# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=105 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 106 --- ## [come on improve](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-improve/498249)
**Author:** [@jijogeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jijogeorge)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-improve/498249 "2009-06-01T15:08:22Z")
i ve read many of ur answers cecil,some of them are really goodbut quit many of them seem to beat around the bush…can u be more precise in ur answers --- ## [Solar System Engineering](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-system-engineering/498012)
**Author:** [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-system-engineering/498012 "2009-05-30T15:05:21Z")
In this column, Cecil pontificates on the feasibility of moving Mars or Venus into Earth’s orbit, and whether or not those planets would become habitable. Regardless of whether those planets would become habitable at th… --- ## [Why the bad science Cecil (Planetary movement)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-bad-science-cecil-planetary-movement/498014)
**Author:** [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-bad-science-cecil-planetary-movement/498014 "2009-05-29T15:57:39Z")
Cecil, In today’s column you mention: In an earlier mailbag column (I would post the URL but the SD is suffering from a dead link)–I can however get a discussion on said column we learn that the ‘gravity-assist maneuv… --- ## [re: Who's Your Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whos-your-daddy/497856)
**Author:** [@Paul\_Millar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_Millar)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whos-your-daddy/497856 "2009-05-28T18:02:00Z")
I think you will agree that the results of the Anderson study (the main source used in article) indicate a much higher rate of misattributed paternity than you suggest. In studies where there was high confidence on the … --- ## [Shooting a bullet while traveling the speed of light](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-a-bullet-while-traveling-the-speed-of-light/398671)
**Author:** [@human\_extinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/human_extinction)\ **Replies:** 178\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-a-bullet-while-traveling-the-speed-of-light/398671 "2009-05-28T13:16:06Z")
I understand the math that Cecel Adams presented in The Straight Dope about this question. However, isn’t the more practical, more pertinent answer, a one of simple reality? The energy present in the material of a gun an… --- ## [My theory about Booth's Pickled Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-theory-about-booths-pickled-remains/497775)
**Author:** [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-theory-about-booths-pickled-remains/497775 "2009-05-27T22:25:35Z")
Which I may have mentioned before, but if I have, then this is again (for how often does it come up?). As mentioned in Cecil’s column about Booth’s Pickled Remains, Booth was killed by Boston Corbett, a psychotic religi… --- ## [buttons on sleeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttons-on-sleeves/496337)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttons-on-sleeves/496337 "2009-05-27T21:10:44Z")
I find the story about buttons on sleeves being used to prevent soldiers using their sleeves as kleenex to be preposterous. First off, the buttons on sleeves are on the outer forearm. If one were attempting to wipe his… --- ## [Ascent from scuba diving](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascent-from-scuba-diving/496541)
**Author:** [@fructose1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fructose1)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascent-from-scuba-diving/496541 "2009-05-27T16:22:22Z")
Hello all, I finally had to question something on here. I’ve been lurking long enough… Anyway, in today column “Can Air Injected Into the Bloodstream Really Kill you?” I noticed that the reason that air entered the bl… --- ## [How come white people don't all look alike?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-white-people-dont-all-look-alike/493970)
**Author:** [@engjs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engjs)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-white-people-dont-all-look-alike/493970 "2009-05-27T12:41:32Z")
A third possibility presents itself from the work of Jared Diamond. The people in south east asia, from Madagascar across the top of Australia to Easter Island, mainly descend from one village off the coast of Japan who … --- ## [Why did 18th C. writers use F instead of S?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-18th-c-writers-use-f-instead-of-s/497063)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-18th-c-writers-use-f-instead-of-s/497063 "2009-05-24T22:45:03Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/101/why-did-18th-century-writers-use-f-inftead-of-s There are some of these weird letters in the Declaration of Independence, IIRC. I noticed a typo in Cecil’s article: In the l… --- ## [Signing contracts, names, and symbols...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signing-contracts-names-and-symbols/495411)
**Author:** [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signing-contracts-names-and-symbols/495411 "2009-05-22T21:34:28Z")
Although not directly involved, I would have thought this column a perfect chance to reference the famous contract dispute involving “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” Does it matter if you sign a contract with a na… --- ## [Catherine and the Horse](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catherine-and-the-horse/494700)
**Author:** [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catherine-and-the-horse/494700 "2009-05-21T20:36:17Z")
While I suspect that Cecil is correct, I just thought that I would note that when I was in Russia around…1991(?) we were visiting some palace or another and they showed off the fabled horse harness that had been used t… --- ## ["Classic" Cecil Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cecil-anachronism/497206)
**Author:** [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cecil-anachronism/497206 "2009-05-21T18:48:43Z")
At the end of a quite interesting column about reading directionality, Cecil states: Note, however, that this column is “Classic Cecil”, dated May 28 1976. Barring the possibility that Cecil mastered time travel, it l… --- ## [double post - Whats the story on the radio payola scandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-post-whats-the-story-on-the-radio-payola-scandal/497053)
**Author:** [@CogitoSum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CogitoSum)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-post-whats-the-story-on-the-radio-payola-scandal/497053 "2009-05-20T12:43:57Z")
I was just reading a random column, and noted that the text, along with references had been included twice. As I could see no plausible reason for this, I assumed someone might want to fix it, and hence have herein po… --- ## [The exception proves the rule?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exception-proves-the-rule/497056)
**Author:** [@CogitoSum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CogitoSum)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2009, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exception-proves-the-rule/497056 "2009-05-20T11:00:59Z")
While reading Cecil’s column What’s the meaning of the expression, “That’s the exception that proves the rule?” I noticed an off-hand remark regarding another famous quote, “the proof is in the pudding.” Is not the origi… --- ## [Monkey Gland Transplants](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-gland-transplants/496651)
**Author:** [@Haughey6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haughey6)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-gland-transplants/496651 "2009-05-20T03:44:14Z")
I am not sure if this is the really the same thing as paperbackwriter was answering, but I do recall in school while being forced to attempt to comprehend the poetry of W. B. Yeats, it was mentioned that he had monkey te… --- ## [Who were the Aryans?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-aryans/470385)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-were-the-aryans/470385 "2009-05-18T14:00:37Z")
Good column. Not long before WW2, J.R.R. Tolkien was asked by a German publisher if he was Aryan. Bet they wish they hadn’t asked: One Eternal Day: Tolkien on anti-Semitism --- ## [Catherine The Great](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catherine-the-great/496648)
**Author:** [@Haughey6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haughey6)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catherine-the-great/496648 "2009-05-18T13:54:57Z")
From what I recall, the rumour behind her ‘cavorting’ with horses, is meant to have originated from the scaffold type equipment required to get her rather large bulk onto a horse to ride it in the normal manner, combined… --- ## [Photographic memory - eidetic hoax](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory-eidetic-hoax/32069)
**Author:** [@nthomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nthomas)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory-eidetic-hoax/32069 "2009-05-18T00:11:20Z")
In this week’s online column Cecil mentions the case case of “Elizabeth”, the woman with the super-eidetic memory. This is often cited, and I believe it was published in a respectable scientific journal, and not just in … --- ## [Alamo and de la Pena's Account](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alamo-and-de-la-penas-account/496065)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alamo-and-de-la-penas-account/496065 "2009-05-17T22:44:43Z")
Cecil writes about the Alamo: What was the Mexicans’ version of the Alamo attack? - The Straight Dope and quotes the diary of Mexican general de la Pena. I don’t have a cite, but I had always heard that this diary was … --- ## [What's the origin of the "F" word?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-f-word/496460)
**Author:** [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-f-word/496460 "2009-05-17T15:21:35Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1009/whats-the-origin-of-the-f-word I always figured it was probably an age-old instance of Saxon onomatopoeia. :smiley: (Just say it to yourself five times with the appropriat… --- ## [en pointe male dancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/en-pointe-male-dancer/496632)
**Author:** [@srbeck13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srbeck13)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/en-pointe-male-dancer/496632 "2009-05-16T15:33:12Z")
In the Kultur DVD of Frederick Ashton’s 1964 ballet The Dream, based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom dances en pointe when Puck turns him into an ass. --- ## [Act Now!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/act-now/494639)
**Author:** [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/act-now/494639 "2009-05-16T03:00:24Z")
So the most burning question for me is one that MsRobyn didn’t address: Is there really a time limit on those special offers? Like the one Vince trots out in the ShamWow commercials: “But if you call now, within the n… --- ## [Tasers in Canada](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tasers-in-canada/495762)
**Author:** [@kfraser34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kfraser34)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tasers-in-canada/495762 "2009-05-15T16:12:47Z")
Just wanted to post a couple of links about current news stories in Canada that probably prompted this fella’s question. A man from close to Calgary that died a few days ago And another that has been in the Canadian ne… --- ## [Who indexed Cecil's books?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-indexed-cecils-books/496088)
**Author:** [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-indexed-cecils-books/496088 "2009-05-13T19:31:12Z")
Just curious about this one. The indexes to the Straight Dope books are all really well done (IMO) and I’ve got a kick out of them since well before I became an indexer myself. I was just wondering if Cecil/Cecil’s edi… --- ## [Starve a Cold, Feed a Fever](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starve-a-cold-feed-a-fever/495380)
**Author:** [@Rushthegrowler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushthegrowler)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starve-a-cold-feed-a-fever/495380 "2009-05-13T12:59:32Z")
Contrary to popular belief, (and this column) this old saw has nothing to do with food. It dates from a time when everyone used fire for heat. You FEED a fire by giving it fuel, or STARVE a fire by withholding fuel. Thes… --- ## [Why have Straight Dope Classic columns been altered?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-straight-dope-classic-columns-been-altered/495970)
**Author:** [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-straight-dope-classic-columns-been-altered/495970 "2009-05-12T04:59:43Z")
Bowdlerized, really. I’ve got just one example right now, but as a fan of the columns since the mid-80s I’ll be looking for other examples of cleaning up, toning down, the original words of The Master. From The Straigh… --- ## [Burial Laws - Minor Correction requested](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burial-laws-minor-correction-requested/496052)
**Author:** [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 11, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burial-laws-minor-correction-requested/496052 "2009-05-11T16:48:02Z")
I was looking at the Staff Report on burials ( Why is “six feet under” the standard depth for burial?), and noticed I that the link entitled “Canadian Burial Law” actually takes you to the Quebec statute referred to in t… --- ## [a pair of trousers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pair-of-trousers/495843)
**Author:** [@carol\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carol_1)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 9, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pair-of-trousers/495843 "2009-05-09T14:41:53Z")
trousers are referred to as pairs even though there is only one garment.this reference dates back to elizabethan times when hose came as two separate legs which were secured around the waist,giving the appearance of one … --- ## [Men's bottom vest buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-bottom-vest-buttons/495649)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-bottom-vest-buttons/495649 "2009-05-08T22:20:58Z")
Interesting column. I was told as a kid that it was a sign of prosperity, i.e. “I’m so wealthy and well-fed I can’t even button my vest all the way!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=104) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=106)