Summarizing from that link:

Uzbek photographer Umida Akhmedova is awaiting trial and is facing a potential sentence of six months in prison or three years forced labor. At issue is a 2007 work called Men and Women from Dawn to Dusk that contains approximately 100 of her photographs of life and customs in Uzbekistan.

I missed this when it was initially important, but fortunately Mike Johnston at The Online Photographer won’t let me forget.  He posted a further link today, which has entertaining comments and a link to another 50 pictures from this lady.

Personally, I don’t see anything degrading.  I suppose if I were raised in Uzbek society, I might have a different perception.  But I wasn’t, and now I don’t think I’ll be going there any time soon.

I suppose they don’t want me there, either.

I mean, I don’t know a single person who’s happy with their health insurance.  I know many who are unhappy with government-sponsored insurance, and for great reasons: the inevitable bureaucracy, the potential for death panels, waste of money, the consolidation of power.  But I’ve only ever heard complaints about private insurance.

Who is happy with their private insurer, and why?  Over the past couple of years I’ve paid five figures in health care expenses out of pocket because ours has claimed that “having teeth is cosmetic.”

But as I’ve already stated, I’m not too surprised.  That’s mostly because I see parks, campgrounds, etc. as a luxury, and California obviously has pretty big problems right now.  I figure they’ll recover about the time we’re tanking up here, but that’s a different story.

Now, I’m not a California resident, so I’m obviously a bit out of touch with the happenings there, but it strikes me by reading the comments both on Mr. Goldstein’s posting and a cross-linked posting on Ivan Makarov’s site that the responses aren’t too… well, constructive.

I dunno, maybe I’m just rambling here again, but I see folks with a bias essentially repeating the mistake that the Californian legislature has been making for years: yes, cut costs and services – but not the ones I care about, dammit!

This won’t fix the core problem: California has no money.  So yes, parks will get closed – and I kinda think that they should. So should many other things, as some folks have pointed out.  I guess the economics major in me sees it as a luxury that can’t be afforded right now.

But if they get closed, they still need to be protected. I can tell you first hand what happens to a campground that gets shut down – there’s one about 10 minutes from my house, by bike.  Let’s just say it’s a scary thing.  Don’t let your kids wander there alone.