If a baby is found abandoned somewhere in the U.S. and they never find the parents, how is he assigned a Social Security Number and other stuff that is dependant upon having a birth certificate? And who gets custody until he's lucky enough to perhaps be adopted - a standard-issue orphanage, or what?
Any info would be appreciated. This community rocks.
In one of my stories a very dangerous supernatural creature (a huge cat-like predator) is smuggled from Africa to the United States. I was thinking that the organisation smuggling it would use a ship to bring it to South America. In South America a circus would take over harbouring the creature (they can buy the meat required to feed it without causing raised eye-brows), and the circus would then travel north until they reach LA. A mage would be hired to give the animal the appearance of a lion or tiger, whenever customs officials take a look.
Which South American industrial harbour would be best suited? It should be big and busy. I suck at geography.
Also, I am assuming that a circus that features attractions like elephants and tigers has a supply of tranquilizers to drug the animals should they escape or go nuts in the arena. Does anybody know what kind of drugs are used? Do they get administered by dart gun?
I googled the term 'circus' and got a little overwhelmed. If anyone knows a good site that informs about circuses and how they are run (as opposed to sites that advertise a particular circus), I'd be very grateful.
Okay, so I've tried to look this up, but with little success.
I have a character who is a professor of ancient art, specifically Asian art. Now, today, he would most likely have a doctorate in either Art History or Asian Studies, probably Art History because he doesn't much care about anything *but* the art, but my impression is that these are new fields, and the story is set in the 1930's. He would have finished his degree in the mid-1920's; he is an American, but it would not be totally inconsistent for him to have been educated in Britain. So what would he in fact have his degree in/be a professor of? He does some field research, so archeology is a possibility, but his focus is specifically art, rather than more generic artifacts.
Anyone know what this would be, or where I could find out? I'd be very grateful.
1. A character has passed out from blood loss. The wound has been bandaged and the bleeding stopped, but her fellow characters desperately need her awake, liek, now. Would the amount of epinephrine in an Epipen be sufficient to jolt her awake for a few minutes? Would this be a Bad Idea? Is there an easier way to get her to wake up quickly?
2. Since this is going to be an event-filled night, the character with the Epipen does not have time to stop home and get a spare. Which is bad news, because he ends up having a serious allergic reaction later on. Barring calling an ambulance [the police are after them] what's the best way to keep someone in anaphylactic shock from dying without an Epipen? It'd be possible for one of the other characters to run to the nearest drugstore and get some ephedra or antihistamines or something, but nearly impossible to administer them orally, since he'd be puking his guts up.
