Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Plug In

    State of Massachusetts receives grant to install electric vehicle charging stations. In July of 2011 the Patrick-Murray Administration and the Department of Energy Resources DOER invited cities and towns statewide to apply for an electric charging station grant. This grant was part of a settlement obtained by Attorney General Martha Coakley ‘s office in 2007…

  • Feeding The Flock

    Oftentimes, when we pick up the newspaper or watch the local news, we hear stories about Dorchester and its surrounding communities. All too often we are greeted with stories of crime and violence. Rarely do we hear positive things about Dorchester or any instances of its upward mobility. Dorchester has evolved from a demographic composed…

  • The Real 47%

    As I watched the Presidential debate, the one thing that struck me was not how bad the president looked, but how neither one of the candidates talked about the subject that neither of them seems to want to address. The only exception was of Mitt Romney’s inane remarks at a private fundraiser a few weeks…

  • Op-Ed

    As of September 1st, the state of Massachusetts has revised the conditions for Emergency Assistance, in particular, eligibility for shelter. Homeless patrons may now only enter a shelter if they have lost their home through natural forces, no-fault eviction, fleeing from domestic violence, or unsafe habitation for their children. I am writing today, not to…

  • Upward Spiral

    My mother had always shown me what the streets looked like from a distance. Taking me to Pine Street Inn, and having me help out was her scared straight program for me. We would hang out in Harvard square to watch the performers, but the other colorful characters were much more intriguing to me. The…

  • Nature

    Your supple hands caress my cheeks Like a loving mother Your breath twirls across my eyes and Slowly collapses like a graceful silhouette As the dirge of song birds echoes in the darkness echoes in the darkness echoes in the darkness Then there came a cold chill as a wave of winter dust descended deliberately…

  • Memo To Animal Lovers

    Of the millions of hackneyed expressions, “you are what you eat” proves to be a double entendre with serious ethical implications. In the past few decades, the meat industry has been insidiously transformed into an entity with unrecognizable semblance to its former self as the practice of factory farming has infected our nation’s system of…

  • Earth's Evangelist: Bill McKibben

    “Poor people are not something that we talk about too much or pay much attention to in our world,” Bill McKibben said, sipping a glass of sparkling water to nurse a throat hoarse from a weekend of meetings and rallies. McKibben knows something about poverty. In the early 1980s he helped to start a 15-bed…

  • Where Waste Meets Want

    The first time Ashley Stanley walked into the back room of her local grocery store in search of discarded food, she found towers of eggplants, tomatoes, and potatoes rising up around her. The produce was not spoiled or rotten; it simply no longer fit on the display shelves and had been moved off the floor…

  • The Fine Art Of Investing

    It’s an interesting gamble. One of the most relevant fields of study today is Emergence Theory, the science of human cooperation. The Somerville Stock Exchange, an interactive art project, fundraiser, and neighborhood forum all in one, is a supple demonstration of Emergence Theory in purposeful practice. Created by artist Tim Devin, the project is a…

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