The Straight Dope 09/23/2005

THE STRAIGHT DOPE 09/23/2005

Dear Cecil:

A recent article in the New York Times mentioned a bit of
civil disobedience that caught my attention: ". . . in the
1670's . . . the prime minister was killed, and partially
eaten, by a mob of angry Dutch. . . ." Would you mind giving
out the background behind this incident? And perhaps the
contact information for any of the mob's descendants who
might consider consuming a few unruly U.S. politicians?
--Michael Roberts, via e-mail

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Cecil replies:

I'd better give a little context for this bizarre story, not
that it's going to help much.

The article you refer to, which appeared in the Times on
August 21, 2005, discusses the views of Yale economist
Robert Shiller, who believes that "housing prices may drop
sharply, as they did 300 years ago on the Herengracht
[canal] in Amsterdam." The article cites the work of Piet
Eichholtz, a Dutch economist and evidently an admirer of
Shiller's, who charted housing prices on the prestigious
waterway over a 400-year span. The passage about the
unfortunate prime minister reads in its entirety as follows:

"On the Herengracht, [economic] returns have often been
fantastic for 25 or even 50 years at a time. Home prices
soared in the first half of the 17th century, around the
time of the tulip mania. But they came crashing down in the
1670's, when the prime minister was killed, and partially
eaten, by a mob of angry Dutch, and the country nearly
disintegrated.  . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050923.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

A friend of mine says that she heard that the toxins from a
fire ant bite stay in your system forever and if you're
bitten and receive enough of these toxins that you would
eventually die. Sounds a bit silly to me. --Joe Cox

SDSTAFF Doug replies:

Your friend has mangled the facts a bit, but there's a grain
of truth in there. Like virtually every other
naturally-occurring venom (as opposed to a "toxin," which
can be all sorts of things), ant venom breaks down and
dissipates quickly. No insect venom stays in the body for
more than a few hours--any delayed symptoms are secondary
immune system reactions, and once they've started, the venom
itself doesn't need to be there for the symptoms to persist.
What does stay in the body are  . . .

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

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 12/14/1984

Dear Cecil: 

I am enclosing an inflatable Dino the Sinclair Dinosaur out
of gratitude for your putting two of my questions in your
recent book. (You mentioned that you "had one" of these as a
child and found it "inexplicably charming.") Now I have
another question: my step-dad tells me that many years ago
there was a fellow who invented a pill that, when put in a
tank of water, would turn the water into gasoline. After
publicly demonstrating this, he then disappeared forever,
his secret formula gone with him. The yarn goes on that the
big oil companies felt threatened and were responsible for
his demise. A good friend of mine confirms that he read this
story in an old Farmer's Almanac. Any truth to this? --Mike
J., Chicago 

Cecil replies:  

Thanks for the dinosaur, Mike, as well as the opportunity to
work in yet another plug for my books, which are selling like
hotcakes, mainly due to my relentless program of self-promotion.
As for your question, I believe you're referring to the late Guido
Franch, who was the subject of a story some years ago by former
Straight Dope editor Mike Lenehan. Over the course of three decades,
Guido convinced dozens, maybe hundreds of people that he
could turn ordinary water into high-test gasoline (he called
it "Mota fuel," Mota being "atom" spelled backwards) by
dumping some mysterious green powder into it. The cost? Just
eight cents a gallon. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_399.html

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