Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Making a Better Safety Net —Wall Street Style

    [img_assist|nid=526|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=400|height=400] By Pippin Ross The Statehouse’s ‘Great Hall’ is packed, like it is almost every day leading up to the moment when the Governor finally signs off on the next budget. Every group pushing for every piece of the state funding pie turns out in full force. Today, the mood is expectant, the dress code…

  • Pippin Ross

    PIPPIN ROSS is a freelance reporter.

  • Hip-Hop and Homelessness

    Spare Change News Exclusive: An Interview With KRS-One By Nakia Hill As the “Teacha” of hip hop, KRS-One, the artist, prepares to travel to New England for his teach hip hop tour, Kris Parker, the person, reminisces about the irony within the connection of homelessness and hip-hop and how he once lived on the streets…

  • My Life With Whitey: Bulger Enforcer Eddie MacKenzie Speaks Out

    My Life With Whitey: Bulger Enforcer Eddie MacKenzie Speaks Out

    He learned how to fight and survive on the streets and lived under a strict code of silence. But he believes his former boss, James “Whitey” Bulger, who was apprehended by the FBI on June 23rd, is going to name names. “Absolutely, he’s probably going to try and help Catherine Greig out or he’s just…

  • Expanding Supportive Housing in NYC

    Common Ground is a renowned, non¬profit organization located in New York City that is celebrated both nationally and internationally for its success in the provision of permanent housing coupled with supportive social services to home¬less and low-income people. Founded in 1990, it has developed and managed thousands of apartments and other resi¬dences for disenfranchised individuals.…

  • Home is where the Heart is

    The opening lines of John Howard Payne’s 1823 opera, “Clari, Maid of Milan”, begins with, “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam/Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 41% of today’s homeless are families. It is these families that are no longer familiar with…

  • Q&A With Beth Babcock President and CEO of Crittenton Women’s Union

    Beth Babcock is the president and CEO of Crittenton Women’s Union and has studied the effects of poverty on executive functioning. Under Babcock’s direction, Crittenton Women’s Union is currently researching methods of coaching to positively affect impoverished adults. Earlier this month, Chalkey Horenstein spoke with Ms. Babcock, who explained the meaning of executive functioning and…

  • Q&A With Sue Hyde Director of the Creating Change Conference for The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

    I recently sat down with Sue Hyde, Director of the Creating Change Conference for The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. During out conversation I learned a lot about the gay and lesbian community that I did not know before. Beatrice Bell: Can you tell me a little bit about the National Lesbian & Gay…

  • Police Uses Excessive Force Against Street Paper Vendor

    Street Sense (USA) 29/03/2010 An American street paper vendor was seen by the Police drinking an alcoholic beverage just outside of a metro station. The vendor, who is limited to a wheelchair, apparently resisted arrest and was thrown to the ground by officers, resulting in serious injuries to the vendor’s face. The scene captured by…

  • Ten months sober: Its Own Reward

    To me, it seems pointless to continue to dwell on the past; as obvious as it sounds, there is no changing the past. The future, on the other hand, we all know is yet to be determined. I believe in the idea that you make your own bed — so lay in it, and do…

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