Utility Journal: Tip Sheet: Tea There are plenty of reasons to drink tea, and knowledge is power when it comes to getting the best from your own. So in this first Tip Sheet article, we’ve compiled a concise round-up of useful information about earth’s second favorite beverage (water is the first). Tea usually contains one third to one half as much caffeine as coffee. You can cook with it. When convenience isn’t a concern, loose-leaf brewing with an infuser is preferable to brewing with tea bags. Don’t try to make iced tea stronger by steeping it longer – it’ll become bitter. When brewing with loose leaves, a good rule of thumb is one heaping teaspoon for every cup of water you’re brewing. Before you buy seemingly healthy bottled tea from the supermarket, check the label. Different types of tea should be brewed at different temperatures for different lengths of time. It’s important to remember that tea leaves that have been cut or chopped will release their flavor faster than whole leaves. Title photo by Gözde Otman
The Rebel God: Realistic Nonviolence #2: Enemy love as the heart of nonviolence In my previous post I discussed the infamous "what-if" questions that people invariably raise when the topic of nonviolence and enemy love come up, and suggested that what we really need to do is hear the question behind the question: People have a legitimate concern that nonviolence entails inaction in the face of harm being done to oneself or a loved one. I stressed that this is not the case, and argued that we need to articulate in concrete and practical terms how nonviolence addresses these issues as a viable alternative to violence. Some pacifists argue that Christians should simply follow Jesus’ way of nonviolence regardless of whether it makes sense to them. As much as I respect their commitment to nonviolence, I want to suggest that this is a potentially dangerous and harmful position to take. Now, I hope you'll agree that this is not what Jesus intended. For many the term nonviolence is associated with the political protests made famous by Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
How to Stop Being Afraid of Being Loved or Falling in Love Edit Article Edited by BabyxKitten, Ben Rubenstein, Travis Derouin, Jonathan E. and 17 others Are you afraid to fall in love? Does the thought of being loved by someone scare you? Love scars can lead you to avoid love altogether, for fear of being hurt again. Ad Steps 1Understand that the feeling of love is permissible. 5Don't give up your other passions. Tips Remember that love is a multi-colored, many splendid thing that is hard to confine to one-box-fits-all or to a singular definition. Warnings Be careful that you aren't mistaking "Love" for loneliness. I am a feminist « pissedoffladies I’m a feminist. I’m a feminist because I believe women are equal to men, should be treated equally and should have equal rights. I’m a feminist because I believe women should have the right to make their own life choices, to decide for themselves how they wish to live their lives. I’m a feminist because I believe women should have total control over their own bodies, which includes access to health care, contraceptives and legal, safe abortion. I’m a feminist because I believe women should be able to define their own sexuality, to make their own decisions about with whom, when, where and why they engage in sexual activity, and to make their own decisions regarding consent. I’m a feminist because I believe women should be able to wear what they want and to alter their appearance however they feel comfortable. I’m a feminist because I believe women are human beings, and therefore have human rights, like the rest of the human population. With me so far? Sounds easy, right? But we don’t.
5 Lies Every Twentysomething Needs to Stop Believing Sarah had been told all her life she could do anything she wanted, that success was right around the corner. But now, stuck in a menial job at 25, with no big career in sight, she—like many twentysomethings—was feeling the pangs of disillusionment. This sense of disillusionment often stems from the lies we’ve been told and have told ourselves. We’ve been lied to, and these lies are holding us back. You are not alone in your struggle, questions, wondering what’s next?, now what? Too many twentysomethings are driving through the twists and turns of their twenties with windshields covered in mud, lies and half-truths. We need to hose these lies off right now or spend our twenties stuck on the side of the road. If we’re going to walk forward with the answers to the major questions we should be asking, successfully navigating our twenties, then we need to stop believing the following lies right now: 1. Our twenties are tough. We all need help. No one has it all figured out. 2. 3. 4. 5.
“Decide What You Want or Need to Do, and Then Do It With All Your Power.” Happiness interview with Chris Yeh. I was e-introduced to Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur Chris Yeh by my online-then-real-life friend Jackie Danicki. Chris has been building Internet businesses since 1995 (which, if I recall correctly, was about the time that I actually used the Internet for the first time). He’s the VP Marketing for PBWorks, the world’s leading provider of hosted collaboration solutions, and he played a role in starting many other Internet companies. I was very curious to hear Chris’s perspective on happiness. Gretchen: What’s a simple activity that consistently makes you happier? What’s something you know now about happiness that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old? Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your happiness? Is there a happiness mantra or motto that you’ve found very helpful? If you’re feeling blue, how do you give yourself a happiness boost? Do you work on being happier?
Complain must give suggestion one ah? Siao. – Signs of Struggle I want to put paid to this idiocy of insisting that people give solutions if they want to complain. It is a foolish sort of logic, bred by Orwellian elitists in ivory towers. Two comments in TODAY, one fueled by the illogic of the other, demanded that Singaporeans stop complaining unless they have constructive suggestions to offer. They derided Singaporean’s complaints as the whining of “petulant children”. While Lim Sing Tat’s letter was directed at the Punggol Rooftop Childcare Centre issue, he borrowed heavily from Charles Tan Meah Yang’s piece and offered no new insight except a call for the government to be harsher on those who voiced unhappiness. Tan’s article is better and contains many salient points, his reasoned tone shows that he probably does not mean to inflame. The flawed logic runs deep, concealed by a veneer of faux-constructiveness. Granted, there are many whose complaints are unreasonable. If a taxi driver is going too fast, can we not say, “You’re going too fast”?
Couple in Colorado Decide to Build Their Own Tiny Dream Home Together Over the years, house sizes in the United States have been doubling. However, couples like Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller have been realizing that size isn’t the most important thing about where you live. Instead, they, and others in the “small house movement,” know that efficiency and green living can be more important. Together, they decided to do something mind blowing – even though it is tiny. They built a house together. Christopher and Merete had no building experience, but they knew what their foundation would be… literally. Nonetheless, they decided to build their dream home. And it was going to be tiny. It look a lot of trial and error, but the couple kept an open mind. Their little house could go almost anywhere. But they decided to settle down outside of Boulder, Colorado. When Christopher decided to settle down, he tried to think of what would be inside of his dream home. It turns out, all that he required were necessities. They are part of a “tiny house movement.”
Flame An Open Letter to the Artist Behind the "Lady Avengers" Starring Alison Brie and Amber Heard By Rob Payne | Think Pieces | January 17, 2013 | Comments (169 View Dear JoshWMC, May I call you Josh? First of all, I'd be remiss not to begin by praising your obvious artistic talent and technical skill set. The problem is that no matter how good your 'shops of Alison Brie, Amber Heard, Sandra Bullock, and now Rachel Weisz are from a technical standpoint, the message some of them are sending out to the Internet and the world is, well, offensive. To be fair, Josh, your versions of Iron Maiden and Lady Hulk are far less troubling, so take heart in that. The problems really start with the most popular of your gender revisions: Alison Brie as Captain America, or as you named her, Miss America. Your reinterpretation of Thor is equally as frustrating. I'm really not trying to pick on you, Josh. Times and culture have changed, and they will continue to do so as history bends toward progress. Of course, your work isn't that over the top, Josh, and that shouldn't be ignored.
Freedom and Discernment Freedom and discernment go hand in hand. The freer we become, the more we are able to go about life in a wise and discerning way. And the more we use wisdom and discernment, the freer we become to make choices and then get on with life. It’s difficult to say which comes first—discernment or freedom. One leads to the other. When making a decision, we are nearly always biased in some way. When we practice this sort of detachment, our decision-making process can become more well-rounded and holistic. And we allow the wisdom, intuition, and love of other people to influence our discernment. We have to admit that sometimes we are not fit to make a decision. There’s much more to say about this. To continue exploring this month’s topic of interior freedom, read What’s Your Decision? Tagged as: decisions, detachment, freedom