The Trump White House by Ronald Kessler

Wait. Before you turn away from this review because you feel it is just another poorly constructed praise job for Trump, think again.

This book is written by Kessler who for twenty years has been a friend of Donald Trump. That should be enough time to see the warts under the exterior.

This book concerns the people Trump choose to bring into the White House. It also concerns the issues he has had to face in his first year as president.

Sure, it concerns Trump. Kessler points out there are two faces to Trump. The one we see is his public face. Brash, making outrageous comments on television to get attention, a persona. The second one, the private face, is the dearest, most thoughtful, most loyal, most caring side that only insiders know.

Childhood scars. We all have some. Trump didn’t have it easy, growing up in Queens, New York. He would erupt in anger and pummel other boys or break baseball bats when he struck out. In school he often could be found in detention. He will admit that he created mischief “because for some reason, liked to stir things up, and I liked to test people.”

He seemed to have a need to be first at everything and wanted everyone else to know he was first.

We do see that in his actions today.

When he was forming his staff, he seemed to have let his family loyalties blind him. He has for some reason allowed his daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared, to function on his staff.

Chief strategist Stephen Bannon has said, “They are nice people, but they don’t know anything. If their name wasn’t Trump they would be midlevel marketing managers somewhere.”.

 Neither Jared nor Ivanka have any experience in government yet they can influence his decisions. They also lack the judgment necessary to maneuver in Washington. A case in point is the firing of Comey. Both Ivanka and Jared pushed for Trump to fire Comey without understanding it would be impossible to get a new nominee through the Senate. This step Trump took opened him to the special council being formed.

Trump seems to be treating the Presidency as a business and not an office. As a businessman he would need to cower other businesses and push his brand over theirs. He doesn’t seem yet to understand how to act as a politician. Calling the leader of North Korea “Rocket Man” is not the way to gain friends and influence others.

Former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter has said, “I think the media have been harder on Trump than any president certainly that I’ve known about. I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.”

Kessler with his years of knowing Trump can give us a picture and an understanding we need to fully parse this man. He used twenty-five chapters and a Prologue to do so. Chapter twenty-four is titled “Interview with The President.” This alone is a good reason to read this book.

The subtitle of this book is” changing the rules of the game.” One should read this book also to be up on what is the dream Trump has. Everyone who has ascended to the level Trump has carries with them a dream.

Random House is the publisher and the price is $29.00 retail.

Garden State Gangland:the rise of the mob in New Jersey by Scott M. Deitche

Most of us like to think that the mob is a thing of the past, that it is not here anymore. But we would be foolish to think so. The mobs are still around, just not as active.

At least, one can hope.

In this book we have Deitche tracing the mob families into the twenty first century in a certain area of the great land of America.

A welcome book for those who wish to read about the mob history in New Jersey.

Each chapter takes up a mob figure and the family they ran with. It is interesting as the reader walks the time line with the author.

There is a whole section in our library concerning real life crimes and murders. This will be another addition to that section. I guess the rational for that section is we should be aware of evil. Not that we don’t already know of evil.

I guess some people just enjoy reading this genre of nonfiction writing.

I personally enjoy mystery stories, so I guess I get a thrill reading true cases.

Most of the mob figures recorded here do finally get the due of their actions as a good percentage of them get executed some time later by other mob figures. As the Bible says, what so ever a man sows, this he will reap.

The writing is not too technical or scholarly. The prose flows. There is a picture section in the middle of the book, so you can refer to head shots of most of the figures mentioned. It has a 2018 copyright, so it is current. It is published by Rowman & Littlefield

It would also serve as a source book when further research is needed.

Screen Schooled by Joe Clement and Matt Miles

The present generation of students are no doubt dumber. Not dumber because they are not being taught correct information. No, more likely they are heading toward the distinction of being dumber because of technology.

What do I mean by that? Dumber? Why they are smarter because of technology. They have the computer handy and can access so much more information quicker than the earlier generations. Why do I make this statement?

I am not the one inferring this. But when we can see digital screen technology having a negative impact on our brains, it is time for us to slow down and consider.

“Our brains adapt to the environment,” states Oxford Neuroscientist. Susan Greenfield. “The human brain is an extremely complex yet malleable piece of the human hardware.”

This means that our brains can adapt to what we put in it. The use that students make of their iPhones, iPad, and other devices, the screen time, can tend to stunt the mental growth and possibly tend to lobotomize rather than enhance.

The idea of education is to enrich the process of learning by giving the student skills that are useful for adult life.

Instead technology addition leads to increased depression, anxiety, withdrawal, demised focus and diminished cognitive function. Not at all what is desired.

When the student beings his technology device into the class room and starts to multitask, which is what they attempt to do when they sit in class and listen to the teacher, read email on their screen, play games, they tend to slow down and increase their mistakes.

The sad truth, as our authors point out, is that unfortunately the ill effects created by an entire childhood of multitasking may be irreversible, severely impairing one’s ability to focus as adults.

I feel this book should be read by concerned adults. It is stated that the more we shield students from the consequences of their inability to focus and complete the work, the more they will continue to struggle.  Therefore, we should know what is happening in education and take steps to help our young ones adapt.

The two authors are teachers and they know what they are writing about.

It is copyrighted 2018 and published by the Chicago Review Press. It retails for $18.99. Better yet, see if your library has it. Either way, get it and read it.