Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Voices from the Streets: Choices
Until recently, I’d mostly steered clear of the current race for the White House. Call me an uninterested observer, but I just didn’t want to be bothered. Elections come and go and after awhile you find out or come to believe that no matter who’s in the Oval Office, not much is going to change.…
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The Church of the Coveted Glen
Photo Credit: Line Olsson His name was Nathaniel Round and he constantly struggled with his belief. Voices in his head kept him from sleeping many nights. He slipped out of bed, quietly so as not to disturb his wife, crept into the kitchen, made a pot of strong coffee and wrote sermon after sermon. On…
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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Cambridge celebrates new youth shelter
Photo Credit: Zengzheng Wang A group of Harvard students will open America’s first student-run youth overnight shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Y2Y Harvard Square overnight shelter will open in December. On November 6, founders Sam Greenberg and Sarah Rosenkrantz – both Harvard graduates – met with state officials, service providers and members of the homeless…
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Governor Baker releases $2.5 Million to Combate Heroin and Opioid Epidemic
Governor Charles Baker has proposed $2.5 million dollars in awards to help combat this illness earlier this month. This funding release will allow criminal justice agencies, District Attorneys, Sheriffs, funding to combat this affliction, Baker’s office said in a press release issued on February 1. One piece of this funding is to provide additional beds…
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Last Word: Hal Rawlings
Photo: Alena Kuzub Hal Rawlings’ life today couldn’t be more different than the life he led when he was younger. One of the first things he says after sitting down for an interview with me and Spare Change News’ photographer, Alena, is, “Do you know what you’re seeing today, sir? A miracle.” It’s only after…
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General Electric Boston Deal: The Missing Manual
The saga of General Election’s flight from Connecticut began with the June 2015 passage of a very much needed package of state tax increases aimed at raising an extra $1.1 billion over the next two years. By extending a temporary 20 percent surcharge on its corporate profits tax and by implementing a more straightforward way of calculating corporate taxes,…
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Dear Albania: Eliza Dushku discusses Immigration, Bernie Sanders, and Homelessness
Photo Credit: Zengzheng Wang Watertown native and Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Eliza Dushku didn’t have dreams of being an actress. She didn’t really have much interest in it at all, until she followed her brother to a casting call in Boston when they were kids. But even with her serendipitous trip to that casting…
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Mass. Senate passes pay equity act
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts Massachusetts made strides toward gender equality as a bill aiming to close the pay gap between men and women was passed recently by the state Senate. Proponents of the new legislation said it would give a much-needed update to the state’s existing pay equity law by creating more transparency and fairness in…
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Boston Police Remember First Black Officer
Boston Police honored the first African American officer to serve in department as part of their salute to Black History earlier this month. The Boston Police saluted Officer Horatio Julius Homer in a press release February 5. Homer served on the force from 1878 until his retirement in 1919, Boston Police said. Over the course…
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Boston shelters expand hours and outreach efforts for winter
Photo: Sushant Bhosale The city of Boston’s emergency shelters are preparing for winter with expanded hours, more overflow spaces and extended outreach efforts. Additionally, shelters will coordinate with private shelters and agencies like the police department and Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. The Boston Public Health Commission, which oversees the city’s homeless services, provided Spare…
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