“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 …

Liberty and Strategy for All

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 3, 2013
August 19, 2018

You must believe that pockets of resistance exist. As America plunges into darkness, some people burn with resistance like fires in the night, aglow with respect for the civil liberties that define the modern ideal of freedom. The quiet murmur of their impassioned voices will call to you as they discuss nonviolent strategy and struggle, but you will not be asked to join them until you strike the matchstick of your heart, build a fire of your determination, ignite the blaze of your courage, and reach out to others.

None of Us are Free if One of Us is Chained by Paul Street

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by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
July 2, 2018

The road to total tyranny is littered with tests — moments when those atop reigning oppression structures learn how far they can push the boundaries of decency without sparking potent people’s resistance. One such moment was when the demented jackass and imperialist butcher George W. Bush marched down a red carpet to screw up his evil, moronic face to announce the U.S. invasion of Iraq on openly false pretexts including the shamelessly idiotic claim that Saddam Hussein’s government had been involved in the September 11, 2001 jetliner attacks and the equally bogus charge that Iraq possessed a threatening stockpile of “weapons of mass destruction.” The president and his team of Orwellian Neocon war pigs faced two days of mass protest across the country and around the world. Still, they were not deterred from launching a brazenly criminal invasion and occupation that would kill more than a million Iraqis, displace millions more, and devastate Iraq almost beyond recognition.

Red Alert: Don’t Let The Internet Turn Into Cable TV (Updated)

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Take action and watch the video below

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Updated: May 16, 2018 Please take action; write and call your Congress person now!

TheRealNews on May 8, 2018

Several dozen websites and organizations are launching a campaign in support of net neutrality ahead of an upcoming US Senate vote on whether to rescind the FCC’s decision to get rid of net neutrality. Craig Aaron on Free Press discusses the plan and the prospects.

The Haymarket Riot: “It is a Subterranean Fire” by Elizabeth Schulte

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Dandelion Salad
Originally published on April 30, 2011

by Elizabeth Schulte
SocialistWorker.org, April 29, 2011
April 30, 2018

ON MAY 1, 1886–125 years ago this month–hundreds of thousands of workers were taking the streets of cities around the U.S. to demand an eight-hour day.

Michael Parenti: Free Speech In The Face Of Oppression + Free Speech – At A Price by Michael Parenti

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by Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Sept. 4, 2011
April 26, 2018

48South7th on Aug 31, 2011

Author Michael Parenti challenges his audience to learn about and advocate free speech in the face of oppression. From the origins of the Bill of Rights up to today’s challenges by the FBI and other government entities, Parenti says, it is essential to stand up for one’s rights. He spoke at an event sponsored by the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression.

Shifting Systems With Nonviolent Strategy + Think Outside the Protest Box by Rivera Sun

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by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 28, 2018

The secret to successful nonviolent struggle lies in understanding strategy and systems. All systems require participation and resources to survive. Deny those things, and the system will wither away … or concede to meet your demands.

Bring H.R. 676 into Reality Land by Ralph Nader

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Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page, Mar. 22, 2018
March 25, 2018

Polls show that over 125 million adults in our country already favor full Medicare for all, with free choice of doctor and hospital without stifling networks. I say ‘already’ because, as of yet, there is no major national campaign underway showing that an ‘everybody in, nobody out’ system of health insurance costs less, with better outcomes, is simpler, without maddeningly inscrutable or fraudulent bills, co-pays, deductibles and additional trap doors set by a bunch of greedy corporations. The campaigns that exist today are receiving too little on-the-ground assistance for such a widely-supported issue.

The Problem is Civil Obedience by Howard Zinn + Matt Damon Reads from Howard Zinn’s Speech

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by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Previously published on November 25, 2013
March 22, 2018

[By the latter part of May, 1970, feelings about the war in Vietnam had become almost unbearably intense. In Boston, about a hundred of us decided to sit down at the Boston Army Base and block the road used by buses carrying draftees off to military duty. We were not so daft that we thought we were stopping the flow of soldiers to Vietnam; it was a symbolic act, a statement, a piece of guerrilla the after. We were all arrested and charged, in the quaint language of an old statute, with “sauntering and loitering” in such a way as to obstruct traffic.

The Roots of Resistance: An Intense Journey Into The Vibrant Complexity Of Nonviolent Change by Tom Atlee

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Sent to Dandelion Salad by Rivera Sun

by Tom Atlee
March 17, 2018

Rivera Sun always gifts us with usefully creative fiction in the face of daunting challenges to future generations, to current society, to marginalized communities, and to all of us as citizens of our planet. Her Roots of Resistance – the second novel of her Dandelion Trilogy – offers an inspiring story to help guide love-based strategic change efforts during what promises to be a very messy transition to a better world. The novel imagines deeply human responses to our civilizational predicament and to the challenges we (especially as change agents) will face as we try to put such responses into practice.

A Revolution By Any Other Name

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

There are some who mince their steps and words, who hush the bold and outspoken, who advise moderation. But, a revolution by any other name does not smell as sweet. Reform does not cut it. Resistance is not enough. Massive change is vague. Transformation calls to mind change, yet does not invoke the burning urgency, the gritty intensity of the tsunami of change we need. Evolution implies an unrealistic image of our corporate political pawns awakening, growing, evolving.

Zac Corrigan: Socialists Support the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike

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Watch the videos below

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WSWS reporter Zac Corrigan addresses rally of West Virginia students

A Trumparade Would Stir Up War Fever by David Swanson + What Banner Would You Carry In The Counter Parade? by Rivera Sun

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[DS recommends listening to David’s rant on Soundcloud.]

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
February 8, 2018

People have a wide range of reasons for opposing a military Trumparade through Washington. Here are nearly 20,000 people who say:

“We demand that the United States hold no militarism-glorifying parade displaying weaponry of war. Should such a thing be staged, we will visibly support peace on that day.”

One Of The Key Reasons To End War Is That War Impoverishes Us by David Swanson + Rev. Dr. William Barber on Militarism

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
World Beyond War, Jan. 17, 2018
January 23, 2018

The new poor people’s campaign should get every ounce of support we can find and generate. I say that without the qualifications and caveats I would usually include, because the Poor People’s Campaign is doing something that may not be strictly unprecedented in U.S. history but is certainly extremely rare in recent decades. It’s pursuing a worthy noble goal, that of ending poverty, while making ending war a central part of its vision, and doing so voluntarily.

Rivera Sun’s The Roots of Resistance, reviewed by Guadamour

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by Guadamour
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 20, 2018

The Roots Of Resistance (Rising Sun Press 2017) is the second book in the Dandelion Insurrection trilogy by Rivera Sun. The first book deals with how a non-violent revolution in the United States is able to topple an extremely corrupt corporate controlled federal government, and this book details problems entailed in implementing its policies which are aimed at benefiting the general public.