The Straight Dope 06/30/2006

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 06/30/2006

Dear Cecil:

When I'm feeling cynical about well-publicized criminal trials, I
sometimes use the timeworn phrase "they've never hung a millionaire in
the U.S." Certainly I can't think of one. But is it true? --Timothy G.
Merker, Chicago

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Cecil replies:

If the expression "You simply cannot hang a millionaire in America,"
attributed to politician and orator William Bourke Cockran (1854-1923),
is timeworn, Tim, it's not from overuse--Google turns up a big four
hits. That tells you something about U.S. attitudes right there, because
the fact is, while a few millionaires have gone to the gallows (chair,
whatever), we haven't hanged many. Let's count:

Labor racketeer Louis "Lepke" Buchalter made millions in the 1920s and
'30s. Under investigation for extortion and murder, Lepke--head of the
notorious organized-crime hit squad nicknamed Murder, Inc.--waged a "war
of extermination" against potential informants. Dozens died, but the
scorched-earth policy backfired, encouraging targets to take their
chances with the law; one witness at Buchalter's eventual murder trial
in 1941 agreed to testify only after being shot in the head on
Buchalter's instructions. Buchalter was convicted despite spending an
estimated quarter million on his defense. He appealed as far as the U.S.
Supreme Court but was finally electrocuted in 1944. That's one.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060630.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 - 08/12/1988

Dear Cecil:  

Does an airplane have a lighter load after the passengers
have consumed their rubber chicken and plastic vegetables? --R.C.,
Evanston, Illinois  

Dear R.: 
 
Food doesn't cease to exist merely because somebody swallowed
it, beanbrain. The only time a plane's mass decreases
is if something gets dumped out or falls off, e.g., an engine, cabin
wall, etc. Ignoring the minor reduction in weight due to the loss of
moisture and carbon dioxide to the outside atmosphere during air
recirculation (which would occur whether the passengers ate anything or
not), the plane's load stays the same. We'll also ignore--I hate to have
to throw all these qualifications in here, but I'm surrounded by
nitpickers--weight loss due to jet fuel consumption during the meal.  

Next time ask something a little more challenging, like whether, if a
passenger tosses a baseball into the air, the plane's weight decreases
by the weight of the baseball (5 to 5-1/2 ounces, for you sticklers).
Amazing answer on request.   

THE TEEMING MILLIONS POUNCE 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_144.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 - 06/17/1988

Dear Cecil: 

If you're driving your car at the speed of light and put your headlights
on, what happens? - -Rob M., Sausalito, California  

Dear Rob:  

Man, what are you guys in Sausalito on, anyway? As anyone with
even the most tenuous grasp of the theory of relativity knows, the
speed of light is constant for any inertial observer. Does that answer
your question? I didn't think so. Let me put it another way.  

Suppose you're zipping down to the Dairy Queen in your Hyundai at
0.99c--in other words, 99 percent of the speed of light. While en route
you flip on the high beams and perform various subtle and ingenious
experiments that I will not describe here. You discover that the light from
the headlamps is traveling away from you at (surprise!) the speed of light.
In other words, your headlights operate normally.   Now suppose a stationary
observer at the side of the road performs the same experiment on the
same beam of light. She (her name is Myra) discovers that the beam is
moving away from her at speed c also. But how can this be, you ask?
Since I'm going nearly the S. of L. to start with, shouldn't that give
the photons emitted by the headlamps a running start, so to speak,
enabling them to travel nearly twice the speed of light with respect to
Myra? 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_143.html

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