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OK, I am not a lawyer nor a law student. I am just a guy who decided to "fight city hall" (well, the State, really) and, in the course of this, learned a heck of a lot more about contract law, administrative law, statutory construction, court procedure, etc., than I ever thought I would.

Along the way, I discovered the Restatement (2d) of the Law: Contracts. Well, this is the text of _that_ (including examples, which are essential to understanding nuances, the main points, etc.)...so it is the actual restatement without the many volumes of case citations to specific sections (which is really important for actual briefs/args in your jurisdiction, but carrying around all of those volumes...well, just get this, instead! ;-). If you are learning contract law, this is a _great_ reference. It is a great size to carry around--unlike the multi-volume, full ed'n...--and this is really important.

It also has a nice binding which appears to be reasonably durable.

[Now superceded by a 4th ed'n which has some more extras, but is still essentially the Rest. (2d) Contracts.]

I'm a non-legal person who is involved in a case against a State agency, and I'm using this book as a major part of my preparation of an appellate brief.

The book is the text of the Restatement (2nd) of the law of Contract, along with the non-citation portions of the text (illustrations/comments are included). The text itself is very clear, and the comments/illustrations are well-chosen to explain/illumine particular distinctions and other points.

Though a person using this as I do often needs to ultimately also have the case history upon which rules are based, this book is easy to carry around and read/refer to/etc. during the course of writing a brief or studying the basic common law of contracts.

It is surprisingly well-written and clear. Anyone working in this area would do well to invest in a copy (check for current edition; I believe I actually have the Third Ed.).

From debt to domination, never did I imagine that this subject could actually entertain as well as educate me. This could serve as a blue print for many businesses under pressure!

The title speaks for itself. A refreshing, non traditional approach to leadership in today's society. Well worth the read. Valuable resource.

This book is fantastic. I highly recommend it for a mature audience!

After much searching, I'm finally rewarded with an article that demonstrates how a high standard of technical/business writing can be an effective tool for good management. The author describes a sensible solution with methodology that is scientifically proven to work -- writing for the reader, or as she puts it, Writing for Real People. She makes a great case for understanding business correspondence from the perspective of the recipient. And the outcome is impressive: 1) doubling the reader's comprehension rate; 2) promoting a team approach in an essential government agency (VA); and 3) greatly reducing support calls.

I read these works for a graduate seminar on Aristotle.
Definition of Rhetoric- capacity of persuasion. Plato is critical of the Rhetoric and the tragic poetry. Rhetoric is approach to political public speeches in the forum. Plato thought that they clouded the mind and thus created a part of his critique of democracy in general. Plato thinks Socrates was killed by rhetoric used by the Athenian democracy. Plato feared the danger of democracy. Poetry appeals to the base human emotions rhetoric, and poetry block rational truth according to Plato. Rhetoric is psychological force of language vs. logical force of language. Psychology leads people to believe things based on emotions. Speech must appeal to the masses in a democracy. Psychology is persuasion, logic is truth. Deduction and induction is arguing logically. Plato says rhetoric is not a technç, (craft) nor is poetry, because they are undisciplined and not uniform in design. Thus, appeal to psychology and emotion can never be done away with in a democracy, thus Plato abhors them and democracy. Plato calls it sophistry this psychological appeal and democracy requires this to exist, so the problem persists. Plato is clear and consistent in his abhorrence of sophistry and democracy.

Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics are an alternative to Plato. Aristotle's rhetoric tries to strike a middle position. Aristotle says rhetoric and poetry are a technç, the Rhetoric is a handbook. Aristotle says speaker needs to appeal to appropriate information for the particular setting. Much like a lawyer's argument, not just relying on facts, need to appeal to people's emotions. Aristotle does understand that rhetoric can be used in a harmful way.

Aristotle lays out three features in rhetoric:
1. Ethos= character of the speaker, also charisma, speaker earns the audience's trust, use of body language.
2. Pathos= condition of the hearer.
3. Logos= essential bearing on political persuasion, truth.

Thus, Plato's concern by definition excludes speech because it deals with emotion. These three conditions must be in play for a speech to be successful. The rhetoric contains a detailed analysis of the different human emotions and how to elicit them in a speech. Aristotle knows the speaker must be a good student of human nature to tap into human emotions.

Epistçmç is scientific knowledge. Phronçsis is the capacity of the soul for using education, experience and habit all this is in the ethics. This is the same in political world so politics is not an episteme no scientific reasoning. The things that come up in politics are not deduced scientifically. In politics, humans use deliberation between several possible outcomes unlike math where there is only one correct answer. Political speech is contentious because the nature of politics is contentious.

There are two circumstances in rhetoric.
1. Judicial rhetoric has to do with the past like in a court case.
2. Deliberative rhetoric has to do with the future, what decision should we make in political policies.

I recommend Aristotle's works to anyone interested in obtaining a classical education, and those interested in philosophy. Aristotle is one of the most important philosophers and the standard that all others must be judged by.

Do not buy this article, borrow it from your library. Thompson Gale are corporate scalpers and I, the author, am not seeing a red cent out of these sales.

Save your money. Go down to your local library and have them get the article by Interlibrary Loan, if they don't have the journal itself already.

This book is about the factors that explain changes in international competitiveness between 1945 and the late 1980s in three industries -- steel, automobiles, and semiconductors -- in five countries: the United States, Japan, Britain, France, and Germany. It argues that the way in which countries organize themselves internally is the most important factor. Increases in competitiveness occurred in countries like Germany and Japan where there was cooperation between business and the state or between business and labor. Declines in competitiveness occurred in countries like the US and Britain where government, business or labor were dominant in the overall system and therefore did not cooperate with each other. The book argues further that increases in competitiveness occur in countries where the diffusion of new knowledge and technology is rapid and that such diffusion is easier in countries where business, government, and labor are able to work together.

I found this book helpful, informative and inspiring. I applaud the courage, spirit and conviction of those who contributed to this volume who spoke up and exercised their international human right of freedom of expression on behalf of Rushdie's own legal right to the same right under international human rights law. May the author Salman Rushdie continue to write award-winning fiction celebrated around the world by discriminating readers and writers and may there always be courageous and conviction-filled individuals who refuse to be intimidated by terrorists and other thugs who commit criminal acts around the world in violation of recognized international legal norms