Independent since 2002 Issue No. 1102 Week of November 7, 2026 Get the free email dispatch →

Category: Nafsi ya Jamii

Commentary

The Adult in the Room

By Wilson Riles Columnist

Our deliberative intelligence can be integrated with our soaring emotions.That term, “the adult in the room,” has a complex, sometimes biased meaning. I do not intend to imply that there is not an obvious difference between adults and children. However, I want to raise up to your consideration the false, unvoiced assumption buried in that…

Our deliberative intelligence can be integrated with our soaring emotions.That term, “the adult in the room,” has a complex, sometimes biased meaning. I do not intend…

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Commentary

Elections and the Quakers Who Repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery

By Wilson Riles Columnist

When fundamental human differences are not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties they will go on and on and on and on... This immoral doctrine remains at the root of most of our present day difficulties in the US!Conquering one side in a war or in a competitive contest would never provide more than…

When fundamental human differences are not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties they will go on and on and on and on... This immoral doctrine…

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Commentary

Obama’s Rope-a-Dope

By Wilson Riles Columnist

Mitt Romney’s game is imperial power politics.Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. (Muhammad Ali, born January 17, 1942) invented ROPE-A-DOPE and astounded the known world. The quickness of his fists and feet were his physical weapons, although his vanity about his looks might have been a disadvantage at times where risking getting hit in the face might…

Mitt Romney’s game is imperial power politics.Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. (Muhammad Ali, born January 17, 1942) invented ROPE-A-DOPE and astounded the known world. The quickness of…

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Cover Story

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

By Wilson Riles Columnist

Barack Obama would have done well to have more fully internalized this famous phrase from William Faulkner’s 1950 book Requiem for a Nun. Obama used this phrase in his speech on racism, A More Perfect Union, that some say won him the presidency in 2008. How he failed to incorporate and internalize this analysis is…

Barack Obama would have done well to have more fully internalized this famous phrase from William Faulkner’s 1950 book Requiem for a Nun. Obama used this…

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Commentary

Romney: Another Person Adrift in Their Culture

By Wilson Riles Columnist

It is not possible to separate any sane human from his/her culture. Let’s start there. Some modern apostles actually taught that it is not always the best thing to tell the truth if it interferes with preaching gospel. Human cultures, to varying degrees, have similar dynamics and structures. Language structural and sound similarities are just…

It is not possible to separate any sane human from his/her culture. Let’s start there. Some modern apostles actually taught that it is not always the…

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Commentary

Transcending the Battle in Seattle

By Wilson Riles Columnist

In late November of 1999, the streets of Seattle, Washington, erupted in a human convulsion of more than 40,000 people. This demonstration, largely made violent by local police action, resulted from many years of worldwide organizing against corporations and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The events of those days still influence around the world organizing…

In late November of 1999, the streets of Seattle, Washington, erupted in a human convulsion of more than 40,000 people. This demonstration, largely made violent by…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

PROFILE: White, Male Geek

By Wilson Riles Columnist

If profiling, in the security and criminal justice sense, is an effective method to identify those who are likely to cause injury and death, where is the profile of the white, male geek? Some justify the profiling of folks with Arab dress getting on airplanes. And brown folks (Hispanics) are profiled on the highways of…

If profiling, in the security and criminal justice sense, is an effective method to identify those who are likely to cause injury and death, where is…

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Commentary

The Green Party and labels

By Wilson Riles Columnist

I would advise the Green Party to organize in those areas of the country where the ground of the people is most fertile and build from there. Labels are usually paper tags that you can put on or take off whenever it is useful. If they come in the form of a ‘tattoo’ – where…

I would advise the Green Party to organize in those areas of the country where the ground of the people is most fertile and build from…

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Commentary

Stand and Fight

By Wilson Riles Columnist

. Biondi writes about the African Americans “who mobilized to make the war against fascism a launching pad for a postwar struggle against white supremacy at home.” These New Yorkers did not seek integration in the abstract. They “demanded first-class citizenship – jobs for all, affordable housing, protection from police violence, access to higher education,…

. Biondi writes about the African Americans “who mobilized to make the war against fascism a launching pad for a postwar struggle against white supremacy at…

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Commentary

Capitalism, Red in Tooth and Claw

By Wilson Riles Columnist

We keep the predators around or even honor them because we consciously and unconsciously believe that our survival as a people is dependent on their predatory natureOne of the subjects you will not hear on the Presidential campaign trail is a discussion about the underlying value structure and immorality of capitalism – even that disastrous,…

We keep the predators around or even honor them because we consciously and unconsciously believe that our survival as a people is dependent on their predatory…

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