I see what you’re saying. Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, you’re right, it’s stupid.
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This is only one data point, but I ended up hanging out in a (civilian) fire camp in the Cabinet Mountains in Montana for a couple days on a camping trip (long story) and they were getting paid around $18-20 an hour… back somewhere like 1993-95. I’d hope it would be higher now. And holy shit I admire the crap out of those people. I can honestly say I’ve never seen people work harder in my life. These are public servants I’m happy to call heroes, unlike lots of others that don’t deserve the honor.
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Indeed. Reasons exist to limit what they get paid “on the inside”, but I believe the difference between that and minimum wage (or if higher the fair market rate for the work) ought to be placed in escrow for them to receive when they are released. Plus interest.
I’m pretty close, but so far the wind has been in my favor. I did get a lot of ash on things yesterday.
I really really feel for the people who lost homes (and especially those who lost lives of loved ones and/or pets). I’ve been told Boulder Creek is lost, and I use to live there (well a little north of it, but I don’t imagine that makes much of a difference). Evacuations in San Jose. It’s a lot of fire. I would really really prefer it go out now. Or better yet have not started.
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California, in particular Southern California, has been trending towards being an uninhabitable hellscape for decades now.
Yep, I had an aunt and uncle that worked a fire crew during their college years, and they did heroic work with little more than shovels, filthy clothes and some battered old boots.
An article about the job with some cool photos:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/photography/proof/2015/08/20/firefighters
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That could be a good strategy, as it would help them save for post-prison life.
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Huh, looks like the fires are closer than I realized - previously they were to the West, East and more distant North, but none too close; it appears the fires to the East have closed in since last I checked. But the wind shouldn’t be bringing in much smoke from any of them, still, so it doesn’t quite explain why the noonday sunlight coming in the window looks like a sunset - red and diffuse - and anything more than a few dozen feet away is covered by haze. It’s all rather apocalyptic. I’ve had two separate conversations today where someone asked, “What else could possibly go wrong?” (The obvious answer is: major earthquake. I expect one any time, now. On top of Trump and his fascism, the collapsing economy, the pandemic, the heat, the lightning storms, the fires…)
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Sorry, my carelessness. $20/hr.
$20/hr is more than many civilian fire crew workers get paid.
Humm, I wonder if this is one of the reasons California resources are spread thin.
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That was indeed half my intent. The other half was to make sure that it makes prison labor stop being cheaper then non-prison labor to reduce the incentives to put people in prison. I’m guessing we are on the same page here as you seem pretty opposed to imprisoning people without some significant reason.
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Yeah, we seem to be. The Norwegian system seem like it works relatively well- a focus on education, rehabilitation, humane treatment, etc. But they’re a civilized country, so… 
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And raking the forests…
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I think the unspoken* assumption among conservatives is that their system only works that way because their country is overwhelmingly comprised of white people.
*OK, not necessarily unspoken.
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Radical idea here: this seems like the kind of work for prisoners that should apply against their sentences, especially for non-violent crimes and select cases. And they should definitely be able to do the work once they get out, no question. I’m sure there are other jobs that would also qualify as extra time served…dangerous volunteer work that benefits the community. Possibly anything that acts as reparations for anyone hurt by their actions should at least count heavily towards good behaviour.
Right, of course that’s the kind of totally stupid thing that Norway would do, not here in the land of the free. /s
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Vacaville, Fairfield is in great peril. Lake Solano, ash… I could see towers of flame.
Not cool
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Satellite view of the smoke clouds:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article245100400.html
Yes. They are wrong of course.
They do that? All of it?
I just wanted to note that the reason they are short on labor is that the prisoners are sick with COVID.
It’s a reference to a Trumpism when he visited previous California wildfires. He criticized the state government response to the fires and said they should do what Scandinavian countries do, and rake the forests (complete with rich person never-used-a-rake-before hand gestures).
Narrator: they don’t.
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Yep, it might or might not work here because we are very different educationally and economically then Norway. However we have 50 states, I would really like at least one to try it. If it works the other 49 are similar enough (educationally and economically) that it would really really be worth it for them to try as well.
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