Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Voices from the Streets: A Hidden Violation (Conclusion)
Read part one here. (I had just gone into the courtroom, attempting to take care of a matter that was more serious than I had presumed: a felony possession of heroin with a suspended sentence.) I placed my hands on the rail so Judge Luby wouldn’t see them shaking. My public defender explained that I…
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Legal Center for the Homeless: US Gets D+ on Homeless Policy
A recent report by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty found that, while the federal government made some progress in securing the right to housing in 2015, government policy remains dangerously inadequate. The group’s annual Human Right to Housing Report card gave overall federal policy a big red D+. The analysis takes into…
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HUD launches new grant to help seniors age in place
Source: D. B. King The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced a new grant designed to help low-income seniors age in place. The $15 million grant will be used to test HUD’s Supportive Services Demonstration for Elderly Households in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing, which is designed to help low-income seniors age in…
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A Leak in the Ship: Mike McDonald Talks Comedy, Homelessness and Charity
If you’re familiar with the history of Boston comedy and its bricklayers, you’ll know that Mike McDonald is a pretty big deal. He’s from the same stock that molded legends like Barry Crimmins, Steve Sweeney, Lenny Clarke and Denis Leary, and in terms of popularity around New England, McDonald’s “legend” status is nothing to scoff…
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Gov. Baker announces $5 Million investment Targeting Chronically High Unemployment
Photo: Massachusetts National Guard New initiatives to fight chronic unemployment will be included in the proposed FY 2017 budget, Governor Charlie Baker’s office said recently. Baker and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Ronald L. Walker II, who is also a member of the governor’s task force on persons facing chronically higher rates of unemployment,…
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Society of Professional Journalists rally for public records
About 30 Journalists, students, and public record advocates stood on the steps of the Massachusetts State House Jan. 21 in the freezing cold to rally for a better public records law in Massachusetts. “We are hoping that [the Senate] is going to pass a more favorable bill than the House’s bill,” said Danielle McLean, the…
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Q&A with Michelle Wu
Photos: Alena Kuzub The waiting room outside the city council president’s office is full of visitors, staff and paperwork changing hands. Portraits line the walls, from paintings to black-and-white photos to more modern colorful pictures—the eyes of councilors past watching the goings-on in City Hall. It feels crowded, even claustrophobic, and Michelle Wu’s new office…
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Homeless Bill of Rights Seeks to Lessen Inequality
The state legislature recently moved forward in efforts to legally protect the homeless from discrimination in Massachusetts. On Dec. 15, an act providing for a homeless bill of rights in Massachusetts was voted unanimously out of housing committee and referred to the Committee on House Ways and Means. The rights laid out in the bill…
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Work of Art: Syrians Paint a Former Saddam Hussein Prison Camp
Up in the northwest corner of Iraq lies one piece of history layered in even more history: a former Saddam Hussein era prison camp covered in street art by it’s Syrian refugee inhabitants. Every Friday, Syrian youth participate in the Castle Art Project, taking paintbrushes to the dreary walls of their temporary home and drawing…
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U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs provides aid to struggling Native American veterans
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is providing aid specific to the needs of struggling Native American veterans. The VA, paired with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has now offered grants to aid Native American veterans who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness,…
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