ONJava.com: Developing, Applying and Optimizing XSLT with Java Servlets [Dec. 15, 2000]

Must read: "Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use," by Jacob Sullum. It's a brave man who writes a book like this in times like these. I think I'll put in a request for it at my local public library... just to piss off the FBI.

From ActForChange Petition: Stop the Florida-tion of the 2004 election:

We, the undersigned, hereby demand that NO voter be purged from centralized voter rolls without proof positive that the voter is ineligible. We also demand a halt to further computerization of balloting until such methods are made unsusceptible to political manipulation, fraud, and racial bias.

From democrats.org: Petition: Support the Democrats' Fight Against Bush's Extreme Judges:

President Bush has already built a record of nominating extremist, ultra-conservative judges to the federal bench. I stand with and support Democratic leaders in the fight to oppose ultra-conservative nominees to the nation's highest court.

R.I.P. Luciano Berio. I've always liked his "Sinfonia for 8 Voices and Orchestra" (1969), especially the 3rd movement ("In ruhig fliessender Bewegung", which I like to think of as "Mahler on Acid"). Links to excerpts at amazon.com.

ACLU: Support Diversity and Openness in our Nation's Media. Tell the FCC commissioners to open their Rule-making process to the public and Congress.

Sign the Tikkun Resolution for Middle East Peace Petition, and mark your calendar for the Teach-In to Congress & Annual Tikkun Community Conference, June 1st-4th, Capitol Hill Hyatt, Washington DC.

Physicians for Social Responsibility: Tell Congress No New Nukes

In the mood for some deep navigation of the music of Philip Glass? Then the IBM Glass Engine is for you. Just remember: DON'T point and click. Click and SLIDE.

Mass NARAL: Urge the Massachusetts State Senate to Save Family Planning!

Common Cause: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering changes that will affect every American without adequate public input. Join other Americans in telling FCC Chairman Michael Powell to delay the June 2nd vote on media consolidation and oppose relaxing the current ownership rules.

From thenation.com: The Unconquerable World, by Jonathan Schell:

Does the American leadership today imagine that the people of the world, having overthrown the great territorial empires of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, are ready to bend the knee to an American overlord in the twenty-first?

Tell your Senators to stop Bush's tax cuts for millionaires.

KATU 2 News - Portland, Oregon: Parents donate blood plasma to pay teacher's salary

ABCNEWS.com: Oregon County Seeks Klingon Interpreter for Mental Health Patients

ACORN.org (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now): Tell your senators and rep to increase the federal share of Medicaid spending, also known as “FMAP,” or the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.

Today, the Minnesota Opera is performing the North American premiere of The Handmaid's Tale (1997-98), by composer Poul Ruders and librettist Dale Johnson, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood.

Where's Mercury?

Anybody want a free copy of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition from the Boston Area Windows Server User Group?

It looks like the emerging competition between alternative and mainstream media for the hearts and minds of the masses has caught the attention of MIT's Program in Comparative Media Studies:
MIT Technology Review: Media Tonic for War Fever, by Henry Jenkins:

Many Americans got their news and attitudes about the Iraq war from alternative sources showing far more skepticism than mainstream U.S. television.

The discussion forum for this article is at least as interesting as the article itself. And you can post your own, if you want...

In Search of the Golden Meme, by Mark Cowan

epic-usa.org: Sign on to EPIC's Emergency Humanitarian Campaign by signing the Citizens’ Humanitarian Pledge. EPIC (Education for Peace in Iraq Center) will be delivering the pledge and all signatures to every member of Congress on Friday, May 9.

pfaw.org: Right Wing Watch: Talking out of Turn: The Right's Campaign Against Dissent