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Category: Thoughts

What does a pepperoni pizza have in common with the US Government?

Not a whole lot, actually.   I mean it’s super easy to order a pizza, have it delivered and get a really nice hot meal that is quick and cheap.

You really can’t say that about the US Government.   Corruption, greed, red tape have very little interest in getting your pepperoni pizza to you in a hot, fresh manner. Ever spent a day at the DMV or tried to call the IRS?

Let’s dissect the pizza.   What did it actually take to get your pizza to your house?  Well, let’s start with the one of the main ingredients.   

The pepperoni on your pizza is only available because the following exists:  

  • Knowledge of the curing of sausage, fermentation and microbiology of sausage
  • Availability of paprika and other spices
  • The refrigeration necessary to have it transported to restaurants
  • The labor necessary to butcher, package and process the meat

Similar needs exist for the cheese, the wheat to make the crust, the tomatoes that make up the sauce.  And don’t forget all of the labor to grow the tomatoes, the spices, and the milk that makes up the cheese.

Go a little further with this and look at everything needed to support the aforementioned activities

  • Manufacturing of the vehicles used to transport the ingredients.
  • Technology, labor and expertise needed to build the roads the vehicles used.
  • Electricity, gas and other energy needed to move the vehicles.

We could layer this further, but I hope this is enough to make my point – it’s a miracle of innovation, technology and human labor that brings this pizza to your doorstep.   Every little ingredient depends on the processes that support it, the technology that invented it, the labor that produces it and the knowledge that makes it possible and safe. Any of these layers disappear, so does the pepperoni.  And you are left hungry.

Now let’s say the government is a pepperoni pizza.     Everything that the government produces has a huge list of interconnected components.   These depend on each other.   If one layer of one process of one office becomes eliminated, everything could fall apart.     

Now before you say it, of course the government is inefficient, bloated and needs a lot of reform.   We all get that.   Forget the canned lines you have been force fed for one moment and listen to the message.  Don’t be ignorant.  

Even in the most efficient, cost effective company, removing a single simple process has the potential to throw everything off.   The big picture process relies on every little process underneath it and at the simplest level, would get confused about what to do without it.

Remove a tire and the whole car is grounded.

Remove a single lug nut from just one of the wheels and this is what happens:  

1. Uneven Load Distribution

Each remaining lug nut must carry more load.

  • With 5 lugs, losing 1 increases load per lug by 25%.
  • Over time, this causes fatigue in the studs and uneven torque.\
2. Wheel Imbalance

Missing a lug changes the symmetry of the clamping force → the wheel may wobble, especially at high speeds.

3. Loosening of Remaining Lugs

As the wheel shifts microscopically with each rotation:

• The remaining lugs loosen.

• This can cause vibration, noise, and progressive loosening.

4. Stud Fatigue or Breakage

The uneven stress causes cyclic fatigue in the studs.

Eventually, one or more can snap, leading to catastrophic wheel separation.

5. Warping or Rotor Stress

The uneven torque can warp brake rotors or cause hub deformation over time.

Now, are you ready for catastrophic wheel separation when our “stud” fails or gets fatigued?

Now again, don’t be a dumbass and say stuff like “How can cutting funding for transgendered baby whales that play sports in Nigeria cause our government to unravel, this is Merka!”  Again, that’s not the point.

The point is that our system of government has been in place for a little over 200 years and changes have been made based on needs and things we have learned.   Chopping up all of that knowledge and function like a blind killer dressed up like a pumpkin in a washed-up slasher movie will leave us wondering which body was the one that kept order intact.

You can’t buy experience and knowledge like you can friends.   Especially when you’ve just murdered them.   Who needs friends when you have enemas, right?

So the next time you order a pizza, reflect on all of those years of knowledge, labor, cultivation, and technology that it took to get you that pizza and pat your neighbor on the back.  He might have had a small part in that.  I can guarantee you that at least one billionaire CEO and several undocumented immigrants worked with middle class managers and low income pizza makers to get you that pizza.   

We can continue to blame each other and allow the government to separate us on political, skin color, sexual orientation, age and income brackets or join together and realize the importance of our interconnectedness and focus on our real enemies.

What will you choose?

👀 Perception

Ever wonder if someone experiences the color red like you do? I mean what if my red looked like your green? I guess it probably doesn’t matter as long as the meaning is conveyed the same (given there was supposed to be meaning). Could be why some people like one color and others dislike it.

Color has been proven to tie to emotions. Red can incite anger, while blue is said to be calming.

But it’s not just the color, it’s the relationship between hue, brightness and the emotional or physical environment it’s placed in.

So red can signal love, passion or danger depending on the context. The red of a rose vs the red of a stop sign or blood. Context is important.

Companies, advertisers and governments use this to enhance the emotion they are trying to elicit in you. Our behavior is controlled by the emotion that we feel and they know it. Color influences our biological state before we are even able to process it mentally.

＄How? Consider this: A red ‘buy now’ button increases clicks by 20-40% compared to blue or gray. Why? Red is exciting. It’s a high energy color that incites action.

Fast food chains use Yellow and Red because together they trigger hunger and urgency. Think McDonalds, Wendy’s, In n Out.

Guess what color eco-friendly companies use – this color has the emotional association with money, nature, balance.

Click Here
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Click Here

What’s even more interesting is what can happen when you combine certain colors together. For example, take a greenish colored oval with a half-black border and a half-white border. Repeat the shape over and over again and skew each object slightly. Make several rows and you get what is below. Before you spend too much time looking at it please know that it might make you dizzy and sick. It’s not moving. It’s a static image. The combination of color, hue, shape and placement of the objects cause your brain to perceive that it is moving. Some other interesting things: This image was originally created by a Japanese psychologist named Akiyoshi Kitaoka who studies visual illusions. I didn’t believe that it wasn’t an animated gif so I recreated the image in photoshop to prove that it really isn’t moving. My re-creation of his illusion is below.

How much of what you feel and what you see is real and how much is manufactured? How much of our experience is enhanced by those that know these tricks and how they can use them to influence our behavior?

🍕 What Does a Pepperoni Pizza Have in Common with the U.S. Government?

Not a whole lot at first glance.

Ordering a pizza is simple: you tap an app, a driver shows up, and you get a hot, fresh meal for a few bucks. The U.S. government? Not so fast. You’ll find red tape, bureaucracy, and arguments about who pays for the pepperoni long before you get dinner.

But here’s where things get interesting — that pizza you just ordered actually has a lot more in common with government than you might think. Both rely on layered systems, shared knowledge, and interdependent parts that must all function in harmony.

Let’s break it down.

🧠 The Hidden Complexity Behind Your Pizza

That pepperoni pizza isn’t just dough, cheese, and meat — it’s a miracle of human cooperation, knowledge and technology.

Consider the pepperoni alone:

  • Knowledge of fermentation and meat curing
  • Access to paprika and spices imported from around the world
  • Refrigeration technology to transport it safely
  • Labor to butcher, process, and package the meat

And that’s just one topping.

Now add:

  • Cheese — requiring cows, dairy farms, pasteurization, and distribution
  • Tomato sauce — grown, harvested, seasoned, cooked, and canned
  • Wheat for the crust — milled, refined, baked

Every piece relies on dozens of industries: agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, packaging, and energy. You’re eating the result of centuries of innovation and learning — each layer built on another.

If any layer disappears, so does the pizza.

🚚 The Infrastructure You Don’t See

Your pizza isn’t just ingredients — it’s infrastructure:

  • Vehicles built by engineers
  • Roads and highways laid by crews
  • Energy grids powering factories and freezers
  • Software for orders and logistics
  • Workers across every sector making it all possible

It’s a web of knowledge, labor, and technology — every piece depending on the others.

🏛️ Now Imagine the Government as a Pizza

Government is built the same way: layered systems, each one supporting another.

Every department, process, and policy contributes to the whole structure. Remove one, and you destabilize the rest.

Sure, the government is inefficient and bloated at times. But the solution isn’t random cuts — it’s understanding how interconnected every part is. Eliminate one “small” program and you might unbalance the entire system.

Just like a missing ingredient can ruin your pizza, or a missing lug nut can lead to catastrophic wheel failure, removing even one vital component from government can ripple across the system.

⚙️ The Lug Nut Analogy

Let’s say your car wheel has five lug nuts holding it in place.

Take one away, and:

  1. Each remaining lug bears 25% more stress.
  2. The wheel becomes imbalanced.
  3. The lugs loosen over time.
  4. Fatigue sets in — studs snap.
  5. Eventually, the wheel detaches.

One missing lug might not cause an instant crash — but it starts a slow-motion failure.

Now apply that to the government:

Remove one process, one function, one oversight office, and the strain shifts. Others overcompensate. Eventually, cracks form.

That’s not ideology. That’s engineering.

🧩 The Point: Systems Are Fragile, and Everything’s Connected

Before rolling your eyes at programs that seem trivial or wasteful, remember:

Even the most efficient machine collapses when you start pulling out screws you don’t understand.

Our government — messy as it is — has evolved over centuries of trial and error. It’s built from layers of experience, knowledge, and adaptation.

Start chopping at random, and you’ll quickly find out which part was holding everything together.

🤝 The Real Lesson: Interdependence

When you bite into that pizza, you’re tasting collaboration:

  • Billionaire CEOs
  • Undocumented workers
  • Middle-class managers
  • Low-wage pizza makers All played a part.

So does every American in the government system — whether through taxes, labor, or civic participation.

We can keep fighting each other over crumbs, or recognize we’re all part of the same pizza.

💬 Final Thought

The next time you order a pepperoni pizza, take a moment to appreciate the invisible network that made it possible.

Then remember: the government works the same way.

Every piece matters. Remove the wrong one, and the whole system can spin off like a wheel missing its lug nut.

Let’s stop hacking at the structure out of frustration — and start understanding how it all fits together.🍕 What Does a Pepperoni Pizza Have in Common with the U.S. Government?

Not a whole lot at first glance.

Ordering a pizza is simple: you tap an app, a driver shows up, and you get a hot, fresh meal for a few bucks. The U.S. government? Not so fast. You’ll find red tape, bureaucracy, and arguments about who pays for the pepperoni long before you get dinner.

But here’s where things get interesting — that pizza you just ordered actually has a lot more in common with government than you might think. Both rely on layered systems, shared knowledge, and interdependent parts that must all function in harmony.

Let’s break it down.

🧠 The Hidden Complexity Behind Your Pizza

That pepperoni pizza isn’t just dough, cheese, and meat — it’s a miracle of human cooperation.

Consider the pepperoni alone:

  • Knowledge of fermentation and meat curing
  • Access to paprika and spices imported from around the world
  • Refrigeration technology to transport it safely
  • Labor to butcher, process, and package the meat

And that’s just one topping.

Now add:

  • Cheese — requiring cows, dairy farms, pasteurization, and distribution
  • Tomato sauce — grown, harvested, seasoned, cooked, and canned
  • Wheat for the crust — milled, refined, baked

Every piece relies on dozens of industries: agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, packaging, and energy. You’re eating the result of centuries of innovation and learning — each layer built on another.

If any layer disappears, so does the pizza.

🚚 The Infrastructure You Don’t See

Your pizza isn’t just ingredients — it’s infrastructure:

  • Vehicles built by engineers
  • Roads and highways laid by crews
  • Energy grids powering factories and freezers
  • Software for orders and logistics
  • Workers across every sector making it all possible

It’s a web of knowledge, labor, and technology — every piece depending on the others.

🏛️ Now Imagine the Government as a Pizza

Government is built the same way: layered systems, each one supporting another.

Every department, process, and policy contributes to the whole structure. Remove one, and you destabilize the rest.

Sure, the government is inefficient and bloated at times. But the solution isn’t random cuts — it’s understanding how interconnected every part is. Eliminate one “small” program and you might unbalance the entire system.

Just like a missing ingredient can ruin your pizza, or a missing lug nut can lead to catastrophic wheel failure, removing even one vital component from government can ripple across the system.

⚙️ The Lug Nut Analogy

Let’s say your car wheel has five lug nuts holding it in place.

Take one away, and:

  1. Each remaining lug bears 25% more stress.
  2. The wheel becomes imbalanced.
  3. The lugs loosen over time.
  4. Fatigue sets in — studs snap.
  5. Eventually, the wheel detaches.

One missing lug might not cause an instant crash — but it starts a slow-motion failure.

Now apply that to the government:

Remove one process, one function, one oversight office, and the strain shifts. Others overcompensate. Eventually, cracks form.

That’s not ideology. That’s engineering.

🧩 The Point: Systems Are Fragile, and Everything’s Connected

Before rolling your eyes at programs that seem trivial or wasteful, remember:

Even the most efficient machine collapses when you start pulling out screws you don’t understand.

Our government — messy as it is — has evolved over centuries of trial and error. It’s built from layers of experience, knowledge, and adaptation.

Start chopping at random, and you’ll quickly find out which part was holding everything together.

🤝 The Real Lesson: Interdependence

When you bite into that pizza, you’re tasting collaboration:

  • Billionaire CEOs
  • Undocumented workers
  • Middle-class managers
  • Low-wage pizza makers

All played a part.

So does every American in the government system — whether through taxes, labor, or civic participation.

We can keep fighting each other over crumbs, or recognize we’re all part of the same pizza.

💬 Final Thought

The next time you order a pepperoni pizza, take a moment to appreciate the invisible network that made it possible.

Then remember: the government works the same way.

Every piece matters. Remove the wrong one, and the whole system can spin off like a wheel missing its lug nut.

Let’s stop hacking at the structure out of frustration — and start understanding how it all fits together.

The Gulf of America

The changing of the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America initially had me laughing in disbelief. What the hell? But the more and more I think about it, the Gulf of America has a nice ring to it. Why limit the Gulf’s name to only one country in America, Mexico? Renaming the Gulf to the Gulf of America should be considered a sign of unity to all Americans – South Americans, Central Americans and North Americans. We are really are Americans, and we should share the splendor of this great gulf with the entirety of the continent of America. So far, it’s really the only thing Trump has done that I kind of agree with.

So celebrate Argentina, Columbia, Panama, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uraguay, Paraguay, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Greenland, French Guyana, Peru, Bolivia, Antigua, Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Chili and the United States of America – we are all Americans and we now have a Gulf we can all call our own.

䷲. …..as we move towards a Christian Theocracy – some thoughts

This is a long one. Grab a cup of coffee or a beer or something.

I hope that people reading this post understand that I am not trying to paint a picture where *all* members who identify as <said group> believe what I am claiming. There are no black and whites in anything – everything in this world is a shade of gray. Few absolutes exist, especially when discussing constructs of the human mind. What do I mean by this? For those of you who are having difficulty grasping this concept, let’s consider an example.

Let’s think about a room with no windows. The only source of light is a single bulb in the center of the room. If you go into that room and shut the door with the light off, it is pitch black. There is a switch on the wall that will turn on a light bulb that emits 20,000 lumens (a light so bright it would be difficult to see due to glare).

With the light off, you see nothing but black. Black is frightening, you have no idea what could be lurking in the corner, and without proper knowledge of what to expect, you cannot plan for necessary protective procedures. With the light on, you see nothing but glare. Although less scary than the black, it’s overwhelming to the point that removal of the stimuli becomes necessary for comfort. Let’s install a dimmer switch and see what that does.

Dimming the light a bit allows you to see shapes of objects in the room. Although you can’t fully see everything, you can get an idea of what might be in there. You become more comfortable. As you dim the light a bit further, you start to see further details. Objects become familiar, and those that aren’t familiar can be examined to gain the familiarity necessary for comfort. In the end, there is nothing in that room that would cause any harm. But one won’t feel comfort until that familiarity is experienced.

Now let’s apply this concept to ways of thinking. We can call them the same:

  • Black and White thinking
  • Shades of Gray thinking

Some examples of black and white thinking:

Personal Black and White Thinking
  • I failed the test, that means I’m stupid.
  • I’m didn’t complete this project perfectly, I am a complete failure
Black and White Thinking in Relationships
  • My partner didn’t text me back right away, they must not love me anymore.
  • My partner thinks he is sexy, I’m getting dumped.
Black and White Thinking at Work
  • I didn’t get the promotion, I’m a total failure.
  • I didn’t get a raise this year, I must be doing a very poor job.
Black and White Thinking in Morality and Ethics
  • People are either good or evil.
  • I made a mistake, I’m a terrible person.

Black and White thinking is thinking in absolutes. It creates stress and anxiety by making small problems seem huge. It limits personal growth by preventing learning from mistakes. It damages relationships by making people seem all-good or all-bad. It is the the source of discrimination, hatred of cultural, ethnic or affinity groups and is based on fear of the unknown.

Think about what happens when you first start a new romantic relationship. The potential for new love throws us into a state of black and white thinking (the honeymoon stage) where “blinders” force us to ignore red flags, personality flaws and potential relationship issues. Then when the “honeymood period” wears off, we see the reality of the situation.

Now let’s talk about Gray Thinking. Gray Thinking allows for more balance, understanding and flexibility. It leads to healthier emotions, better decision-making and when it comes to others, peace. It makes for a psychologically healthier mind, longer lasting and stable relationships, and a better world marked with peace, understanding and tolerance.

How do the examples above change when we switch our Black and White Thinking to Gray Thinking? Let’s have a look:

  • “I failed my test, but I didn’t study hard enough or devote enough time to learn the material. I can learn this and will improve on my next attempt.”
  • “I didn’t complete the project perfectly, but no one is perfect and everyone has thinks that they do better than others. I have strengths and weakness, just like everyone else.”
  • “My partner didn’t text me back right away, but it was right in the middle of the workday and there probably was a reason a response to my text was’t given immediately.”
  • “I didn’t get the promotion, but there were many candidates with more experience than I. I just wasn’t the best fit for the position. I am still valued at my current position.”
  • “I didn’t get a raise this year, but nobody in the company got a raise. The company probably had a need to cut back on financial obligations to cover all of the expansion efforts we completed last year.”
  • “All people have qualities and can be considered good or bad, and context of the situation does matter.”

Gray Thinking is NOT making excuses. It IS taking into consideration nuance, external factors, and middle ground. Gray Thinking is contemplative, Black and White Thinking is reactive.

Now that was a bit of a diversion, but necessary I believe for this conversation.

Consider these facts about me when evaluating your opinion of this article:

  • I am a gay, white male.
  • I have a degree in Psychology from an accredited, secular, and respected higher learning institution.
  • I was raised Protestant Lutheran (LCA, then ELCA). I was a lay minister in my teens, running the services most Sundays. I was circumcised, baptised, confirmed, and was active in church youth groups and attended youth conferences. It was widely expected that I would go to seminary after high school.
  • I believe in the tenets of Christianity. I do not consider myself a Christian.
  • I am an ordained minister.
  • I believe that there is a large group of people who call themselves Christians but do not follow the tenets of Christianity or practice the teachings of Jesus Christ.

This is all a result of gray thinking on my part. I don’t believe that religion is inherently bad, there are many, many good things that come out of religious beliefs and practices. I also believe that some people use a combination of religion and black and white thinking to cause a lot of harm to themselves, their relationships with others and the world at large.

I remember the exact moment when my thinking changed from black and white to gray. (and this is the exact reason why the powers that currently be do not want us to be educated). I was in a philosophy class in college and we were discussion religion. Something the professor said made be doubt the existence of the God I was brought up to believe in for a split second. I had so much guilt over that split second for months after it happened. I was convinced I was going to hell because I had a thought – a simple thought that ended up changing the course of my life. I came to the conclusion that I must have been brainwashed because no God that I would believe in would banish me to hell for having an original thought. I immediately flushed every thing I thought I knew about life, the universe, my existence, everything down the toilet and started over. This time I observed, I thought, I came to conclusions based on observable facts that I witnessed.

HUGE preface into my discussion on the United States moving towards a Christian Theocracy! Sorry for the squirrel, but I do have ADD and I do believe that the above was necessary before I continue.

Let’s start with some facts about the US Constitution.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees citizens the right to free speech, freedom of religion, the right to protest, the right to gather and prohibits laws restricting free press or favoring any particular religion.

Now keep in mind, this is not a law, it is ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL foundations of this country.

What is happening: Some powerful black and white thinkers are restricting free press by threatening, buying or bribing news agencies to report what they want the people to know. People aren’t exercising their rights to free speech because of fears of retaliation against our current administration. How many news articles have you read recently where quotes are from anonymous people who didn’t want their name to be published for fear of this retaliation? There are many. If you haven’t seen them, you aren’t reading.

Laws, policies and enforcement for years have provided favoritism for the Christian religion. Churches don’t pay taxes, are exempt from adhering to laws and maintain a large amount of power in our political system.

Project 2025 aims to replace our current political system with a Christian theocracy. What does this mean? Let’s break it down.

Definition

A Christian theocracy is a government where Christianity directly dictates laws, policies, and governance, often merging religious and political authority.

Key Features of a Christian Theocracy

  • Government Based on Christian Doctrine
    –> Laws are created and enforced according to Biblical principles rather than secular democratic processes.
    –> Religious leaders may have direct authority over political decisions.
  • No Separation of Church and State
    –> Unlike in democratic systems (such as the U.S., which has the First Amendment), a theocracy merges government and religion.
    –> Religious institutions control political power, often outlawing secularism and alternative belief systems.
  • Legal System Enforces Christian Morality
    –> Laws regulate personal behavior, marriage, education, and social norms according to Christian teachings.
    –> Certain rights and freedoms (such as LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, or religious diversity) might be restricted or outlawed.
  • Religious Leaders Hold Power
    –> The government may be run by clergy, bishops, or other religious figures, or secular leaders may consult with religious authorities when making decisions.
  • Other Religions or Beliefs May Be Restricted
    –> Non-Christian faiths may face discrimination, legal restrictions, or even persecution.
    –> Religious pluralism and freedom of thought are often limited or eliminated.

Goals of Project 2025

Project 2025 is an initiative led by The Heritage Foundation, aiming to prepare a comprehensive conservative policy agenda for the next U.S. presidential administration. The project seeks to reshape the federal government and consolidate executive power to implement right-wing policies effectively.

Key Goals of Project 2025

  • Restructuring the Federal Bureaucracy: The initiative plans to replace nonpartisan federal employees with individuals aligned with conservative ideologies, thereby ensuring that the executive branch operates in accordance with conservative principles.
  • Expanding Executive Authority: Project 2025 advocates for increasing presidential powers to facilitate the swift implementation of its policy agenda, potentially at the expense of traditional checks and balances within the U.S. government.
  • Reversing Progressive Social Policies: The agenda includes rolling back rights and protections related to abortion and LGBTQ+ issues, aiming to enforce policies that align with conservative social values.
  • Promoting Fossil Fuels: A significant aspect of the project is to prioritize fossil fuel energy sources, including restructuring agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support fossil fuel initiatives over renewable energy projects.
  • Eliminating Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives: The plan proposes dismantling programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion within federal agencies, viewing them as contrary to its policy objectives.

Noodle on that a minute.

What is happening now is that we are having a Christian Theocracy thrust upon us. Project 2025, Donald Trump and his administration and Elon Musk’s actions are a) completely in line with Project 2025 b) are completely OUT of line with the US Constitution and c) directly and immediately threaten our rights (everyone’s rights, not just marginalized groups) guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights.

The Christians I know do not think like this. The Christians I know practice gray thinking. Either that, or they are good actors.

You can make a difference.

If we don’t act now, we won’t be able to act in the future because our voices will be silenced, our right to express our thoughts will be eliminated and our lives as we know them will be changed forever, and not for the better.

Do It Now.