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Don Arturo

On December 16th in the town of Cuernavaca, Mexican armed forced cornered and killed Don Arturo Beltran Leyva, the country’s most powerful drug boss and one of the top three capos of the trade. Some people still don’t believe he is dead, some do, but all agree that it’s going to unleash a shitstorm. He’s a mythical figure among his people, but Americans have no idea who he is. So allow me the honor to introduce you to the man and the legend of Don Arturo Beltran Leyva.

In Mexico, if you call someone “Don,” it means you respect him to the extreme, and even fear him. You’d be more than justified in using the title when referring to the “jefe de jefes” of the Mexican drug trade. Don Arturo Beltra Levya was without exaggeration the most powerful boss in the country. He had more power than Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the drug cartel boss who was listed as Fobes’ #701 richest man of 2009. In Mexico, you won’t hear anyone referring to him as “Don Joaquin.” (more…)

December 28th, 2009 | Comments (31)

Dead Philosophers Are Maddeningly Unhelpful

The Book of Dead Philosophers has on its cover a photo of a book with the title The Book of Dead Philosophers. The book in the photo is lying on its back, presumably in a supine, dead-book pose. This is…

March 23rd, 2009 | Comments (14)

December 8th, 2008 | Comments (1)

The Case of the Missing Jet Trails

I saw a jet trail in the sky this morning and wondered why there aren’t so many of them any more. And instantly started grinding through the useless, absorbing little inquisitions that keep the mind from wasting its time on…

September 4th, 2008 | Comments Off on The Case of the Missing Jet Trails

Russian Darwin Awards: Kid Jumps Off Bridge and Dies

A 20-year-old in Yaroslavl does a back-flop off a 70 ft high bridge on a dare, breaks his back upon entry and sinks to the bottom of Volga like a stone. His friends catch the whole thing—including his last puffs…

July 15th, 2008 | Comments Off on Russian Darwin Awards: Kid Jumps Off Bridge and Dies