California is still battling the flames of a devastating forest fire that has engulfed major parts of the south of the Sunshine State. The LA Times is covering it in detail with coverage from the many areas affected. Several photos show the anguish of residents as they evacuate their homes and the efforts of fire fighters to come to terms with the blaze. 105,000 acres have been burnt with no control in sight. “The fire is heading just about anywhere it wants to go,” the deputy head of the LA County Fire Department told the Times.

Officials have expressed concern over the last few days about residents refusing to evacuate their homes as the Station fire moves through. In Big Tujunga Canyon on Saturday, three people were burned when they tried to protect their homes from the flames. Two of them tried to evade the fire by jumping into a hot tub.*

“What is money?” this rather philosophical question was tackled in today’s International Herald Tribune by Simon Critchley, chairman of philosophy at the New School for Social Research. The very core of money is faith and trust, says Critichley. On the British notes you’ve got ‘I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of…” while on the dollar bill, it’s “In God we Trust”. In the seemingly godless world of capitalism, money is the only thing in which we must have faith, says Critchley.

Before gold used to underwrite money – the value of the note had its equivalent in gold somewhere. That’s no longer the case – you can’t ask for the gold equivalent of your 20 euro note…all the more reason why faith is so central to the legitimacy of money. “The Fed must have Cred,” so to speak.

One learned philosopher called money the pimp between need and object. In a capitalist society, everything is for sale and everyone is a prostitute – the money is the pimp in between. Maybe we shouldn’t think about it too much!

Last year the British Transport Department conducted a poll showing that 83% of British people are concerned by Climate Change and that three quarters of them said they are willing to change their behaviour to help combat it. The 10:10 campaign, launched today in London in conjunction with the Guardian, is designed to answer the call for immedate action. It calls for citizens to lower their carbon footprint by 10% by 2010 with meaningful action beyond just putting their garbage out for recycling. This is a modest challenge but a moral obligation, says the Guardian.

Meet Franny Armstrong. She is the woman behind the initiative. She believes the upcoming December conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen which aims to create a Climate Change Treaty to replace Kyoto doesn’t go nearly far enough. This initiative is also designed to put pressure on Britain to take a leading role. Her 10:00 team are frantically trying to get individuals and organisations to sign up to it’s pledge. As an indicator of her determination, Armstrong told the Guardian, “If you’re not fighting climate change or improving the world, you’re wasting your life.”

So how can you keep the 10:10 pledge? Well, you have to cut 1.4 tonnes of your carbon emission by next year. There are obvious steps that can be taken in the home: insulation, getting a new boiler if yours is over 10 years old…But what about becoming a vegan three days a week? Over one year, that saves half a tonne in carbon emissions. Buy 50% second hand clothes – this would save 1/3 of a tonne of carbon emissions over one year.Regularly use soap, a basin of water and a sponge instead of a shower – one tenth of a tonne of carbon emissions over one year. Try to avoid flying if you can – by taking your holiadys by car and rail.

The Christian Science Monitor asks the question, why did Jaycee Duggard not flee her captor? The Californian girl who spent 18 years living with her kidnapper was reunited with her family last week. The Boston-based paper says many witnesses confirm she could have fled many times over the years. The explanation for her failure to do so is probably not just Stockholm Syndrome (a phenomenon whereby prisoners bond with their captors). She was quite simply afraid. Fear and the instinct to survive probably drove her to stay with the kidnapper.