Technically I’m supposed to be unplugged for the next week as I travel, but I am reconnecting to relay two incredibly important things that require your attention.
First I urge you to subscribe to a new & free online resource TOSBack.org, courtesy of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). This site tracks the Terms of Service of 44 Social Media web sites. Given many of my posts about the rights grab imposed by numerous sites online this organization will be an invaluable resource to creatives posting material online. TOSBack.org’s purpose as stated from their web site:
Terms-Of-Service and other website policies form the foundation of your relationship with social networking sites, online businesses, and other Internet communities. But most people become aware of these terms only when there’s a problem. TOSBack was created to help you monitor the policies for the websites you use everyday, and show how they change over time.
TOSBack is a project of The Electronic Frontier Foundation. We are a non-profit membership-funded organization. If you like TOSBack, please consider making a donation or becoming a member.
Second California State Parks have been thrust into the fray of the state’s budget crisis. The current proposal put forth by the Governor calls for the closure of over 200 state parks that is an amazing 80% of all state parks!!! As of now the proposal calls for this over the top action to take effect on July 1st. If you live in California please tell the Governor and your state legislators that you want them to keep our California parks open. (via the Sierra Club)
Curious which parks are closing? See the list after the jump
1. Leo Carrillo State Park.
2. Los Angeles State Historic Park.
3. Los Encinos State Historic Park.
4. Malibu Creek State Park.
5. Malibu Lagoon State Beach.
6. Pio Pico State Historic Park.
7. Point Mugu State Park.
8. Rio de Los Angeles State Park.
9. Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach.
10. Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.
11. Topanga State Park.
12. Verdugo Mountains.
13. Will Rogers State Historic Park.
14. California State Capitol Museum.
15. Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park
16. Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park.
17. Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.
18. State Indian Museum State Historic Park.
19. Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park.
20. Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area.
21. Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
22. California Mining & Mineral Museum.
23. Caswell Memorial State Park.
24. Columbia State Historic Park.
25. George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area.
26. Great Valley Grasslands State Park.
27. Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park.
28. McConnell State Recreation Area.
29. Carpinteria State Beach.
30. Chumash
Painted Cave State Historic Park.
31. El Capitan State Beach.
32. Emma Wood State Beach.
33. Gaviota State Park.
34. La Purisima Mission State Historic Park.
35. McGrath State Beach.
36. Point Sal State Beach.
37. Refugio State Beach.
38. San Buenaventura State Beach.
39. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
40. Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
41. Indio Hills Palms.
42. Palomar Mountain State Park.
43. Picacho State Recreation Area.
44. Salton Sea State Recreation Area.
45. Annadel State Park.
46. Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park.
47. Benicia Capitol State Historic Park.
48. Benicia State Recreation Area.
49. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.
50. Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.
51. East Shore State Park State Shoreline.
52. Jack London State Historic Park.
53. John Marsh Home State Historic Park.
54. Mount Diablo State Park.
55. Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park.
56. Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.
57. Sonoma State Historic Park.
58. Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
59. Brannan Island State Recreation Area.
60. Delta Meadows.
61. Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park.
62. Franks Tract State Recreation Area.
63. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
64. Stone Lake.
65. California Citrus State Historic Park.
66. Chino Hills State Park.
67. Mount San Jacinto State Park.
68. San Timoteo Canyon.
69. Wildwood Canyon.
70. Angel Island State Park.
71. China Camp State Park.
72. Mount Tamalpais State Park.
73. Olompali State Historic Park.
74. Samuel P. Taylor State Park.
75. Tomales Bay State Park.
76. Caspar Headlands State Beach.
77. Caspar Headlands State Natural Reserve.
78. Greenwood State Beach.
79. Hendy Woods State Park.
80. Jug Handle State Natural Reserve.
81. MacKerricher State Park.
82. Mailliard Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
83. Manchester State Park.
84. Mendocino Headlands State Park.
85. Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve.
86. Navarro River Redwoods State Park.
87. Point Cabrillo Light Station.
88. Russian Gulch State Park.
89. Schooner Gulch State Beach.
90. Van Damme State Park.
91. Westport-Union Landing State Beach.
92. Andrew Molera State Park.
93. Carmel River State Beach.
94. Fort Ord Dunes State Park.
95. Fremont Peak State Park.
96. Garrapata State Park.
97. Hatton Canyon.
98. Henry W. Coe State Park.
99. John Little State Natural Reserve.
100. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
101. Marina State Beach.
102. Monterey State Beach.
103. Monterey State Historic Park.
104. Moss Landing State Beach.
105. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
106. Point Lobos Ranch.
107. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.
108. Point Sur State Historic Park.
109. Salinas River State Beach.
110. San Juan Bautista State Historic Park.
111. Zmudowski State Beach.
112. Admiral William Standley State Recreation Area.
113. Azalea State Natural Reserve.
114. Benbow Lake State Recreation Area.
115. Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.
116. Fort Humboldt State Historic Park.
117. Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park.
118. Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area.
119. Humboldt Lagoons State Park.
120. Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
121. Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
122. John B. Dewitt Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
123. Little River State Beach.
124. Patrick’s Point State Park.
125. Pelican State Beach.
126. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
127. Reynolds Wayside Campground.
128. Richardson Grove State Park.
129. Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.
130. Smithe Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
131. Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area.
132. Tolowa Dunes State Park.
133. Trinidad State Beach.
134. Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park.
135. Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.
136. Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park.
137. Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park.
138. Castle Crags State Park.
139. Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area.
140. McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park.
141. Shasta State Historic Park.
142. Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park.
143. William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park.
144. Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area.
145. Pismo State Beach.
146. Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
147. Austin Creek State Recreation Area.
148. Fort Ross State Historic Park.
149. Kruse Rhododendron State Natural Reserve.
150. Salt Point State Park.
151. Sonoma Coast State Park.
152. Border Field State Park.
153. Carlsbad State Beach.
154. San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park.
155. Silver Strand State Beach.
156. Torrey Pines State Beach.
157. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
158. Estero Bluffs State Park.
159. Hearst San Simeon State Park.
160. Limekiln State Park.
161. Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve.
162. Monta–a de Oro State Park.
163. Morro Bay State Park.
164. Morro Strand State Beach.
165. William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach.
166. A–o Nuevo State Natural Reserve.
167. A–o Nuevo State Park.
168. Bean Hollow State Beach.
169. Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
170. Burleigh H. Murray Ranch.
171. Butano State Park.
172. Castle Rock State Park.
173. Castro Adobe (Rancho San Andres).
174. Gray Whale Cove State Beach.
175. Half Moon Bay State Beach.
176. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
177. Lighthouse Field State Beach.
178. Manresa State Beach.
179. Montara State Beach.
180. Natural Bridges State Beach.
181. New Brighton State Beach.
182. Pescadero State Beach.
183. Point Montara Light Station.
184. Pomponio State Beach.
185. Portola Redwoods State Park.
186. San Gregorio State Beach.
187. Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.
188. Seacliff State Beach.
189. Sunset State Beach.
190. The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.
191. Thornton State Beach.
192. Twin Lakes State Beach.
193. Wilder Ranch State Park.
194. Bodie State Historic Park.
195. Burton Creek State Park.
196. D.L. Bliss State Park.
197. Donner Memorial State Park.
198. Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park.
199. Emerald Bay State Park.
200. Empire Mine State Historic Park.
201. Grover Hot Springs State Park.
202. Kings Beach State Recreation Area.
203. Lake Valley State Recreation Area.
204. Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park.
205. Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve.
206. Plumas-Eureka State Park.
207. South Yuba River State Park.
208. Tahoe State Recreation Area.
209. Ward Creek.
210. Washoe Meadows State Park.
211. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.
212. Antelope Valley Indian Museum.
213. Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park.
214. Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.
215. Fort Tejon State Historic Park.
216. Providence Mountains State Recreation Area.
217. Red Rock Canyon State Park.
218. Saddleback Butte State Park.
219. Tomo-Kahni State Historic Park.
220. Tule Elk State Natural Reserve.
Again tell the Governor and your state legislators that you want them to keep our California parks open. Thanks for taking action
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[tags]Photography, Copyright, Terms of Service, California, State Park, Rights Grab[/tags]
Jim, thanks for posting the call for action on the parks issue. I’d like to suggest that the issue is way bigger than just the parks though – and I think that it is possible that some of these outrageous cuts to a wide range of programs are intended to distract those who care about the individual programs from the big problem in California.
The problem is not that Californian’s are taxed too much – despite the yelling, the facts don’t bear that out. In reality the average Californian’s tax burden overall is roughly average among the 50 states.
The real problems are more complex, though they really probably come down to three of four systemic problems with California’s tax system and legislative process:
1. The legacy of prop 13 is that the tax burden is increasingly shifted to new individual homeowners and away from those (like me!) who have owned property for decades and even more so away from big business property owners. Reform is needed.
2. Redistricting strangeness has given both parties a lock on nearly every district in the state, promoting more extreme positions and intransigence on the part of legislators.
3. California is one of only three states in the country that requires a 2/3 vote of both houses to pass a budget. This effectively gives the minority party the ability to dictate the budget. In the past when they operated as a legislature – e.g. they compromised – this wasn’t so bad, but the current situation has led to complete partisan gridlock.
4. Term limits have created a legislature of amateurs and beginners who have no understanding of how a state operates – and who start almost as soon as they are elected to plot their path out of the legislature.
So, after that long-winded lecture… I encourage people to go beyond writing about their own personal favorite issue – in this case the parks – and to demand that the governor and the legislature act like adults, and make compromises that will avoid destroying the infrastructure of the state (parks, police, fire, health, education, etc) for a long time.
Thanks,
Dan
Uh-oh. Politics on a photo blog!
Dan’s right, this is about a lot more than the state parks. It’s about politicians who’ve consistently been elected because they promise “more free stuff” finding a way to say “we can’t afford it.”
Frankly, I think CA should take the Jurassic Park approach. Shut the whole darn thing down and then reboot every program only as needed. Every program will have people who don’t want it to go away. Let’s see which programs actually generate the most support to bring them back.
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I have to agree with Dan that shutting down of the state parks is about politics and not about the parks. On one hand, I don’t understand the action: we’re in a recession, record numbers are out of work and state parks provide a cost effective place for people to get away from the worries of their daily lives. (hopefully they pay the park fees when they visit) Not to mention that views from state parks are one of the tourist attractions that the tourist board uses when trying to get visitors to come to California.
However, I think that the economic situation that California finds itself in hasn’t really reached a pain point that would cause the average Californians to stand up and kick their local representatives in the butt to fix the system. What better way to move the pain down to the lowest common denominator that to close the sate parks? If that doesn’t move people to get involved, I’m not sure what would.
Politics aside, if the parks do close my understanding is that the facilities, staff, and parking are the key things that will be affected. For some parks, you would still be able to gain access by foot assuming you can park nearby (I’m thinking of most parks along the coast).
Personally, I don’t want to see the parks close as it would put a major delay in a Bodie project I’m working on…
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