Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Violating Housing Rights Is Not Just Immoral, It’s Downright Criminal!
Rebecca Brodie Spare Change News An underutilized provision of Massachusetts law allows unscrupulous landlords to face criminal charges, not just civil penalties, for illegally evicting tenants. Facing incarceration, one should expect that landlords would think twice before locking out a tenant or shutting off a tenant’s utilities. Unfortunately, my experience has shown that police departments,…
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Former Homeless Man Works His Way From The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter To the Halls Of Hamilton College.
“I hate leaving Hamilton,” Max Yelbi, a 22-year-old college student, said of his summer hiatus from Clinton, N.Y. He has made a home on the sprawling campus in upstate New York, a home he did not have a year ago. Ye l b i , a t a l l , y o u n…
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Striking It Rich: Formerly Homeless Women Scratches Million Dollar Ticket.
Story and Art by Jen Catalano Virginia “Jini” Burke lives a life of strict routine. She goes to work. She goes to her AA meetings. She comes home. Even her gambling is done with perfect regularity. Every week, she buys five two dollar scratch tickets at a local Mobil. She lives for routine. It’s helped…
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The Streets Are Watching: Profile of Gabrielle Vachersse
When she was ten years old, Gabrielle Vachersse wanted to be a veterinarian. She loved animals, and the idea of being a source of aid to the things she loved really appealed to her. She had a pet cat, at the time; now, years later, she still remembers a particular day when her cat went…
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Gonna Hang My Heartache Out To Dry
Somebody cries in the moon of the night, the neighbors notice but they turn out the light. Between the perfect world and the bottom line these troubled times break her spirit down. It must have been tough ‘cause it’s so easy to fall apart. It hurts looking back at the beginning of this and how…
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All Men are Created Equal
Jaclyn Turner (Atlanta, GA) Before attending Impact: Boston, I was vaguely aware that there was such a large homeless population in the U.S. This needs to be fixed immediately. The homeless often strive to dress their best, making it more difficult to know their living situation before one hears their story. The majority of these…
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Vendor Profile: Chris Mesfin
Every morning, without the aid of an alarm clock, Chris Mesfin wakes up at a time he describes as ‘somewhere between 4:00 and 4:01.’ It’s still very dark outside, and he folds his sofa-bed away, sits down on it in complete silence and thinks. While most of the rest of Malden is sleeping, Chris can…
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One for the Good Guys
I was on my way home when a friend called me to say that Proposition 8 in California had been overturned. I simply smiled and said, “Good.” “Are you happy?” I asked. “Yes,” she said. Now she has nothing to worry about. My friend is gay and has been a part of my life for…
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Tales of the Inner City: The Virus (Part 3)
Marc D. Goldfinger Spare Change News Taken from The Diaries of the Damned—written before the Tales of Communion——Insect-O-War. Finally it was time to leave the bar. As Dean and Peddlar hit the streets Sky continued to hypnotize his followers, slipping them the odd bag of dope or shot of Jack Daniels as they needed it.…
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Getting back on his feet: Spare Change Vendor Considers Mistakes From His Past As He Looks Towards Future
Aaron James Spare Change News What does it mean to be homeless? It’s hard to come up with a definitive answer to this question. “The current HUD (Housing of Urban Development) definition of homelessness is limited to people who are on the streets or who are staying in shelters. This is being debated among many…
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