Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Cradles to Crayons: Getting Essentials to Homeless and Low-income Children
Liam Cunningham Spare Change News It all began during a typical holiday trip to Michigan, where Lynn Margherio travels nearly every winter to visit her family. During the trip, Margherio was struck with an eye-opening realization while helping her young niece get dressed. “I was helping my niece get dressed and was pulling things from…
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The Legacy of the Black Soldiers of the Civil War
In honor of Black History Month Jacques Fleury Spare Change News “Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.” — Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37) The contributions and achievements of black people throughout American History have often been overlooked in traditional history textbooks. Although I was educated…
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MBTA railroading public on fare hikes, service cuts
Beatrice Bell Spare Change News On January 23,. I went to a public meeting at the state Transportation Building in Boston and I, along with the hundreds of other people who had attended, was shocked to see how cold and callous some MBTA representatives sounded when they were speaking about fare hikes and service cutbacks…
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MIT Students Open Soup Kitchen; Diners Wanted
Alexander R. Moore Spare Change News During these difficult economic times, even the most prosperous feel the clutch of despair. It is put on our doorstep then, as humans, to share what wealth we do have with those less fortunate than ourselves. Our duty is to spread happiness; the alternative is to surrender to the…
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We Can End Homelessness
By Lyndia Downie, President and Executive Director, Pine Street Inn There was a time when most of society assumed that someone like “Walter,” a chronically homeless man struggling with depression and addiction, had few alternatives to (or perhaps even preferred) life on the street. Walter would stay at a shelter like Pine Street Inn on…
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Letters: Haitian liberation and the struggle for freedom
Dear Editor, I am writing to express my appreciation for a well-written article by Jacques Fleury,”How Haiti Earned Its Place in Black History.” His piece impressed me by his personal touch of the history of Haitian liberation and the struggle that all people of color experienced on the road to freedom. His article echoes the…
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Editorial: Food stamp demagoguery
It is a callous and cynical game. Ronald Reagan showed us how it works with his mythic welfare queen from Chicago’s South Side, playing to the nation’s emotions and fueling suspicions and jealousies among voters. Today, the food stamp program is portrayed as a big government handout to a growing entitlement class. Republican presidential contender…
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Vendor Profile, Anthony Thames
Larissa Butrimowicz Spare Change News Spare Change news vendor Anthony Thames, born and raised in the South End of Boston, and has been with Spare Change for two years. He became a part of Spare Change because he needed to make some changes in his life and find some direction. It has taken him over…
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Vulnerable homeless targets highlight pervasive issues
A letter to the Orange County, California, District Attorney regarding the recent arrest of the alleged “serial killer” of four homeless men in Orange County, former Marine Itzcoatl Ocampo. District Attorney Rackauckas: I am a rehabilitation psychologist. My areas of specialty are psychiatric disabilities and brain injuries. I interned on the Psychology Service at the…
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Cut!
Massachusetts is preparing another grim budget for the next fiscal year that is expected to include modest “revenue enhancers” — that is, tax and/or fee hikes on the general public — and yet another round of cuts to social services. Given those two eventualities, the state’s dubious film tax credit program belongs on top of…
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