The Straight Dope 12/08/2006

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/08/2006

Dear Cecil:

A fire department official appeared on our local news
tonight, giving holiday-related fire prevention tips. One
was: don't burn discarded wrapping paper in your
wood-burning stove or fireplace. When asked by the
interviewer why this was a bad idea, the official stated
that the paper burned at a higher temperature than most
stoves or fireplaces were rated for. I find it hard to
believe that wrapping paper could achieve a higher burning
temp than, say, a good piece of oak or maple. I suspect that
if there's any drawback to this practice at all, it would be
the excessive amount of ash produced and/or the ink or other
coatings producing possibly toxic gases or chimney-clogging
by-products. What say you, Cecil?   Jerry H., via e-mail 

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Cecil replies:

Be kind. It's tough enough getting local functionaries
straight on the basic message   you're expecting miracles if
you want them to grasp all the fine points. Burning wrapping
paper in your stove or fireplace is a bad idea, but not
because you're going to exceed some mysterious rating.
Rather it's because, among other things, you don't want to
set fire to your roof.

What's called the adiabatic flame temperature (the
theoretical maximum) is roughly the same for wood, paper,
and many other organic substances including propane, believe
it or not: about 2000 degrees Celsius. The actual flame
temperature is less, often a lot less, and varies widely
depending on how readily the fuel can be supplied with
oxygen and how well it burns   meaning, for our purposes,
how wet it is.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061208.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

On the final show for "24" last season, the U.S. attorney
general ordered federal agents to take custody of the
President. Is this legal? Who has the power to arrest a
sitting President should he or she commit a crime? I thought
I read somewhere that only a U.S. marshal could arrest the
president but I can't find anything on the web. Help.  Chris
Chambers, Dublin, Ohio 

SDSTAFF Gfactor replies:  

Although your question has an easy answer, it raises an
issue that has vexed constitutional law scholars for a long time.
First the easy part. There's no distinction in federal or state
statutes between arrestees. For example, 18 U.S.C. §3052
gives FBI agents the power to "serve warrants and subpoenas
issued under the authority of the United States and make
arrests without warrant for any offense against the United
States committed in their presence, or for any felony
cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have
reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested
has committed or is committing such felony." Section 3053,
which governs U.S. marshals, gives them similar authority to
make warrantless arrests. Not all federal agents have the
same broad arrest powers, but nothing in the statutes
prevents them from arresting government officials.
Similarly, state law enforcement officers can arrest those
who violate state laws. There's no real debate about this. 

On the other hand . . . 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mprezarrest.htm

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/15/1989

Dear Cecil: 

I recently changed professions, and though I refer to myself
as a "dancer" or "showgirl," many people use the term "go-go
dancer." No one seems to know how, why, or where "go- go"
originated. What's the story? --Phoenix, Indianapolis

Cecil replies:

Glad to see you're reading the Straight Dope, Phoenix; in
your line of work it probably helps to keep your mind on the
higher things. "Go-go" derives from the French a go go, in
abundance, galore, a term that dates back to 1440 and may
have derived from an older word agogue, merriment. 

It found its way into our language by a route that's
circuitous even for English. According to John Ciardi's Good
Words to You, Compton MacKenzie published a novel in 1947
entitled Whisky Galore, about a freighter with 10,000 cases
of whisky that is wrecked near a booze-starved island during
World War II. The book was made into a movie of the same
name in England (it was called Tight Little Island in its
U.S. release) that when dubbed for the French became Whiskey
a gogo, whiskey galore. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_266c.html

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