Via LLRX – Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence – If elected to serve a second term, Donald Trump says he supports a spoils system, a plan that would give him the authority to fire as many as 50,000 civil servants and replace them with members of his political party loyal to him. Under this plan, if he eventually deemed those new employees disloyal, he claims he could fire them too. Law professors Sidney Shapiro and Joseph P. Tomain write in their new book How Government Built America about how newly elected President Andrew Jackson, after he took office in 1828, fired about half the country’s civil servants and replaced them with loyal members of his political party. The result was not only an utterly incompetent administration, but widespread corruption.
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Category Archives: Recommended Books
Nature and Artifice: A Portrait of Vincent van Gogh Not Seen Before
Yale University Press – Yale Books: “David Ebony interviews Michael Lobel, author of Van Gogh and the End of Nature In his latest book, Van Gogh and the End of Nature, author Michael Lobel situates Vincent van Gogh in the midst of the industrial era in 19th-century Europe, and explores the artist’s often fraught relationship… Continue Reading
The race to build a better internet before it’s too late
NBC News Analysis: A new book proposes a framework for the internet that would give consumers more control over their own personal data. One of the worst attributes of our society at times is the search for someone to blame. Sometimes we prioritize figuring out who is at fault rather than focusing on how to… Continue Reading
Eli Burnstein on the Subtle Nuances of the English Language
Yes, But Can You Really Explain the Difference Between Morals and Ethics? From Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning by Eli Burnstein. Copyright © 2024. Available from Union Square and Co. Continue Reading
The Discarded
“A dazzling array of metafictions, Colin Hamilton’s The Discarded focuses on the lonely work of a solitary librarian assigned to the discard room. This hidden basement space is piled high with books purged from the stacks above. From the heap of discards, the librarian salvages his own idiosyncratic collection: a detective novel in which a… Continue Reading
Where to sell your used and unwanted gadgets
Engadget: “If you’ve been following the news here on Engadget, you know there are always new smartphones coming out to outshine your old handset and inspire some real gadget FOMO. But once you’ve upgraded, what do you do with your old phone? If it’s still in good working condition, chances are that someone out there… Continue Reading
It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life
Nature: The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology Philip Ball Pan Macmillan (2024) For too long, scientists have been content in espousing the lazy metaphor of living… Continue Reading
Book Review: Transformative Negotiation Strategies for Everyday Change and Equitable Futures
Via LLRX – Book Review: Transformative Negotiation Strategies for Everyday Change and Equitable Futures – Jerry Lawson writes – So you think you know how to negotiate? You’ve done some deals, maybe a lot, maybe some for big bucks. Maybe attended some classes. Maybe read some books. Surely you can’t have all that much left to… Continue Reading
LLRX November 2023
The November 2023 issue of LLRX has 9 new articles and 6 new columns: AI in Banking and Finance, November 30, 2023 ; AI in Banking and Finance – November 16, 2023 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government reports, industry white papers, academic papers and speeches on the subject of AI’s… Continue Reading
The best books of 2023
The Economist – This year’s picks transport readers to mountain peaks, out to sea and back in time Continue Reading
A History of Bookmaking, From Scrolls to Scrolling
HyperAllergic: “If you’re shopping for the bibliophile on your list this holiday season (or you are said bibliophile), look no further! The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention (2023, University of Chicago Press) is an ambitious compendium that seeks to catalog and analyze the history of the book in myriad… Continue Reading
Hitting the Books: How the ‘Godfather of Cybercrime’ got his start on eBay
Engadget – “From bunk Beanie Babies to signal-stealing cable boxes, Brett Johnson has scammed them all. The internet has connected nearly everybody on the planet to a global network of information and influence, enabling humanity’s best and brightest minds unparalleled collaborative capabilities. At least that was the idea, more often than not these days, it… Continue Reading
