by Isaac Cubillos | Jan 1, 2026 | Journal
A New Year’s look at how journalism changed, who paid the price, and what readers should watch next. I started in newspapers in 1987, at a daily in California, back when journalism was a physical activity. My first assignment was writing obituaries, which is about as...
by Isaac Cubillos | Dec 27, 2025 | Journal
On Christmas Day, the President ordered U.S. missiles fired from a Navy destroyer into Nigeria. The explanation came pre-loaded for television: protecting Christians from terrorists. It sounds moral.It sounds simple. It feeds his base. And it gets the war wrong....
by Isaac Cubillos | Dec 24, 2025 | Journal
The image says it all: a U.S. Navy jet firing a missile at Santa’s sleigh, because apparently Christmas failed a compliance review. According to officials, Santa was flagged for carrying contraband toys, dodging tariffs, and operating an unregistered international...
by Isaac Cubillos | Dec 21, 2025 | Energy
An explainer on Venezuela, Iraq, and how a drug war quietly became something else This fight didn’t start as an argument about oil. It started, at least officially, as a war on drugs. For years, U.S. policy toward Venezuela was framed around narcotics trafficking,...
by Isaac Cubillos | Dec 16, 2025 | Journal
Every few years, Washington rediscovers the same stunt: if you can’t fix the border, pose next to it in uniform. This week’s version comes with a historical flourish. The administration has expanded use of the 1907 Roosevelt Reservation — a 60-foot strip of federal...