<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" xmlns:activity="http://activitystrea.ms/spec/1.0/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" ><channel><title>Newsvine - ombra's Column - Articles and Seeds</title><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/</link><description>Newsvine - ombra's Column - Articles and Seeds</description><language>en-us</language><copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright><lastBuildDate>Wed, 5 Aug 2009 17:29:43 +0000</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:17:03 +0000</pubDate><generator>http://www.newsvine.com</generator><docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs><item><title>Blackwater accused of serious crimes by former employees</title><description><![CDATA[Two former employees of Blackwater (now called Xe), a private military contractor founded by Michigan native Erik Prince, have submitted sworn affidavits in a federal court case in Virginia alleging that Prince is motivated by anti-Muslim religious fervor and that he and his comp&nbsp;&hellip;]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/05/3122456-blackwater-accused-of-serious-crimes-by-former-employees</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/05/3122456-blackwater-accused-of-serious-crimes-by-former-employees</guid><category>us-news</category><category>blackwater</category><category>xe-erik-prince</category><category>iraq</category><category>crimes</category><category>war</category><pubDate>Wed, 5 Aug 2009 17:29:43 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Why do we need health-care reform? Everything is just fine the way it is.</title><description><![CDATA[Go ahead, shoot me. I like the status quo on health care in the United States. I've got health insurance and I don't give a damn about the 47 million suckers who don't. Obama and Congress must be stopped. No bill! I'm better off the way things are.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/01/3101770-why-do-we-need-health-care-reform-everything-is-just-fine-the-way-it-is</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/01/3101770-why-do-we-need-health-care-reform-everything-is-just-fine-the-way-it-is</guid><category>health</category><category>health-care-insurance</category><category>reform</category><category>alter</category><category>socialized</category><pubDate>Sat, 1 Aug 2009 05:25:52 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Lobby Firm Sent Forged Climate Change Letter To Congressman</title><description><![CDATA[The letter -- subsequently obtained by TPMmuckraker -- had actually been sent by someone at the D.C.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/31/3099239-lobby-firm-sent-forged-climate-change-letter-to-congressman</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/31/3099239-lobby-firm-sent-forged-climate-change-letter-to-congressman</guid><category>politics</category><category>perriello</category><category>climate-change</category><category>forgery</category><category>scam</category><category>bonner</category><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:35:39 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Stupid Questions of the Day</title><description><![CDATA[If you're born again, will you be required to have two birth certificates?

Why do they call it a 'one night stand' when you lay down for it?

First we had 'birthers', now we have 'deathers', what's next? Livers?]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/31/3098241-stupid-questions-of-the-day</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/31/3098241-stupid-questions-of-the-day</guid><category>birthers</category><category>deathers</category><category>beer</category><category>humor</category><category>satire</category><category>something-stupid</category><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:12:06 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/generic_post</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Movie/record industry rep says that you shouldn't expect to be able to play your media for as long as you own it</title><description><![CDATA[It's hilarious that the same yahoos who argue for perpetual copyright (implying that copyrighted works have value forever) also argue for time-limited ownership (implying that people who buy copyrighted works should be content to enjoy them for a few weeks or years until the DRM &nbsp;&hellip;]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092328-movierecord-industry-rep-says-that-you-shouldnt-expect-to-be-able-to-play-your-media-for-as-long-as-you-own-it</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092328-movierecord-industry-rep-says-that-you-shouldnt-expect-to-be-able-to-play-your-media-for-as-long-as-you-own-it</guid><category>entertainment</category><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:41:23 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>&quot;LUCA&quot; -Search for the Common Ancestor of All Life </title><description><![CDATA[Just as linguists have been able to establish that all human languages have a common origin, so it turns out that all cellular life has a common origin. The ancestor of all life on Earth today has been dubbed LUCA, short for Last Universal Common Ancestor.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092198-luca-search-for-the-common-ancestor-of-all-life-</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092198-luca-search-for-the-common-ancestor-of-all-life-</guid><category>science</category><category>evolution</category><category>life</category><category>dna</category><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:12:19 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>The Space Elevator Games -Next Big ESPN Series?</title><description><![CDATA[In final proof that sports channels don't know what the hell they're doing, for the last five years NASA and The Spaceward Foundation have been running "The Space Elevator Games" - a competition to build a robot and cable to literally CLIMB INTO SPACE - and TV still shows skatebo&nbsp;&hellip;]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092160-the-space-elevator-games-next-big-espn-series</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/30/3092160-the-space-elevator-games-next-big-espn-series</guid><category>science</category><category>space-elevator</category><category>nasa</category><category>the-spaceward-foundation</category><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:02:26 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Vitter Responds To Voinovich: I'm For &quot;Core Conservative Values,&quot; Not For Straying From Them</title><description><![CDATA[Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is responding sternly to Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), who blamed Southerners for dragging the Republican Party's fortunes down.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3088093-vitter-responds-to-voinovich-im-for-core-conservative-values-not-for-straying-from-them</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3088093-vitter-responds-to-voinovich-im-for-core-conservative-values-not-for-straying-from-them</guid><category>politics</category><category>david-vitter</category><category>george-voinovich</category><category>republican</category><category>conservative</category><category>values</category><category>irony</category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:29:35 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Republicans Stepping Away From The Birthers</title><description><![CDATA[It's now looking like a lot of prominent Republicans, ranging from party leaders to big-name pundits that we usually expect to make outrageous partisan attacks, are doing something they'd been previously neglecting: Definitively cracking down on the Birthers, rather than playing &nbsp;&hellip;]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3087774-republicans-stepping-away-from-the-birthers</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3087774-republicans-stepping-away-from-the-birthers</guid><category>politics</category><category>birth-cerificate</category><category>obama</category><category>republicans</category><category>oreilly</category><category>birthers</category><category>orly-taitz</category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:27:53 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>'Wait A Second. Barack Obama is a Connecticut Vampire?'</title><description><![CDATA[Last night, Orly Taitz told readers of her blog that she'd taped an interview on The Colbert Report and expected it to be edited to maker her look silly.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3087055-wait-a-second-barack-obama-is-a-connecticut-vampire</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3087055-wait-a-second-barack-obama-is-a-connecticut-vampire</guid><category>us-news</category><category>orly-taitz</category><category>birthers</category><category>colbert</category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:22 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Detroit City Charter Revision Commission candidates hesitant to bar all felons from public office</title><description><![CDATA[Among the 167 names on the double-sided Aug. 4 primary ballot is Monica Conyers. The former city councilwoman who announced her resignation in June after pleading guilty to bribery charges is on the ballot for re-election.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3086284-detroit-city-charter-revision-commission-candidates-hesitant-to-bar-all-felons-from-public-office</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3086284-detroit-city-charter-revision-commission-candidates-hesitant-to-bar-all-felons-from-public-office</guid><category>politics</category><category>detroit</category><category>conyers</category><category>city-council</category><category>election</category><category>corruption</category><category>felon</category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:07:27 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>A Harvard Professor Says Some Stupid Things </title><description><![CDATA[No, this is not about Henry Louis Gates. I'm not about to wade into that particular controversy.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/28/3081867-a-harvard-professor-says-some-stupid-things-</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/28/3081867-a-harvard-professor-says-some-stupid-things-</guid><category>health</category><category>health-care</category><category>canada</category><category>us</category><category>britain-socialized</category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:33:01 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>O'Reilly's Fuzzy Math</title><description><![CDATA[Canadians have a longer life expectancy - because there are 10 times more people in the US.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/28/3081594-oreillys-fuzzy-math</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/28/3081594-oreillys-fuzzy-math</guid><category>odd-news</category><category>bill-oreilly</category><category>canadians</category><category>life-expectancy</category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:32:08 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Expect tougher rules, product safety chief to tell Chinese</title><description><![CDATA[The new head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission leaves Tuesday on a trip to warn Chinese and other major Asian exporters to expect tougher regulation of toys, drywall and other products found to have recent defects after entering the U.S. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/27/3078961-expect-tougher-rules-product-safety-chief-to-tell-chinese</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/27/3078961-expect-tougher-rules-product-safety-chief-to-tell-chinese</guid><category>business</category><category>product-safety</category><category>china</category><category>imports</category><category>defects</category><category>asian</category><category>regulation</category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:56:43 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Super Secretive Supercapacitor CEO Tells All in Leaked Phone Call</title><description><![CDATA[In what appears to be a huge leak, the notoriously secretive Dick Weir of Eestor did a phone call with someone that got out, copied, transcribed and put up on TheEEStory.com. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/27/3078926-super-secretive-supercapacitor-ceo-tells-all-in-leaked-phone-call</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/27/3078926-super-secretive-supercapacitor-ceo-tells-all-in-leaked-phone-call</guid><category>technology</category><category>eestor</category><category>electric-auto</category><category>alternative-energy</category><category>green</category><category>battery</category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:45:17 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>McCain Campaign Investigated, Dismissed Obama Citizenship Rumors</title><description><![CDATA[While they ruled out any chance of the 'birther' lawsuits holding up in court, lawyers for the McCain campaign did check into the rumors about Obama's birth and the assertions made by Berg and others.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/24/3061302-mccain-campaign-investigated-dismissed-obama-citizenship-rumors</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/24/3061302-mccain-campaign-investigated-dismissed-obama-citizenship-rumors</guid><category>politics</category><category>birth</category><category>birther</category><category>berg</category><category>birth-certificate</category><category>obama</category><category>court</category><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:17:30 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Scientists find ways to make electronic data self destruct</title><description><![CDATA[Worried that the college binge drinking photos posted on the internet will reappear to haunt during a job interview? Cheer up. Researchers have found a method that makes electronic data self destruct itself.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/24/3060904-scientists-find-ways-to-make-electronic-data-self-destruct</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/24/3060904-scientists-find-ways-to-make-electronic-data-self-destruct</guid><category>technology</category><category>computers</category><category>security</category><category>vanish</category><category>data</category><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:01:03 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Stupak denies knowledge of connections to mysterious 'C Street' house he lives in</title><description><![CDATA[Despite weeks of media attention paid to the now-infamous "C Street" house owned by The Family, a secretive Christian group, U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak — who lives at the house near the U.S.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/23/3057613-stupak-denies-knowledge-of-connections-to-mysterious-c-street-house-he-lives-in</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/23/3057613-stupak-denies-knowledge-of-connections-to-mysterious-c-street-house-he-lives-in</guid><category>politics</category><category>c-street</category><category>the-family</category><category>the-fellowship</category><category>bart-stupak</category><category>michigan</category><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:37:16 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Walter Cronkite has died</title><description><![CDATA[At age 92, Walter Cronkite, the CBS news legend has passed away after a long battle with cerebrovascular disease.

"Uncle Walter" came to represent the face of news to many people in a day when TV news was the most trusted source.]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/17/3035618-walter-cronkite-has-died</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/17/3035618-walter-cronkite-has-died</guid><category>us-news</category><category>cbs</category><category>news</category><category>cronkite</category><category>death</category><pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:33:38 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/generic_post</activity:object-type></item><item><title>Stephen Hawking: Why Isn't the Milky Way &quot;Crawling With Self-Designing Mechanical or Biological Life?&quot;</title><description><![CDATA[In his famous lecture on Life in the Universe, Stephen Hawking asks: "What are the chances that we will encounter some alien form of life, as we explore the galaxy?"]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[ombra]]></dc:creator><link>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/13/3021816-stephen-hawking-why-isnt-the-milky-way-crawling-with-self-designing-mechanical-or-biological-life</link><guid>http://ombra.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/13/3021816-stephen-hawking-why-isnt-the-milky-way-crawling-with-self-designing-mechanical-or-biological-life</guid><category>science</category><category>life</category><category>evolution</category><category>space</category><category>stephen-hawking</category><pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:38:42 +0000</pubDate><activity:verb>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post</activity:verb><activity:object-type>http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/bookmark</activity:object-type></item></channel></rss>