Via Managability's Top Ten Truly Obscure But Useful Java Projects, I find the suddenly essential Joda Time. Not quite mxDateTime for Java, but almost.

Some other interesting recent Java links:

• onJava, Spring in Action, Part 1 and Part 2
• onJava, Working with Hibernate in Eclipse
• Setting up an Eclipse-based Java Development Environment on WinXP, Part 1 and Part 2