Chris Hedges: The Polite Conference Rooms Where Liberties Are Saved and Lost. [Chris Hedges’ Columns | Truthdig] – The NDAA implodes our most cherished constitutional protections. It permits the military to function on U.S. soil as a civilian law enforcement agency. It authorizes the executive branch to order the military to selectively suspend due process and habeas corpus for citizens. The law can be used to detain people deemed threats to national security, including dissidents whose rights were once protected under the First Amendment, and hold them until what is termed “the end of the hostilities.” Even the name itself—the Homeland Battlefield Bill—suggests the totalitarian concept that endless war has to be waged within “the homeland” against internal enemies as well as foreign enemies.
Debt Without End Amen
Graduating into never-ending debt. [SocialistWorker.org] – Overwhelming student debt has become a source of worry and financial distress for many millions of people–and even worse for the one in five people with student loan debt who are classified as delinquent. And the problem will only get worse as a new generation of students and recent graduates, carrying a bigger loan burden than ever before, struggles to find work in an economy that, despite statistics showing job growth, still seems like the Great Recession, especially for young workers.
Sunday Morning Quote | Dorothy Parker
I might repeat to myself, slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound; if I can remember any of the damn things.
– Dorothy Parker
Take a Break with Breakaway Matcha
If you’re looking for a special treat that’s also incredibly nutritious, matcha fills the bill.
Matcha is a particular type of green tea, prepared in a particular way that makes it one of the great superfoods on the planet. It also happens to be an epicurean delight. Once you taste the rich, flavorful green broth, it’s hard to go back to steeped teas. The fact that you’re consuming the whole leaf, not just an extraction, is what gives it both the amazing mouthfeel and the unsurpassed health benefits.
Traditionally, matcha is prepared using an elaborate and somewhat esoteric process requiring a wide shallow bowl, a bamboo whisk (called a “chasen”) and a lot of work. There’s no doubt that the formal Japanese tea ceremony is a thing of beauty, but I would likely never take the time to develop the proper technique. Fortunately an acquaintance of mine from The Well has come up with a way to prepare matcha that offers the same quality in taste, mouthfeel and health benefits and yet is simple and quick enough to make it practical for every day.
Eric Gower is known as The Breakway Cook. An author, private chef and cooking teacher, his style focuses on simplicity, ease of preparation and powerful flavors. Breakaway Matcha is his take on this exceptional beverage. Take a look at this video to see him demonstrate.
I’ve been making matcha with this method and can attest to it’s simplicity and deliciousness. I find that a matcha break at mid-afternoon helps me focus for the balance of the work day, and leaves me feeling relaxed and replenished.
Eric’s site has everything you need to get started. I’m looking forward to picking up some of their beautiful ceramics soon – I’m forbidden to buy anything else like that until we’ve moved. In the meantime, I’m enjoying my matcha in an old hand-thrown mug that I bought from a friend in the art department when I was in college.
Visit Breakaway Matcha for more information.
Welcome to the Global Spring
A new chapter is beginning – the Global Spring.
In Union Square, Occupy Is Blooming. [OccupyWallSt.org] – This spring, Occupiers are taking back public space to renew the visible face of our movement. In New York, despite constant police harassment, we are maintaining an Occupation in Union Square. Elsewhere, Occupy Oakland has announced a major civil disobedience action in response to assaults on peaceful Occupiers. Occupy London has announced a new home in solidarity with #OWS and on-going anti-austerity protests in the U.K.
Watch What You Say (or Tweet, or Post, or Text, or Buy)
“The NSA has become the largest, most covert, and potentially most intrusive intelligence agency ever.”
The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say). [Threat Level | Wired.com] – Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named Utah Data Center is being built for the National Security Agency. A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks.
Innocent Americans’ Data Will Now Be Kept Five Years
Americans’ private data to be kept 5 years. [UPI.com] – Attorney General Eric Holder signed guidelines Thursday that, among other things, expand from 180 days to five years the time the National Counterterrorism Center may keep private information about Americans not suspected of having ties to terrorism, The New York Times reported.
The guidelines also will allow the center to make more copies of entire databases and study them by using complex algorithms to search for patterns indicative of a threat, intelligence officials said.
Obama Joins Attack on Postal Service
Workers face loss of more than 100,000 jobs as Obama joins attack on postal service. [WSWS] – President Barack Obama’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year calls for the destruction of tens of thousands of postal positions, as well as the elimination of Saturday mail delivery as early as January 2013.
Video: Complete SXSW Tom Morello Set
In this hour-long set from Rolling Stone’s Rock Room day party, Tom Morello burns through a string of modern protest songs. His headlining gig at the Occupy SXSW showcase had been busted up by cops the night before.
Occupy Gearing Up
6 months in, Occupy Wall Street activists take stock of successes, gear up for spring protests. [The Washington Post] – As spring approaches, Occupy Wall Street protesters who mostly hibernated all winter are beginning to stir with plans for renewed demonstrations six months after the movement was born.
