Ping Larkin
in [Design]
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From: Martin Brown on 15 Oct 2009 04:27 John Larkin wrote: > On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:35:08 +0100, Martin Brown > <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >> But in the USA it is also the enormous portions of food at the popular >> restaurants that plays a part in supersizing the population. > > It's not a conspiracy; the restaurants offer what people want. But as the average US population becomes fatter and fatter they just want more and more. Twenty years ago a reasonably fit 6' adult male in a US restaurant could just about eat the entire meal and be uncomfortably full. These days there is enough for at least one extra meal on the plate. Perhaps it is time to limit servings to the amount that a healthy adult can eat (maybe plus 10%). Gluttony is not pretty. Catering for the calorific intake of the morbidly obese is asking for trouble. Particularly in those establishments where you don't have to pay if you leave a clean plate which I find exceptionally gross. > > I take the leftovers to go. I get two or three meals from one > restaurant serving. Two or three meals from a $7 entree is a pretty > good deal, and it avoids cooking some week-nights. However, there are a lot of people that finish the plate and are eating themselves into an early grave and loads of expensive health problems on the way. I suppose the "customer is always right". I am reminded of the cartoon with the sign writer part way through painting that slogan with a little old lady saying to him "Young man, there are two m's in custommer" . > > I do recall a prix-fixe meal at Paul Bocuse' place that was > overwhelming, and I couldn't take it home. And not $9. Sort of place where you choose the pudding at the outset because of the time it takes to make it... l'Auberge or the brasserie l'<points of compass>? Does he have outposts in California or were you in Lyons? Strangely you don't see all that many fat Frenchmen. They eat quality food. The food as fuel - never mind the quality feel the width thing is a distinctly Anglo-Saxon trait. > > Last time I was in the UK, a couple of years ago, I met a lot of fat > engineers. I agree the obesity problem is spreading worldwide. Regards, Martin Brown
From: Martin Brown on 15 Oct 2009 04:50 Joerg wrote: > ChrisQ wrote: > > [...] > >> I guess this is where europe and the us differ. In europe, there is >> universal health care free at the point of delivery, but there's no >> reason why you can't go private if you wish and many do. Anything else And health insurance is still offered as a (taxable) employee perk. >> would be inconceivable, even though, yes, it has to be paid for from >> taxes, just as the arts, science and other civilised value type stuff >> gets funded from the state with common consent. Crucially in a medical emergency they do not look for your credit/insurance card first. > Don't generalize from UK systems to EU systems. For example, health care > in Germany is not at all free no matter which method you pick. In the > mid-90's I paid about 800 Deutschmarks per month over there for the two > of us, just in premiums. Then there were co-pays. This was a non-private > plan, the kind that's called Gesetzliche Krankenkasse. That is hardly > free, is it? 400 Euros/month? That seems a bit on the high side. What happens to those in Germany who cannot pay the premiums? I can't recall exactly what it was in Belgium for the major operations state insurance option with a couple of thousand Euro excess but ISTR it was a lot less than that. But whichever way you look at it their system is way more efficient than the US robber baron model. Regards, Martin Brown
From: Joerg on 15 Oct 2009 12:59 Martin Brown wrote: > Joerg wrote: >> ChrisQ wrote: >> >> [...] >> >>> I guess this is where europe and the us differ. In europe, there is >>> universal health care free at the point of delivery, but there's no >>> reason why you can't go private if you wish and many do. Anything else > > And health insurance is still offered as a (taxable) employee perk. > >>> would be inconceivable, even though, yes, it has to be paid for from >>> taxes, just as the arts, science and other civilised value type stuff >>> gets funded from the state with common consent. > > Crucially in a medical emergency they do not look for your > credit/insurance card first. > >> Don't generalize from UK systems to EU systems. For example, health >> care in Germany is not at all free no matter which method you pick. In >> the mid-90's I paid about 800 Deutschmarks per month over there for >> the two of us, just in premiums. Then there were co-pays. This was a >> non-private plan, the kind that's called Gesetzliche Krankenkasse. >> That is hardly free, is it? > > 400 Euros/month? That seems a bit on the high side. That is the top rate. As a consultant I had to pay 100% of premiums on my own. > What happens to those in Germany who cannot pay the premiums? > The unemployed get it at taxpayer cost. People making less money must pay, it is deducted as a percentage from their salary so in effect its a sliding scale. They do not have any say in this, it's simply deducted. Self-employed who do not pay have no insurance, they will get socked into bankruptcy if they become really sick. Just like in the US. > I can't recall exactly what it was in Belgium for the major operations > state insurance option with a couple of thousand Euro excess but ISTR it > was a lot less than that. But whichever way you look at it their system > is way more efficient than the US robber baron model. > When I look at cancer survival ratings I do not agree. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 15 Oct 2009 13:05 JeffM wrote: >> Martin Brown wrote: >>> But in the USA it is also the enormous portions of food >>> at the popular restaurants >>> that plays a part in supersizing the population. >>> > Where I go to get good prices on canned goods, > those prices have gone up since fuel prices spiraled up > and the package *sizes* of many other items have gone DOWN. > I haven't see that second case in restaurants yet, > but maybe hard times will be better for our waistlines. > Got to watch those coupon deals. My wife is like a hawk in that respect. >>> John Larkin wrote: >>>> The US policy of keeping up sugar prices hurts too, >>>> since corn syrup is probably worse for health than real sugar. >>>> >>> High fructose corn syrup is a pretty nasty concoction. It would >>> not surprise me at all if it were implicated in causing diabetes. >>> > Joerg wrote: >> We don't even have it in our kitchen. Very little sweet stuff is used. > > With the way Mercuns like stuff sweet <raises hand>, ... Invited boss and his wife over. My wife cooked one of her wonderful gourmet meals and baked a cheesecake, putting in a tad more sugar than usual. Boss' wife: "Hey, this cake tastes excellent, amazing for a cake that has no sugar in it". > I'm surprized that this isn't more widely know/grown/used: > http://google.com/search?q=define:Stevia > http://google.com/search?q=intitle:Stevia+%22+in.zones-*-*-* > Essentially zero calories. No idea. But we don't like sugary taste anyhow so we don't miss any of the sweetening stuff. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Jim Thompson on 15 Oct 2009 13:36
On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:05:50 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >JeffM wrote: >>> Martin Brown wrote: >>>> But in the USA it is also the enormous portions of food >>>> at the popular restaurants >>>> that plays a part in supersizing the population. >>>> >> Where I go to get good prices on canned goods, >> those prices have gone up since fuel prices spiraled up >> and the package *sizes* of many other items have gone DOWN. >> I haven't see that second case in restaurants yet, >> but maybe hard times will be better for our waistlines. >> > >Got to watch those coupon deals. My wife is like a hawk in that respect. > > >>>> John Larkin wrote: >>>>> The US policy of keeping up sugar prices hurts too, >>>>> since corn syrup is probably worse for health than real sugar. >>>>> >>>> High fructose corn syrup is a pretty nasty concoction. It would >>>> not surprise me at all if it were implicated in causing diabetes. >>>> >> Joerg wrote: >>> We don't even have it in our kitchen. Very little sweet stuff is used. >> >> With the way Mercuns like stuff sweet <raises hand>, ... > > >Invited boss and his wife over. My wife cooked one of her wonderful >gourmet meals and baked a cheesecake, putting in a tad more sugar than >usual. Boss' wife: "Hey, this cake tastes excellent, amazing for a cake >that has no sugar in it". > > >> I'm surprized that this isn't more widely know/grown/used: >> http://google.com/search?q=define:Stevia >> http://google.com/search?q=intitle:Stevia+%22+in.zones-*-*-* >> Essentially zero calories. > > >No idea. But we don't like sugary taste anyhow so we don't miss any of >the sweetening stuff. Obama cake will be non-fattening... made entirely from hot air ;-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | All Hail Lord Obama, Groveler-in-Chief |