July 2015

Ghost Ship By Leonard Zwelling “It is a common superstition of mariners, that, in the high southern latitudes on the coast of Africa, hurricanes are frequently ushered in by the appearance of a spectre-ship, denominated the Flying Dutchman … The crew of this vessel are supposed to have been guilty of some dreadful crime, in the […]

1968 By Leonard Zwelling          The only Presidential election in the Age of Aquarius was won by one Richard M. Nixon with Vice Presidential nominee Spiro T. Agnew. They defeated then Vice President Hubert Humphrey and his running mate Edmund Muskie. George Wallace siphoned off sufficient numbers of votes in the Deep South to forever

Bernie Huggers: Are There Any Parallels on Holcombe?          Friday’s NY Times greeted us with the headline that Hillary Clinton’s email fiasco may have risen to the level of a felony according to some US Inspectors General. Her home server may indeed have contained classified information, something she swore was not the case. Then later

Trump Card By Leonard Zwelling          Why is an outrageous, self-promoting billionaire sucking the oxygen out of the Republican Presidential primary? When the goal of both parties may be selling a path to greater income equity in America through job creation (Republicans) or income redistribution (Democrats), why is the one candidate who clearly has a

The War Option Fallacy By Leonard Zwelling          The President of the United States would have you believe that without the Iranian deal, we will be at war with the mullahs in no time. He says this because he believes that the deal he and Secretary Kerry crafted is the only option. He is highly

The Donald, The Ronald, The Outrage By Leonard Zwelling          One of the high points of my year in Washington was a lazy afternoon in the summer of 2009 when the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of the US Senate was meeting during the mark-up (amendment) process. Acting chairman Chris Dodd was late, not

M D AmySon By Leonard Zwelling          If you want to see a slow motion but accelerating train wreck, go see the new documentary Amy by Asif Kapadia. In graphic, stark and ever more depressing detail, Mr. Kapadia tells the story of the rise and fall and eventual death of one of the truly most

The White Paper: The White Album of the Faculty Senate Only Better By Leonard Zwelling          The White Album was the only Beatles double album filled with new material. It was released in November 1968 and I remember that well. It probably contained about one album’s worth of great stuff and one album of OK

Why The Iranian Deal Is Bad By Leonard Zwelling          There are two extreme views of the deal announced by the Western powers, Russia, China and Iran.          The first is the one held by President Obama. He believes that this deal is better than no deal because it will allow sufficient verification of Iranian

Then Who Made the Snake? Is There Free Will or Not? By Leonard Zwelling          It is a given in our society that men and women have free will. It’s clearly in both the New and Old Testaments for it is the basis of both forgiveness and atonement. It is the foundation of the criminal