One poster asked another, "Ever hear of Trayvon Martin?" I guess my question is, "Why have any of us heard of Trayvon Martin?" Ok, maybe if you lived in the general area you would see it on the local news. I am sure others have asked this before but, why in the world was this particular situation so prominently brought to the attention of the nation? Was this the first time a person of one race was killed by a person of another race? Many times those killings may be completely racially motivated. Does anyone remember James Byrd Jr. in 1998? I remember it because it happened here in Texas but I don’t know if it made national news. What made the Zimmerman/Martin situation so worthy of national attention?

Many people use the phrase, "I could care less" when they don't care at all. That is actually incorrect. To say, "I could care less" means you could care even less than you currently do. Therefore, you must care to some extent. On the other hand, to say, "I couldn't care less" means exactly what it says. It is not a double negative because less is not the negation of anything. It is simply the lower end of the comparative scale. This is a case where the incorrect phrasing is used so frequently that most people don't even think twice about it.

Finally, we are having a discussion on poor grammar and spelling without too many dissenting votes. I understand how people can make mistakes in spelling and grammar and, in most cases, it doesn’t bother me too much. What bothers me is when they get defensive if you point out their error. I never point out errors that could very easily be typographical. If the same error is repeated over and over in a post or in subsequent posts, it is obvious the person doesn’t know they are making an error. One such example I have seen in this forum is the use of the word “shot” when the person clearly meant “shoot”. Another one is, “I could care less” when the person clearly meant, “I couldn’t care less”, but I will save that one for another day. I can’t understand someone who consistently makes the same error and then gets incensed when that error is politely pointed out to them. It reminds me of the football coach who (not so politely) asked one of his players, “Are you ignorant or apathetic?” His response? “Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.”

1. Barney Z spots (black - no, he wasn't sure) kid in hoody and baggie pants. Agreed
2. ole Barn starts shadowing the kid. Agreed
3. kid tells barn to back off. Probably
4. barn keeps (stalking) following the kid. Agreed
5. kid gets tired of barneys BS and starts kicking the crap out of him. Agreed
6. Barney has a gun with bullets and gets a shot off. Agreed

Zimmerman is as guilty as hell WHAT?????!!!!! -- Guilty of what? Doing basically what he was there to do and then protecting his life when threatened.

Can you believe this guy?

"The acquittal of George Zimmerman is a slap in the face to the American people but it is only the first round in the pursuit of justice. We intend to ask the Department of Justice to move forward as they did in the Rodney King case and we will closely monitor the civil case against Mr. Zimmerman. I will convene an emergency call with preachers tonight to discuss next steps and I intend to head to Florida in the next few days."

— the Rev. Al Sharpton

Here are some other quotes as well. Some of them racist? Or not?

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130714/US-Neighborhood-Watch-Quotes/

. . . and the show's producers. Many of those broadcasters are nothing but talking heads. Someone should have caught this long before it made it to the teleprompter. Don't they read things out loud?

Exactly, the VR version was not the point of the original post. That's like saying my Kia is a piece of crap and someone saying, "Well, my BMW is great." I bought the non-VR version and a good tripod for less than the VR version. I am not saying I didn't want the VR version but I couldn't justify the additional cost because I wanted a tripod also. I got some decent pictures with it handhead but, they were better with the tripod at the long end.

But, didn't you agree, your lens is not the one purchased by the OP?

I suspect the summer intern can be found working the counter at the local McDonald's. Anyone can make a mistake but, really? The writers on Saturday Night Live couldn't have come up with more outrageous names.

I bought this lens before a trip to Alaska in 2009. I tried to justify buying the VR version but I just didn't want to spend that much more. Instead, I got the non VR version and a good tripod, which I didn't have either. I was satisfied with the results on the tripod and most of the handheld shots. I am sure they are not as good as the much more expensive VR version but, I got the reach I wanted AND a tripod/head for less than the VR version of the lens.

Ho Lee Shiit!

Some heads will roll on this one.

That happened to me once. It had been diverted to my junk folder. Have you checked there?

Maybe they handle warranty work differently but, if it is like mine, you will now get an email from Nikon stating when they "received" it. I say it like that because mine was delivered to Nikon on Friday, 7/5 and I didn't get the confirmation email and request for authorization of repairs until Wednesday, 7/10. I authorized the repairs immediately and now I am waiting on what they find when they actually look at it. The estimates they gave me were the same as the estimates I saw online before I sent the equipment to them. I am not finding fault with their service since I am sure a lot of gear gets sent to them for one reason or another. I am just anxious to get mine settled so I can finish dealing with the insurance company.

You can say all you want to about rights but, the kid was the problem here. First of all, as has been mentioned, he had a camera taping the whole thing so he planned on creating a scene. Secondly, the cop merely asked him to roll down his window and the kid gave him a smart-ass answer. As a teacher I deal with this kind of attitude more than I would like. Maybe the cop wanted him to roll down the window to see if he could smell alcohol on the kid’s breath. It doesn’t matter why he wanted the window down. It was a perfectly reasonable request. His refusal to follow that request and the way he did it pissed off the cop and it escalated from there. The kid baited him, pure and simple.

As I mentioned, I have sent in the warranty cards for two camera bodies and 5-6 lenses and the only item they had in their database for me was one of the lenses, the most expensive one. That kind of fits in with a point someone made to me once, that the return address for the warranty card is the marketing department. If that is true, it makes sense that you really don't have to send the card back to get the additional 4 years of warranty on lenses. All you have to have is the sales receipt clearly showing the date of purchase. I suppose having the serial number on that receipt wouldn't hurt. This is all hearsay though. I have never had to send a lens in for warranty work, much less during years 2-5. Does anyone have an experience where they had the receipt but were refused warranty service because the warranty card was not returned?