Flat land is at a premium, and orchards are planted pragmatically, stepping higgledy-piggledy uphill or weaving a line along thin terraces cut into the hillsides.

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To use a different metaphor, the Federal Reserve is like the team captain on a bobsleigh, he or she can turn the sleigh left or right a bit or put on and release the brakes, but he or she cannot make the sleigh go uphill.

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But even attendees of Wednesday's show who were receptive to the concept acknowledged that it's an uphill battle to change an industry or consumer behavior.

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Mr. Bernanke is at best the man on the bobsled, he can steer it a bit right or left but he cannot make it go uphill.

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This may be tangential to the broader questions this whole affair has rustled up but I think that shooting uphill is a good rule of thumb, whether or not you face legal threats.

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They must scale the near-vertical base by climbing rocks and tree roots like ladders -- or take a longer switchback trail -- and then begin an arduous hike uphill, sliding on mud and grasping at alders and shrubs to pull themselves up.

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If you want to use Ruby at a large company, it will be an uphill battle because Ruby talent is scarce and much more expensive than Java or PHP talent.

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