Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[erik]

Have their every been any democratic government to use last-past-the-post voting? That is, you vote for that you want to lose and the candidate with the fewest votes wins?

Not that I cannot imagine governments stupid enough to choose that, I don't know of any that have.

Without other controls you will just select for having a huge pool of candidates where the least known wins.

[Grek]

Right. It becomes a race to keep your candidacy a secret from everyone else as much as possible. And there's no incentive not to enter on a lark and hope that nobody remembers to vote against you.

[Prak]

Are Bad Dragon products actually worth their rather substantial cost?

I have heard that their cock sleeves are tighter and the silicone they use doesn't have the give that a fleshlight has so using one can be slightly uncomfortable. No, if I knew this first hand I'd admit it and post pictures (although the Sugar Star is tempting...)

Hey, if people still care about this question, I happened upon this post on tumblr:

On August 14th, 2013, I purchased my first toy from the fantasy sex toy company, Bad Dragon. It was a whopping 140$ for just the custom made toy, and it took over a month to be manufactured and delivered- but the wait was completely worth it. I had received this phenomenal quality toy that was everything I had imagined it to be, and then some. But over the past few years something has been going on with Bad Dragon. I no longer support the company, and recommend that those interested in a fantasy toy of a high quality take their money elsewhere.

Why? Because on top of the pre-existing, non product related issues with Bad Dragon, such as instances of transphobic behavior from the CEO of the company, Blatant (and numerous) cases of design theft for products, Disregard for customers who are uncomfortable with mentions of rape in product descriptions, Disregard for customers being uncomfortable with a Racy color term on their products, Major owners of the company being charged of rape, NUMEROUS cases of stealing/copying/referencing other smaller companies styles, sales, and themes to swipe sales, the CEO of the company publicly calling customers scumbags, The company owning bestiality websites for reptiles, and seriously so much more I could write a novel of all the individual offenses, the company has been showing an increasing disinterest for making the quality products that they claim to make for their “top dollar” prices. But those aside, let me talk to you about the “quality” of the Products at Bad Dragon.

The rest of the post is specifically about whether the products are worth the money (spoiler: they're not) and has lots of pictures that, while it might be ok for me to post them under spoilers, are large and numerous, so I'll just link you to the post.

So, basically, their products used to be good, but now they're shit, totally not worth the money, and the people who own the company are pretty fucking reprehensible. There are a lot of other companies that do similar things, but actually well and seem to be cool people, like Exotic-Erotics (which does fantasy races like halfling and orc in addition to animals), Frisky-Beast (probably BD's largest competitor, though I could be wrong), DamnAverage (an etsy store), Blue Ritual (very promising, but still starting up, it would seem), Primal Hardwere (small variety of dicks, some wearables, ovipositors and, I shit you not, tentacles), Tantus (more mainstream), and SquarePeg Toys (Seemingly mostly anal toys), which are all linked on the post.

[Maj]

Actually... Thanks for that.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Son of a bitch. That pisses me off because although the other sites listed are less expensive no one does the really big toys like Bad Dragon.

Not giving those fucks any of my money.

[Prak]

No problem, Maj.

Count- you could always try contacting them, since apparently a person who works for/with Frisky Beast can take the large Chance from BD vaginally (I swear, she was talking about this on her tumblr and looking for similarly endowed vagina-havers as a point of reference or something). They may be trying/willing to make bigger toys and it's just a matter of demand.

Also, Shrapnel should be happy to know that Frisky Beast just released a transformers inspired stroker sleeve.

[Shrapnel]

I'm simultaneously happy and repulsed, kinda like how I feel when I buy Bayformer toys.

[hyzmarca]

How difficult would it be to sustain population levels if fluid exchanged were outlawed all reproduction was done through invitro fertilization?

[Stahlseele]

Depends on the cost and availability.
If cheap and everywhere, easy enough.
If expensive / rarely? yeah, no, expect a drop.

[RadiantPhoenix]

How difficult would it be to sustain population levels if fluid exchanged were outlawed all reproduction was done through invitro fertilization?

Condom durability would plunge overnight.

[hyzmarca]

Rampant exchange of bodily fluids was one of the major reasons of the downfall of the society. After AIDS, there was NRS, after NRS, there was UBT. One of the first things Dr. Cocteau was able to do was outlaw and behaviorally engineer all fluid transfer out of socially acceptable behavior.

So, lets assume there's a STI out there that's so horrible that "everyone stop having sex" is a reasonable and widely-supported solution.

[erik]

Rampant exchange of bodily fluids was one of the major reasons of the downfall of the society. After AIDS, there was NRS, after NRS, there was UBT. One of the first things Dr. Cocteau was able to do was outlaw and behaviorally engineer all fluid transfer out of socially acceptable behavior.

So, lets assume there's a STI out there that's so horrible that "everyone stop having sex" is a reasonable and widely-supported solution.

I dunno, it still feels just this side of "people only use 10% of their brain" kind of dumb and implausible. If fluid exchange is making dicks fall off and vaginas full of sand, then it could sort itself out. If you can screen to make healthy embryos then you can screen people. I'll grant that you can make unlimited assumptions until things align to fit the story though. It's not impossible, just implausible.

So, as long as we're assuming things, then hey, population levels don't have to drop at all due to unanimous in vitro fertilization. Heck, you could decant babies faster than ever. People are limited biologically in how many babies can be carried to term at a time. Massively parallel pregnancy is not so limited.

[Shady314]

Demolition Man-ish.
Exchange bodily fluids?! Ew gross. That leads to diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Virtual Sex is a million times more intense and enjoyable. No performance problems and everyone orgasms guaranteed. Social pressure is such it may as well be illegal. Or maybe the government has outlawed the exchange of bodily fluids among other things to suppress human nature and keep their utopia going.

Gattaca-ish.
Or new technology allows for superbabies that grow into superpeople though for a variety of reasons the superbaby technology requires invitro fertilization and exo-wombs. The technology is available to nearly everyone and affordable enough for all but the poorest. Superbabies outcompete babies brought to term normally in every way. In time normal people are viewed as not just lesser but handicapped including under the law and bringing a baby to term normally is seen as no different than heavy drinking and drug use while pregnant or incest. Eventually the exchange of bodily fluids that could lead to pregnancy are outlawed outside of the lab as deliberately creating such a child is viewed as abuse.

Population levels do not drop because the ban is implemented only after the new technology saturates the market and normal people are mostly phased out.

Id agree with erik that the super tech of effortless widespread in-vitro is easier to believe than coming up with realistic reasons to ban swapping spit.

EDIT: Alien Overlord style.
Aliens conquer the earth and enslave humanity. Population growth is strictly maintained at current levels. No more but no less. The aliens run all kinds of genetic/breeding programs on humanity deciding what women will bear which mens children in massive sterile breeding camps/labs. Once born the children are taken and raised in education centers to worship the aliens and work till you die. Human intimacy is banned. Procreation is solely to serve your alien masters and they decide when and who.

[Koumei]

So when people go to a disco club and there is a "mosh pit" (as the kids call them) for their [heavy/light/thrash/power/battle/death/black/baby] metal, and a "wall of death" is formed...

Let's say you're one of the unfortunates in the front line of your half of the wall. When you're throwing yourself against the other side, how exactly do you aim yourself? Is it hip-and-shoulder, head-first, chest-splash, cannonball dive?

[Prak]

I think you're assuming a rather high degree of organization/informal rules writing for metal concerts.

[Whipstitch]

You'd be surprised about the informal rules, especially if you're at something big like Wacken.

Keep your elbows in close to your body and your head and hands up. Putting your head down is for drunkards and the suicidal. Remember kids, if you compress your vertebrae, you're gonna have a bad time.

[Lago PARANOIA]

The conventional wisdom is that Ross Perot didn't hurt George H. W. Bush in the 1992 US Presidential Election because he pulled votes from Clinton and Bush equally.

However, is this looking at national vote totals or state-by-state? Ross Perot might have been regionally strong instead of across-the-board strong. For example, he pulled most of his pro-Clinton votes from the Northeast and Appalachia and most of his pro-Bush votes from the South.

[Username17]

The conventional wisdom is that Ross Perot didn't hurt George H. W. Bush in the 1992 US Presidential Election because he pulled votes from Clinton and Bush equally.

However, is this looking at national vote totals or state-by-state? Ross Perot might have been regionally strong instead of across-the-board strong. For example, he pulled most of his pro-Clinton votes from the Northeast and Appalachia and most of his pro-Bush votes from the South.

Polling data showed Clinton winning all the important states in two way matchups as well as three way matchups. Really, Ross Perot hurt Clinton's ability to make policy by giving Republicans cover for claiming that Clinton wasn't a legitimate president because he got a plurality instead of a majority. Also, that culture of intransigence ended up giving us the situation we have now where Republicans refuse to deal with the Democratic president because he is black just because and pretend that it's business as usual.

-Username17

[Judging__Eagle]

An immediate family member of mine (my father) suffered a very severe vehicle collision in Peru (breaking: 8 ribs, humerus, tibia, fibula; however, pretty much everything other than the collision itself has been incredibly lucky (no other fractures, no spinal/cerebral injuries); from their being able to contact their worksite via cellphone for help in spite of their immediate injuries & being able to attend the phone when their call was dropped due to poor signal (an event they will likely never recall due to traumatic amnesia), surviving a 4 hour drive across Andean mountain roads to medical care, to being transferred to a first rate private clinic (instead of staying at a public hospital), miraculously surviving intubation linked pneumonia (the clinic director's words to my family)) about 3 months ago; and was finally discharged from the hospital about a week ago.

At our follow up with our family physician yesterday I finally was told that the fungal infection they are taking Voriconazole for is for a strain of Fusarium.

Additionally they are on a daily Vancomysin IV (750 mg in 250 mL NaCl mix) regimen (our wonderful Canadian public health system sends a nurse daily for this); and have a VAC (Vacum Assisted Closure) dressing on their tibia to assist with the healing of their remaining wounds.

The concern that my family has is that the Vancomysin and/or Voriconazole prescriptions may continue indefinately; is it legitimate?

Also, our family physician said that the Fusarium infection is in some manner uncommon (it's likely due to the dirt that got into wounds as a result of rolling off a paved road and down a dirt hill); is that cause for long term concern as well? That is to say, is there a high likelihood that they will be on antibiotics and antifungal medication for the rest of their lives? (most healthcare people we've asked haven't been able to answer one way or the other).

There are other legal and health insurance linked concerns, as well. The insurance company mandated that all "non life or death" treatment be not administered for as much as 11 days; and it is most likely that the Fusarium infection took hold during that time period. Additionally, the Ontario WSIB (Workplace Safety & Insurance Board; a provincial employee insurance institution) is involved, as this injury happened as a result of employment; our family still hasn't signed off on allowing them to sue whoever they need to (and from what the scant legal council we took, it's likely they'll go after someone we don't expect).

Finally, there's the issue of recuperation. Spending five weeks in the first stage of treatment, being uselessly transferred and kept immobile for two weeks before being transfered to a more local hospital, and then only a few more weeks in a hospital's rehabilitation floor; resulted in obvious loss of baseline stamina and body mass. We've were supplementing the hospital diet with high protein vegetable multi-vitamin powder; as well as using Pumpkin seed powder, Hemp seed powder and Brown Rice powder (my brother picked up from the Whole Foods they work at; they've been a vegetarian/vegan weightlifter for about a decade now) to help maintain a high level of protein to rebuild muscle mass. In many ways the supplements to my father's diet have helped (the VAC dressed wound seemed to not have healed very much until after he was getting about 1L of these shakes taken to him daily, but that could be coincidental); and he's actually put on some muscle mass (still very skinny; but he's regaining some portion of the 50+ lbs he lost). Are there other recommendations for diet or exercise that might also help? I've been assisting them with completing the exercises their Physiotherapist outlined; but I've been also showing them the flexion-and-holding exercises that I used to add four inches to my chest (going from 36" to 40" in 3~ months); and I'm considering adding resistance training (yes, weightlifting, but I'd likely start them off with the 1/3 lb locking nut I used to keep the plates on my barbell than an actual weight plate); would resistance training be a useful addition to Physiotherapy?

I'm sorry if this is not a single question, and is instead of a lot of tangentially related questions concerning a specific issue. However it's also sort of a big deal that's made our family change everything else we're doing in order to assist in my father's convalescence (he wants to get back to work, even if taking a shower right now involves an assistant; and their corporations national projects supervisors came to visit them at the hospital telling him they looked forward to putting him into a desk position (no driving on mountain roads) when they recovered).

[erik]

I'm guessing indefinitely won't mean forever in this context, it means until the infection is hopefully resolved and they cannot predict when that will be. Maybe several months.

My experience with fungal infections has been that we deal with a lot of eye infections as a tertiary ophthalmology center, and fungus infections are pretty nasty. They're slow moving, but hard to get rid of.

I don't have much advice to offer other than that steroids/corticosteroids are like miracle grow for fungus, so avoid those.

[Judging__Eagle]

Thanks erik; I should crosspost this to the actual medical questions thread. I wish I had noticed it when posting.

[hyzmarca]

I need a dirty acronym for a military research project and all the backronym generators I can find are most unhelpful.

[Ancient History]

Army Research and Scientific Enterprise

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I can't find a decent explanation anywhere, but how does Neptune along with its moons revolve around the sun? I know it's sideways but I can't visualize the orbit along with its moons. Do they orbit sideways too or are the moon orbits along the solar system plane?

[virgil]

All of the moons, except Triton, roughly follow an orbit around the equator.