War?

July 12th, 2025| Topic: RaMbLeS | 2

There is, apparently, an account on X, called “Pentagon Pizza Report.” It monitors pizza takeaway spots in Arlington County, Virginia, home of America’s military headquarters, using Google’s restaurant footfall data.

According to the Telegraph, a few weeks ago, on a Thursday night, every establishment slinging dough within three miles of the Pentagon saw a sudden spike in customers. Just 10 minutes later, there was a significant drop in footfall in each of these locations. It was as if a gap between meetings had prompted a flurry of takeaway and delivery orders which then tailed off again as work resumed. Then at 23:55 (by which time most restaurants had closed) one late-night takeaway again suddenly showed “busier than usual” activity. Last-minute orders before staff would be forced to resort to whatever was left in the vending machines, perhaps?

And five miles away, the Domino’s locations near the White House were also experiencing “above average levels of traffic.”

And a busy night it was. An hour and a half after the spikes at the pizza restaurants near the Pentagon, explosions were heard in Tehran and Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said the country had launched a “preemptive strike against Iran.”

The Telegraph commented:

You can understand why the stress of an all-nighter at the coalface in the Pentagon might lead to an urgent need for carbs, but the next time the world is on the brink of a major conflict, the US Department of Defense might consider sending out for burgers.”

Actually, over the years, pizza delivery patterns in central D.C. have, bizarrely, proven to be an indicator of major geopolitical events. So much so that in an interview in 2010, Wolf Blitzer, who was CNN’s military affairs reporter before becoming White House correspondent in 1992, said:

I always knew there was some sort of crisis going on in the West Wing after hours when I saw the arrival of pizzas. Bottom line for journalists: always monitor the pizzas.”

So it’s old news after all.

The Telegraph again:

In August of 1990, pizza orders are said to have spiked as Saddam Hussein prepared to invade Kuwait the following day. When Operation Desert Storm was launched in 1991, Domino’s franchises in the Washington area reported that orders soared every time military action was imminent. Apparently, there were telltale signs when a crisis was afoot: the top brass and military analysts took comfort in extra cheese and meat toppings. In December 1998, with Operation Desert Fox (a campaign against Iraq) underway, the White House ordered 32 percent more extra-cheese pizzas than normal.”

So I suppose it is a good idea not to be hungry when you are angry (like those generals getting ready to push dangerous buttons): Don’t be “hangry”; get some pizza.

Better yet, don’t get angry at all (as the Bible recommends).

Do not let your anger burn because of evil ones; do not envy wrongdoers.
For like grass they will quickly shrivel, and like the green herb they wither. …
And take delight in Yahweh; and He will give you the requests of your heart.
Commit to Yahweh your path; and trust in Him, and He will do [it]. …
Be still before Yahweh and wait patiently on Him; do not let your anger burn
… because of the person who carries out nefarious schemes.
Forsake anger and abandon wrath;
do not let your anger burn; [it leads] only to evildoing.
For evil ones will be cut off, but those hoping in Yahweh,
they—they will possess the land.
Psalm 37:1–2, 4–9

SOURCE: The Telegraph