn Rand;