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This isn’t spin. It’s seasoned analysis.

The Age of Artificial Nostalgia
The Age of Artificial Nostalgia

There’s a photo floating around Facebook again. You’ve probably seen it. It shows a couple of 1930s streetcars, some early sedans, and a row of pedestrians framed by weathered buildings. The caption reads something like: “Pacific Highway cuts through the heart of...

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The Truth Can’t Compete with a Confident Lie
The Truth Can’t Compete with a Confident Lie

Let me put it plainly: AI is full of it. Not always. Not everywhere. But often enough — and confidently enough — that it’s becoming a real problem. We are living in an age where artificial intelligence systems are spitting out facts, figures, timelines, and...

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Read the Damn Thing
Read the Damn Thing

Some folks walk around waving the Constitution like it’s a VIP club card—citizens only, no foreigners allowed. To which I say: read the damn thing. It doesn’t start with "We the Citizens." It starts with "We the People." And that little distinction? While the Preamble...

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Memorial Day – The Reminders
Memorial Day – The Reminders

I just got back from a Memorial Day dedication in my town—about 300 people gathered, quietly, reverently. You could see the generations by the ball caps: Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan. Gray hair under Navy caps. Leather vests with unit patches faded by...

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Abu Dhabi: Where ‘America First’ Dies in the Sand
Abu Dhabi: Where ‘America First’ Dies in the Sand

If you thought “America First” meant jobs, tech, and national security staying on U.S. soil, then congratulations — you just got played. Again. On his latest Middle East tour, Donald Trump handed out America’s crown jewels of artificial intelligence like party favors...

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I Was on the Cuauhtémoc—Here’s What You Don’t Understand
I Was on the Cuauhtémoc—Here’s What You Don’t Understand

I’ve walked the decks of the Cuauhtémoc while reporting for a newspaper. I’ve stood on her planks, leaned against the rail, and watched her crew—Mexican Navy cadets in pressed whites—handle her lines with precision and pride. She’s more than a ship. She’s a symbol. A...

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90 Days of Breathing Room—If You Can Find a Boat
90 Days of Breathing Room—If You Can Find a Boat

For all the noise about a 90-day tariff truce between the U.S. and China, the only ones grinning ear to ear right now are the shipping lines. After the U.S. slashed its tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, and China cut theirs from 125% to 10%, the race was on....

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Tariffs, Toys, and the American Dream on the Line
Tariffs, Toys, and the American Dream on the Line

I was sitting on my couch, coffee in hand, watching CBS Sunday Morning—that soft, thoughtful show that reminds us the world isn’t all bad—when this story hit me square in the gut. Beth Benike. Veteran. Mom. Small business owner. Fighter. And now, thanks to a 145%...

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Arrested for Landscaping While Brown
Arrested for Landscaping While Brown

Last week in Palm City, Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol and ICE staged a show of force at a gated community like they were raiding a drug lord’s mansion. Their targets? Landscaping trucks. Their crime? Apparently, looking too brown in the wrong ZIP code. One of...

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Oil Patch Puts Profits Over Pumps (Again)
Oil Patch Puts Profits Over Pumps (Again)

You can always tell when the oil boys start feeling queasy—they park the rigs, talk about "discipline," and suddenly forget all that tough talk about energy independence. This week, they did just that. Baker Hughes’ latest rig count shows U.S. oil and gas rigs dropped...

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When the Oil Boys Start Sweating, You Know the Party’s Over
When the Oil Boys Start Sweating, You Know the Party’s Over

When Halliburton starts waving red flags, you’d be wise to stop, look, and listen. The big dog of the oil patch posted a 7% drop in revenue last quarter—and while they tried to put on their Sunday best for Wall Street, the cracks were showing like a drunk at a church...

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Permits, Profits, and Pipe Dreams
Permits, Profits, and Pipe Dreams

They keep saying the oil industry is being strangled by Washington red tape. Thousands of drilling permits sitting on desks, unused, collecting dust because of the evil feds and their love for solar panels. That’s the bumper sticker version. One keyboard warrior even...

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No Handshake Required
No Handshake Required

They came from different corners of the world, many meeting face-to-face for the first time. They’d known each other by name, by reputation, through debriefs and whispers carried on desert winds. But when they finally gathered at The Four Green Fields—an Irish pub...

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Isaac Cubillos

This isn’t journalism for the polite table.
This is truth with grit under its nails and dirt on its boots.