MIA

A African-American teenage girl from Dallas who had been reported missing for over a year has finally been found. In Colombia. Where she was deported.

To be clear, this girl is an American citizen and speaks no Spanish. But ICE screwed up and sent her packing anyway, and she's been working in Colombia ever since. Now that her identity has finally been cleared up, negotiations are underway to bring her back to the states, but the Colombian government is currently detaining her for reasons unknown.

Quick Eats Roundup

The law school threw a dinner party downtown for us 2Ls, to celebrate us reaching the midway (if you know Hyde Park, you'll laugh at the pun) of our law school career. The dinner felt rushed though: arrive, 10 minutes later seated and eating, courses come out rapid fire, speech by Professor Masur, buses arrive, we go home. It was impressive.

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The bullet-proof tailor of Bogota. This is really, really cool. Involves a reporter getting shot in the gut.

Egyptian journalist union punishes two members for contacts with Israel. One of the writers is "editor in chief of the state-run weekly Democratiya, or Democracy", the title of which I find unbelievably ironic.

Anti-Semitic acts soared in France last year.

Radical rabbi blames gays for natural disasters, warns against eliminating DADT. For the record, Israel has let gays and lesbians serve openly for over 25 years (and it's still kicking!).

Appeals court reverses trial court decision which had thrown out genocide charges against Sudanese President Bashir; Kevin Jon Heller defends the reversal against critics.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) wants it all ways: the joy of controlling the legislative agenda, and the joy of attacking mythical "liberal extremists" for controlling the legislative agenda.

Justice Department issues a recruitment call for mentally retarded lawyers. Sarah Palin is presumably thrilled.

Peace Through Strength!

Hugo Chavez raises tensions with neighboring Colombia, tells troops to prepare for war:

"The best way to avoid war is preparing for it," Chavez told military officers during his weekly television and radio program. Venezuela's socialist leader has also cited a recent deal between Bogota and Washington giving U.S. troops greater access to military bases as a threat to regional stability.

I don't have any intrinsic problem with Venezuela demonstrating defensive military readiness. It's in an unstable region; it needs to self-help. But we shouldn't be that surprised that a former coup-leading army paratrooper is actually every bit as belligerent, bombastic, and militaristic as the "empire" (the United States) he is perpetually accusing of trying to spark global warfare.