Eli Broad is a billionaire who's made major donations to both the GOP and Democrats to push for charter schools, and his Broad Foundation has spent millions lobbying for public funds to go to private schools ("school choice"); but even he thinks that charter school advocate/ponzi scheme billionaire/Christian warrior/plagiarist/sister of war criminal Erik Prince/latter-day Marie Antoinette/convicted election fraudster, Betsy DeVos is unqualified to serve as Secretary of Education, a role that Donald Trump has selected for her. — Read the rest

Erik Prince, the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater (dropped from the roster of US military contractors due to their participation in horrific war crimes), has done a deal with 505 Games to produce an XBox 360 shooter game that will be controlled by Kinect motion-sensors. — Read the rest

In a surreal moment of unintentional crony-capitalist comedy, John Ashcroft has taken a job at the infamous mercenary/profiteer firm Blackwater (now called "Xe"), where he will be in charge of "ethics and professionalism."

Ashcroft's arrival at Xe is yet another clear signal it's not giving up the quest for lucrative government security contracts now that it's no longer owned by founder Erik Prince, even as it emphasizes the side of its business that trains law enforcement officers.

Guestblogger Paul Spinrad is a freelance writer/editor, and is Projects Editor for MAKE magazine. He is the author of The VJ Book and The Re/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids, and was an early contributor to bOING bOING when it was an online zine. — Read the rest

Presidential Airways, a division of the private military company Blackwater Worldwide, is being sued for wrongful death by the families of three soldiers killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan.

The company has asked the court to use Shari'a Islamic law to make a ruling on the lawsuit. — Read the rest

Over at Wired's Danger Room blog, Sharon Weinberger today writes about recent purchases by private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide. The company bought a light attack counterinsurgency aircraft, and more than 24 other aircraft, under the name of an obscure aviation firm:

An Embraer Super Tucano was placed on the U.S.

Chris Hedges, the former New York Times Mideast Bureau chief, has written an article for Truthdig about the Christian right's infiltration into US military and law enforcement. He is writing a book called American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. — Read the rest