As We Dethrone The Corporate State And Rule Of The Rich, We Must Also Rebuild

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

The United States is a laboratory for democracy – a centuries-long experiment in what does and does not work for people making decisions together. Moments of abject failure and soaring success punctuate long periods of disruption, shut-downs, and the regular ransacking of our laboratory. Our experimental efforts have often been thwarted by undemocratic interests. The equipment has been smashed or corrupted. The results ripped to shreds. The data distorted. The facilities destroyed. The funding cut off. Every aspect of our experiment in democracy has been tampered with by those who fear the will of the people.

Revolt Against The Shallow Deadliness Of Our Corn Syrup Nation

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 13, 2018

Reject the glossy and sensational for the gritty and educational. Wean your mind from corn syrup and eat your vegetables. We have become a diabetic, cancerous, obese, depressed, anxiety attack ridden culture from the consumption of glitter-sugary corn syrup politics, sound-bite news, vacuous entertainment, and catch-phrase economics. We are commercialized right down to our souls from our mega-churches to our worship of wealth to our brand cults. It is killing us and our world.

There Is No Democracy In The US Empire!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 3, 2018

The empire has no clothes. Be the boy who dares to speak the truth: there is no democracy. All around you, the courtiers are clapping and cheering, but their trembling hands are showing. They are terrified to admit the truth. There is no democracy in the US empire; rich people and corporations run the show. Study after study has shown this. The courtiers of power have been applauding the empire for so long, they’re afraid to speak the truth. But you cannot afford to let yourself be fooled. The empire has no clothes. There is no democracy in the Unites States.

We Are Standing On The Sinking Titanic

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 13, 2017

Blockade the gangplanks of the Titanic! Shut down the boilers of the ship! Storm the stairs from steerage and seize the wheel!

We have passed the point where token victories, small handouts, and crumbs from banquet tables will help us. We have struck too many icebergs and the hull of our society has been breached. Band-Aids on shredded steel will not hold back the floodwaters of injustice.

The Corporate State Will Kill Us–Rise Up!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 29, 2017

Stay asleep, by all means. If you wish to die, sleepwalking over the cliff edge of extinction is one way to go.

Stay afraid, by all means. If you wish to die, cowering in fear until poverty starves or the police state kills you is one way to go.

Shopping as an Act of Resistance

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published December 1, 2013
November 25, 2017

The holidays are at hand. Boycott Season is in effect. As the snow starts to fall, the commercial war of the season asserts its dominance. Our identities as citizens are quickly buried in a blizzard of advertising that defines us as consumers.

Tis the Season To Wage Boycotts!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published November 24, 2013
November 24, 2017

Boycott Season is now upon us. Let every citizen take careful aim. Your target is the corporate empire. Your weapon is your wallet.

Censorship: The Death Knell of Democracy

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 21, 2017

Censorship is the foe of freedom. It comes in many forms. The choking grip of control silences dissent. The bullhorns of propaganda blare out lies and fictions of consent. The maddened clench of greed stifles outlets for a diversity of expression, creativity, opportunity, and invention. The lurking spies of mass surveillance send chills down once-fearless spines. The data collectors of corporations mine our lives for ways to shrink-wrap our worldviews into commoditized sales pitches.

Fling Back Despair!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 16, 2017

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.

What Would Happen If We All Refused To Go Quietly To The Slaughterhouse? + The Roots of Resistance

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published December 14, 2016
November 14, 2017

We are serving ourselves up on silver platters to the oligarchs and giant corporations. We have apples of misinformation in our mouths and sprigs of patriotic parsley tucked behind our ears. Must we complacently acquiesce to being pot-roasted pigs? Rise up!

Dogman by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
October 17, 2017

At first, people of the town didn’t notice that every day there were fewer stray dogs creeping sociably under their feet while they took the sun on the benches at el Jardín. The growing absence of the rangy brown dogs – short- haired mongrels, their ribs leaping from their undersides, habitually scratching for nourishment at the food stalls around the square or wandering single file up and down the steep back streets – didn’t register on anyone.

Lily Pad Roll: The Last Chapter–Persian Paradigm by Gaither Stewart

by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
June 25, 2017

Lily Pads is a name given to a new and more flexible type of US military base abroad, among the some 1000 US foreign military bases, covering the Earth, but for the most part surrounding Russia and China. Many are near Iran. I gave this title to Lily Pad Roll, the second volume of the Europe Trilogy (The Trojan Spy, Lily Pad Roll, Time of Exile), political novels published by Punto Press, New York. This novel was published in 2012 and is available on Amazon both in print format and Kindle book. The story develops around a young American soldier and communications genius, Elmer Redway, a forerunner of Manning, stationed at an American military base in Bulgaria who finds such astounding secrets of US military crimes that he divulges them to WikiLeaks and elsewhere. When he is discovered he deserts and begins an underground existence in Europe. He is aided by Karl Heinz, a wealthy German journalist (the book’s second major character). The two are together in Berlin when the invasion of Iran gets underway. Though my invasion of Iran is invented, it is quite plausible and could happen this way. Were I to give a title to this chapter, I would most likely call it, Persian Paradigm.

Fragments, Chapter 17: Between Scilla and Cariddi by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
June 14, 2017

Here is a chapter from my novel in the works, Fragments. This long chapter is set in south Italy, shows preparations for an invented color revolution, Gladio, etc.

Where Is Your Loyalty?

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
May 1, 2017

For all the avowed patriots who demand my Pledge of Allegiance and salutes on Loyalty Day, Fourth of July, and other patriotic, militarized holidays, I fling this question to your hearts: how deep and far does your loyalty to your country run?

Poverty Will Kill More Of Us Than Terrorism

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 13, 2017

Curse the war culture! It leaves us at a loss for words, bereft of metaphors to describe our situation. Our minds become blank slates, unable to recognize dangers at the door unless they carry assault weapons or drop bombs on our heads.