Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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AG Confirms Investigation of Practices at For-Profit Colleges
By Matt Murphy STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 30, 2012…. Ratcheting up the pressure on for-profit education firms, Attorney General Martha Coakley on Wednesday confirmed that her office is investigating deceptive loan and recruitment practices at some for-profit colleges and certificate programs where students often graduate with overly burdensome debt, or fail…
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IN BUDGET, STATE EYES WAYS TO REDUCE HOTEL USE FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES
From State House News Service: By Colleen Quinn STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON, STATE HOUSE, MAY 29, 2012…..When House and Senate lawmakers debated the annual budget this year, homelessness – and the question of what to do with the thousands of families living in motels and hotels across the state – took center stage for…
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The minimum wage buys less than it used to
Noelle Swan Spare Change News At 24 years old, Michaud is not backpacking abroad, sharing an apartment with friends, or beginning to build a professional resume. He is working 30 hours a week selling stuffed animals for $9 per hour in order to help his mother, a certified nursing assistant, support his three younger siblings.…
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What the Walk for Hunger Accomplishes
Robert Sondak Spare Change News On May 6, 41,000 walkers participated in the 44th Walk for Hunger and helped to raise $3.6 million for a wide range of hunger relief organizations in Massachusetts. The executive director of Project Bread, Ellen Parker, addressed the crowd of walkers: “We’re all heartened that our economy is showing signs…
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More Housing Hijinks
James Shearer Spare Change News Back in early March, local housing authorities in Massachusetts gathered with local lawmakers. The reason? Well, basically the greedy housing barons were crying in their overpriced beers that the Governor was being unfair to them just because one bad apple did indeed try to steal the show. You may remember…
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Noam Chomsky: The Spare Change News Interview
Noam Chomsky’s new book, “Occupy,” is printed as part of the Occupied Media Pamphlet Series and lays out many arguments first articulated at student meetings and in front of gatherings of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) activists. Professor Chomsky’s interest in Occupy is consistent with his support of previous grassroots movements for change and can be…
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Down and out in Harvard Square: Warm weather brings return of homeless ‘travelers’
Tom Benner Spare Change News Maxine Brandeis came to Harvard Square for the same reason Willie Sutton robbed banks — because that’s where the money is. “The police are more tolerant of panhandling here than in other places we’ve been,” said Brandeis, 21, who is spending a few weeks in the Square with her 25-year-old…
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We Are All In The Dumps: Remembering Maurice Sendak’s Fiction on Homelessness
Noelle Swan Spare Change News Maurice Sendak was being driven through Los Angeles in the early 1990s. It was the kind of journey into darkness found in his children’s books, only more real and scarier. The nation was struggling to emerge from the recession that had followed a worldwide stock market crash in 1987. Big banks reported…
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Keeping House: Local Organizations Collaborate to Help Boston Residents Stay in Their Home Post-Foreclosure
Noelle Swan Spare Change News When Jeril Richardson checked out of the hospital after he was hit by a car in 2009, he returned home to find that his landlord had not been keeping up with mortgage payments and the bank was foreclosing on his Hyde Park home. Canvassers knocking on his door told him…
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