Thursday, May 31, 2007
News Atlanta ranks lowest for granting asylum
Posted by Alyssa Abkowitz on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 10:10 PM
A study of 140,000 asylum cases in the United States has found that refugees who seek asylum in Atlanta have the lowest chance of winning their cases.
According to the study, reported in the New York Times, refugees are granted asylum only 12 percent of the time. The national average is 40 percent.
Here's an example of the broad range of chances a refugee might have:
"The study found that someone who has fled China in fear of persecution and asks for asylum in immigration court in Orlando, Fla., has an excellent — 76 percent — chance of success, while the same refugee would have a 7 percent chance in Atlanta."
Part of what makes Atlanta tough, according to former CL Senior Writer Steve Fennessy's 2004 article, is this:
"The nation's 220 immigration judges deny roughly two asylum cases for every one they grant; [Atlanta immigration judge William] Cassidy, on the other hand, rejects more than 10 asylum applications for every approval. His two colleagues in Atlanta, Paul Johnston and Mackenzie Rast, are barely any kinder. Their approval rates are a few tenths of a percentage point higher than Cassidy's."
No wonder those numbers are startling!
News / Sports A mascot case
Posted by Russell McLendon on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 8:42 PM
Atlanta looking for WNBA teamBy Charles Odum
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA - Atlanta City Council president Lisa Borders says 1,100 ticket pledges demonstrate ''significant and fervent interest'' from local fans in bringing a WNBA team to the city for the 2008 season.''That's a significant number of people saying 'We want to do this,''' Borders said of those who have pledged to purchase tickets. ''There is no team yet in Atlanta, so to have that type of interest on a concept of having a team brought to the city I think is unmatched.''
Read the rest here.
That's great news (and, I'm sure, totally unrelated to Borders' mayoral aspirations). Usually there are a few more steps between significant and fervent interest, but we made the leap in no time. So as we speed toward feral interest, it's probably a good time to start thinking about a mascot.
I love how startup-league teams tend to distinguish themselves by using nebulous, often-singular mascots rather than the traditional multiple-animal or minority-human-group style. Within the last five years, we've been graced with Arena Football's Georgia Force and the ABA's Atlanta Vision, but Atlanta's more well-known plural mascots still make us look dated compared with the forward-thinking Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty or Chicago Sky. It's not about the individual Thrashers, Braves or Hawks; it's about the collective Thrasher, Brave and Hawk. And even then they're too concrete. I'm thinking more like the Atlanta Thrashing, the Atlanta Bravery or the Atlanta Concept of Flight. But since the Atlanta pro-sports fat cats likely wouldn't warm up to such progressive mascots for existing teams, we have to hope for the WNBA, a league that welcomes conceptual mascotry. Any suggestions?
News Department of Irony
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 8:32 PM
Exasperated italics mine.
CBS News has learned the man with the extreme form of tuberculosis is Andrew Harley Speaker, a 31-year-old lawyer from Atlanta. A medical official in Atlanta also confirmed the name on condition of anonymity.
News Perdue vetoes bill to increase license penalties
Posted by Alyssa Abkowitz on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 4:41 PM
On Wednesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed 41 bills, including one that would've increased the penalties for driving without a valid license.
The bill would've made the offense a misdemeanor with a punishment of at least two days in jail and a fine ranging from $500 to $1,000. If a person was caught three times for driving without a license, the individual would be charged with a felony on the fourth conviction.
Advocates of the legislation hoped the bill would help nab illegal immigrants, while opponents said the law could have devastating effects on individuals who may be here lawfully. The arrest of a Canadian tourist who was detained for a minor traffic violation -- partly because she only had a valid Canadian passport -- proved to be enough to have Perdue steer clear of any confusion the law may cause.
When he vetoed the bill, he said: "This broad provision would catch not only those who willfully drive without any valid license, but also persons who move into the state with a valid out-of-state driver’s license that have not obtained a Georgia driver’s license within 30 days of establishing residency. ... I fear an unintended consequence of this legislation, as drafted, would subject persons with valid out-of-state driver’s licenses to stout criminal penalties even absent the commission of a willful act."
It's a small victory for the immigrant community, but as Larry Pellegrini, executive director of the Georgia Rural Urban Summit, noted in an e-mail, "Celebrate greatly but be on guard ... because the anti's won't give up and we'll have to fight this again."
Randomly Noted SHOCK: 20 percent of CL profilees flee!
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 2:53 PM
A recent study indicates that 20 percent of CL-profiled bloggers flee Atlanta within a week of being profiled.
If we knew that before, we would have profiled five of our least favorite bloggers.
Randomly Noted YouTube clip of the day
Posted by Scott Freeman on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 2:06 PM
This is a classic from Fox 5's "Good Day Atlanta" show. The lesson here: Keep balance in your life.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/WhloAzcGMzk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
The Blotter The Blotter: Sandwiches and brimstone
Posted by Lauren Keating on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 1:03 PM
At a convenience store on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the manager said a woman asked for a sandwich. The manager told her she'd have to pay for that sandwich. He said the woman threatened to blow up the store ... then she walked outside and tried to light each gas pump with a cigarette lighter. A police officer arrived and noticed the woman putting the lighter inside gas pumps and trying to ignite them. She said she was going to blow the motherfucker up. The woman, age 40, went to jail on numerous charges.
Read more Blotter.
Items in the Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports. The Blotter Diva compiles them and puts them into her own words.
Randomly Noted Karma Cleanser: Yankee Diddle
Posted by Tray Butler on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 6:15 AM
Dear Karma Cleanser:
I have been in a long-distance relationship with a man from Britain. We met while I was in his country for a study-abroad program. I fell for the accent, his sophistication and the way he treated me with such respect. Nice change from the men in the backwoods college town where I live. He wants me to consider moving overseas when I finish my degree at the end of this year. I am weighing my options.
So what's the problem? I am upset by the way he talks about America. He is very down on the war in Iraq and our administration. I share many of his views, and yet I also get offended when he launches into a tirade against our country. It's hard not to take personally.
Should I stand up for myself and risk losing the relationship? What if he is "the one"?
— Yankee Diddle
Call it a coincidence, but we read your note mere minutes into previewing the new Rufus Wainwright album, with its refrain, "I'm so tired of you, America." Seems the whole planet is sick of the States these days, so let's not hold that against your British beau. Rather, ask yourself why his views irk you so. You didn't start the war in Iraq, did you? If he is "the one" (a construct we don't really buy into, by the way), it should take more than a little verbal rabble-rousing to rattle your cage.
Have you been bad? Leave a comment for the Karma Cleanser to clear your soul. And read more of Tray Butler’s Karma Cleanser.
Not-lanta News of the Weird: Update
Posted by Chuck Shepherd on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 2:11 AM
Last year, a BBC News correspondent in Sudan reported that village elders in the Upper Nile state had punished Charles Tombe, who had been caught being amorous with a goat, by requiring him to pay a dowry to the goat’s owner, to endure a “wedding†to the goat, and to treat the goat as his “wife†to embarrass him. The dispatch ran worldwide and was the most popular story on the BBC News’ website for 2006. BBC News reported in May 2007 that the goat, “Rose,†which had given birth to one kid in the interim (clearly, not fathered by Tombe), had recently passed away after choking on a plastic bag.
© 2007 Chuck Shepherd
Read more News of the Weird.
The Blotter The Blotter: Home surgery?
Posted by Lauren Keating on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 1:06 AM
A 35-year-old man said his wife left her job at Grady Memorial Hospital and returned home to pull a butcher knife on him. He said his wife walked into their home yelling and screaming, "I'm tired of you accusing me of being with mens at Grady," adding that she was going to kill him for being with other women while she was at work. The husband said he went to the kitchen to get a weapon to protect himself ... but all the knives were gone. He then ran out the back door and jumped the fence. He called 911 from a friend's house. The wife was gone when police arrived.
Read more Blotter.
Items in the Blotter are taken from actual Atlanta police reports. The Blotter Diva compiles them and puts them into her own words.
