Friday roundup

It has been a busy, busy week. That means less time for posting. It has been great having Jonathan stay with us, though Tams wishes we'd play less AoE. But when else can I get someone likeminded in a military sense to help me out strategize the computer?

Anyway, some interesting reading. First, there is an article in the WSJ (subscribers only, sorry) about the Air Force cutting a deal with Mircosoft to get patches before their general release. Why do I find it interesting? Because it is one small indication of where this concept of infowar is going. National physical boundaries are less important than institutional ones (companies, governments, NGOs), and an attack on a company can have as global implications as an attack on a nation's sovereign soil. In the next decade, centers of gravity will shift and war will look very different.

In other news, homeschooling is no longer for anti-social, tinfoil-hat-wearing, conspiracy-munching freaks and gaia-worshiping, tree-hugging, granola-eating counterculter types. It is now also for those oh-so-normal Hollywood movie stars. Interesting.

Moving on, and how I found that last link, is this excellent article about the latest Harvard kerfluffle, discussed earlier. Thanks, Nathan!

Finally, though I don't have time to comment on it now, an interesting article about the 'religious right' which makes some excellent points about the dangers of mixing politics into religion. I agree with a lot of what he says, but disagree with his conclusion. In case I don't get around to it later, here is my short reply: Our relationship to Christ is paramount, and must consume our very being. That relationship is based on love, and love is the standard by which we judge our interactions with our fellow man. However, love is not a feeling, it is an action based on Truth, the truth that is revealed to us in the Word. And that Word, made flesh, came and did not abolish the Law, which pointed the way, but fulfilled it so we no longer have to fear it, but can gaze into the perfect law, knowing that it leads to perfect love. And that love drives us to do what is right, for the right reasons. There is sin in the world. That sin stands in between God and Man, and saying that there is sin, though often unwelcome, is a necessary first step to the recognition for the need for Christ's sacrifice, the way to salvation. So a true relationship with the savior will bring action, and He calls different people to different action. As long as it is word and deed from love, we all, members of one body though different parts, are in the same fight.

More later, Lord willing. Gotta run.