The Tools Of Nonviolent Struggle Should Never Lose Their Edge

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 6, 2019

The tools of nonviolent action and the skills of struggle are as vital to these times as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Training to use them is as essential as learning how to use a computer. The ability to boycott and strike is as important as the ability to drive a car. Every citizen who knows how to use email should also know how to protest, walk-out, shut-down, occupy, blockade, and more. This is the only way the power of the people can hold the power of oligarchs in check.

To Love This Broken-Hearted Country

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 9, 2018

I want to love this broken-hearted country, this land of shattered dreams and dashed hopes. I want to place my ear to the drumming cadence of our cities and hear the insistent pulse of life. I want to wander the forgotten highways of stories that run like wrinkles through our body politic.

Our Way Of Life Must Die — Another World Is Possible

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 25, 2018

Greed is an addiction. Like lab rats choosing pain to get doses of opium, the greed that underlies our way of life is killing us – and make no mistake: our way of life must die. Pathological consumption is no more acceptable in human beings than in locusts. It will die or we will die. The question is only: will we go down with the sinking ship of our culture or will we evolve again, past the folly of homo sapiens’ dubious wisdom into a species willing to live in balance with our one and only planet?

The Time Is Up–The Time Is Now

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 18, 2018

The time is up. The time is now. Gather the people to do the work: the healing, transformative, deepening work of building community, solutions, understanding, skills, knowledge, and hope. You must be the one to make a change, to step out of the rutted tracks of the looming train wreck that is our culture. You must have the courage to walk into the wilderness of what you don’t know and embrace the solutions that will save our lives.

A Revolution of Democracy

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 8, 2018

What do we do when we finally understand that the elections really are stolen? Or rigged? Or thrust out of our reach by the manipulations of rich and powerful people? Corrupted by corporations? How long does it take before we call the bluff? Another disappointing election cycle? Two? Three? How much more gerrymandering, corporate buying of elections, voter disenfranchisement, and outright fraud can we stand? When will we take seriously the necessity of change?

Elections and Politics are the Games of Elites

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 2, 2018

The Vote – the beloved, abused, scorned, corrupted, stolen, hijacked, pointless, profound, hopeful, depressing, hard-won, cherished vote – is not the only way to take action for meaningful change. Currently, the elections operate in our nation like a cattle chute, all too often forcing us back into the deadly, no-win tracks of the two-party duopoly that serves only the moneyed class. It becomes a handy device for siphoning off the demand for revolutionary change by giving false hope that elected officials will actually enact their campaign promises once in office.

Caleb Maupin: Socialism Will Save America!

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

with Caleb Maupin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Caleb Maupin (website)
Caleb Maupin (Facebook Page)
October 12, 2018

“This notion that the Pentagon is a humanitarian rescue organization that goes around the world saving people is a fiction. And how many more times are we going to fall for this?”

We Must Keep Despair At Bay In The Siege Waged By The Forces Of Destruction And Greed!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 16, 2017
September 17, 2018

Despair rides in front of our opposition, an invisible wind that blows like plague through our hearts. Here, our stand begins. Moment-by-moment, day-by-day, we must keep despair at bay in the siege waged by the forces of destruction and greed.

“Be Realistic–Demand the Impossible!”

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Dec. 22, 2013
September 1, 2018

Wishful thinking and random action will not topple the corrupt and powerful collusion of extreme capitalism, the wealthy elite, and military force. For all the courage shown thus far by people across the country in demonstrating, petitioning, even throwing their bodies in the line of danger, I call upon an even greater courage now …

Love at First Sight—Old Man Adopts Dog by Shepherd Bliss

Shepherd Bliss and Daisie
Copyright by Taylor Lampson, used with permission

by Shepherd Bliss
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Sebastopol, California
August 25, 2018

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” — French Nobel Prize winner Anatole France

Searching for a dog, I recently visited three animal shelters. At the final one, I saw a dog that I instantly connected to.

MFTN: Corporate Demons Possess Our Nation’s Soul

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Dec. 4, 2016
August 7, 2018

Corporate demons possess our nation’s soul. They crept in stealthily, full of trickery and deception, but now they’re lodged in place, as surely as if they had stormed our homes and halls of power with guns and tanks. Perhaps we’d recognize their coup if they had assassinated a flesh-and-blood president instead of merely stealing the souls of all our elected leaders.

Drawing Links Between US Militarism Abroad and Gun Violence at Home + Militarizing US Schools and Society Only Creates More Gun Violence and Police Brutality

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Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Jun 18, 2018

Boston teacher Nino Brown, of the ANSWER Coalition, speaks with TRNN’s Ben Norton about the links between US militarism, gun violence, and police brutality. He connects the epidemic of school shootings domestically to the endless wars internationally.

The First Thing They Steal Is Courage

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 9, 2016
June 15, 2018

When the forces of destruction, hate, bigotry, greed, and violence rise into power, there are three things they steal before they plunder the treasury. Stopping them is where the struggle for life begins.

Now Is The Time For Revolutionary Change–Reject Greed-Based Destruction

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 2, 2018

The clock is ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick. Can you hear it? We have only ….

The Visual Bible – Acts

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Dandelion Salad

Wikipedia

“The Visual Bible: Acts” is a 1994 Christian film that depicts the events of the Acts of the Apostles from the New Testament. All of the dialogue is word-for-word scripture, taken directly from the New International Version of the Bible.