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USA: Yahoo! News - Churches Selling As Luxury Condominiums: “As the Boston Archdiocese prepares to put 60 churches up for sale, developers and real estate brokers predict they will be scooped up and converted into condos because the market is hot for trendy, distinctive real estate.” I used live in a brewery. A church is another story.

USA: Yahoo! News - Benefit Art Auction Aims to Unseat Bush: “Artists, art galleries and wealthy collectors are contributing more than 170 works for an auction June 29 in New York to raise money for two pro-Democratic groups, America Coming Together and the political action committee ARTS PAC, that will use the cash for voter mobilization and other election-year efforts. ‘Join artists and friends in saying ‘Bye-Bye Bush’ and help to elect Democratic candidates at the federal, state and local levels,’ an event flier says. One artist behind the auction is Chuck Close, a New York-based photorealist painter who sought the donated works. The sentiment among several artists, according to Close, is that the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism efforts, epitomized by the Patriot Act, are endangering civil rights, including artistic freedom. ”

Tech: The New York Times > Opinion > Making Votes Count: Gambling on Voting: “Election officials say their electronic voting systems are the very best. But the truth is, gamblers are getting the best technology, and voters are being given systems that are cheap and untrustworthy by comparison. There are many questions yet to be resolved about electronic voting, but one thing is clear: a vote for president should be at least as secure as a 25-cent bet in Las Vegas.”

USA: Yahoo! News - Records Trickle Out of Reagan Library: “Though the library opened in November 1991, only 10% of the papers from Reagan’s eight years in office have been released, archivists said. That is partly because of the sheer volume of documents generated during his administration and the painstaking process of preparing such a historical mother lode for release, officials said. Academics are more worried about an executive order issued by President Bush (news - web sites) in 2001 that they say could indefinitely shield from public view, or at least further delay the release of, some of the late president’s most sensitive documents.” The imperial presidency continues.

Tech: The Austin Chronicle: Screens: The Hot Spot describes the Austin Wirelss City Project. Free WiFi for all. Keep Austin Weird.