Regardless of the way it sounds, the name El Mencho most definitely does not translate into The Mensch. Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes’s nickname apparently derives from Nemesio. But El Mencho was a man with many aliases and many nicknames, including the Lord of the Roosters. He was also a man who rose from small-time crimes in California to lead the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in drug trafficking and extreme acts of sensationalist violence, as he grew into his role as drug lord and, eventually, one of the most wanted men in Mexico. Well, the chickens have come home to Rooster. With intelligence assistance from the US, Mexican troops killed El Mencho over the weekend. The operation was met with a series of retaliatory acts, including multiple fires and the killing of at least 25 members of the Mexican National Guard, that essentially shut down Puerto Vallarta, forcing tourists to shelter in place and airplanes and cruise ships to change course mid-journey. History shows that arrests and killings of top cartel bosses do little to slow the flow of drugs. But the decision to target El Mencho now was about more than just that. NYT (Gift Article): Mayhem Rocks Mexico After Most-Wanted Cartel Boss Is Killed. “Mr. Oseguera’s killing is a major victory in Mexico’s new offensive against drug cartels and it could help reduce pressure from President Trump, who has been threatening strikes in Mexico. The Mexican government said the United States had contributed intelligence that aided the operation against Mr. Oseguera. U.S. officials said that it was a Mexican operation and that no American troops were involved in the operation. That was only the start for Mexican security forces on Sunday. They were deployed across the country to confront the backlash over Mr. Oseguera’s killing.” 2No Saving GraceAmerica is getting out of the life-saving business. One of the first acts of the Trump 2.0 administration was to cut USAID funds that were keeping people alive. This was not a mistake or an oversight or evidence of administrative ineffectiveness. It was part of a new American policy that goes something like this: We don’t provide help to anyone unless there’s something in it for us. Hana Kiros in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Trump Administration Is Ending Aid That It Says Saves Lives. “A year after the Trump administration began the dismantlement of USAID, it is initiating a new round of significant cuts to foreign assistance. This time, programs that survived the initial purge precisely because they were judged to be lifesaving are slated for cancellation ... Each of the newly canceled awards represents an occasion in which federal workers had previously convinced Trump appointees that the money would help meet the most basic survival needs of people fleeing war, caught in deadly disease outbreaks, or in danger of starving to death, a former senior State Department official, who left the administration in the fall, told me. ‘It has to be: ‘If we don’t deliver this, people die immediately,’’ they said.” In other words, the last vestiges of decency must be erased. 3Brokehack MountainI wish Trump knew how to quit tariffs. But he wishes no such thing. You may have reacted to the news of the ruling against Trump’s Congress-less tariffs (and the somewhat surprising revelation that two-thirds of our Supreme Court still believes in the separation of powers among branches of government in certain circumstances!) with a sense of relief knowing that some checks and balances are holding. But Donald Trump reacted by attacking the justices who ruled against him and stating, “I have the right to do tariffs.” CNN’s Stephen Collinson: Trump won’t blink on tariffs — because he can’t. “First, he believes in tariffs with evangelical intensity. His faith in them is so intense it blanks out any evidence they are a tax on consumers or that they don’t work ... The second reason for Trump’s refusal to bend is that tariffs are a means to his ultimate ends of unfettered presidential authority and rejection of a constitutional system that by design shares power across government.” 4Five Ring CircusThe 1980 Miracle on Ice was a quest that lifted American spirits and unified the nation. It would probably take an actual miracle to achieve that goal today. So, it’s not much of a surprise that the US men’s hockey overtime win over Canada was immediately followed by silly presidential posts, FBI Director Kash Patel chugging beer in the locker room, and Trump’s crap joke about also having to invite the gold-winning US women’s hockey teamto the White House. But let’s not fixate on that garbage. The final matchup of a great Olympics was a great game with a great ending and a thrilling win, 46 years to the day after the Miracle on Ice. “Following goals by Team USA’s Matt Boldy and Canada’s Cale Makar in regulation -- and a slew of incredible saves by Team USA’s Connor Hellebuyck and Canada’s Jordan Binnington -- the game went into overtime Sunday. In that extra session, Jack Hughes took a pass from Zach Werenski and buried it past Binnington, giving the U.S. a 2-1 victory and its first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980.” How Team USA won a thrilling gold medal game against Canada. 5Extra, ExtraSnow Day: I took my daughter on some college tours back east last week so she’d get an idea of what winter there would be like. Looks like I picked the wrong week to get my point across. “Over 69 million people remain under winter alerts this morning, and blizzard warnings stretch more than 600 miles up the Eastern Coast. More than 600,00 utility customers are without power across the Northeast, with the worst conditions still to come.” Blizzard warnings blanket Northeast as heavy snow and high winds cause travel chaos. In today’s world, this seems particularly ominous: “DoorDash won’t be operating in New York City until at least 2 p.m.” And more from ABC. Snow totals top 2 feet as wind gusts reach 80 mph. 6Bottom of the News“The focal point of the room is not a dance floor, but three rows of rubber mats, each sectioned off by rope. Event organisers in pink T-shirts scurry about, placing headgear and high-waisted briefs around the makeshift arena. This is not a bar crawl, or rave, or ticketed DJ set. It is Grownkid’s Wrestling Speed Dating night, and attendees came ready to tussle.” Could singles wrestling be an alternative to dating apps? (Maybe I’m getting too conservative, but back in my day, we didn’t wrestle until at least the second date.)
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Monday, February 23, 2026
Puerto in the Storm
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