California’s Department of Corrections said last month that it counted 2,245 adults and 53 children who are serving sentences in California prisons and are  currently deployed to fight the many wildfires burning across the state.
In 2008, people incarcerated in California prisons "collectively did 3.1 million hours of emergency firefighting… [for wages of] $1 an [...]

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President Obama today announced something that should have been announced about 25 years ago: a high speed rail network for the United States.
Why is this such a fantastic idea?  Number one: building a state-of-the-art passenger rail system would create thousands of good jobs, permanently, in places like Detroit, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, and everywhere else [...]

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As 2008 draws to a close, here are the Most Important articles from this rather boring year.  OK, actually, this is a year most of us will remember for a lot of reasons.  Here are the things I’ll remember the most.
2008 Presidential Election: Victory in Iowa | Accurate Predictions | Dreaming of Barack | Obama’s [...]

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A major break was announced yesterday in the investigation of what caused last week’s Tea Fire in Santa Barbara, a destructive wildfire that burned down or damaged over 200 homes. Initial reports suggest that 10 “college students” held a bonfire party in the foothills near the Tea Gardens, just outside the Westmont College campus. [...]

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The last 16 hours have been difficult.  Despite the tragic loss of far too many homes, there is some room for optimism that the worst might be over.  I’m back in my lovely home, on the lower east side, after being evacuated last night due to a massive, terrifying wildfire raging in the hills just [...]

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