<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
































<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
  <title>Creative Loafing Tampa: News</title>
  <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com</link>
  <description>Tampa Creative Loafing Weekly Newspaper, shelter from the mainstream for news, event listings, dining, movies and music, restaurants.</description>
  <language>en-us</language>
  <copyright>Copyright 2009Creative Loafing Tampa. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Creative Loafing Tampa readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Creative Loafing Tampa.</copyright>
  <managingEditor>online@creativeloafing.com</managingEditor>
  <webMaster>webmaster@creativeloafing.com</webMaster>
  <pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:01 MST</pubDate>
  <lastBuildDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:54:51 MST</lastBuildDate>
  <generator>Dispatch Gyrobase</generator>
  
    <item>
    <title>How can racing yachts sail faster than the wind?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/how_can_racing_yachts_sail_faster_than_the_wind_/Content?oid=899739</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Cecil Adams
      
      
      How can those America&#39;s Cup yachts sail faster than the wind? Here&#39;s what the San Francisco Chronicle has to say: &quot;It&#39;s physics.&quot; Come on, Cecil, I know you can do better. --P. McCartney, Oak Harbor, Washington I should hope. To give the Chronicle some credit, though, &quot;it&#39;s physics&quot; was preceded by an accurate if somewhat murky explanation that, unfortunately, you didn&#39;t get. Let&#39;s try again. The America&#39;s Cup, for those whose taste in sports runs more to bowling, is the
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Straight Dope</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Alex Sink speaks out on gay adoption</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/alex_sink_speaks_out_on_gay_adoption/Content?oid=899741</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      Florida is the only state in the country with a blanket ban on gay adoptions. That&#39;s been the law of the land in the Sunshine State since 1977, despite legal and legislative attempts to remedy the restrictive policy. This past Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Chief Financial Officer and Democratic candidate for Governor Alex Sink said that has to change. Speaking at a fundraiser hosted by Equality Florida, Sink told the crowd that it should be up to a judge to
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>The power of cell phone towers in Florida politics</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_power_of_cell_phone_towers_in_florida_politics/Content?oid=899743</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        South Tampa's "desperate housewives" are worried about cell phone towers &mdash; and their concerns may impact an election....
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      Earlier this month, Tampa attorney and business owner Stacy Frank announced that she would run for the Democratic party nomination in State House District 57, currently occupied for one more year by Republican Fay Culp, who is then term-limited out. Democrats representing Hillsborough County in the state Capitol have been scant in recent years, but local party leaders have high hopes that with open seats like HD 57 (one of three open House seats in the county for 2010), they
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>It&amp;#39;s only a game, parents</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/it_s_only_a_game_parents/Content?oid=883329</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        But you wouldn't know it from the coaches and parents watching youth baseball....
       
      
        By Catherine Durkin Robinson
      
      
      After two weeks of practice and a few rain delays, game day is finally here. The sun is playing peek-a-boo behind just a few clouds in an otherwise clear and bright blue sky. An autumn breeze doesn&#39;t lower the temperature too much, still in the high 80s, but I sit in the shade and feel comfortable. Never a big sports fan, I&#39;m now transformed by my children&#39;s enthusiasm. I&#39;m ready to see my youngest son get out there and enjoy
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Commentary</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>The state of Ybor City</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_state_of_ybor_city/Content?oid=883340</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        Is it the best of times or the worst of times? What's in store for Ybor?...
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      Last Saturday night, a disappointingly small crowd estimated to be no more than 15,000 journeyed to 7th Avenue in Ybor City to celebrate Guavaween, on what historically has been one of the biggest financial paydays of the year for the entertainment district. Observers attributed the relatively sparse attendance to the decision earlier this year to ban motorized floats, which apparently persuaded most of the krewes associated with those floats to stay away from the festivities. The ticket price ($17, the
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News Feature</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Welcome to the Yborhood, Creative Loafing</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/welcome_to_the_yborhood_creative_loafing/Content?oid=883343</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By David Warner
      
      
      With this issue, Creative Loafing is celebrating a homecoming of sorts: Five years after leaving Ybor, we&#39;ve returned to our roots. We now occupy a suite of offices in Ybor Square across the street from our old stomping grounds at El Pasaje &mdash; where (I am told &mdash; this all happened before my time), the CL/Weekly Planet staffers spent many happy years (1998-2004) making journalism and damaging livers. In Mitch Perry&#39;s story, he takes stock of our old/new neighborhood. Among
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News Feature</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>How did the states establish long straight borders before GPS?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/how_did_the_states_establish_long_straight_borders_before_gps_/Content?oid=892931</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Cecil Adams
      
      
      How is it that, in places without natural features such as a river or mountain range to mark a border, U.S. states could establish a nice, even line over hundreds of miles before GPS? --Granite-Morale The lines aren&#39;t always nice and even. Study a U.S. atlas and you&#39;ll find many supposedly straight boundaries with slants and zigzags in them, the work of surveyors who were, and it pains me to say this, borderline incompetent. Still, the remarkable thing isn&#39;t how
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Straight Dope</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>What makes Paula Dockery run?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/what_makes_paula_dockery_run_/Content?oid=895292</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        Why State Senator Paula Dockery jumped into Florida's gubernatorial race....
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      When Charlie Crist decided earlier this year that he&#39;d run for the U.S. Senate rather than a second term as governor, Florida Democrats exulted. Their excitement was three-fold: The state&#39;s most popular politician was now out of the race for governor; after a 12-year Democratic drought the party had its best candidate in a long time, CFO Alex Sink, waiting in the wings; and the GOP&#39;s anointed choice, 64-year-old Attorney General Bill McCollum, was hardly an inspired one, perpetuating the
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Hillsborough County inches ever closer to a light rail system</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/hillsborough_county_inches_ever_closer_to_a_light_rail_system/Content?oid=895295</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      The Hillsborough County Commission last week began the first formal steps toward approving a penny sales tax referendum that would pay for transportation improvements, including the beginnings of a light rail system. The vote was 5-2, with Commissioners Al Higginbotham and Jim Norman dissenting. If the same super majority holds when the issue comes back before the board in the next few months, the measure will surely be placed before Hillsborough citizens a year from now. But as the campaign
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Kathleen Ford vs. Bill Foster: The next St. Pete mayor</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/kathleen_ford_vs_bill_foster_the_next_st_pete_mayor/Content?oid=880111</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        Who are the candidates behind the caricatures, and who's got the edge?...
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      The race to replace Rick Baker will finally be decided next Tuesday. Ten candidates vied for attention throughout the summer, and now it&#39;s come down to this: a race between two policy wonks with experience in city government. It&#39;s also the story of how two complex people have become prisoners to their images, or rather their caricatures, as perpetuated by their opponents and the media -- images best summarized as the wicked shrew (Kathleen Ford) vs. the religious zealot (Bill
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News Feature</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Why is the solar industry getting into bed with supporters of offshore drilling?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/why_is_the_solar_industry_getting_into_bed_with_supporters_of_offshore_drilling_/Content?oid=869085</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      Environmental groups and those involved in the solar energy industry reacted with dismay (if not outright anger) earlier this month when the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (aka flaSEIA) came out in support of the proposal being floated in Tallahassee to authorize offshore energy exploration for oil and natural gas off Florida&#39;s shores. The proposal -- which would give the governor and cabinet the authority to approve oil and gas exploration three to 10 miles off the Florida coast --
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News Feature</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Is there any difference in quality between name-brand drugs and generics?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/is_there_any_difference_in_quality_between_name_brand_drugs_and_generics_/Content?oid=869087</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Cecil Adams
      
      
      When I buy over-the-counter pharmaceuticals from our local drug store, I always buy the house brand. The active ingredients and dosages in Tylenol (acetaminophen) are identical to that of the copy. The same is true of the Motrin alternative, the Sudafed clone, and so on -- and they&#39;re all much cheaper. However, my wife insists on buying a brand name -- she thinks I&#39;m some kind of cheapskate. If the active ingredients in these drugs are the same, is there
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Straight Dope</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Why do songs get stuck in your head?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/why_do_songs_get_stuck_in_your_head_/Content?oid=861670</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Cecil Adams
      
      
      What&#39;s the deal with getting a song stuck in your head? Why does it happen, especially if it&#39;s a song you don&#39;t like or don&#39;t even know well? Yet all you can think about is that stupid tune. Please enlighten me; I&#39;m getting really sick of &quot;Tainted Love&quot; running circles through my brain. --Meg You think you&#39;ve got problems? My assistant Una claims she had the same tune running through her head off and on for 27 years. Only after
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Straight Dope</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita&amp;#39;s fierce pursuit</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/hillsborough_county_commissioner_rose_ferlita_s_fierce_pursuit/Content?oid=861673</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
      
        Her fight to get payback from Kevin White: Missionary zeal, mayoral dreams or both?...
       
      
        By Mitch Perry
      
      
      Rose Ferlita is smiling and shaking her head. It&#39;s about halfway through the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners&#39; hour-and-a-half-long discussion on the Kevin White case last week, and she appears to be trying to contain herself as her embattled colleague is declaring to the board, the dozens of people present at the County Center, and to the audience watching on the local government broadcast that, in fact, he is guilty of nothing -- despite the fact that a U.S. District
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/News Feature</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
    <item>
    <title>Who controls the content on an Internet message board?</title>
    <link>http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/who_controls_the_content_on_an_internet_message_board_/Content?oid=854409</link>
    <description>
      <![CDATA[
       
      
        By Cecil Adams
      
      
      Years ago you were asked whether it was legal to publish a letter someone had sent you. You said the author&#39;s permission was needed. Now that it&#39;s 2009, I got to wondering if one could take a post on, say, the Straight Dope Message Board and publish it without the author&#39;s permission, or for that matter, the SDMB&#39;s permission. I presume the answer is no. Second question: If I have a blog and someone posts a comment on it, can
      ]]>
    </description>
    <category>News/Straight Dope</category>
    <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
    <source url="http://tampa.creativeloafing.com">Creative Loafing Tampa</source>
  </item>
  
  </channel>
</rss>
