I get the racist slur of calling black people apes, but what unfortunately gets lost in the outrage is the fact that humans are apes. Comparing people to apes is like comparing apples to... apples.

Well it was fuzzy pre-Ashcroft (I think 2002 or 2003?) since Congress passed the law that was challenged in that case. Since then though it has been fairly clear what the law of the land is (not to say you couldn't be wrongfully arrested/prosecuted).

And realistic child-model CGI might run into some legal issues even if it's purely fictional.

The free 2 day shipping is why I signed up forever ago and have auto-renewed ever since. I hate ordering from other online stores now because I hate waiting 7 business days to get my order (the model worked to get me hooked). I also love that I can get free release day shipping on pre-ordered books/video games. The…

The free 2 day shipping is why I signed up forever ago and have auto-renewed ever since. I hate ordering from other…

Minimal effect at best. They managed to annoy some people for a day, it's not like they actually did any tangible damage to MS or PSN.

Actually, Homo sapiens are primates.

Nah, Wormtongue had a tangible effect. They're more like random goblins.

That is not the point of the vaccine. The point of the vaccine is to prevent the disease associated with the infection, which is not the same thing. Neither the current acellular vaccines nor whole inactivated vaccines prevent the bacteria from infecting people. Both are able to prevent and/or shorten the onset of…

It's actually recommended for children between 2-8 years old because there are some studies showing that it is more effective than the shot in these younger populations. They don't recommend it for 6 months-2 years but that is most likely because it is much harder to get a child that age to take the vaccine properly…

Some people say that it lessens the amount of time that they feel sick, but the only study I've ever seen on this subject found that there was basically no benefit to taking Tamiflu after you've shown symptoms. The main reason for this is probably because by the time you showing symptoms your body likely has the viral…

Human infections with influenza are pretty much limited to H1N1 and H3N2 strains of the virus. Rarely you'll hear about H5, H7, or H9 "avian" strains infecting people, but the vaccines against them aren't cost effective since infection is so rare and generally only in certain risk groups (people who handle live/dead…

Tamiflu is a preventative, there's no evidence it will help you once you start showing symptoms. As a preventative it should be effective against all strains, though recently there have been some strains that are starting to show resistance.

Not sure about this year being particularly deadly, but those are preventatives. There's no evidence that they help much after you're showing symptoms.

They have cell culture based vaccines in circulation, they're just not as big yet and (I believe) more expensive.

I'm a bit skeptical of this. Most of their research shows that it's good at boosting responses to the vaccine, but they don't do much to show that it is effective on its own. A universal vaccine is the holy grail of flu research, everyone hopes to find it but it always remains quite elusive.

How screwed am I if I were to get the flu?

So, did my really really bad flu instance supercharge my immune system?

It is physically impossible to get the flu from a flu shot. The virus has to be treated to a level where it is 300% non-infectious. This means that they have to find the level of treatment that completely stops the virus from being infectious in a very permissive system (much more permissive than your body) and then…

is there much of a benefit to me getting one?

The responsible answer is, as stated by others, you are still fairly susceptible to getting it even if you're not in a high risk group- you're just less likely to die from it. That said, it is a matter of weighing risks (both to yourself and others) and making the decision for yourself. I haven't got a flu shot in…