Tag: Issue 06-01-2013
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From Local Author to Homelessness and Back Again
I never thought I would end up a homeless veteran. By society’s standards, I did all the right things; I joined the Army, graduated college, and published my first children’s book, The Pet Mouse, on Amazon.com. But time and circumstance can change anyone’s life. In 2009, my life began its unraveling descent into homelessness. Earlier…
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Ev’olutions
In advance of a new release frommultiple awards winning playwright and author Eve Ensler, I attended a production of her seminal work “The Vagina Monologues.” Produced by Cambridge Cooperative at the Central Square YMCA, the play was staged as a V-Day benefit for non-profit My Life, My Choice (MLMC). Created in 1998, V-Day is an…
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You and Your Family Are Guinea Pigs for the Chemical Corporations
A hidden epidemic is poisoning America. The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them. We can’t escape it in our cars. It’s in cities and suburbs. It afflicts rich and poor, young and old. And there’s a reason why…
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Time for Big Green to Go Fossil Free
The movement demanding that public interest institutions divest their holdings from fossil fuels is on a serious roll. At last count, there were active divestment campaigns on 305 campuses and in more than 100 US cities and states. The demand has spread to Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Britain. And though officially launched just six…
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Moral Education
Moral Education By Cryn Johannsen Every Sunday when she was a little girl, she would go to a big Gothic church with her parents and her older, increasingly rebellious brother. With her hair covered in bows and her body clothed in neat little dresses – white ones in the summertime and purple ones in the…
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Climate Refugees: Beyond Absolute Poverty
Sitting in Harvard Square on a cold day was “Grasshopper.” He has been homeless for 52 years straight! His wisdom hits home: “Our mother earth is drained and breaking. We do not have time to figure out who is right and wrong. We have to do something now. The conscious mind is almost ready….” Grasshopper…
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Money and Houses: State Rep. Marjorie Decker Tackles the Issues at Spare Change News’ 21st Anniversary Gala
State Representative and Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker was one of a handful of speakers at Spare Change News’ 21st Anniversary Fundraiser and Celebration. She also acted as an enthusiastic, quick-witted auctioneer. Raised in Cambridge, she shined, entering dialogues with the diverse group of attendees at the event. A democrat, and self-proclaimed “Cambridge progressive,” Representative…
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Ernest Moniz and the Growing No-Fracking Movement
It is very unfortunate that Ernest Moniz, the new Energy Secretary, is, like Barack Obama, an “all of the above” energy guy. In his first week in office last week, he said some good things publicly about energy efficiency and solar, wind and geothermal energy. The problem, however, is that Moniz is a big supporter…
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How Fracking Turns Neighbor Against Neighbor
The fracking industry involves much more than drilling. For the past three years, I’ve covered the controversial oil and gas drilling practice for Truthout. Over the past week, I visited Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio to learn more about the challenges faced by those who live where the fracking process begins and ends – in sand…
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"Human Beings Have No Right to Water" and Other Words of Wisdom From Your Friendly Neighborhood Global Oligarch
In the 2005 documentary, We Feed the World, then-CEO of Nestlé, the world’s largest foodstuff corporation, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe shared some of his own views and ‘wisdom’ about the world and humanity. Brabeck believes that nature is not “good,” that there is nothing to worry about with GMO foods, that profits matter above all else, that…