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

We’re Not Rebuilding Detroit—And Mayberry Was Never Real
We’re Not Rebuilding Detroit—And Mayberry Was Never Real

I watched The Andy Griffith Show as a kid, like a lot of folks did. Mayberry was funny, wholesome, safe. It made the world seem simpler than it was. I didn’t think much about it back then. But now I know: Mayberry was never real. There were no factories in Mayberry....

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Waltz Out, Rubio In: Trump Swaps Security Posts Amid UN Push
Waltz Out, Rubio In: Trump Swaps Security Posts Amid UN Push

In what smells more like damage control than diplomacy, President Trump is pulling National Security Adviser Mike Waltz from the frontlines of the West Wing and nominating him as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz’s sudden shift follows reports of...

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The Year the Bikes Disappeared
The Year the Bikes Disappeared

In the early days of COVID, when the air was still thick with Lysol and uncertainty, I did what millions of Americans did: stayed inside, wiped down my groceries, and waited. But after months of lockdown and a shut-down gym, I needed to move. Not spiritually....

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GDP Drops. Markets Stumble. And Working Folks Feel It First.
GDP Drops. Markets Stumble. And Working Folks Feel It First.

The U.S. economy just hit reverse for the first time in years. According to the latest numbers, GDP shrank to -0.3% in the first quarter of 2025—a clear sign that the slowdown is no longer coming. It’s here. Let’s look at the trend: 3.4% growth in Q2 2024. Then 3.1%...

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Tariffs and Taxes: The Great American Three-Card Monte
Tariffs and Taxes: The Great American Three-Card Monte

Let’s connect the dots, because clearly nobody in power is doing it. The President says he’s going to cut your taxes — and that tariffs will pick up the slack. Sounds great on paper. But while one hand waves that flag, the other is in quiet talks with China to lower...

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Shipping Slowing to a Crawl — and It’s About to Get Ugly
Shipping Slowing to a Crawl — and It’s About to Get Ugly

You don't need a Ph.D. in economics to see what's happening. Just look at the maps. Ports that should be jammed like a rush-hour freeway — Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Charleston — are standing there like ghost towns, cranes hanging limp, docks echoing...

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I War Gamed This in the ’70s. Now It’s Real
I War Gamed This in the ’70s. Now It’s Real

In the 1970s, I was in my 20s and locked in a long-running play-by-mail war game with a group of friends. It was one of those sprawling, imagination-fueled strategy games—light on rules, heavy on consequences. My fictitious country wasn’t the biggest or the boldest,...

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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.