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Shopping basket full of grocery products, food and drink on yellow background.

<h2>The Grocery Store Illusion: How America's Supermarkets Became the Most Successful Scam in Modern History</h2> By Candace Goodman | The Good Blog&nbsp;&nbsp; “Every time you walk into a grocery store, you step into a perfectly orchestrated illusion — one designed not to nourish, but to manipulate.”It’s a routine so familiar it’s nearly sacred: the weekly trip to the grocery store. You glide your cart down wide aisles, past polished apples and neatly stacked boxes of “natural” snacks. You believe you're choosing what to eat.But in reality, you’re not choosing. You’re being played.What’s presented to you as convenience and variety is a tightly controlled spectacle — the end product of lobbying, legal loopholes, psychological trickery, and corporate backdoor deals. America’s food system is not broken. It’s working exactly as designed — for the corporations that built it.This is not just a story about overpriced cereal and mislabeled expiration dates. This is a story about collusion, corruption, and control.<figure id="figure-r2yy1w6k65maabe5pa"><img id="r2yy1w6k65maabe5pa" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1157106624/photo/all-your-necessities-stored-in-one-place.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=BXl233HfzLQ9vagSKm1b9bhpxhfOQpS59cLQybUJcRY=" alt="All your necessities stored in one place" title="All your necessities stored in one place" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1157106624/photo/all-your-necessities-stored-in-one-place.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=BXl233HfzLQ9vagSKm1b9bhpxhfOQpS59cLQybUJcRY=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>&nbsp;The Supermarket's Dirty Origins</h3> The modern grocery store was born out of the Great Depression and World War II — not as a public good, but as a commercial experiment in mass manipulation.In 1916, a man named Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee — the first true self-service store. He quickly realized something powerful: if customers did the work themselves, companies could control their choices without them noticing.After WWII, as America embraced consumerism, grocery stores exploded. But with growth came power consolidation — and with it, the first major lies about food.<figure id="figure-u4hwtz8lamaabgb10"><img id="u4hwtz8lamaabgb10" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/952625486/photo/businessman-checking-money-us-dollars-in-the-envelope-just-given-by-his-partner.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=NH1I0aQZIscdx3ANnBaF4z-ZQTVCuJiV-u2dzR7HbIA=" alt="Businessman checking money, US dollars, in the envelope just given by his partner" title="Businessman checking money, US dollars, in the envelope just given by his partner" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/952625486/photo/businessman-checking-money-us-dollars-in-the-envelope-just-given-by-his-partner.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=NH1I0aQZIscdx3ANnBaF4z-ZQTVCuJiV-u2dzR7HbIA=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>&nbsp; Who’s Really Choosing Your Food? </h3>Behind the curated aisles and glossy labels are a handful of companies making the decisions.Today, ten corporations control nearly 80% of the packaged food supply in the United States. They include:<ul><li>Nestlé</li><li>PepsiCo</li><li>Kraft Heinz</li><li>Mondelez</li><li>Unilever</li><li>General Mills</li></ul>But they don’t just make the food — they control the real estate where it’s sold.Through a little-known but wildly lucrative practice called slotting fees, these corporations pay retailers massive sums— sometimes upwards of $250,000 per product — just to place their items on shelves.Dr. Phil Howard, food systems researcher at Michigan State University, calls slotting fees "commercial censorship," noting:“It’s not the best food that makes it onto shelves. It’s the richest brand.” In 2003, the FTC launched a quiet investigation into slotting fees, citing possible antitrust violations and barriers to market entry for small food producers. The results? Buried. The practice continues virtually unchecked, shaping America’s diet from behind the scenes.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-oam5jv4msimaabj8da"><img id="oam5jv4msimaabj8da" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2fzTPKo37gcU42fccMCKN323zjKl4trlUwoIayzCoJZcrbIfzytmaR3btRsrbmqR.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2fzTPKo37gcU42fccMCKN323zjKl4trlUwoIayzCoJZcrbIfzytmaR3btRsrbmqR.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>The Great Expiration Date Deception</h3>You’ve probably tossed out milk, eggs, or produce based on “use by” or “best by” dates — but here's the scandal: these dates are mostly made up.According to a bombshell 2013 report from Harvard Law School and the Natural Resources Defense Council, there is no federal regulation for food expiration dates (except for infant formula). That means manufacturers — not scientists, not regulators — decide when your food “goes bad.”“Expiration dates are designed for liability protection and sales turnover, not food safety,” explains Emily Broad Leib, director of Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic. “It’s legal food fraud on a national scale.” This deception leads to $161 billion in food waste annually, while consumers, especially in low-income households, are pressured into repurchasing unnecessarily — a hidden tax on the uninformed.<figure id="figure-q1rlulaekmmaabkdwd"><img id="q1rlulaekmmaabkdwd" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/505626084/photo/woman-throwing-away-out-of-date-food-in-refrigerator.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=QlnIiL7UjrfAVFQDe8G3tC_CRaYaoLkVurrsWFzXYRU=" alt="Woman Throwing Away Out Of Date Food In Refrigerator" title="Woman Throwing Away Out Of Date Food In Refrigerator" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 65%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="65%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/505626084/photo/woman-throwing-away-out-of-date-food-in-refrigerator.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=QlnIiL7UjrfAVFQDe8G3tC_CRaYaoLkVurrsWFzXYRU=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 65%;"></figure><h3>How Grocery Chains Skirt Accountability</h3>You’d think such massive influence would come with regulatory oversight. Think again.Most major grocery chains — Kroger, Walmart, Albertsons, Publix — claim they merely “provide space” for products. In court, they’ve repeatedly argued that they are not liable for mislabeling, shelf-life manipulation, or false advertising, because those decisions are made by suppliers.Yet behind closed doors, retailers control placement, pricing, and even marketing language through contractual power. When lawsuits do come, they’re often quietly settled.Take the case of O’Brien v. Whole Foods (2017), in which customers sued the chain for misleading organic labels and artificial product sourcing. The case settled confidentially, but internal documents leaked during the suit revealed Whole Foods had knowledge of inaccurate labeling — and left it unchanged.The same pattern played out in a 2015 Trader Joe’s class-action suit over the use of synthetic ingredients in "all-natural" products. Again — settled, sealed, and silenced.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-igm1ce34ccmaabmg64"><img id="igm1ce34ccmaabmg64" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/87300417/photo/a-lawyer-and-defendant-talking.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=99izT0-eywiJuqTuY4trmgS1PXChdDhqa1K8yI9ZACU=" alt="A lawyer and defendant talking" title="A lawyer and defendant talking" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 60%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="60%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/87300417/photo/a-lawyer-and-defendant-talking.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=99izT0-eywiJuqTuY4trmgS1PXChdDhqa1K8yI9ZACU=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 60%;"></figure><h3>It’s Not a Store. It’s a Lab. And You’re the Experiment.</h3>From the scent pumped into the bakery aisle to the product placement that puts sugary cereals at toddler-eye-level, the modern supermarket is a carefully calibrated behavioral experiment.Design psychologists and neuromarketing firms are hired by retailers to exploit human instincts:<ul><li>Red and yellow are used to stimulate hunger and urgency.</li><li>Milk and eggs are placed in the far back to force you past processed goods.</li><li>Bright produce lighting isn’t just for visibility — it makes fruits appear fresher than they are.</li><li>Everything is curated to slow you down, confuse your logic, and increase cart value.</li></ul>According to Michael Moss, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Salt Sugar Fat,“The grocery industry has adopted many of the same tools as casinos. They sell dopamine, not food.”<figure id="figure-m29vbrygp7maabnkw7"><img id="m29vbrygp7maabnkw7" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/177360383/photo/cheese-bread-milk-and-eggs.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=jnRGkTM7ADR38iHkzcFxfy1GZ3lWnXIiQvyh7abbEOY=" alt="cheese, bread, milk and eggs" title="cheese, bread, milk and eggs" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/177360383/photo/cheese-bread-milk-and-eggs.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=jnRGkTM7ADR38iHkzcFxfy1GZ3lWnXIiQvyh7abbEOY=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3> &nbsp;So Who’s Trying to Fix It? </h3>Some are fighting back.Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic continues to push for federal reform on expiration dates, aiming to implement a standardized, scientific system. Cooperatives and independent grocers like Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco or Greensgrow Farms in Philadelphia refuse to accept slotting fees, prioritizing local suppliers. Startups like Label Insight and BalanceAI are developing consumer tools to scan and expose true food sourcing and corporate ownership in real time. But the war for your cart is far from over — and the public remains largely unaware.&nbsp; The Scandal Behind Every Shelf It’s not that your food is fake. It’s that your choices are.You were told you could choose between brands. But behind the scenes, those brands are coordinated. Their shelf positions are bought. Their labels are scripted. And the grocery stores that sell them are part of the same machine that pretends to protect you.There is no such thing as “neutral” shopping.There are only systems designed to direct your choices, and very few of them have your health — or your wallet — in mind.&nbsp; Candace Goodman, reporting for The Good Blog, leaves you with one final question:If your food — your most essential need — has been hijacked… what else in your life is just another illusion?

Supermarket Sweep

<h2>Disposable No More: How AI Could End At-Will Abuse and Restore Power to America’s Workers </h2>By Candace Goodman | The Good Blog “The greatest lie corporate America ever sold was that your job is safe if you just work hard.”It’s the lesson too many Americans learn the hard way: After years of loyalty, performance awards, and leadership, it takes only one closed-door meeting to erase your entire legacy.You don’t even get an explanation. Just a final paycheck. A severance agreement full of legal landmines. And the looming silence of a company HR department that suddenly won’t return your calls.This story isn't fiction. It's happening every day — and it happened to a man we’ll call Marcus Reed, a Black executive who spent nearly 15 years climbing the ranks at a national company we'll call Nest &amp; Haven.He led national initiatives, chaired the Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council, and represented the company publicly. But after raising concerns about the company’s lack of diversity in marketing and discriminatory behavior among leadership, he was quietly labeled a “problem.”In 2025, just months after being praised for performance and receiving internal awards, he was terminated without cause.This is his story. But it could just as easily be yours.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-z0urcna7krmaa69tjy"><img id="z0urcna7krmaa69tjy" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1511933083/photo/sad-mid-adult-male-employee-being-dismissed-by-angry-boss-in-office.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=7SwbcIHHgwC2WnUtLlpcz25C7d3smx-AACP6QIj0e2Q=" alt="Sad mid adult male employee being dismissed by angry boss in office" title="Sad mid adult male employee being dismissed by angry boss in office" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1511933083/photo/sad-mid-adult-male-employee-being-dismissed-by-angry-boss-in-office.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=7SwbcIHHgwC2WnUtLlpcz25C7d3smx-AACP6QIj0e2Q=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>How the System Protects Employers — Not You </h3>Let’s start with the foundation: at-will employment. In almost every U.S. state, employers can fire employees for nearly any reason — or no reason at all — unless you can prove it violated anti-discrimination laws or breached a contract.And here's what they don’t tell you:<ul><li>Most companies don't give a documented reason for termination.</li><li>Severance packages typically come with non-disparagement clauses and liability waivers, which prevent you from speaking out.</li><li>If you sue, it’s a long, expensive process, and you’ll need detailed documentation — which most employees don’t gather until it’s too late.</li><li>Even agencies meant to protect you, like the EEOC, are underfunded and overwhelmed, with some cases taking 18–36 months just to be reviewed.</li></ul>Marcus (not his real name) took all the right steps:<ul><li>He documented the discrimination he experienced.</li><li>He raised concerns through internal channels.</li><li>He maintained positive performance records and accolades.</li></ul>Still, he was let go — and faced with the impossible question: Do I take this severance, stay silent, and walk away from my career... or do I fight back?He chose to fight.<figure id="figure-fk6a80w3mmaa6bjsf"><img id="fk6a80w3mmaa6bjsf" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1296847519/photo/selective-focus-of-glasses-watch-pen-and-employment-termination-letter-on-a-white-wooden.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=-wwnOA2w7r5Zuyz-hPtN2srJJY0s4-ji0_vQObnTrrw=" alt="Selective focus of glasses,watch,pen and Employment Termination letter on a white wooden background." title="Selective focus of glasses,watch,pen and Employment Termination letter on a white wooden background." class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1296847519/photo/selective-focus-of-glasses-watch-pen-and-employment-termination-letter-on-a-white-wooden.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=-wwnOA2w7r5Zuyz-hPtN2srJJY0s4-ji0_vQObnTrrw=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>The Legal Strategy That Gave Marcus Power</h3> Marcus followed a multi-step legal strategy that every employee should understand — because when corporations use legal tools to protect themselves, you need to do the same:1. File an EEOC complaint. Even if the system is slow, it establishes a federal paper trail. You are now a “protected party,” and any retaliation becomes its own violation.2. Hire an employment attorney who specializes in executive wrongful termination. Look for firms that understand discrimination, contract negotiation, and reputation repair — not just general law.3. Collect a paper trail — even after you’re gone. Pull performance reviews, internal emails, award announcements, and HR memos. In Marcus’s case, he had internal praise, a recent promotion, and meeting notes where his DEI concerns were dismissed.4. Negotiate your severance — don’t just accept it. A good lawyer can increase your payout and remove gag orders so you can speak the truth.5. Reclaim the narrative. Marcus built a professional portfolio and public record of his work before it could be rewritten by corporate spin.<figure id="figure-3alfp2lpo8maa6cdgy"><img id="3alfp2lpo8maa6cdgy" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/843476888/photo/employment-law-book.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=L3KcotEL8CCfJY9LBIWn9GnHioY6URPmhw4ixBYjI1c=" alt="Employment Law book" title="Employment Law book" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/843476888/photo/employment-law-book.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=L3KcotEL8CCfJY9LBIWn9GnHioY6URPmhw4ixBYjI1c=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>&nbsp; The Solution: An AI-Powered System That Levels the Playing Field Now, here’s where the future begins to shift — with AI.</h3>We propose a new tool: "BalanceAI" — an AI-powered Employment Equity System, designed to:➤ Track Employment Activity AI logs promotions, warnings, reviews, and complaints on a neutral ledger visible to both employer and employee. No more “lost paperwork.”➤ Trigger Alerts for Legal Violations If a worker receives multiple positive reviews but is suddenly terminated after filing a complaint, the system flags it as a risk for retaliatory dismissal.➤ Generate Smart Contracts When onboarding, employees can use the platform to create customized clauses that guarantee:<ul><li>Just-cause requirements for termination</li><li>Predefined severance terms</li><li>Non-compete limitations</li><li>Dispute resolution timelines</li></ul>These contracts are digitally verified and stored independently — so they can't be retroactively changed by an employer.➤ Automated Legal PreparationIf termination occurs, BalanceAI instantly prepares a case summary with:<ul><li>Performance records</li><li>Timeline of internal complaints</li><li>Company HR policy violations</li><li>Suggested next steps (EEOC filing, arbitration, etc.)</li></ul>➤ Reputation Restoration Engine If wrongful termination is proven or suspected, the system generates a public-facing professional profile backed by peer endorsements and performance data — rebuilding your reputation, even if your employer tries to silence you.<figure id="figure-pyf3hhrvtpmaa6gx3p"><img id="pyf3hhrvtpmaa6gx3p" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1615776926/photo/ai-ethics-and-legal-concepts-artificial-intelligence-law-and-online-technology-of-legal.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=CyFdu1L85UlvWcqdOcy41u7Fv71UmbqORvIrKvuB4LA=" alt="AI ethics and legal concepts artificial intelligence law and online technology of legal regulations Controlling artificial intelligence technology is a high risk." title="AI ethics and legal concepts artificial intelligence law and online technology of legal regulations Controlling artificial intelligence technology is a high risk." class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 25%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="25%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1615776926/photo/ai-ethics-and-legal-concepts-artificial-intelligence-law-and-online-technology-of-legal.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=CyFdu1L85UlvWcqdOcy41u7Fv71UmbqORvIrKvuB4LA=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 25%;"></figure><h3>Why We’ve Accepted the Old System — and Why It’s Failing Us Now</h3> Behavioral scientists like Dr. Robert Cialdini and Dr. Dan Ariely have shown how loss aversion — the fear of losing what we have — keeps people from challenging unfair systems.We fear rocking the boat. We stay silent. We believe it won’t happen to us.But it does. And the moment it does, we realize how little power we ever had.Experts like Dr. Sandra Sucher at Harvard Business School argue that “corporate structures are built around trust theater — a performance of loyalty that breaks down the moment risk appears.”The fix isn’t just culture. It’s technology that enforces transparency.<h3>&nbsp; Don’t Wait to Be Fired to Take Back Control </h3>Marcus Reed didn’t win because he had power. He won because he had proof, preparation, and the courage to speak up. But he shouldn't have had to fight this hard.This is why the current system must evolve — and why tools like BalanceAI are no longer optional. They're necessary armor in an economy that treats people like placeholders.So if you’re reading this and wondering what to do:✅ Don’t just sign the offer letter. Customize it. ✅ Don’t just trust HR. Document everything. ✅ Don’t just wait for justice. Prepare for battle.Because in corporate America, your silence is part of the plan.This is Candace Goodman, for The Good Blog, sounding the alarm so the next generation doesn’t become just another disposable name in someone else’s quarterly report.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-q1bzefgxbmaa6i2kb"><img id="q1bzefgxbmaa6i2kb" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1432739850/photo/take-your-life-back-words-on-notebooks-and-charts.jpg?b=1&s=2048x2048&w=0&k=20&c=EutfylUZjSKG9DqhouztKkhp4vY4bFAR4jC1lkJS2PQ=" alt="Take Your Life Back words on notebooks and charts" title="Take Your Life Back words on notebooks and charts" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>

At-Will Employer

<h2>&nbsp;The War Within: How Governments, Scientists, and Strategists Engineered Your Consent </h2>By Candace Goodman | The Good Blog &nbsp; “The most powerful weapon in any war isn’t a gun or a drone. It’s your mind.”You were never given a chance to think freely. Not really. Before you could read, someone was already shaping what you’d believe. Before you learned history, it was edited for you. Before you questioned war, you were taught to salute it.We’ve been raised inside a global experiment — an intergenerational campaign of psychological manipulation so advanced that most people never notice it.This is not conspiracy. This is science. And it’s time we uncover the real playbook before it writes the next chapter in our name.<figure id="figure-ic70qsk3g8maa3ktnb"><img id="ic70qsk3g8maa3ktnb" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/36Y0xMcQSChfNaSnwBw8bGHMjiDs7JOsUJT9vF6TO63dF9uODJKTPB4Mex8lNvPD.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/36Y0xMcQSChfNaSnwBw8bGHMjiDs7JOsUJT9vF6TO63dF9uODJKTPB4Mex8lNvPD.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>&nbsp; Part I: The Architects of Thought Control </h3>To understand how you’ve been shaped, we must start with the man who designed the mold: Edward Bernays.Bernays wasn’t a politician. He wasn’t a general. He was a public relations expert — and the father of modern propaganda. Drawing from his uncle Sigmund Freud’s theories of the unconscious mind, Bernays realized that if you could tap into a person’s fear, identity, and desire, you could control their behavior without them knowing.In the 1920s, he convinced women to smoke by branding cigarettes as a symbol of feminism (“Torches of Freedom”). He helped corporations and presidents alike manufacture public support for policies by framing opposition as “un-American.”He didn’t hide his methods. In fact, he published them:“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society,” Bernays wrote in Propaganda (1928). “Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” His teachings became required reading — not in philosophy classes, but in corporate boardrooms, advertising agencies, political war rooms, and intelligence agencies.And he wasn’t alone.Other architects of influence include: B.F. Skinner, who demonstrated that humans — like rats — could be conditioned through reward and punishment. John B. Watson, who turned psychology into marketing strategy and pioneered behaviorism in advertising. Jose Delgado, a Yale neuroscientist who showed in the 1950s that radio waves could control aggression in animals and speculated about controlling human thought. William Sargent, a British psychiatrist whose work on brainwashing during the Korean War laid the foundation for psychological warfare techniques. These weren’t fringe thinkers. They were funded by governments, militaries, and universities.Their findings weren’t suppressed. They were implemented.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-si2ayxmvimaa3ubn4"><img id="si2ayxmvimaa3ubn4" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11ci3oijX0ZSTOaA8fDX3wItKS9wGeTWLajLbBgK3v08RTRizQQrXyty8nuwWPbR.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11ci3oijX0ZSTOaA8fDX3wItKS9wGeTWLajLbBgK3v08RTRizQQrXyty8nuwWPbR.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>Part II: Why the Brain Obeys </h3>Your brain is not designed for freedom. It’s designed for efficiency — and that makes it vulnerable.According to Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize–winning psychologist and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, humans operate with two systems of thought:System 1: Fast, emotional, reactive System 2: Slow, logical, effortful Propaganda — and war messaging — is targeted directly at System 1. It overwhelms your critical faculties with emotionbefore logic can catch up.Add in repetition (as discovered by Hermann Ebbinghaus, the father of memory studies), and the brain begins to encode misinformation as truth simply because it’s familiar.The tactic is simple:Fear triggers survival response. Repetition cements association. Authority validates belief. Groupthink enforces compliance. By the time you’re asking questions, the decision’s already made — not by you, but for you.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-cc4oyck0bmaa3w5br"><img id="cc4oyck0bmaa3w5br" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2ap1mQIKFCOyHIUwBCVkwM40f3Qrnu9GBULJrhrDdl48F5PC0f3LuWSneo371gf2.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2ap1mQIKFCOyHIUwBCVkwM40f3Qrnu9GBULJrhrDdl48F5PC0f3LuWSneo371gf2.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>Part III: The Military-Industrial-Media Complex</h3>Following World War II, this manipulation became institutionalized. The U.S. and its allies established what now operates as a Military-Industrial-Media Complex, where war is not just waged on foreign soil but inside your home, your classroom, your screen.Examples include:Operation Mockingbird: A CIA-led program in the 1950s that placed journalists in major U.S. media outlets to control narratives. Psychological Operations (PSYOP) units within the Pentagon that coordinate with Hollywood to script military portrayals in film. Embedded journalism during Iraq and Afghanistan, which produced sanitized versions of war under military supervision. Media fear cycles post-9/11, conditioning Americans to accept surveillance and endless war in exchange for “security.” Dr. Michael Parenti, political scientist and author of Inventing Reality, said it plainly:“The mass media are not just gatekeepers. They are the manufacturers of consent. They don’t report reality. They construct it.” And because our brains crave narrative and safety over complexity and truth, the lie spreads faster than the correction.<figure id="figure-xh0qwkv2j0imaa3xykw"><img id="xh0qwkv2j0imaa3xykw" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/124yqOyGuik5u8JJWZZguZYuioITsHeMO0qBg1s3rsqWCAlZwfy96dqYFPQ506R6.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 35% 0%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="35%" data-positiony="0%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/124yqOyGuik5u8JJWZZguZYuioITsHeMO0qBg1s3rsqWCAlZwfy96dqYFPQ506R6.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 35% 0%;"></figure><h3>&nbsp; Part IV: The Next Generation’s War — And How It’s Already Here Here’s what they won’t tell you:</h3>The next war will not be fought with boots on the ground. It will be data-driven, emotionally engineered, and fought against you.Watch for the signs:<ul><li>Increasing racial polarization amplified by algorithmic feeds.</li><li>Climate-induced instability framed as “looting” and “unrest” instead of desperation.</li><li>Economic collapse blamed on the poor, not on corporate hoarding and policy failure.</li><li>Journalists punished for dissent (see: Assange, Snowden, Manning).</li><li>“National unity” campaigns masking expanded domestic surveillance.</li><li>Artificial intelligence systems identifying “domestic threats” using your social media data.</li></ul>This won’t look like Vietnam or Iraq. This will look like curfews, biometric checkpoints, and drones in your sky under the pretense of protection.They are not planning to win this war. They are planning for you not to notice it exists.<figure id="figure-szdk2xbscmaa43bu3"><img id="szdk2xbscmaa43bu3" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11zTec7mEPn6bT1PFkZ2fidruWIwsnmM8ApcAq4aTHvt0bHfUjTWfXx0l63ASzt0.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11zTec7mEPn6bT1PFkZ2fidruWIwsnmM8ApcAq4aTHvt0bHfUjTWfXx0l63ASzt0.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>&nbsp; The Generation That Could Break the Cycle </h3>This post isn’t for the comfortable. It’s for the ones ready to wake up.You, the student wondering why history feels incomplete. You, the soldier who returned home wondering what you were really fighting for. You, the mother who senses something is wrong when your child learns about war before learning how to spell peace.This war, the one we’re in right now, doesn’t need your gun. It needs your permission.Stop giving it.Refuse to believe the lie that says “this is just how it is.” Interrogate every headline. Question every televised war. Refuse to accept the premise that some lives are more disposable than others.Because the true patriots of tomorrow won’t be those who fought the last war.They’ll be the ones who stopped the next one.This is Candace Goodman, for The Good Blog, urging this generation to break the spell their ancestors accepted.We’ve been studied. We’ve been manipulated. Now it’s our turn to rewrite the playbook.<figure id="figure-m4313oj6imaa443xq"><img id="m4313oj6imaa443xq" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/33DhnkF8FdlyBmrmymvBuajI4mBGfinHPwxfoM3k8F5Ok7RjTcXia95P6hNeXC5M.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 95%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="50%" data-positionY="95%" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>

WAR...What is it Good For?....

<h2>What If We Just Told the Truth? The Quiet Crisis of Withholding in Human Connection &nbsp; </h2>By Candace Goodman | The Good BlogIt always starts the same way.A glance held just a second too long. A question half-answered. A promotion passed over with no explanation. A child asking something difficult, and the parent saying, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”We live in a world stitched together by things unsaid. And somehow, we’ve come to believe this is how it’s supposed to be.But what if it’s not?What if withholding isn’t a sign of strength, wisdom, or maturity—but a glitch in the human operating system? What if connection, real connection, is hiding in the things we refuse to say?<h3>The Science of the Silence</h3>Psychologists call it the Mum Effect—our collective tendency to withhold information that might cause discomfort, embarrassment, or conflict. We think silence protects people. But research from Harvard, MIT, and the University of Chicago reveals the opposite: it isolates us.A study from the Stanford Behavioral Lab showed that when employees withheld feedback—either to avoid hurting feelings or to maintain an upper hand—team performance plummeted. Productivity dropped. Trust dissolved. Creativity vanished.In romantic relationships, the effect is even more pronounced. According to the Gottman Institute, couples who regularly avoid difficult conversations are 80% more likely to break up within five years. Why? Because unresolved truths metastasize. They become assumptions. And assumptions kill intimacy.But we don’t just withhold to protect others. We withhold to protect ourselves—from rejection, from vulnerability, from the terrifying possibility that, once revealed, our truth might not be accepted.<figure id="figure-w5r3slhd38m9x3232i"><img id="w5r3slhd38m9x3232i" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1496554277/photo/lies-about-climate-change-pinocchio-with-leaf.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=05C-QOFZSIRpavBPYUVmh6ofO-FGqt28GayVVgUieGA=" alt="Lies about climate change. Pinocchio with leaf." title="Lies about climate change. Pinocchio with leaf." class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1496554277/photo/lies-about-climate-change-pinocchio-with-leaf.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=05C-QOFZSIRpavBPYUVmh6ofO-FGqt28GayVVgUieGA=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>The Glitch in the Code</h3>Picture this:A newly hired employee at a Fortune 500 company is handed a laptop and a vague job description. “You’ll figure it out,” says their boss. Meanwhile, two offices down, another colleague knows exactly what to do—but won’t share. “They need to struggle a bit,” the colleague shrugs. “It builds character.”Or a teenage boy, watching his father drink in silence every night, senses there’s something dark in his family history—but every time he asks, the room goes quiet. Later, he repeats the same silence with his own son, like an invisible inheritance.Or two people on a date. One already knows they aren’t emotionally available. But instead of saying that, they smile, nod, and leave the other to guess what went wrong. Was it something I said? Was I not enough?This isn’t rare. This is everywhere.And the worst part? We’ve accepted it as normal.<figure id="figure-2ajn3x0e4mm9x33nfi"><img id="2ajn3x0e4mm9x33nfi" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/936117884/photo/thats-it-im-done.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=d7itbPNXOQhHeM5KcdNeXz6tlb-IYsxZdNpUs0f_7XM=" alt="That’s it, I’m done!" title="That’s it, I’m done!" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/936117884/photo/thats-it-im-done.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=d7itbPNXOQhHeM5KcdNeXz6tlb-IYsxZdNpUs0f_7XM=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>Why We Don’t Say It</h3>According to Dr. Brené Brown, “We armor up.” We use silence like a shield. Not because we’re cruel, but because we’re scared.Scared that honesty will hurt someone. Scared that it will undo us. Scared that we’ll lose control.Behavioral economists argue that people withhold in high-stakes environments (like boardrooms or marriages) because transparency levels the playing field. If I give you the map, we arrive at the destination together. But if I withhold it—I arrive first.Power loves a secret.But here’s what we’ve learned from studying the most successful teams, marriages, and families: the ones that thrive share more, not less. They overcommunicate. They risk discomfort. They say the thing. Because clarity is love. And silence? Silence is decay.<figure id="figure-xiafuylwv5m9x34fy3"><img id="xiafuylwv5m9x34fy3" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/174806096/photo/isolated-shot-of-red-confidential-rubber-stamp-on-white-background.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=x8VosxBx3gqU5eo6SL95Hny6NV9SIE6fC4qHAk6Sn64=" alt="Isolated shot of red CONFIDENTIAL rubber stamp on white background" title="Isolated shot of red CONFIDENTIAL rubber stamp on white background" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 25%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="25%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/174806096/photo/isolated-shot-of-red-confidential-rubber-stamp-on-white-background.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=x8VosxBx3gqU5eo6SL95Hny6NV9SIE6fC4qHAk6Sn64=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 25%;"></figure><h3>The Unseen Cost</h3>We’ve built an entire world on half-truths and withheld truths. It's not that we lie—it’s that we never say the whole thing.But what if we did?What if the coach didn’t let their player “figure it out,” but said, “Here’s exactly what greatness looks like in you”?What if the CEO stood in front of their team and said, “We’re not okay. But I trust us to get there”?What if, instead of playing the long game in dating, someone looked across the table and said, “Here’s what I need. What about you?”What if parents told their children, “I was scared once too”?It’s easy to imagine a world like this unraveling into chaos. But that’s a myth—a fear story we tell ourselves to justify the status quo.Because truth doesn’t break us. It binds us.<figure id="figure-yfmr96wt0pm9x36rya"><img id="yfmr96wt0pm9x36rya" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/642501464/photo/wonderful-ill-see-you-first-thing-on-monday.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=1HZhC4VhEUmD3sLRJ9RwknPuynW8_mrgWlcjFgWTbtU=" alt="Wonderful, I'll see you first thing on Monday" title="Wonderful, I'll see you first thing on Monday" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/642501464/photo/wonderful-ill-see-you-first-thing-on-monday.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=1HZhC4VhEUmD3sLRJ9RwknPuynW8_mrgWlcjFgWTbtU=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>The Thought Experiment</h3>Now, pause. Imagine a world that ran on truth.Imagine a school where teachers openly shared not just grades, but how the system works. A workplace where leadership meetings were livestreamed. A dinner table where every “How was your day?” was answered with the real answer.Would it be messy? Absolutely. But would it be better?Maybe not at first. Maybe people would flinch, cry, storm out. But then—maybe they’d breathe deeper. Sleep sounder. Finally feel seen.We don’t have global data for what happens when everyone tells the truth. It’s never been done. Not at scale. Not in history. We’ve always been too scared of the cost.But what if the cost of not doing it is even higher?<figure id="figure-gwzv7dsqfpm9x37p0e"><img id="gwzv7dsqfpm9x37p0e" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/172766669/photo/celebrate-the-world-xxl.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=A93JdRsjSU57a9f8HJKxZAMev3RFfel0DjO2I2XUW0A=" alt="Celebrate the World (Americas) XXL" title="Celebrate the World (Americas) XXL" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/172766669/photo/celebrate-the-world-xxl.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=A93JdRsjSU57a9f8HJKxZAMev3RFfel0DjO2I2XUW0A=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure><h3>The Ending That’s Not</h3>This is the part of the story where you expect a conclusion. A “so here’s what to do.” A resolution.But life isn’t scripted. We’re all improvising.So here’s what I’ll say instead:Try it. Say the thing. The small one. The big one. The scary one.Give someone the answer you wish you had gotten.If it feels unfamiliar, it should. You’re breaking a thousand-year cycle. You’re rewriting the code.Not everyone will join you. That’s okay.But one person will.And that’s where the real change begins—not in silence, but in saying it out loud.— Candace Goodman, The Good Blog &nbsp; Truth is a revolution. Whisper it. Then shout.<figure id="figure-rz6jv2iaycm9x38gnd"><img id="rz6jv2iaycm9x38gnd" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/478732352/photo/broken-chain-a11.jpg?b=1&s=2048x2048&w=0&k=20&c=M02EVybysl9zqeZ2sWJXNgp1igS01t_m-TFFy_wj8x8=" alt="Broken Chain A11" title="Broken Chain A11" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>

"The Truth Shall Set You Free"

<h2> “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Ski: A Backyard Interview with ATL’s Favorite Neighborhood Chef” </h2>By Candace Goodman | Food &amp; Culture | April 2025 ATLANTA, GA –&nbsp;There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when food, family, and fire come together—and if you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the Southside of Atlanta on a Wednesday or Sunday, you just might witness that magic for yourself in the backyard of Alan “Chef Ski” Dix.Known across the city for his BBQ Sundays, Taco Tuesdays, and Pasta Wednesdays—Chef Ski is what happens when you mix culinary instinct, community love, and a whole lot of flavor. His food isn’t just good—it’s felt. Every bite, a memory. Every plate, a reunion.“I cook how I talk—straight from the soul, no filter, all love,” he told me as he stirred a pan of creamy Alfredo so good it could make you call your ex and apologize.Candace Goodman: Tell me how this journey started.Chef Ski: &nbsp; “Grew up splitting summers in Indiana with all my cousins—like 10 of us in one house. If you got hungry? You figured it out. I started with egg and cheese sandwiches, burnt a lot of them at first, but I kept going. Food became my peace, my pride. Now it’s my purpose.”Candace: And today, you’re running the hottest home kitchen in Atlanta?Chef Ski: &nbsp; “I wouldn’t say all that,” he says with a grin, “but yeah—folks know what time it is when they pull up.”That’s no exaggeration. Every day of the week, Chef Ski brings a new flavor to the streets:<ul><li>Taco Tuesday: tacos and nachos dripping with flavor.</li><li>Pasta Wednesday: Creamy Alfredo—sometimes with chicken, sometimes with seafood, always a problem.</li><li>BBQ Sunday: The day legends are made. Wings, ribs, mac, greens, cornbread. And don’t forget the broccoli casserole.</li></ul>And the best part? It’s all served with the kind of hospitality that makes you feel like family.<figure id="figure-cdsybt0vxsm9vt6e62"><img id="cdsybt0vxsm9vt6e62" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/3aSoiDJcsXBWs7OGm98cvAxUBNvZVyfB3N8M1cNEbFgCbouN21KVzjUObzQbopxU.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 60%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="60%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/3aSoiDJcsXBWs7OGm98cvAxUBNvZVyfB3N8M1cNEbFgCbouN21KVzjUObzQbopxU.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 60%;"></figure>Candace: What makes your kitchen different?Chef Ski: &nbsp; “Ain’t no reservations here. You just pull up. Could be a Rolls Royce, could be a bike—you getting the same plate and the same love. This ain’t no restaurant. This my house. This my heart.”As we spoke, friends and customers drifted in—some for the game, some for the food, all for the vibe. Cold drinks in hand, music thumping from a speaker in the corner, and Ski in the center of it all—flipping meat with one hand, hugging folks with the other.Candace: And BBQ Sunday?<figure id="figure-so0dxh6l3m9vt8mf8"><img id="so0dxh6l3m9vt8mf8" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/dEz6aB75zduCMd2GFmn9cIwKVG1vA1IdSnRbMY6exu0ByvZPz7Lxt3xe2s7PZiw1.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 25% 40%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="25%" data-positiony="40%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/dEz6aB75zduCMd2GFmn9cIwKVG1vA1IdSnRbMY6exu0ByvZPz7Lxt3xe2s7PZiw1.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: 25% 40%;"></figure>Chef Ski: &nbsp; “That’s church. That’s therapy. That’s where folks come to laugh, cry, eat, whatever they need. We watch football, we talk life, we eat good. Ain’t nobody leave here empty.”There’s no pretense with Chef Ski. No chef coat. No food network crew. Just a man with a dream, a flame, and a whole city rooting for him. You won’t find his food in a five-star restaurant—because it’s being served hot out the backyard, where it was always meant to be.If you haven’t followed him yet, go do that now: @maziski&nbsp;Trust me—his Alfredo alone is worth the trip.—Candace Goodman, The Good Blog&nbsp; “Where the food heals, and the people feel it.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure id="figure-tgd2j2r36m9vtgx57"><img id="tgd2j2r36m9vtgx57" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/3Rs31DdL5EOZhQBkTscnPdOxGbVBXTY4I7d7dTKfLyHkhNV6rvMJVndzNZpYbfyB.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>

Chef Ski

Young woman using a smart phone while sitting on a couch in a living room

<h2>"Capped: The Hidden Limits of Your Texts, Pics, and Messages—and Why They Exist" &nbsp;</h2> By Candace Goodman | The Good Blog<h3>Opening Shot:</h3>Imagine you’re pouring your heart out—an 8-page text confession to an ex, complete with emojis, tearful metaphors, and a photo from prom. You hit “send,” but half of it never makes it. No error message, no warning—just digital silence.&nbsp;Welcome to the invisible world of texting limits, where every emoji, every word, and every selfie faces a gatekeeper. You’ve been texting under surveillance, bound by a hidden web of restrictions—and you likely never even knew.Let’s unravel the tight-lipped truth about message caps, character limits, MMS boundaries, and why, in 2025, we still can’t send a digital love letter without bumping into Big Telecom’s invisible ceiling.<h3>The 160-Character Rule: A Tale from the 1980s</h3>Most people don’t know that the 160-character SMS limit dates back to 1985. Friedhelm Hillebrand, a German engineer, was typing random sentences to see how long a typical thought would be. He discovered that most messages were under 160 characters—and that became the global standard.&nbsp;But here's the kicker: That limit was designed before smartphones, emojis, or even texting as we know it existed. So why are we still handcuffed to it?Enter the Emoji Problem (and Unicode’s Revenge)When you send a smiley face, your message gets re-encoded from GSM-7 (the basic alphabet) to Unicode, slashing your message cap from 160 characters to just 70. That cute wink you added? It just stole 90 characters from your message.In the world of telecom, every byte counts. Literally. And every emoji is a byte-hungry emoji bandit.<figure id="figure-uwlxdkl2t2m9vo8gz9"><img id="uwlxdkl2t2m9vo8gz9" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/175523157/photo/i-must-not-use-my-phone-in-class.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=eAKhCFDiV5bHNOhlwULDwz-n-ABZFdYLEFdk7uP-Gig=" alt="I Must Not Use My Phone in Class" title="I Must Not Use My Phone in Class" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 20%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="50%" data-positiony="20%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/175523157/photo/i-must-not-use-my-phone-in-class.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=eAKhCFDiV5bHNOhlwULDwz-n-ABZFdYLEFdk7uP-Gig=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 50% 20%;"></figure><h3>MMS: Not So “Multi” After All</h3>Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was supposed to be the liberator—allowing pictures, videos, and long messages. But each carrier has its own rules. Here’s what they don’t advertise:<ul><li>Verizon: 1.7 MB | No resizing. Oversized? It’s trashed.&nbsp; </li><li>AT&amp;T: 1 MB (3 MB max) | Larger files get resized, if you're lucky.&nbsp; </li><li>T-Mobile: 1 MB sending / 3 MB receiving | Files over 3 MB? Dead on arrival.&nbsp; </li></ul>Most MMS messages cap out around 1.5 MB, barely enough for a short video or a high-res image. If you thought you could send a cinematic masterpiece via MMS, think again. You’re better off mailing a DVD.<figure id="figure-ba1ph4zhum9voai89"><img id="ba1ph4zhum9voai89" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/182839320/photo/dvd-stack.jpg?b=1&s=2048x2048&w=0&k=20&c=C1oCHO78NbsQDWg0LeYbBg1NGMn1Epy61xzUeUNpSns=" alt="DVD Stack" title="DVD Stack" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure><h3>Group Texts: Why You Can’t Message Your Whole Cousin Crew</h3>Every major U.S. carrier limits group texts to 10-20 recipients. Why? Carriers say it’s to prevent spam. But some insiders whisper it’s more about network strain and control. After all, if you can text 100 people for free, why use a paid app or premium service?<h3>Why the Caps Still Exist (and the Billion-Dollar Question)</h3>Let’s ask the obvious: Why do limits still exist in a world of 5G, terabyte plans, and unlimited data?Experts suggest three main reasons: 1. Legacy Infrastructure – Much of our SMS system still runs on tech from the early 2000s. 2. Carrier Profit Models – Limits mean more segmenting, which means more charges behind the scenes. 3. Control &amp; Monitoring – Shorter messages are easier to track, filter, and analyze. (Yes, that’s a conspiracy theory—and possibly a fact.)It’s why apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram exist—to escape the capped, surveilled, and splintered world of native messaging.<h3>Could We Eliminate the Limits Entirely?</h3>Technically, yes.Using protocols like RCS (Rich Communication Services), we could: <ul><li>Send files up to 100 MB</li><li>Hold group chats with 100+ people</li><li>Include read receipts, typing indicators, and yes—8-page letters</li></ul>But there’s a catch: RCS is not universally adopted, and many carriers have been slow to push it. Why? Because open, borderless messaging threatens the walled gardens** telecom giants have carefully built.<h3>Final Thoughts:</h3>So the next time your heartfelt message gets cut off, your video gets downgraded to potato quality, or your group chat won’t add cousin Tasha—you’re not crazy. You’re experiencing a system engineered to be limited.We live in an age where we can livestream a protest from space, but still can’t send a selfie over 2 MB.The good news? You have options—messaging apps, RCS-supported devices, and soon, perhaps a world where communication isn’t confined by invisible fences.Until then, keep it short. Keep it clever. And remember: your words matter—but so do your bytes.

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