Most of the players in this market are for-profit institutions that are problematic not only for the quality of education they offer but also for their aggressive support of education less as a public good than as a private initiative and saleable commodity, defined in this case through providing a service to the military in return for a considerable profit. And as this sector of higher education grows, it will not only become more privatized but also more instrumentalized, largely defined as a credentializing factory designed to serve the needs of the military, thus falling into the trap of confusing training with a broad-based education. Catering to the educational needs of the military makes it all the more difficult to…

This is from the Maps of War site, developed (somewhat mysteriously) by ” a Flash-Designer hobbyist and professional history- buff,” who hopes to help us “place today’s war headlines into a greater historical context.”

Not every map is as elaborate (or successful) as her/his “Imperial History” of the Middle East, but the Maps are a great idea and worth a visit now and again. (It did make me feel dumb, too. Who were the Sassanid or the Seljuk?)

Education, we are told, is about opportunity. It is about young people gaining the skills needed to get ahead in the new post-industrial economy. Whether Republican or Democrat, our political leaders tell us that schools are the way into a brighter future. But what if that future is determined, in fact, by how jobs get constructed and distributed in the new global economy. And if that means that more and more good jobs are fleeing the older industrial countries, then schools in those countries are not about opportunity but instead function as gate-keepers to a shrinking pool of rewards.

from College and social class: the broken promise of America
Cross Currents, Spring, 2006 by John Raines, Charles…