The Straight Dope 09/15/2006

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 09/15/2006

Dear Cecil:

We're all taught in B-school that market prices are determined by supply
and demand. I can't for one minute believe this is true of crude oil
prices. Demand appears to be static (that is, static at a given moment,
although steadily increasing with time) and not affected by price at
all. China isn't going to buy incrementally less oil as the price goes
up. So how is the market price actually determined? --Jason, Atlanta

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Cecil replies:

Simple- it's whatever the market will bear. That's the high-level view,
of course. The details are more complicated. Pull up a chair.

There are two ways to buy oil--first, by entering into a long- term
contract to get regular deliveries, and second, by buying oil when you
want it at the current price in the so-called spot market. Through the
1970s most oil on the international market was bought on long-term
contracts, which meant prices didn't fluctuate much. Sure, you had that
little adjustment following the 1973 oil embargo, but afterward prices
remained stable, just higher. That changed following the Iran hostage
crisis of 1979-'81. The price of oil more than doubled initially, then
dropped when OPEC's stranglehold was broken by noncartel suppliers, such
as those pumping crude from the North Sea. They could undercut existing
long-term contract prices by selling on the spot market, which
thereafter assumed much greater importance. Competition complicated life
for bulk oil purchasers. It kept the price down, which they liked. They
didn't like the resultant price fluctuations, because running a business
is tough when you can't predict costs. Enter oil futures.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060915.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 - 01/05/1990

Dear Cecil:

Who gets the most pleasure out of sex--the man or the woman? According
to Tiresias, a prophet in Greek mythology, the woman gets nine times
more pleasure than the man. Please, say it ain't so! --Sean Sherman,
Montreal, Quebec

Cecil replies:

I've got some good news and some bad news, Sean. But first one ground
rule: we're going to confine this discussion to the physiological
experience of orgasm. The more subjective aspects of sex, important
though they may be, are too difficult for us scientists to quantify. Now
for the good news: your basic run-of-the-mill male and female orgasms
are pretty similar. Kinsey (1953) in particular took pains to emphasize
that "the anatomic structures which are most essential to sexual
response and orgasm are nearly identical in the human female and male,"
and that "orgasm in the female matches orgasm of the male in every
physiologic detail except for the fact that it occurs without
ejaculation." I would venture to say this jibes with most folks'
everyday experience.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_224.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 - 02/02/1990

Dear Cecil: 

What can you tell us about vacuum cleaner wounds to the penis? This
malady apparently afflicts an informational underclass who think that a
vacuum cleaner can simulate fellatio. - -Inquiring Mind, Chicago

Cecil replies:

Got those midwinter blues, kids? Cecil has just the thing to brighten up
your dull lives. Several cases of "penile injuries from vacuum cleaners"
were reported about ten years ago in the British Medical Journal. The
injury reports are classic:

"Case 1--A 60-year-old man said that he was changing the plug of his
Hoover Dustette vacuum cleaner in the nude while his wife was out
shopping. It 'turned itself on' and caught his penis, causing tears
around the external meatus.... Multiple lacerations of the glans [were]
repaired with catgut.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_225.html

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