This is shaping up to be the year when Californians finally get around to addressing their political impasse by "blowing up the boxes" of state government. Walk through a vineyard in Sonoma County or stroll through the farmers market in Santa Monica, and it's hard sensing a state in crisis. For most Californians, Sacramento's intermittent crisis has been as distant as a dispute in La Paz. But in early 2009, the cat left the bag: The Golden State has little gold or silver, or any other marker of wealth, to get itself out of its financial mess. Once described by veteran journalist Peter ... Read More