How about this Tamron?

On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:51:00 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:42:58 -0400, tony cooper
wrote:
: On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:09:53 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:
:
: As long as the Republicans wield even as much power as they have now, making
: peace with ANY non-capitalist government in Cuba is unthinkable. And the
: bizarre thing about it is that the opinion of the expatriate Cubans no longer
: matters. The Republicans' core constituency of know-nothing Bible thumpers and
: Teaparty hacks opposes the Castros more than the Florida Cubans do. The
: latter, as the daughter of one of them told me the other day, have basically
: moved on.
:
:
: I dunno about that. Marco Rubio, a recently elected Senator from
: Florida and a hard-core Republican Tea Party favorite, is foaming at
: the mouth over Obama's position on easing travel restrictions.
:
: “I strongly oppose any new changes that weaken U.S. policy towards
: Cuba. I was opposed to the changes that have already been made by this
: administration and I oppose these new changes,” Rubio said in a
: statement. “I believe that what does need to change are the Cuban
: regime’s repressive policies towards the independent press and labor
: unions, its imprisonment of political prisoners and constant
: harassment of citizens with dissenting views, and its refusal to allow
: free multi-party elections.”
:
: Rubio is the son of Cuban exiles.
:
: Mel Martinez, Cuban-born, is a former Senator (Republican), former
: Chairman of the Republican Party, and former Secretary of Housing and
: Urban Affairs. When in office, he strongly supported travel
: restrictions and the continuation of the trade embargo.
:
: Now that he's out-of-office, he's eased up on his positions regarding
: Cuba...a sure sign that he's not intending to run for office in the
: future.

I don't see that that contradicts anything I said. When those guys try to win
elections, they posture as Repbulicans, not as Cubans.

: If you want to hold elected office in Florida, it's best to be against
: any move to ease relations with Cuba.

I hear you, but Barack Obama did carry Florida.

Obama was very cautious in his remarks about Cuba when campaigning in
Florida. In an August 2007 op-ed piece in the Miami Herald, Obama
said he would engage in bilateral talks with Cuba to send the message
that the United States is willing to normalize relations with Cuba
upon evidence of a democratic opening.

He has loosened up on Cuban travel since the election, though.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

On 2011-08-13 15:34 , tony cooper wrote:

He has loosened up on Cuban travel since the election, though.

Not that it matters. I met American newlyweds there as well as a group
of divers. All 'skirted' customs by traveling via the Bahamas or Costa
Rica. All were illegally spending money there and thought US policy was
idiotic (at best).

--
gmail originated posts filtered due to spam.

On 2011-08-13 17:12:37 +0100, Robert Coe said:

On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:59:00 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: minico ONE wrote:
: Il 10/08/2011 5.58, Paul Furman ha scritto:
:
: Lots of similar lenses:
:
:
:
: Here it is the exact model:
:
: http://www.adaptall-2.org/lenses/44A.html
:
: Thanks
:
: That's interesting, I thought normally the macro settings push the focal
: length wider. At least that's the case with a Vivitar 70-150 f/3.5 Close
: Focus lens I have and I thought P&S digicams tend to work that way. I
: think even my Nikkor 105 VR works that way and it's not even a zoom...
: but perhaps I'm mistaken about that.
:
: "The 28-70's optical design borrows heavily from the SP 35-80 F/2.8-3.8
: and incorporates the same basic features. Like the SP 35-80, this lens
: features a maximum macro magnification at the telephoto focal length and
: incorporates the Minimum Object Distance (M.O.D.) selector system
: whereby turning the focus ring to the minimum focus distance causes the
: zoom ring to automatically move to the telephoto position."

Possibly it's that macro focussing increases the field of view at a given
focal length. If so, or even if your statement about macro settings is
literally correct, could the automatic zoom to telephoto be an attempt to
minimize or cancel that effect?

The Tamron 44A is unusual in that it was designed for the photographer
rather than the marketing department.

It is both easier and cheaper to design a zoom having it's macro
function placed at the wide end, but that is not what is wanted by the
user. My Tamron 26A 35-210 and Nikkor 35-135 AF suffer from having
their 1:4 macro stuck at the 35 mm end (via awkward cams). Most compact
cameras I've seen suffer likewise. My 70-300 has 1:4 macro at its long
end because the design was close range corrected rather than fudged,
which also means its angle of view changes very little with focus
distance (absence of focus breathing), bliss!

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
Same with Ho Chi Min, iirc.

The Viet Cong were a creation of the CIA. If you have ever seen
Apocolypse Now (pardon my spelling), there was supposed to be a scene
where that is explained. It was never finished and cut from the original
movie.

In the redux version it was put back in and the unfinished dialog reshot.

Personally, I'm not sure it's worth watching the whole thing for that scene.

Geoff

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Making your enemy reliant on software you support is the best revenge.

On 2011-08-16 03:04:26 -0700, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" said:

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
Same with Ho Chi Min, iirc.

The Viet Cong were a creation of the CIA. If you have ever seen
Apocolypse Now (pardon my spelling), there was supposed to be a scene
where that is explained. It was never finished and cut from the original
movie.

In the redux version it was put back in and the unfinished dialog reshot.

Personally, I'm not sure it's worth watching the whole thing for that scene.

Geoff

Sorry Geoff, you are ill informed in this regard, the CIA had nothing
to do with coining the term "Viet Cong". Especially since you are using
a fictional source in Coppolla's "Apocalypse Now Redux". Coppolla used
Michael Herr's "Dispatches" as a major source for some of the material
in Apocalypse Now. However that work as informative, and well written
as it was is a collection of the author's own experience on the ground,
together with some apocrypha.
For some more accuracy try exploring Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam: A
History" for a better understanding.

There are some of us in this forum who have a more personal knowledge
of the truth of events on SE Asia in the 50's, 60's & 70's.
On the origins of the term "Viet Cong". This was a derogatory term
coined by the propaganda machine of the Diem government, not the CIA,
for the National Liberation Front, or NLF, and spread via Saigon
newspapers. Diem chose to label all those who opposed his Catholic
dictatorship, as Communist, not all were. The full translation was
"Communist traitor to Vietnam". It suited the Kennedy/Johnson
administrations to use "Viet Cong" as it reinforced the concept of the
"domino theory" in SE Asia.

Most US troops had to deal with Division sized groups of the Army of
North Vietnam, or NVA. In I Corps, II Corps, and in the A Shau Valley
there were few if any "Viet Cong". However GI's on the ground continued
to call their NVA grunt counterpart "Charlie". In orders, reports and
official documents there was always a broad distinction between NLF
(Viet Cong) and NVA.

--
Regards,

Savageduck