Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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From the Editor
The paper you hold in your hands has a long, proud history. I am honored to be a part of it as interim editor-in-chief. Founded in 1992, SPARE CHANGE NEWS is the oldest continuously published street newspaper in the country. Over the past 21 years, it has never missed an issue. Most impressively, its model…
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Gut Feeling
“In the Body of the World: A Memoir” by Eve Ensler Metropolitan, 232 pp., $25 (hardcover) Eve Ensler’s new memoir “In the Body of the World” encapsulates the very physical nature of grieving as experienced through the journey of the author’s transcendent deliverance through cancer. The book convincingly proposes a parallel between the ills that…
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Bahrain Uncensored
“Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark” directed by May Welsh Al Jazeera, 50:56, free online (streaming) The award-winning documentary “Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark” consists of eye-opening images, interviews, and testimonies of members of the opposition who overcame their fear and sacrificed their security for the sake of their democratic rights. In a country ruled by…
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Khalifa
Hear me: You, the elder, the “good man”, who “safeguards justice” (so you have always declared), if I were to make excuses for you, I, for you, for the things you have done, I would only look the fool, for you would continue in your ways, and murder us as “traitors”. Hear me: Hear us…
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All Right
There is mourning in America, all right. Curses and slurs and the speech of red-faced hate dominate the broadcasts that appear on our television screens, large and immense black rectangles hung on small walls, the beer cans and whiskey bottles piled high beside the old couches covered with blankets and white sheets. The images, sharp…
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Hiding Homelessness
A few weeks ago, I found myself reading another article about how the city of Boston is once again addressing the so-called problem of aggressive panhandling. The new ordinance that has been in effect since March prohibits all solicitation at bus stops or bus shelters, parking garages, parking lots, sidewalk cafés and crosswalks. It also…
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Bahrain: The Forgotten Revolution Remains
Last week, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, met with a handful of U.S. government officials—including President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden—during a visit to Washington, D.C. While the crown prince posed for photos with the president and vice president, in Bahrain children as young as 15 continued to…
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Urban College of Boston Offers Hope to Some Unlikely Students
BOSTON, Massachusetts—When Cecelia Young enrolled in her first course at Urban College of Boston (UBC), she didn’t know who would watch her youngest son while she was in class. Young was homeless at the time. Each night, she had been piling her 12- and 15-year-old boys into the car and driving to a friend or…
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Tanya Wright Remembered
BOSTON, Massachusetts—Tanya Wright was an angel that went back to heaven way too soon. She was born in 1956 and died on Saturday, 1 June 2013. Tanya affected hundreds of people in her time here with us. She wasn’t just a mother, a sister, an aunt and a best friend, she was everybody’s best friend…
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Paul Sullivan, Leadership Development Program Graduate
BOSTON, Massachusetts—Paul Sullivan looks normal. If you passed him on the street, you would never guess that he has been homeless, much less nearly dead from serious illness. His story serves as a powerful reminder of the forces that lead many into homelessness in this country, as well as the fact that “normal” people become…
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