Worldbuilding Realism Consultation Thread Mk. 4

[Triplebaconation]

The easiest way is to cover the top.

[Rich and Corporations]

The easiest way is to cover the top.

And if it proves to be too efficient?

[Questers]

Alcohol

Alcohol production is, like many things in Questers, a state owned enterprise in the main. A number of distinct distilleries for spirits and breweries for beer are maintained by the state, but there are some minor, higher quality products produced in the private sector included some centuries-old name brands. Regulation and standards are maintained by something like GOST. There are no laws for the sale or consumption of alcohol beverages under 2% for minors. Everything else is 18+. Certain brands of alcohol are subsidised by the state and sold extremely cheaply at state alcohol stores. However, shop employees have a legal obligation not to sell alcohol to people under the age of 21 who they believe are drunk.

Tobacco

Tobacco is imported, but cigarettes are produced in Questers. Some luxury cigarette brands are available at certain places, such as hotels or airports. It is illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 16. There is a loophole that if a shop employee has a reason to believe that the minor is purchasing them for an adult, they can legally carry out the sale. Some brands are state-subsidised also. If there are vapes in Questers, they probably fall under tobacco rules.

Drugs

Trafficking of drugs, including cannabis, was punished by death before the moratorium on the death penalty. Amphetamines are legal when used "medicinally" and are available in the form of anti-hangover chewing gum, attention aids, and wakefulness aids. Curiously, chewing gum is illegal in Questers, the only exception being the amphetamine chewing gum. See also:

Amphetamines in Questers

[Heavonia]

The easiest way is to cover the top.

And if it proves to be too efficient?

[Allanea]

So.

Can the hivemind explain toasters to me?

Does the electric consumption of a toaster directly affect its performance in terms of how fast it heats food or is it possible to play with the design of the thing to make them more or less efficient for the same amount of watts? It doesn't seem like it should be but maybe I don't know anything.

I... am wondering about appliances in my nation.

Since a toaster is just a few heating elements with either a thermocouple or capacitor to provide time/temperature control then yeah everything is going to dependent on its draw.
I'm sure you could do something clever with a controller that controls temperature, time and power level in the toaster so you can control exactly how the bread is toasted rather that just the Browning level but that will get expensive and have fairly complicated controls. It's also probably already done in high end models.

So what people are talking about right now when they're talking about making toasters more efficient and reducing their power consumption, how is this going to be accomplished?

[Crookfur]

Since a toaster is just a few heating elements with either a thermocouple or capacitor to provide time/temperature control then yeah everything is going to dependent on its draw.
I'm sure you could do something clever with a controller that controls temperature, time and power level in the toaster so you can control exactly how the bread is toasted rather that just the Browning level but that will get expensive and have fairly complicated controls. It's also probably already done in high end models.

So what people are talking about right now when they're talking about making toasters more efficient and reducing their power consumption, how is this going to be accomplished?

A lid mostly as tripplebacon mentioned, also some extra insulation and the ability to turn slots on or off if you aren't using them.

[Triplebaconation]

There's an ecotoaster out there that's claimed to be around 30% more efficient because the slots are covered during use.

The problem is that toasters use so little power that its useless modern features like a LED power indicator increase its energy consumption over a cheap mechanical model in the long run.

[Allanea]

Oh my god.

I realize now that the device called "toaster" in Israel is totally different from what people call "toaster" in Europe.

[Purpelia]

Just for the record, are we talking about the thing that you shove sliced bread into to make bread that has been baked, sliced and than baked again?

[Minroz]

I thought you guys were talking about the one which you put the sliced bread in and baked 'em like Purpelia said. What's with toasters anyway? :/

[Crookfur]

I have a suspicion that Allanea was talking about toaster ovens rather that the 2 to 4 slot vertical sliced bread toaster.

I could be wrong and maybe he means something like a toastie maker/panini press.

[Rich and Corporations]

I have a suspicion that Allanea was talking about toaster ovens rather that the 2 to 4 slot vertical sliced bread toaster.

I could be wrong and maybe he means something like a toastie maker/panini press.

could be israeli torture device

[DnalweN acilbupeR]

What do you think about using armored cars (i.e. the kind that have an almost stock appearance) in a police context?

We already do so but for diplomatic transport only (it is handled by the police not a separate agency) , like transporting domestic and foreign heads of state, dignitaries, etc. I'm basically asking if there would be any advantage to using such cars in addition to the regular (conspicuously) armored trucks I currently use for SWAT duties?

One use I was considering was having them be shared between our "SWAT" (I don't really call them that) and DIRTY (Designated Intraservice Response Team aka "Yankees") . The latter are dedicated tactical teams of ICCI Divisions (Intraservice Control and Counterintelligence) (IRL Internal Affairs), and could find it useful to have the option of maintaining relative stealthiness without compromising protection. Well SWAT could too.

Another question: who handles embassy guard and other diplomatic protection duties overseas in your nation? Is it some unit that is part of your military? Detachments of your police or state security agency? Armed personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself? Or do you simply employ foreign private or state-supplied guards?

I personally use detachments of my Federal Police for embassy guard duties. Depending on the country and the rank of the diplomatic official, security whilst in transit may be provided by the foreign government, or a combination of the former and our Federal Police detachment stationed there.

I was also wondering about pay and benefits for your police and military personnel.

In RN, all police and military staff serve voluntarily (there are no conscripts) and there are both "professional" (i.e. career military/police) and reserve forces.

The main difference between the two is that all police are civilian, which means that they are not subject to being court-martial'd (unlike the military, obviously). With that being said, public officers (including public police, EMS and firefighters) must swear by an oath which is binding and implies consenting to certain responsibilities and to potentially facing much harsher penalties compared to regular civilians for certain crimes committed whilst on duty. Also, as laid out in their work contracts, because they cannot be court martial'd, they can be subjected to very high financial penalties when breaking the rules of said contracts (e.g. if you're a reserve cop and, without a very good reason, you fail to go on duty when lawfully requested to by the government, as laid out in the work contract, you will get fired, banned from working for the government, and fined something equivalent to say hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) . This is to discourage public officers from going "AWOL" when SHTF and they're needed.

As far as pay and benefits are concerned, these are flexible and proportional to the rank and position of the individual. Certain "bonuses" may apply, such as overtime pay, those for working in hazardous environments, etc. Basic pay takes 2 main forms: regular, aka salary, which is virtually how all "professional" staff are paid, and POD (pay on deployment), which applies more for reserve personnel. As a reservist you may choose whether you want regular pay, POD, or a combination thereof at whatever "ratio" you choose. Reservists are layered in different tires, where the time they have to serve on the job (and frequency of deployment) is directly proportional to the extent of training they receive, level of weapons and equipment they have access to, pay and benefits they are entitled to, level of duties risk-wise, and inversely proportional to their numbers. The tires are as follows: 1. "Periodically Active Reserve" - these train and are on duty on a regular schedule ; they may be called up for duty more often for extra pay ; even if the need does not arise for them to be called on duty, they will deploy according to the schedule for training / exercises to maintain readiness. 2. "Inactive Reserve" - these receive initial training and may only be called up for duty when needed, i.e. not on a regular work or training schedule. 3. "Contingency Reserve" - comprised of registered members that have to fulfill certain conditions, which receive little or no training and are to be deployed as is or following additional or even "full" (as far as reserves are concerned) training, when needed. Generally each tire is activated gradually, i.e. for police, normally only "PAR" would be active most of the time, for policing relatively small assignments such as public events, minor riots, etc. whereas "IAR" could be activated in the case of major riots and the "COR" in a state of nationwide emergency. However, the police may sometimes choose to deploy lower-tire reserves like IAR instead of PAR or COR instead of IAR in low-risk situations because it may be cheaper for them to do so.

[Western Weyard]

What do you think about using armored cars (i.e. the kind that have an almost stock appearance) in a police context?

Makes sense. There are situation where you might need some protection, but can't afford to let your targets know you're rolling in. Think mobile takedowns for example, where you shadow a vehicle or a person in public followed by a rapid arrest.

[Roski]

It would be useful but I'd have beefed up engines.

You could probably easily lightly armor patrol cars.

[Western Weyard]

It would be useful but I'd have beefed up engines.

You could probably easily lightly armor patrol cars.

Yes, that is an option.
In the Commonwealth, several State Police forces have armored their patrol cars with ballistic plates in the front doors.
SWAT-like units use unmarked high performance vehicles with armor kits as well as marked armored vehicles.

[Austrasien]

I was also wondering about pay and benefits for your police and military personnel.

In RN, all police and military staff serve voluntarily (there are no conscripts) and there are both "professional" (i.e. career military/police) and reserve forces.

The main difference between the two is that all police are civilian, which means that they are not subject to being court-martial'd (unlike the military, obviously). With that being said, public officers (including public police, EMS and firefighters) must swear by an oath which is binding and implies consenting to certain responsibilities and to potentially facing much harsher penalties compared to regular civilians for certain crimes committed whilst on duty. Also, as laid out in their work contracts, because they cannot be court martial'd, they can be subjected to very high financial penalties when breaking the rules of said contracts (e.g. if you're a reserve cop and, without a very good reason, you fail to go on duty when lawfully requested to by the government, as laid out in the work contract, you will get fired, banned from working for the government, and fined something equivalent to say hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) . This is to discourage public officers from going "AWOL" when SHTF and they're needed.

As far as pay and benefits are concerned, these are flexible and proportional to the rank and position of the individual. Certain "bonuses" may apply, such as overtime pay, those for working in hazardous environments, etc. Basic pay takes 2 main forms: regular, aka salary, which is virtually how all "professional" staff are paid, and POD (pay on deployment), which applies more for reserve personnel. As a reservist you may choose whether you want regular pay, POD, or a combination thereof at whatever "ratio" you choose. Reservists are layered in different tires, where the time they have to serve on the job (and frequency of deployment) is directly proportional to the extent of training they receive, level of weapons and equipment they have access to, pay and benefits they are entitled to, level of duties risk-wise, and inversely proportional to their numbers. The tires are as follows: 1. "Periodically Active Reserve" - these train and are on duty on a regular schedule ; they may be called up for duty more often for extra pay ; even if the need does not arise for them to be called on duty, they will deploy according to the schedule for training / exercises to maintain readiness. 2. "Inactive Reserve" - these receive initial training and may only be called up for duty when needed, i.e. not on a regular work or training schedule. 3. "Contingency Reserve" - comprised of registered members that have to fulfill certain conditions, which receive little or no training and are to be deployed as is or following additional or even "full" (as far as reserves are concerned) training, when needed. Generally each tire is activated gradually, i.e. for police, normally only "PAR" would be active most of the time, for policing relatively small assignments such as public events, minor riots, etc. whereas "IAR" could be activated in the case of major riots and the "COR" in a state of nationwide emergency. However, the police may sometimes choose to deploy lower-tire reserves like IAR instead of PAR or COR instead of IAR in low-risk situations because it may be cheaper for them to do so.

Police are part of the civil service, which entails both rights and responsibilities. As a right they cannot be terminated unless a tribunal agrees there is sufficient cause and remedial actions will not suffice and once they are inducted into service they are guaranteed work. On the responsibilities side they cannot legally refuse to work, including labour actions, the fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Control which may discipline them or impose other penalties. And like the armed forces the orders of a police commander are legally binding on his subordinates, though police commanders command authority is much more circumscribed in most circumstances (in times of emergency a police commander gains a much more comprehensive mandate) than a commanding officer in the armed forces.

Their pay is basically similar to some military payscales IRL: Rank and years of service determine the basic pay grade, with a cost of living modifier (cost of living is normalized for the national capital region) and various incentives for specialist positions or qualifications. Policemen are paid on a monthly basis according to their pay formula, they are generally expected to be available to work as needed. Reserve police are paid a fixed rate for each day of active service according to a similar scale.

Other benefits include an extra contribution to the national pension fund, free, on top of the standard mandatory contributions and a heavily subsidized health insurance plan. Police Preparatory Academies (which are quasi-private institutions) also set aside a number of places each year for children of distinguished alumni, so it is in general significantly easier for a child of a police officer to become a police officer if they are otherwise qualified. This sort of arrangement isn't police-specific in Austrasia though.

[DnalweN acilbupeR]

I was also wondering about pay and benefits for your police and military personnel.

In RN, all police and military staff serve voluntarily (there are no conscripts) and there are both "professional" (i.e. career military/police) and reserve forces.

The main difference between the two is that all police are civilian, which means that they are not subject to being court-martial'd (unlike the military, obviously). With that being said, public officers (including public police, EMS and firefighters) must swear by an oath which is binding and implies consenting to certain responsibilities and to potentially facing much harsher penalties compared to regular civilians for certain crimes committed whilst on duty. Also, as laid out in their work contracts, because they cannot be court martial'd, they can be subjected to very high financial penalties when breaking the rules of said contracts (e.g. if you're a reserve cop and, without a very good reason, you fail to go on duty when lawfully requested to by the government, as laid out in the work contract, you will get fired, banned from working for the government, and fined something equivalent to say hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars) . This is to discourage public officers from going "AWOL" when SHTF and they're needed.

As far as pay and benefits are concerned, these are flexible and proportional to the rank and position of the individual. Certain "bonuses" may apply, such as overtime pay, those for working in hazardous environments, etc. Basic pay takes 2 main forms: regular, aka salary, which is virtually how all "professional" staff are paid, and POD (pay on deployment), which applies more for reserve personnel. As a reservist you may choose whether you want regular pay, POD, or a combination thereof at whatever "ratio" you choose. Reservists are layered in different tires, where the time they have to serve on the job (and frequency of deployment) is directly proportional to the extent of training they receive, level of weapons and equipment they have access to, pay and benefits they are entitled to, level of duties risk-wise, and inversely proportional to their numbers. The tires are as follows: 1. "Periodically Active Reserve" - these train and are on duty on a regular schedule ; they may be called up for duty more often for extra pay ; even if the need does not arise for them to be called on duty, they will deploy according to the schedule for training / exercises to maintain readiness. 2. "Inactive Reserve" - these receive initial training and may only be called up for duty when needed, i.e. not on a regular work or training schedule. 3. "Contingency Reserve" - comprised of registered members that have to fulfill certain conditions, which receive little or no training and are to be deployed as is or following additional or even "full" (as far as reserves are concerned) training, when needed. Generally each tire is activated gradually, i.e. for police, normally only "PAR" would be active most of the time, for policing relatively small assignments such as public events, minor riots, etc. whereas "IAR" could be activated in the case of major riots and the "COR" in a state of nationwide emergency. However, the police may sometimes choose to deploy lower-tire reserves like IAR instead of PAR or COR instead of IAR in low-risk situations because it may be cheaper for them to do so.

Police are part of the civil service, which entails both rights and responsibilities. As a right they cannot be terminated unless a tribunal agrees there is sufficient cause and remedial actions will not suffice and once they are inducted into service they are guaranteed work. On the responsibilities side they cannot legally refuse to work, including labour actions, the fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Control which may discipline them or impose other penalties. And like the armed forces the orders of a police commander are legally binding on his subordinates, though police commanders command authority is much more circumscribed in most circumstances (in times of emergency a police commander gains a much more comprehensive mandate) than a commanding officer in the armed forces.

Their pay is basically similar to some military payscales IRL: Rank and years of service determine the basic pay grade, with a cost of living modifier (cost of living is normalized for the national capital region) and various incentives for specialist positions or qualifications. Policemen are paid on a monthly basis according to their pay formula, they are generally expected to be available to work as needed. Reserve police are paid a fixed rate for each day of active service according to a similar scale.

Other benefits include an extra contribution to the national pension fund, free, on top of the standard mandatory contributions and a heavily subsidized health insurance plan. Police Preparatory Academies (which are quasi-private institutions) also set aside a number of places each year for children of distinguished alumni, so it is in general significantly easier for a child of a police officer to become a police officer if they are otherwise qualified. This sort of arrangement isn't police-specific in Austrasia though.

hmm, don't you think this would encourage nepotism?

having a "heritage" in a certain work field should bring advantages of its own compared to someone who lacks that, it really doesn't help if you're making it even harder for others to break into the business...

[Austrasien]

hmm, don't you think this would encourage nepotism?

having a "heritage" in a certain work field should bring advantages of its own compared to someone who lacks that, it really doesn't help if you're making it even harder for others to break into the business...

Oh it would.

It persists for a couple reasons:

1. Austrasia has a highly decentralized education system, there is no overarching national school system, and professional schools like police academies are closely tied to the professional associations they feed. The Police academies for example depend heavily on contributions from the various police unions to operate for example. Though the government closely supervises the performance of schools through the Inspectorate of Education and various centrally-administered examinations it is strictly limited in its ability to interfere directly in their day-to-day operations for legal and historical reasons. They can't tell a school who to admit.

2. The aforementioned national examinations lead to strong streaming of students anyways. By the time you reach nineteen and have completed the equivalent of secondary school ones career options are already fairly limited, moreso if they attended one of many specialized primary or secondary schools, unless a student has really extraordinary academic results. Since a student is basically committed to a career trajectory well before they are an adult it is largely up to their parents to point them in a given direction, and it is generally easiest for parents to point their children in the path of their own career.

3. Social norms also support the practice as most professionals will point to a long lineage in a field as a source of pride, employers prefer it (a genealogy is not an unusual thing to attach to a job application in Austrasia) and customers tend to expect it (a 7th generation dentist for example will attract a lot more patients to her practice than a dentist whose parents were dock workers, all things being equal). Putting aside your personnel dreams and carrying on a family legacy is generally seen as a respectable, adult, thing to do while throwing away a family legacy to pursue a dream job is usually seen as childish. Though having a lot of siblings makes this much less pressing.

2. Getting a job is basically mandatory for adult men and single childless adult women. Social benefits in Austrasia are very closely tied to employment and unless you are an invalid or can live entirely off wealth there is basically no way to make a living without steady work. So getting people jobs is the top social priory of all governments, and a great deal of wheeling-and-dealing goes on between the government and employers and unions to keep as many people as absolutely possible employed at all times. Arrangements which grease the wheels to get people working are not readily challenged.

[Chinese Peoples]

What do you think about using armored cars (i.e. the kind that have an almost stock appearance) in a police context?

Probably not.

We already do so but for diplomatic transport only (it is handled by the police not a separate agency) , like transporting domestic and foreign heads of state, dignitaries, etc. I'm basically asking if there would be any advantage to using such cars in addition to the regular (conspicuously) armored trucks I currently use for SWAT duties?

Emergency response duties are handled by several agencies outside of the regular police.

Another question: who handles embassy guard and other diplomatic protection duties overseas in your nation? Is it some unit that is part of your military? Detachments of your police or state security agency? Armed personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself? Or do you simply employ foreign private or state-supplied guards?

For general patrol and policing, the regular police exist. For more specialized form of protection, state security takes over; depending on the specific needs, either the Bureau of Investigation (Ministry of the Interior) or the Secret Service (Ministry of Defence) are summoned, but never both together. Since police jurisdictions are provincial, diplomats are well advised to notify the responsible police departments of their intention to travel in order to arrange for protection.

I was also wondering about pay and benefits for your police and military personnel.

The pay structure of military and police personnel are both replications of the civil service pay scale, taking into account of rank and the difficulty of the specific position. In the military, there are 10 officer ranks and corresponding 10 pay brackets, with the bottom bracket with 5 steps and the top bracket with 12; as long as the serviceperson achieves a certain grade in annual appraisal, he will advance one step on the bracket; once he reaches the top step, he will be promoted in priority, as long as he has the necessary qualifications, obtained by passing examinations. Promotion within the ranks of warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel are less restrictive and demanding. For the top rank, it is necessary to take the High Level Qualifications Examination and three subsequent Superior Qualifications examinations, each having an attrition rate of roughly 82%, 87%, and 93%, respectively.

[Heavonia]

We already do so but for diplomatic transport only (it is handled by the police not a separate agency) , like transporting domestic and foreign heads of state, dignitaries, etc. I'm basically asking if there would be any advantage to using such cars in addition to the regular (conspicuously) armored trucks I currently use for SWAT duties?

Emergency response duties are handled by several agencies outside of the regular police.

>police don't respond to emergencies

Who tf does?

[Chinese Peoples]

Emergency response duties are handled by several agencies outside of the regular police.

>police don't respond to emergencies

Who tf does?

The special police or state security. Or the fire brigade and ambulance, depending on what the emergency is. Special police units are held at province or even centrally, since maintaining them locally would be prohibitively expensive. State security is a joint central and provincial jurisdiction, so both may respond to crises when police should not or cannot intervene.

[Heavonia]

>police don't respond to emergencies

Who tf does?

The special police or state security. Or the fire brigade and ambulance, depending on what the emergency is. Special police units are held at province or even centrally, since maintaining them locally would be prohibitively expensive. State security is a joint central and provincial jurisdiction, so both may respond to crises when police should not or cannot intervene.

How big are 'provinces' for police units to be held centrally there?

Like, I phone the police to say that there was screaming and sounds of a fight next door and I'm worried for the lady who lives there because the man is a bit of a thug, and I think I've seen her with a black eye a few times. How long will it take for the special police to get there from their central place? You're trying to beat or match a 15 minute 'from the connection of the call and "Hello, you've reached Lancashire Constabulary." to the first officer arriving on-scene' for UK Police.

[Western Weyard]

How big are 'provinces' for police units to be held centrally there?

Like, I phone the police to say that there was screaming and sounds of a fight next door and I'm worried for the lady who lives there because the man is a bit of a thug, and I think I've seen her with a black eye a few times. How long will it take for the special police to get there from their central place? You're trying to beat or match a 15 minute 'from the connection of the call and "Hello, you've reached Lancashire Constabulary." to the first officer arriving on-scene' for UK Police.

I get the feeling that his definition of an emergency isn't exactly matching ours.

[EsToVnIa]

The special police or state security. Or the fire brigade and ambulance, depending on what the emergency is. Special police units are held at province or even centrally, since maintaining them locally would be prohibitively expensive. State security is a joint central and provincial jurisdiction, so both may respond to crises when police should not or cannot intervene.

How big are 'provinces' for police units to be held centrally there?

Like, I phone the police to say that there was screaming and sounds of a fight next door and I'm worried for the lady who lives there because the man is a bit of a thug, and I think I've seen her with a black eye a few times. How long will it take for the special police to get there from their central place? You're trying to beat or match a 15 minute 'from the connection of the call and "Hello, you've reached Lancashire Constabulary." to the first officer arriving on-scene' for UK Police.

It's literally what China does.