The Straight Dope 01/14/2005

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 01/14/2005

Dear Cecil:

I keep hearing claims that the Salem witchcraft trials were the result
of poisoning by grain infected with ergot fungus, which caused
convulsions and other symptoms that the simple souls of the day
interpreted as signs of demonic possession. Any truth to this, Cecil?
--Daniel L., Kenosha, Wisconsin

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Cecil replies:

Not likely. While it's rarely possible to prove or disprove these things
conclusively, evidence for the ergotism-made-them-do-it theory is
unpersuasive. The whole project, in fact, smacks of a refusal to face
unpleasant truths about human nature. Who needs an organic cause to
explain murder in the name of righteousness? Ignorance and superstition
aren't enough?

Let's start with the facts. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050114.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

I would like to learn how to convert a specific dollar amount from the
past to its present value. Better yet, I would like to know if there is
a website that will allow me to input a past value and a specific year
and obtain the equivalent value of the given amount in another year. An
example would make this clearer: In King Kong (1933), one of the
characters says that they had taken in $10,000 in ticket sales for the
opening night of King Kong's Broadway display. I would like to know how
to calculate the equivalent value of $10,000 in the year 1933 in 2003
dollars. (I would also like to be able to perform this calculate for
other years.) As you know, the issue of money comes up fairly often in
films. I think it would help to gain a greater understanding of a
character's motivation if we know how much is a stake in terms that are
relevant to the present day viewer. --Veronica Lee

Guest contributor Hawthorne replies:

You've picked a good example, Veronica, but there isn't a single answer
to the question.

The obvious thing to do is to inflate the $10,000 by the consumer price
index (CPI), which is updated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the U.S. Department of Labor. The CPI measures the movement in the
average price of a bundle of goods and services bought by a typical
consumer. The BLS provides an online calculator that enables you to
adjust for inflation for any pair of years between 1913 and the most
recent year for which statistics are available. If you'd rather do the
calculation yourself, the CPI website lets you generate tables for any
desired date range. What you're probably most interested in is the
"Consumer Price Index--All Urban Consumers." 

Comparisons over long periods of time are tricky for several reasons.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/minflationadjust.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/24/1984

Dear Cecil: 

I have three baseball questions, one technical, one historical, and one
theoretical. (1) The record books credit about a dozen players with
unassisted triple plays. How, exactly, is this done? (2) Has any team
ever made nine double plays or more in a game? (3) Which is more
elegant, a perfect game accomplished in 27 pitches, each batter hitting
into an out, or one accomplished in 81 strikes, giving the position
players nothing to do at all? (Warning: Roger Angell himself refused to
answer this question.) --Peter D., Chicago

Cecil replies:  

Roger is a good fellow, Pete, but when it comes to fine moral judgments,
you'd best stick with Unca Cecil. Let's take your questions in order: 
(1) In your "typical" unassisted triple play (there have been only eight or
so in major league history), you've got men on first and second. The batter
hits a hard shot to either (a) the shortstop or second baseman, who
catches it to put out the batter, touches second, retiring the lead
runner, and then tags out the runner arriving from first, or (b) the
first baseman, who tags out the first base runner and then runs to
second before the lead runner can return.  

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_173.html

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