BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I hadn't lived in NYC a full year when Mark David Chapman ended the life of one of my Upper West Side neighbors - John Lennon. This year I celebrated living in NYC 30 years... more than 1/2 my adult life. This year, Lennon is gone 29 years. My Favorite Lennon Song: by Kyle Anderson Today is the anniversary of the murder of rock legend John Lennon, who was killed outside his apartment building just before 11 p.m. via five gun shots. The killer, Mark David Chapman, had been stalking Lennon for months and even had contact with him earlier in the day (Lennon signed a copy of Double Fantasy for the guy who would take his life only hours later). Chapman's motives remain unclear to this day (the film Chapter 27, starring 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto as Chapman, didn't offer many suggestions), but he remains incarcerated in a state prison in New York and has been denied parole five times, often because of campaigns lead by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. Lennon's legacy ...

After reading the paper today, Obama's flip-flopping, the Dems who still refuse to vote for him, McCain's rhetoric, the Obamaniacs, throwing supporters "under the bus" - I couldn't stop thinking about this appropriate song... so here it is. by John Lennon We're playing those mind games together Pushing the barriers, planting seeds Playing the mind guerrilla Chanting the mantra, peace on earth We all been playing those mind games forever Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil Doing the mind guerrilla Some call it magic, the search for the grail Love is the answer and you know that for sure Love is a flower, you got to let it, you got to let it grow So keep on playing those mind games together Faith in the future, outta the now You just can't beat on those mind guerrillas Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind Yeah we're playing those mind games forever Projecting our images in space and in time Yes is the answer and you know that for sure Yes i...

INSTANT KARMA Let me be very clear that I am in NO WAY implying that PM Olmert deserved prostate cancer. I do believe that perhaps this illness is a wake up call. Hashem does that - send us little wake up calls all along the way in our lives. Sometimes our pure God-center (that part of us that is always connected to the Divine), I believe, sends them to us too. Sometimes we can be the wake-up call or 'accountability moment' for someone else. I've been reading about Olmert's antics for the last few months. I haven't blogged about it because I truly feel others at JBlogs have done a much better and thorough job. But I am disheartened. The trust of the people of Israel, I feel, has been slapped by Olmert - who seems content to give away pieces of Hashem's promise to the Jewish people to anyone who bullies him enough. Whatever it is I will pray for Mr. Olmert's healing. I will also pray that Hashem changes his heart about isses like the division of Je...