Charles Sykes makes his case that today’s College Experience is too expensive and, for many students, a waste of time. He shows how many students end up with huge College debts after four short years of sometimes dubious education. I’ve spoken about this subject several times. My College is an “Open Admissions” school which means there is no filter: anyone with a pulse and a tuition check (or loan money) is accepted. Many of these students end up taking the Algebra, Biology, and English classes they should have taken in High School. Fail U exposes the myth that a College Education leads to high paying jobs and a successful career. Too often, students graduate to find their degree doesn’t lead to a job at all. But before too long, those same students need to start paying back their student loans. Fail U explores the flaws in our College system and warns future students and parents of potential downfalls in their Higher Education plans. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgments
PART I: I TOLD YOU SO
Introduction: Scenes from a Graduation
1. Bursting the College Bubble
2. Deja Vu: ProfScam Twenty-Eight Years Later
PART II: THE COLLEGE BUBBLE
3. The (Escalating) Flight from Teaching
4. The Reality of Academic Research
5. What Do Students Learn (and Does Anybody Care?)
6. The College for All Delusion
PART III: BLOAT
7. Our Bloated Colleges
8. Academia’s Edifice Bloat
PART IV: JUNK SCHOLARSHIP, HOAXES, AND SCANDALS
9. Does the Emperor Have Any Clothes?
10. A Scandal Reconsidered
PART V: VICTIM U (TRIGGER WARNING)
11. Grievance U
12. Rape U
PART VI: IS THIS TIME DIFFERENT?
13. Time for a Bailout?
14. Netflix U
15. Smaller, Fewer, Less
Notes
Index

The surprising Buffalo Bills find themselves in Miami sporting a 4-2 record. The Bills have 4 straight wins, a feat they haven’t achieved since 2008. Last week, the Bills running backs amassed 312 rushing yards against the San Francisco 49ers. The last time the Bills ran for more than 300 yards in a regular season game was 1992! Enough statistics! LeSean McCoy, the Bills’s best player is out with a sore hamstring. If the Bills are going to defeat the Miami Dolphins today, they’ll have to count on backups. This could be a very close game. What is your favorite NFL going to do today?

Lee Child makes a cameo appearance in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. And about 50% of the story in Lee Child’s novel makes it into the movie. The script by Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick, and Christopher McQuarrie moves the scenes in the novel from California to the Washington, D.C. area. There must have been a tax-break because the big action scenes and chases happen in New Orleans (nothing like that in the novel). There is little chemistry between Tom Cruise and Cobie Smulders, but they beat up Bad Guys together satisfactorily. I liked Danika Yarosh, who plays a 15-year-old who may or may not be Jack Reaher’s daughter. Her role was expanded in the transition from the book to the movie. Other than the mawkish ending scene, I found Jack Reacher: Never Go Back to be an enjoyable, competent action movie. GRADE: B

This anthology from 1970 features a Baker’s Dozen of science fiction stories with crimes and investigations. My favorite story in this book is Jack Vance’s “Coup de Grace” where Vance’s famous sleuth, Magnus Ridolph, investigates a mysterious murder at an isolated resort. Ridolph uses a clever sociological analysis to identify the killer. Isaac Asimov provides his usual informative “Introduction” and each story has introductory material that illuminates the short story and the writer. If you’re in the mood for SF with a criminal theme, The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction is well worth reading!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: The Universes of Science Fiction by Isaac Asimov
The Detwiler Boy by Tom Reamy
The Ipswich Phial by Randall Garrett
Second Game by Charles V. De Vet and Katherine MacLean
The Ceaseless Stone by Avram Davidson
Coup de Grace by Jack Vance
The Green Car by William F. Temple
War Game by Philip K. Dick
The Singing Bell by Isaac Asimov
ARM by Larry Niven
Mouthpiece by Edward Wellen
Time Exposures by Wilson Tucker
How-2 by Clifford D. Simak
Time in Advance by William Tenn

Erm Kaslo is a “confidential operative” (think private eye) who finds himself involved in a series of events that lead to the complete alteration of the Universe. Starships turn into dragons. Kaslo, a clever and very organized agent, finds that the rational, scientific Universe is transforming into a Universe ruled by Magic. Kaslo has no facility with Magic so he becomes the henchman of an ambitious mage named Obron. Together, the two men work together to solve puzzles and mysteries resulting from the transformation. If you’re a fan of the works of Jack Vance, you’ll love A Wizard’s Henchman: First Book of the Kaslo Chronicles. Matthew Hughes channels Jack Vance in many of his works like here, here, here, here, and here. If you’re looking for an entertaining action-adventure novel, I recommend A Wizard’s Henchman. I can’t wait for the next volume in this series! GRADE: B+

Trump says he’s “unleashed.” His “scorched earth” attacks on the Establishment and Hillary will be amped up tonight! Will you be watching? What do you expect?

Queen of Katwe is the “true” story of the struggle of 10-year-old Phiona (Madina Nalwanga) to escape the slums of Uganda with her equally impoverished family. Phiona can’t read or write, but a kind teacher, Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) coaches soccer and teaches children to play chess in a missionary program. Phiona learns to play chess and becomes a changed child. Katende takes some of his best chess players to a tournament and–no surprise–they win! Of course, more problems occur. The terrible poverty threatens to derail everything Phiona has worked for. The cast is good, but Phiona’s mother, played by Lupita Nyong’o (who starred in 12 Years a Slave), steals every scene she’s in. If you’re looking for an uplifting Disney movie, I’d recommend Queen of Katwe. GRADE: B+

I didn’t see the movie version of Finding Neverland but Diane did. Johnny Depp played J.M. Barrie and Katie Winslet played his love interest. This play version of Finding Neverland is based on the Broadway version with some minor modifications: a couple new songs and some extra special effects. The touring company of Finding Neverland has been in Buffalo for the past month “tweaking” this version before they take the production on the road. The story of how Barrie wrote Peter Pan is engaging and entertaining. The love story…not so much. GRADE: B-
ACT I:
Neverland
Welcome to London
My Imagination
Believe
The Dinner Party
We Own the Night
All That Matters
We Own the Night (Reprise)
Sylvia’s Lullaby
Neverland
Circus of Your Mind
Live by the Hook
Stronger
ACT II:
The World Is Upside Down
What You Mean to Me
Play
We’re All Made of Stars
When Your Feet Don’t Touch the Ground
Something About This Night
Neverland (Reprise)
Finale

Amazingly, after an 0-2 start the Buffalo Bills have managed to win three games in a row. Today’s opponent, the Niners, features controversial QB Colin Kaepernick. Genius Head Coach Chip Kelly (no relation) named Colin Kaepernick as his starting quarterback for this game. The joke making the rounds among Bills fans is that the Bills plan to play the National Anthem every time the Niners have a 3rd down so Colin Kaepernick has to take a knee! How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

[For our International readers: Colin Kaepernick initially sat while the National Anthem was played. He took some heat for that. So then Colin Kaepernick started to go down on one knee while the National Anthem was played. Kaepernick is protesting the treatment of African-Americans with this action. Last week, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the playing of the National Anthem “dumb and disrespectful.”]

My take on Hell or High Water differs from the reviews in major publications. Two brothers need $25,000 to save their ranch in Texas in 2008. Now, I can think of a half-dozen ways to legally acquire $25,000 off the top of my head. But these two brothers decide to rob banks. Jeff Bridges plays a Texas Ranger on the cusp of retirement. This series of bank robberies will be his last case. The first few bank robberies go well, but of course things start to go wrong. All of this happens within the terrible economic conditions of West Texas. For Sale signs litter the landscape. Poverty is everywhere. Chris Pine and Ben Forter play brothers with issues. Director David Mackenzie captures the desperation of people as the economy spirals downward. The resolution with Chris Pine’s sour ex-wife and his two sullen sons undercuts his actions. GRADE: B