The World We Live In

“Mommy, there’s a shooter,” my daughter whispers through the phone.  I’m dumbfounded. I recently took a class at work about active shooters and what to do if you run into one. I try to remember what I learned.  “Hide,” I say. “Get down and be quiet.”  I can tell she’s Read more

Lora Boe

Lora Boe resides on the coast in Northern California with her family, two dogs, and a cat. She has been a technical writer for over 20 years. She loves to hike (when she's not suffering from age-related injuries) read, and laugh.

HEADLINE: “ISIS claimed responsibility after a 17-year-old migrant attacked”

“I don’t want to live in Europe anymore,” my friend Domagoj says, after a maniac mows down pedestrians with a truck in Nice on Bastille Day “what the fuck” being our shared sentiment at the appalling stream of neverending newsfeeds of firsthand accounts of terror and grief and huddling in Read more

Rachael Convery

Rachael Convery is a Classicist, Maker, and Scholar; follower of Sappho and Anne Carson; devotee of Beauty and the wildancient gods; seeker of the sacred and profane; lighter of candles upon the altars of the lost; daughter of savagedivine wolves; keeper of forgotten histories; lover of small, grand, and delicate things...

I couldn’t get a job … until I finally got hired by the CIA.

Facing rejection? Dealing with a string of disappointments? Not sure what you are supposed to be doing in life? I was there and I made it out—You will too. After I graduated from college, I could not get a job, no matter how hard I tried. I was fresh out Read more

Michele Rigby Assad

After obtaining a masters degree in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Michele applied—along with hundreds of others from the university--to work for the CIA. After a long and grueling hiring process and a year of intensive training, she became an intelligence officer for the National Clandestine Service, the covert (operational) arm of the Agency. Serving for a decade as a counterterrorism officer, Michele worked in all of the awful places you hope you’ll never visit, including Iraq during the height of the war. To date, Michele has traveled to 45 countries, lived in six of those, and has a lot of crazy stories to tell about life overseas. While working for the CIA, Michele initially decried the traits that made her different from senior male officers, but later realized that these traits were what made her a great intelligence officer (empathy, intuition, strong interpersonal skills). Now she’s on a mission to show women that they have the elements to be a Femme Fatale—the incredibly intelligent and operationally astute woman that gets stuff done. After years of service to her country, Michele has left the undercover life behind and now works as an international management consultant focused on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a more “normal” life now and a lot more time to do the things she loves: writing, cooking, traveling for pleasure, walking on the beach—and most of all, inspiring others!

3 Things to Remember About 9/11 and America

The anniversary of the vicious attacks that happened September 11, 2001, is upon us. Thirteen years ago, marks a time in history that no one will ever forget. To honor the memory of those that have fallen, I started out writing a terrorism-related post about the attacks that happened on that Read more

Michele Rigby Assad

After obtaining a masters degree in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Michele applied—along with hundreds of others from the university--to work for the CIA. After a long and grueling hiring process and a year of intensive training, she became an intelligence officer for the National Clandestine Service, the covert (operational) arm of the Agency. Serving for a decade as a counterterrorism officer, Michele worked in all of the awful places you hope you’ll never visit, including Iraq during the height of the war. To date, Michele has traveled to 45 countries, lived in six of those, and has a lot of crazy stories to tell about life overseas. While working for the CIA, Michele initially decried the traits that made her different from senior male officers, but later realized that these traits were what made her a great intelligence officer (empathy, intuition, strong interpersonal skills). Now she’s on a mission to show women that they have the elements to be a Femme Fatale—the incredibly intelligent and operationally astute woman that gets stuff done. After years of service to her country, Michele has left the undercover life behind and now works as an international management consultant focused on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a more “normal” life now and a lot more time to do the things she loves: writing, cooking, traveling for pleasure, walking on the beach—and most of all, inspiring others!

Be Your Own Security Advisor—Small Decisions are Big Decisions

It was the worst kind of attack in an area of Baghdad teeming with terrorists.  After leaving the meeting and driving half-way down the block, the first car in the convoy became disabled when an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) detonated right next to it.  The explosion created fire, smoke, and Read more

Michele Rigby Assad

After obtaining a masters degree in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Michele applied—along with hundreds of others from the university--to work for the CIA. After a long and grueling hiring process and a year of intensive training, she became an intelligence officer for the National Clandestine Service, the covert (operational) arm of the Agency. Serving for a decade as a counterterrorism officer, Michele worked in all of the awful places you hope you’ll never visit, including Iraq during the height of the war. To date, Michele has traveled to 45 countries, lived in six of those, and has a lot of crazy stories to tell about life overseas. While working for the CIA, Michele initially decried the traits that made her different from senior male officers, but later realized that these traits were what made her a great intelligence officer (empathy, intuition, strong interpersonal skills). Now she’s on a mission to show women that they have the elements to be a Femme Fatale—the incredibly intelligent and operationally astute woman that gets stuff done. After years of service to her country, Michele has left the undercover life behind and now works as an international management consultant focused on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a more “normal” life now and a lot more time to do the things she loves: writing, cooking, traveling for pleasure, walking on the beach—and most of all, inspiring others!

Be Your Own Security Advisor – Security Tips from a Counterterrorism Expert

The thing about CIA intelligence officers is that you must be tuned into your environment, aware of your surroundings, and able to spot when something looks wrong or out of place. Ultimately, we are searching for counterintelligence threats because we don’t want to end up detained, charged with espionage and Read more

Michele Rigby Assad

After obtaining a masters degree in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Michele applied—along with hundreds of others from the university--to work for the CIA. After a long and grueling hiring process and a year of intensive training, she became an intelligence officer for the National Clandestine Service, the covert (operational) arm of the Agency. Serving for a decade as a counterterrorism officer, Michele worked in all of the awful places you hope you’ll never visit, including Iraq during the height of the war. To date, Michele has traveled to 45 countries, lived in six of those, and has a lot of crazy stories to tell about life overseas. While working for the CIA, Michele initially decried the traits that made her different from senior male officers, but later realized that these traits were what made her a great intelligence officer (empathy, intuition, strong interpersonal skills). Now she’s on a mission to show women that they have the elements to be a Femme Fatale—the incredibly intelligent and operationally astute woman that gets stuff done. After years of service to her country, Michele has left the undercover life behind and now works as an international management consultant focused on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She has a more “normal” life now and a lot more time to do the things she loves: writing, cooking, traveling for pleasure, walking on the beach—and most of all, inspiring others!