Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Boston to make case for new Long Island bridge to Quincy
The City of Boston is hoping to convey that rebuilding a bridge to Long Island is the best option for accessing and reopening a recovery campus for addicts during a meeting on Tuesday, May 7, in Quincy. The public meeting, being held at the Kennedy Center facility for the Quincy Council on Aging at 7…
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Panel discusses Boston’s efforts to house the chronically homeless
Before he had a home, Eric Lepovetsky would spend his nights in his “nylon condo” — that is, a tent in a wooded area of a park — staying out of sight from strangers and drinking himself to sleep. “Although I have fears that are real — attacks by humans, animals bugs — my greatest…
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The United States has a hostile architecture problem. Is public space becoming private?
Anti-homeless policy has been a staple in cities all over the world for decades, whether those policies be forthright, like loitering laws and sit-lie ordinances, or peppered into a city’s infrastructure and public spaces. Hostile architecture, sometimes called “defensive architecture”, a trend in urban design which discourages the use of spaces in any way other…
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Trump’s First GOP Challenger Stumps in N.H.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld held some of his first campaign stops as a GOP presidential candidate for 2020 in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The first Republican to challenge President Donald Trump, Weld officially announced his intentions on Monday. Weld last ran as the vice presidential nominee on the Libertarian Party ticket with Gary Johnson…
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‘I call it my heart’s work’: Ayanna Pressley Visits Cambridge Senior Center
“I’m very humbled to represent the Massachusetts’ 7th, and I went to Washington to kick butt, and I took that very literally and I almost broke my leg in the process… My limbs have been compromised but my voice is as strong as ever,” stated Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. On April 19, the Congresswoman visited the…
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Beyond the Picket Line: Looking Back at the Stop and Shop Strike
Referred to as the “strike leader” by coworkers, full-time Stop and Shop grocery clerk John Moynihan was unafraid to spend ten days outside picketing for fair contracts after recent proposed changes to United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) contracts with Stop and Shop. Yet after the grocery chain reached a tentative contract agreement with…
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Joint Committee of Ways and Means Hearing Ignites Impassioned Petitions
On April 2, Gardner Auditorium buzzed as the Joint Committee of Ways and Means met to hold a public hearing to discuss the 2020 fiscal year budget. The committee is made up of 52 House and Senate members whose job is to analyze all matters pertaining to the Commonwealth’s finances. “We view the budget as…
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To make health care more accessible, mobile van travels to communities that need it the most
The Family Van parked in East Boston. Credit: Anna Bloxham. On a Wednesday morning at Liberty Plaza in East Boston, a colorful van is parked in the lot with a tiny sandwich board beside it reading “Free Health Screenings.” The people inside are volunteers awaiting clients who will enter the van and ask to get…
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Life on the Streets: Sick with nowhere to go
For those who are housed, feeling the first tinges of a winter cold or flu means settling in on the couch with hot tea and soup, a warm comforter and a list of Netflix movies to watch. Rest, fluids and access to a warm shower and a clean toilet let the immune system eventually kick…
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“Release the Report!”: Citizens rally for Mueller’s full report
On Thursday, April 4th, hundreds of demonstrators protested at the Boston Common in the late afternoon to call for the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to be released to the public. Mueller’s report contains the findings of his investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. The highly anticipated report was also expected to…
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