The Urban Fly

Dept. of Obituary: Kieth Elam, aka. Guru

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:16:38 -0500

Photo courtesy: Stromi100-2007

Focus on Justice

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:01:22 -0500

Photo courtesy: sorb
First Guantanamo trial under Obama begins

By Tim Fitzsimons
Special to GlobalPost/TheUrbanFly
Published: August 12, 2010 06:44 ET in The Americas

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Thirteen hundred miles from Washington, on a sun-drenched corner of this iguana-dotted island, the U.S. military is gearing up for the trial of the youngest and last Western detainee at Guantanamo Bay.

Focus on Employment

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:13:21 -0500

Photo courtesy: PIX News/Jaynorris117
Steven Slater's Slide

J. Letness
TheUrbanFly
August 11, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS: It was a Monday moment. JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job in spectacular fashion today. The scene was New York's JFK airport. As a flight from Pittsburgh was taxiing up the tarmac at the end of the flight, a passenger impatiently attempted to remove her bag from the overhead compartment before the "All Clear" was announced. When Slater attempted to stop her, he was hit on the head with the bag. when he asked for an apology, she cursed him. It was reported that the two had had a disagreement in Pittsburgh before the flight began. Obviously furious, Slater got on the intercom, told off the passenger with some obscenities, then announced he was quitting, grabbed his carry-on and a few beers and exited the plane via the emergency slide.

Focus on Democracy

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:58:33 -0500

Photo: Public Domain
The Mosque at Ground Zero

Voices of the people, Mayor Bloomberg's speech on August 3:
Editor's Note: The following speech was given August 3 by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, on New York's Governor's Island, in an effort to show support for the proposed Islamic mosque and community center near the World Trade Center site. Incidentally the Statue of Liberty served as background as he was joined by 10 religious leaders of various faiths as well as the New York City Coucil Speaker Christine Quinn. The New York Daily News called it "one of his most heartfelt speeches ever."

“We've come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that more than 250 years later would greet millions of immigrants in this harbor. And we come here
to state as strongly as ever, this is the freest city in the world. That's what makes New York special and different and strong.

Focus on Justice

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:22:59 -0500

Photo courtesy:AlJazeeraEnglish
The Racism That Sec. Vilsack Freaked-Out About.

By Mel Reeves
TheUrbanFly
August, 5, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS: In the wake of the Shirley Sherrod controversy and the recent effort by Rahm
Emmanuel to secure 1.2 billion for Arkansas farmers for damages suffered in 2008
the Congressional Black Caucus, established black media and the black
blogosphere are demanding that president Obama find a way to find a way to pay
the black farmers.

Focus on Immigration

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:01:40 -0500

Photo courtesy: TheYoungTurks
Mexico celebrates ruling on Arizona law.

By Ioan Grillo
GlobalPost/TheUrbanFly
Published: July 29, 2010 07:19 ET in The Americas

MEXICO CITY — In the heart of the Mexican capital a crowd of 100 activists stood silently outside the imperious American Embassy on Wednesday waiting for a judicial decision 1,800 miles away in Phoenix, Arizona.

Focus on Afghanistan

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:43:29 -0500

Hamid Gul, retired Pakistan Army and former chief of Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. Photo courtesy: AlJazeeraEnglish
WikiLeaks: the Taliban, the ISI and U.S. strategy in Afghanistan

By Michael Moran
GlobalPost Columnist/TheUrbanFly
Published: July 27, 2010 06:46 ET in Worldview

NEW YORK — Back in November 2001, just a week after Kabul fell to the U.S.-led invasion forces in Afghanistan and just as the city of Kunduz began to capitulate, the air filled with the steady drone of C-130 transport aircraft landing at the dusty airstrip.

Focus on Afghanistan

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:09:39 -0500

Photo courtesy: Russia Today
Shockwaves from Wikileaks bombshell hit Kabul

By Jean MacKenzie
GlobalPost/TheUrbanFly
Published: July 26, 2010 14:20 ET in Asia

The Wikileaks documents have hit Kabul like a small-scale nuclear explosion: from media analysts to shopkeepers, everyone is talking about the more than 90,000 classified reports on the Afghan war that have now been made public by the whistle blower website Wikileaks.org.

Focus on the media

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:34:06 -0500

Photos courtesy: DCTV/Thinkstock. Photocomposition by Graphics440
Shirley Sherrod and the rush to judge.

By J. Letness
TheUrbanFly
July 22, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS – Welcome to the push-button simplicities of the on-demand and all-be-damned world of click-through politics. That our species is always behind the curve on the effect of its tools was again demonstrated this week with the supposed outing of Georgia state director of rural development, Shirley Sherrod as a racist.

Focus on Justice

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:28:47 -0500

Photos courtesy: Derek Thomas/WGNO. Clarence Thomas/arightside
Clarence Thomas outraged by mistreatment of nephew but condones the same
for others.

by Jean Casella and James Rideway
Solitary Watch

Editors note: While last week one of the most distinguished jurist to ever wear a Supreme Court robe was disparaged by right wing legislators in an attempt to smear Justice nominee Eleanor Kagan, the only other black Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas was reportedly outraged at the treatment of his nephew. Oddly unlike Marshall who defended the poor and even the imprisoned,Thomas has consistently failed to acknowledge that prisoners have any rights under the law.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was reportedly “completely shocked and outraged” when he learned that his nephew, who suffers from epilepsy and was reportedly suicidal, was beaten and tased with a stun gun at a Louisiana hospital–apparently, for nothing more than some unruly behavior. “Outraged” we can understand: What happened to 24-year-old Derek Thomas does qualify as outrageous. According to an account onRaw Story: Derek Thomas was admitted to West Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Thursday, after a possible suicide attempt, reports ABC affiliate WGNO story When the Supreme Court justice’s nephew refused to put on a hospital gown and said he wanted to leave the hospital, doctors ordered security to restrain him. Security guards “punched him in his lip, pulled out more than a fistful of his dreadlocks and tasered him to restrain him,” a statement from Thomas’ family said. Shortly afterwards, family members say, Thomas suffered a “massive epileptic seizure.”