The Straight Dope 11/28/2003

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 11/28/2003

Dear Cecil:

We are from a farming community that grows a lot of corn.
Ethanol (alcohol) and corn production are both heavily
subsidized. My thinking is that they both are "pork
barrel" projects. Doesn't it take as much or more fossil
fuel energy to produce a given amount of ethanol energy?
Maybe the ethanol lobbyists and producers aren't telling
us the full story? --Roger R., the midwest

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Cecil replies:

Maybe not, but who can blame them? The full story seems to
be that ethanol subsidies are a complete waste. One can't
expect a lobbyist to walk into a farm belt congressperson's
office and say, "Sir or madam, ethanol subsidies don't
reduce our dependence on foreign oil, alleviate air
pollution, or benefit the country in any other demonstrable
way. A large portion of the money goes directly into the
coffers of a single multibillion-dollar corporation. Some
experts say that manufacturing ethanol consumes more energy
than the fuel produces. In fact, all the ethanol industry
dependably generates is profits for itself and campaign
contributions for you. Can we count on your vote?"

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031128.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 12/06/1974

Dear Straight Dope:

My brand new Encyclopedia Britannica says that William
Faulkner's name was originally spelled "Falkner,"
without the "u." But it doesn't say why he changed it.
How about some Straight Dope? --Karen T., Chicago

Dear Karen:  

He didn't change it--the printer who set up his first book
did, by mistake, and Faulkner decided to live with the new
spelling rather than hassle to correct the error. He's
lucky his name wasn't Friar Tuck. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_296a.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/01/1978

Dear Cecil: 

I knew a guy in college who could swallow lit cigarettes.
Well, not really swallow them, but hold them in his mouth
for what seemed like a pretty long length of time. He
would then flip the cigarette back out and continue
smoking. I have envied him all these years. It seems like
a great way to pick up girls. How is it done? He used to
say he had toughened up this inside of his mouth by chewing
tobacco, but no one believed him. --Tom K., Chicago

Dear Tom:  

Your friend was hip to an old magician's trick, sometimes
used in sleight-of-hand routines. The performer would
appear to take a lit cigarette from his mouth, hold it out
in his fist, and make it vanish. What he'd really do is
flip the cigarette back in his mouth, gripping it between
his teeth and his lower lip, and hold it there, hopefully
out of harm's way, until he was ready to reproduce it.

Unfortunately, . . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_305.html
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