BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Ira Sharkansky The drama of Barack Obama's personality and his campaign of 'Change' have come under assault on several fronts. Reality is at least as tough as rhetoric. The skills that get a politician to office may not be those that enhance government. On the other hand, they might be. The man is smart, and he has good advisers. The test is ongoing. The jury will not decide for a while. Americans elected Obama, but he must lead the world. On his plate are not only existing commitments to bad wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the pirates of Somalia as well as the lingering issue of conventional troublemaking and nuclear weapons in Iran. Closer to home, the stock market has shown some promise that it may be coming back from its bottom, but there are other signs that the economic crisis has a way to go. Afghanistan strikes me as the most worrying issue on the president's agenda. It is a sink hole that cost the British dearly in the 19th century, and contributed to the ...

I'm unusual, not so typical, Way too smart to be waiting around. Tai Chi practices, snowboard champion, I can fix the flat on your car. I might even be a rock star. - Miley Cyrus, "ROCK STAR" The way the press is drooling behind Obama on his overseas 'tour' you'd think a Beatles reunion - complete with bringing George Harrison & John Lennon back from the dead, was afoot. This carefully planned rock star turn to portray Obama in a Presidential light is transparent to me -- unfortunately, the Obamanites are swallowing it whole. What can we do to wake up America that this guy is not qualified? That's he's cherry-picking his information. That his minions are not being honest. Someone figure out what can be done... and FAST... to leave him in Denver next month. OBAMA'S OVERSEAS EDUCATION By RALPH PETERS FROM the late 18th through the 19th century, young men of means went on a "grand tour" abroad to finish their educations. Some returned...

Existing In Bodies The physical self can seem like an encumbrance at times. We have little control over its demands, we must monitor it consistently, and its relative fragility can be discomfiting. Many people, therefore, unconsciously long to escape the confinement of their bodies, and this longing can manifest itself as physical discomfort, difficulty adjusting to the rigors of day-to-day existence, or a tendency to shy away from all that is associated with the human earthly experience. Yet the lifetime of physical existence we each must endure represents a vital plateau in our progression as enlightened beings. We inhabit our bodies for a reason. There is much we can learn while coping with the challenges, sensations, and sensitivities of the human body that we could not have grasped had we remained in spirit form. When we leave our physical selves behind to return to our original state, we will enjoy a supreme sense of freedom-yet we will always value the time we spent on earth. Be...

Scientists have long known that the nervous system receptor known as TRPV1 can affect sensations of pain in the body. Now a group of Brown University scientists has found that these receptors - a darling of drug developers - also may play a role in learning and memory in the brain. In surprising new research, published in the journal Neuron, Julie Kauer and her team show that activation of TPRV1 receptors can trigger long-term depression, a phenomenon that creates lasting changes in the connections between neurons. These changes in the brain - and the related process of neural reorganization known as long-term potentiation - are believed to be the cellular basis for memory making. "We've known that TRPV1 receptors are in the brain, but this is some of the first evidence of what they actually do there," Kauer said. "And the functional role we uncovered is unexpected. No one has previously linked these pain receptors to a cellular mechanism underlying memory. So we may...