Study: Last Supper paintings supersize the food

Has even the Last Supper been supersized?

The food in famous paintings of the meal has grown by biblical proportions over the last millennium, researchers report in a medical journal Tuesday.

Using a computer, they compared the size of the food to the size of the heads in 52 paintings of Jesus Christ and his disciples at their final meal before his death radiology associate degree.

If art imitates life, we’re in trouble, the researchers conclude. The size of the main dish grew 69 percent; the size of the plate, 66 percent, and the bread, 23 percent, between the years 1000 and 2000.

Supersizing is considered a modern phenomenon, but “what we see recently may be just a more noticeable part of a very long trend,” said Brian Wansink, a food behavior scientist at Cornell University.

The study was his idea. For biblical context, he sought help from his brother, Craig Wansink, professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va., and an ordained Presbyterian minister.

The Bible says the Last Supper took place on a Passover evening but gives little detail on specific foods besides bread and wine.

“There’s nothing else mentioned. They don’t say there’s a fruit cup or carrot cake,” though other foods such as fish, eel, lamb and even pork have appeared in paintings through the years, Brian Wansink said.

For the study, he used paintings featured in the book “Last Supper,” published in 2000 by Phaidon Press. They include perhaps the most famous portrayal of the meal, by Leonardo da Vinci. Computer technology allowed them to scan, rotate and calculate images regardless of their orientation in the paintings.

Details are in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

The study is “not very meaningful science,” said Martin Binks, a behavioral health psychologist and a consultant at Duke University Medical Center. “We have real life examples of the increase in portion size — all you have to do is look at what’s being sold at fast-food restaurants.”

A more contemporary test would be to analyze portion sizes in Super Bowl commercials, he suggested

[Via http://dorrato.wordpress.com]

Universities in the recession

The always interesting website University World News has put together a series of reports on how different countries are treating their higher education sectors during the recession and the resulting scarcity of public money. Taking as their starting point the view expressed by a senior researcher in Berkeley – that in a recession governments should want to protect their university systems as these represent their best bet to achieve recovery – they look at a number of countries to see whether this is borne out in each case. There is no absolute pattern, but from the reports most developed western countries are cutting their higher education budgets, while emerging countries in the east are either protecting the sector or even allowing it to grow. In Europe, the exceptions appear to be Scandinavia and France.

What also emerges from the reports is that in a number of countries the current period is being used to introduce reforms to the system.

What should we conclude from this? One possible conclusion is that the approach by some governments to higher education may serve to exacerbate their economic problems as they will make economic recovery still more difficult. Another is that this is becoming an era of reform, but that the substance of reform is not the same across different countries. Many of those going for quick growth are liberalising their university systems and promoting greater autonomy, while others (perhaps including Ireland) are restricting and bureaucratising theirs.

It is not unlikely that as the dust settles from the recession that the pattern of performance in higher education across the globe will have changed, and will possibly reflect new economic realities. And unless there is a quick change of approach, this will almost certainly not have worked in Europe’s favour. Time will tell.

[Via http://universitydiary.wordpress.com]

Homes, children and money

A couple of short news items illustrate how the state of the nation’s economic health affects some of us.

More than one in four mortgage holders (26%) say that a drop of up to £300 in their monthly income would mean they couldn’t meet their mortgage repayments. A Callcredit Information Group survey revealed almost one in ten adults (9%) overestimated their income when applying for credit, rising to 13% of those aged 35 – 44 years.

29% of parents say they talk to their children about money more because of the recession. Research commissioned by HSBC and the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) shows that children have been strongly impacted by the recession, with a quarter having reduced their own spending as a result. Over a third (34%) see their mobile phone as a necessity, whilst iPods, trips out and new clothes are seen as luxuries.

[Via http://nwsheffield.org]

A Cliff-Notes Version of the Healthcare Bill

I just received my weekly newsletter from my Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen. I am proud to say he is voting against the healthcare bill that is going to the floor tomorrow.

In his newsletter, he listed what I consider a “cliff notes” version of the new taxes and what the IRS will be up to if this little gem passes. I have posted it here. I think you will find it interesting.

Here is a partial list of the tax increases in the Pelosi health care bill:

• If you don’t buy health insurance (as dictated acceptable by a new federal czar), you will be fined up to 2.5% of your income even if you pay all of your medical expenses yourself. If your company does not provide “acceptable” health insurance to all workers, the company will be fined up to $2,000 per employee. (This proposal alone may require the hiring of 1,600 new IRS employees.  See attached data sheet from the House Committee on Ways and Means);
• An additional Medicare tax on self-employment income and wages.  This removes the current cap on wages subject to this tax and it will effectively move the top income tax rate from 35% to 43.4% within a couple of years;
• For certain taxpayers, the bill increases the Medicare FICA tax from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent and for the first time, this tax will be extended beyond wages to include interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, royalties, home sales and rents.  This new tax will be particularly damaging to New Jersey’s seniors, many of whom depend on their interest, dividends and annuities to cover their monthly expenses and potential nursing home costs;
• There is a 2.9% tax on all medical “devices”, which basically means everything used in a doctor’s office or hospital. Including gowns, syringes, wheelchairs and the like.  This will increase health care costs for everyone who does not get free government insurance;
• The deduction for medical expenses is currently limited to those expenses that exceed 7.5% or your income. This will be raised to a threshold of 10% of your income. This means that fewer people will get any tax relief from medical expenses they pay for themselves;
• There are various taxes on anything a person might do to pay for their own medical expenses. Things like Health Savings Accounts, Cafeteria Plans, and Flexible Savings Accounts are ways for people to save their OWN money for their OWN medical care on a pre-tax basis. Under the bill, they will be limited and taxed;
• A 10% tax on tanning services;
• A tax on self-insured health plans. This is another penalty on those who try to pay for their own health care;
• A new tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers, an important employer in New Jersey. This will raise the price of medicines for everyone who does not get them from the government for free;
• A new tax on “Cadillac” health plans. This is a tax of up to 55% on any health insurance that costs over about $800 per month including employee and employer contributions. This tax does not apply if you are a union member or your plan is from AARP or Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan;
• There is a new tax on all “for-profit” health insurance companies (except for a few favored ones).  This will also raise the costs of premiums for everyone not getting free care from the government.

Combined, these new taxes will cause medical costs to go up and private sector job creation to go down, increase budget deficits and national debt, and force physicians to stop seeing Medicare and Medicaid patients. It will cause fewer people to pay for their own care, and more to seek government care.

In the end, the Pelosi health care proposal adds up to more taxes, more spending, and more deficits.  This is a bill American cannot afford.

Highlights of New IRS Authority

Under H.R. 3590 – the Senate-passed health bill

(Source: House Ways and Means Committee Minority)

• IRS agents verify if you have “acceptable” health care coverage;
• IRS has the authority to fine you up to $2,250 or 2 percent of your income (whichever is greater) for failure to prove that you have purchased “minimum essential coverage”;
• IRS can confiscate your tax refund;
• IRS audits are likely to increase;
• IRS will need up to $10 billion to administer the new health care program this decade;
• IRS may need to hire as many as 16,500 additional auditors, agents and other employees to investigate and collect billions in new taxes from Americans;
• Nearly half of all these new individual mandate taxes will be paid by Americans earning less than 300 percent of poverty ($66,150 for a family of four).

SPECIAL EXEMPTION: The Senate-passed bill prohibits the IRS from imposing these taxes and penalties on illegal immigrants.

[Via http://ihaveagripe.wordpress.com]

Industry Analysis: Asian Trade Shows Report Good Traffic, Price Resistance

This article is published courtesy of  Gemological Institute of America Author: Russell Shor,   Senior Industry Analyst Intellectual property: GIA Reports from trade shows in Bangkok (Feb. 26-March 2) and Hong Kong (March 5-9) were generally positive, citing strong traffic. Price resistance for diamonds and colored gems was also quite strong. By the close of the latter show, however, buyers accepted diamond prices that were some 20% above last year’s show. This gives some relief to manufacturers squeezed between rising rough prices and static prices for polished goods.   In Hong Kong, Alrosa, the agency that markets Russia’s diamond production, held a tender auction of 145 polished stones — several of more than 10 carats — that was expected to total $8 million.   At the Jewelers of America Show in New York (Feb. 28-March 2), exhibitors reported light traffic. Serious buyers did show up, but they were cautious and bought primarily to replenish post-holiday season inventories.   DIAMONDS: The speculative spikes in rough diamond prices appear to have eased following sales of some $2 billion worth of goods into the market during the first two months of this year. The 7% to 9% price increases that the De Beers Diamond Trading Company imposed in February were also quickly absorbed. Secondary sellers, however, did not tack on their own increases as they had for the previous nine months.   This, plus steadily recovering demand and firming prices for polished diamonds, has given the diamond industry hope that rough and polished markets are stabilizing.   Rough prices are higher now than they were before the economic crisis; the increases stem from renewed credit lines, particularly in India, and perceived shortages of rough. Last year, rough sales totaled $5.5 billion to $6 billion, half of 2008 levels.   COLORED GEMS: Gem Fields, the London-based colored stone mining company, intends to take its time in evaluating the 6,225 ct emerald its Zambian operation unearthed last month. The company’s chief executive did say, however, that preliminary indications are that “it should yield a number of cut gems of significant size.”   MACRO: Favorable weather and improving consumer sentiment helped push chain store sales to their largest gain since July 2007. Sales rose 3.4% the first week in March over the corresponding week last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. Major store sales for the first week of March were also up 2.9% from the previous week.   Michael Niemira, ICSC’s director of research and chief economist, predicted that with this strong start, March sales would increase by 2.5% to 3.5%.   – Russell Shor     Senior Industry Analyst

[Via http://gemmanews.wordpress.com]

Healthcare: Forced Upon us All

Fees, taxes, prices have increased steadily for as long as I’ve been alive.  Government takes more and more of my paycheck to fund many things I don’t even agree with.  With this Healthcare bill being rammed through Congress, the government is about to take even more.  You and I will be forced to purchase health insurance if this bill passes, just the same way that Californians are forced to purchase auto insurance.  Think about that.

I cannot afford yet another bill.  Are not my finances my own?  Can I not in America decide as an independent man what expenses to take on and what expenses to avoid?  Do I not have the right to NOT get insurance, taking the risk upon myself to live without it?  Automobile registration fees are exorbitant (mine due this month is over $300).  I either pay the government, or my truck will be impounded.  So what of those who cannot afford another bill forced upon them, like health insurance?

Obama’s answer: those who cannot afford to pay the forced purchase price of the forced insurance will have to petition the government for ‘tax credits/subsidies’…  go to big government… kneel before the throne of our magistrates… beg for aid.  Is this America?  Is this your government?

*     *     *

Not only is the take-over-healthcare-we-force-you-to-pay-and-buy bill unconstitutional, contrary to the fundamental principles of liberty and personal freedom (not to mention state’s rights) upon which this country was built, but this is the way in which it’s being rammed through Congress:

Congressmen and women being bought and sold…

Haven’t the Obama-care advocates said time and again that this is about helping American citizens, about doing the right thing?  Didn’t Obama promise his supporters that he would bring Change to Washington?  With his Presidency were not the old ways of doing business on Capital Hill over?  Is this the Change you hoped for?

Is this your government?

[Via http://oddnotunusual.wordpress.com]

Environment: does capitalism play a role in global warming ?

Years ago I had a girlfriend that played a game known as “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, a game where kids would try to link something with Kevin Bacon through a series of direct and indirect associations.

This, to me, is a lot like the association between a capitalist’s drive for profit and eco-destruction.

The set of decisions that gives way to eco-destruction can be accounted for within one understanding: there is built into capitalism the necessity to please the consumer in order to survive ( this is not the same thing as the necessity to create good products in order to compete ).

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Take as an example grocery bags, whether paper or plastic. Both of these products are rendered to the marketplace for the purpose of convenienc-ing me which is a course towards profit for the store.

A store would lose my business to a competitor if it did not provide to me bags to carry my groceries ( unless no stores offered bags … hmmm ). The damage of billions of bags is documented: the production of, the delivery of, and the disposal of.

Compare that to the common practice in Europe where folks bring their personal grocery bags with them. This practice is a sensible consequence of their pre-1990 communism. However, from my understanding stores have begun offering plastic bags earlier this decade.

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Take as another example, automobiles. I lived in Atlanta for nearly 15 years. For 5 of those years I drove a 50-mile round-trip commute … even though MARTA was available.

Chevy did not have to try hard to convince me that having a car of my own is a good thing. They, in the name of profit, built a product that appealed to me, regardless of the repercussions of pollution, etc.

And again compare this to Europe, where until just recently nearly everyone used buses and trains without humiliation.

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[Via http://goodflagbetsy.wordpress.com]