A New Twist on the Old Chain Gang

—By

| Wed Oct. 24, 2007 11:23 AM PDT

Somehow this seems so wrong on so many levels...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the corrections' department to join the state's massive effort to combat the wildfires raging around San Diego. Not only do the prisons have a bunch of fire trucks to lend to the overtaxed fire departments, but the New York Times reports that more than 2,600 inmates, trained as firefighters, are now out there fighting to save Mel Gibson's house San Diego.

Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.

Advertisement

 

Photo Essays + Slideshows

kids smoking

Glamorous Photos of Kids Smoking

Frieke Janssens' images of kids and (fake!) cigarettes capture the ugliness and the not-quite-bygone glamour of smoking.

Slideshow: "Enjoy an Ice Cream Cone Shortly Before Lunch"

10 classic ads from the sugar and cereal industries.

Portraits of Addiction

A Manhattan banker shoots portraits of drug abuse, sex work, and homelessness in the Bronx.

Garry Winogrand, John F. Kennedy, Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles, 1

Never Before Seen Photos From Legendary Street Photographer Garry Winogrand

Fourteen amazing scenes of life in America—and hundreds more where that came from.

See All