Happy Cinco de Mayo. And don’t forget the grand conjunction of the planets for which doomsayers have been waiting with dread. “All seven classical solar system bodies span their smallest

geocentric arc in ecliptic longitude — 25° 53′ — at 8:08 UT on May 5. This moment is the culmination of the celestial massings. The

sun is near the center of the massing, so all that will be visible will be Mars and the crescent moon, both 16° east of the sun in the

evening sky, and perhaps Venus, 10° west of the sun in the morning sky.”

See colorful Mayan market towns in Guatemala, get exposed to quaint indigenous beliefs…and die.

House Republican Whip Tom DeLay probably thinks you are part of a ‘Cultural Coup D’etat’ against American values.

My son would go for this!

Do you remember where you were thirty years ago today when you heard about the Kent State murders?

Recreational Use of Ritalin Feared. I hate to mention this, but people have been using Ritalin recreationally for at least forty years.

Salon reviews Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish”, which denounces high-tech culture as pitiless, egotistical and (ugghh!) libertarian. Does it matter that squabbles prevented it from coming to press until five years after it was written? Time warp: “She’s especially talented at sketching

caricatures and does so throughout

“Cyberselfish,” where we meet a host of

cypherpunks and nerverts (nerds who

indulge in unusual sex), ravers and gilders,

entrepreneurial newts and programming

flamingos. Her sketches are true enough that

you nod and think, yeah, I know the type.

Indeed, at its best, “Cyberselfish” reads like

the “Radical Chic” of mid-1990s San

Francisco.”