Well...it is the law, but somehow our President has already unlawfully unilaterally implemented 17 discreet changes since the law was passed. And the passing of the law may have been legally passed but it was done by ignoring any input from one half of this country's citizens by excluding the Republicans from attending any of the meetings that shaped the law. It may be the law, but it is a BADLY crafted law that demands a comprehensive re-write, which is being stalled simply by the obtuseness of the Democrat Party.
The Presidents stonewalling any Republican changes and refusing to even discuss doing so is childish and against the best interests of the USA. That is not statesmanship it is Dictatorship.

I use Win7 Pro and Picassa for most editing. For transferring pix I use a Card Reader plugged into a USB port and COPY the pix to a Folder in MY Pictures. Picassa in turn automatically copies the new Pix into its database where they can be edited. When editing is completed Picassa will allow the pix in My Pictures folder to be updated to the edited versions thereby creating a duplicate backup to the now edited Picassa files. This leaves the original Pix on the SD card which can then be either deleted by the camera delete function or retained in any of a verity of storage methods. This procedure has been working for me for quite some time. Hope it helps you.

Geez, Can't we all be proud of a job well done ? Re money being a deciding factor; from the start of this "sport" it's been that way, so what's with the sour grapes ?

I use Picassa's "Retouch" to clean up this type of clutter. Works quite well.

Obamacare was,is, and always will be just another manifestation of Obama's wealth redistribution scheme to remake the USA economy in his image. I believe we have passed the tipping point for changing the U.S. economy from Capitalism to Socialism, and there is no mystery how this is changing the very fabric of our society. We have many examples throughout the world of how this change will ultimately effect us as a country, and those examples portend that the results will not be healthy for the USA. It's hard for anyone to deny that our country has been in a decline relative to our past history and the rest of the world, ever since the Democrat Party has assumed control of our Congress. Will it change anytime soon? No, I don't think so. There are now too many people in the USA that have found that Government Benefits are actually preferable to working for a living, and will vote to continue the policy's promoting government assistance whether or not one really needs it.

Involvement in Syria is a "No Win" situation for the USA. Assad is a Dictator and a Thug, but to get rid of him would create another vacuum that would surely be filled by the Islamist Radicals who are our sworn enemy. Helping the Rebels is actually helping Al Quida which has infiltrated and taken over the rebellion. The USA has provided the Blood, Sweat, and Tears and treasury to change the governments of Iraq, and Libya, only to lose the peace to the Radicals. Unless the USA decides to act as a conquering Nation as the Roman Empire did by not only defeating the enemy but occupy their territory and govern it as we did after WWII, will peace be IMPOSED in the Mid-East. To do so would in this day and Age be unthinkable for the USA, but any military alternative is a pure waste of our assets. One only needs to look at Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya etc to see the results for the USA, of our involvements in Foreign Wars. We have bankrupted our Country and earned the enmity and scorn of most of the world. Our Call To War should only be answered if and when there is a clear and present danger to our Country. Anything else is just meddling. And that's my opinion!

I've had several bouts with saltwater wetting my camera equipment over the years and there is no reprieve for the equipment. It's toast. As for the lens being rehabilitated I think that if you get it to a shop soon enough they can disassemble it and purge the metal parts of the salt before too much corrosion has occurred but its not a inexpensive operation and may not even be successful as far as it working perfectly after the clean-up. On the bright side, here's your chance for upgrading your equipment.

Suggest using Spot Meter setting on your camera.

If you believe that the concept of the government insulating a citizen from incurring a loss due to changing market valuations how about the same government picking up the shares of stock that I bought last year at $100. per share and are now valued at only $40.00. That idea is about as crazy as the mortgage scheme that is being promoted. Follow the money in this scheme and you will find someone who stands to make a killing using taxpayer dollars. Property values, like stocks go up, and they go down. When they are down one has to wait for the cycle to reverse. If you can't afford to wait to sell then you lose. Simple economics.

The problem could be heat induced. High heat will expand metal components and if the camera gets heat soaked there could be some mechanical interference generated. Try keeping the lens and camera in an insulated camera bag.

It is hard to believe that the Obama Administration was re-elected after the very poor performance of the first term.Now into the second term many of the shortcomings of the first term are becoming apparent to all who care to see. The country's foreign policy has been discredited around the world and our adversaries have discarded their caution and gleefully stick their finger in our eye every chance they get , and it is done with complete impunity. Many of our great city's are broke, and there are few leaders with the chutzpa to clean up the mess that decades of the unholy alliance with big Unions, and graft takers have caused. We are at the tipping point of a very long slide downward and desperately need new leadership, but what do we get?....speeches and race baiting, and excuses from this figurehead President. Our government is being managed by the people behind the curtain while our president plays golf and has partys......and there is over 3 years left to endure.

What is the rationale for such an expensive trip, particularly when the country's coffers are so depleted that we have to close the Whitehouse to tours??

Hmmm....by your rational we should have a tax on bicycles to pay for all the bike lanes our governments have been building. And how about all those sidewalks? Would a pedestrian tax be a reasonable thing to implement? Maybe we should demand that electrics only be allowed on Toll Roads so they pay their "Fair Share". Our Dear Leaders have already pretty well slapped a tax on virtually every human activity available but its never enough, so now we are getting into the really sublime areas of activity to generate more taxes. Spend a few minutes and try to list any activities that we all have to do that is not taxed in some way. It will be a very short list........You know...I'm just saying.

I don't know much about Australia but here in the USA I believe we have passed the tipping point where there are more people on the dole scamming money from the public coffers then are paying in to them, and that trend is only growing. I believe that the vast majority of those collecting the "long-term" freebie's (extended unemployment benefits and disability payments)are also working "off the books". Then we have the huge scam of so-called "students" getting government subsidy's and loans that will never be repaid. Even a casual look at what those funds are used for show that the majority of the money given to the typical "student" goes for car payments, rent, and normal living expenses. Apparently no one cares about all of this tax money being siphoned off as the number of recipients just keep growing. Our country's tax receipts have never been higher, but the demand FOR EVER MORE $ from our current administration keeps up. It seems to me that if the freebie givaways are not tightened up really soon, there won't be enough for anyone to get help.

I have always been a Leica fan and although I have owned many of the brands available in film and digital, there just does not seem to be a substitute for the Leica's resolution. I still use a Leica IIIf with Summicron f2 lens for film but have gone to the panasonic Lumix series for digital due to cost considerations. They are fitted with leica lens's and are capable of producing pictures quite worthy of the Leica brand.