Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Banning Replica Handguns: A Vendor’s Perspective
Photo: Andrew Toskin This writer was asked to give a response to a recent article in the Boston Globe. The article pertains to the ordinance banning replica handguns in public areas proposed by the mayor of Boston, Martin J. Walsh. At the time, our writer took to the streets to get input from the public.…
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Voices from the Streets: A Story of the Vendor
With the holiday season upon us, I’ve been having thoughts about the many years I’ve been working as a Spare Change News vendor. I started working for the paper in March 1993 in the Porter Square area and I stayed there for about one year. That was the time of the Big Dig. I had…
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LAST WORD: Gary Brown
Photo: Alena Kuzub Spare Change News works through word of mouth. Most of the vendors who’ve been interviewed in the Last Word column were at some point encouraged to join by another vendor whose testimony inspired them. What this means it that there’s a widening circle of people whose lives have been touched by the…
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Disney donation to help homeless families get off the streets
Photo: Richard Stephenson Walt Disney World Resort has given advocates for the homeless something to cheer about this holiday season. Earlier this month, it surprised the Homeless Impact Fund of Central Florida Foundation with a $500,000 donation. George Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort, announced the donation as part of the Candlelight Processional at…
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Advocates Seek to Strengthen Long-ignored Aid Program
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts A new bill that would strengthen a program that provides aid to over 21,000 low-income elderly, children, and disabled citizens throughout the Commonwealth is awaiting a vote in the state house. House Bill 529 seeks to make adjustments to the Emergency Aid for the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) program, a 27…
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Big Truck 4 Big Wishes: Walmart assists fundraiser for Home for Little Wanderers
Earlier this month, a twenty-four-foot-high truck with an eighteen-foot-wide banner stood near the Route 1 Walmart Superstore to gather gift donations for the Home for Little Wanderers’ annual fundraiser, “Big Truck 4 Big Wishes.” With the help of Walmart’s generous partnership, the Home for Little Wanderers was able to take the annual “Stuff-a-Truck” event and…
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Barry Crimmins: Boston comedy legend talks about social activism and homelessness
Photo: Dennis Brennan Barry Crimmins has built a career off of not caring. But not in a bad way, by any stroke of imagination. He does care. The Boston comedy pioneer has cemented his name in comedy history with his upfront, no-holds-barred brand of political satire, his tireless social activism and, just recently, being the…
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125 Names: Homeless Memorial Day in Boston
All photos: Alena Kuzub A flute solos while a list of names is read from a podium, a candle lit for each one, covering the small altar of Church on the Hill in light. The same names can be found on the packaged blankets piled beneath the altar and lined up along the pews. Names…
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State’s Top Court Weighs New Defense for Homeless Man Accused of Trespassing to Escape Dangerous Cold
Photo: Alena Kuzub A case argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this month could have major implications for those who trespass to escape dangerously cold winter nights. Justices heard an appeal in the case of David Magadini, a 67-year-old homeless man from Great Barrington who was sentenced to 30 days in jail last year…
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Bizarre Boston: Ghosts of the Parker House Hotel
Boston is an old city, and old places tend to have a lot of ghosts—or at least a lot of ghost stories, if you don’t believe in the supernatural. Given our city’s age, it shouldn’t be a surprise that paranormal investigators think we have lots of ghosts here. Haunted theaters, haunted dorms, haunted bars and,…
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