# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=110 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 111 --- ## [Which is Smarter, Cats or Dogs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-smarter-cats-or-dogs/473222)
**Author:** [@Aimew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aimew)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [February 16, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-smarter-cats-or-dogs/473222 "2009-02-16T17:38:47Z")
Having had both in my home, and at the same time, I don’t think there is any contest at all; dogs are far more intelligent than cats! In my last home we had two cats and a dog. The dog was a mongrel, part Germain Shepar… --- ## [Re: Can two women make a baby?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-two-women-make-a-baby/485913)
**Author:** [@ArmenE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArmenE)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-two-women-make-a-baby/485913 "2009-02-15T21:53:24Z")
In the 1983 article recently republished on the website, Can two women make a baby?, Cecil mentions one Dr. Pierre Soupart: I thought it relevant to mention that in fact, Dr. Pierre Soupart passed in 1981. --- ## [Sex Among the Hermaphrodites](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-among-the-hermaphrodites/484694)
**Author:** [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-among-the-hermaphrodites/484694 "2009-02-15T21:33:39Z")
Column link I haven’t any comment on the column per se, just wanted to bring an apparent typo to your attention before the Teeming Millions peruse it. In the third graf we find: While the term “lifehell” has interesti… --- ## [Why aren't porn actors charged with prostitution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-porn-actors-charged-with-prostitution/485712)
**Author:** [@echowit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echowit)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-porn-actors-charged-with-prostitution/485712 "2009-02-15T04:29:29Z")
From “Why aren’t porn actors charged with prostitution?” http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2845/why-arent-porn-actors-charged-with-prostitution As it stands, there’s a big sign over California saying “PORN PROD… --- ## [Is anybody in charge of keeping satellites from colliding?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-in-charge-of-keeping-satellites-from-colliding/485495)
**Author:** [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-in-charge-of-keeping-satellites-from-colliding/485495 "2009-02-14T00:58:37Z")
Article. Yes, from the article, and apparently they’re not doing their job. Admittedly, I did start a thread by this same title, about this same article a while back. But this is on a different topic, so I thought it … --- ## [The first person to be hit by a car](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-person-to-be-hit-by-a-car/484748)
**Author:** [@sergeirichard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sergeirichard)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-person-to-be-hit-by-a-car/484748 "2009-02-12T15:24:06Z")
Mary Ward, the the first person to be killed by a car when thrown from her brother’s experimental vehicle, was a sad loss to Irish science, science in general and indeed art. A naturalist and microscopist, she produced s… --- ## [police lying when conducting interrogation AND a lawyer is present](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-lying-when-conducting-interrogation-and-a-lawyer-is-present/484760)
**Author:** [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-lying-when-conducting-interrogation-and-a-lawyer-is-present/484760 "2009-02-10T22:23:34Z")
What can the police lie about while conducting an interrogation? (February 3, 2009) This was a good article (as always) from Gfactor. My question is: The police start interrogating me. I ask for and am granted a lawye… --- ## [Comment on "Was Nostradamus able to predict the future?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-was-nostradamus-able-to-predict-the-future/484713)
**Author:** [@James\_Randi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Randi)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [February 9, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-was-nostradamus-able-to-predict-the-future/484713 "2009-02-09T16:37:09Z")
The film referred to here, used some fake quatrains, some pieced together from real ones, but others invented… I suggest that the inquirer seek out more accurate sources of information. My book, for example – “The Mask… --- ## [How do jellyfish have babies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jellyfish-have-babies/484880)
**Author:** [@moonyyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonyyo)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 8, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jellyfish-have-babies/484880 "2009-02-08T06:12:31Z")
i just want to know how --- ## [Can yogas swallow a cloth and have it come out the (urk) other end?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-yogas-swallow-a-cloth-and-have-it-come-out-the-urk-other-end/484625)
**Author:** [@rootbeer277](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rootbeer277)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [February 8, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-yogas-swallow-a-cloth-and-have-it-come-out-the-urk-other-end/484625 "2009-02-08T01:52:39Z")
Can yogas swallow a cloth and have it come out the (urk) other end? Some years ago a college student filmed himself attempting this with 40 feet of dental floss, using a pen cap tied to the end to help it move through h… --- ## [Why is Greenland Considered an Island and Not Eurasia?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greenland-considered-an-island-and-not-eurasia/483966)
**Author:** [@Cronanius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cronanius)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greenland-considered-an-island-and-not-eurasia/483966 "2009-02-06T21:04:04Z")
Possibly contrary to the \[rather flippant\] answer given, geologically, continents are more loosely categorized as “continents” based on things like crust thickness and age. The most obvious categorizer is size and tradit… --- ## [Swallowing String and Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swallowing-string-and-death/108237)
**Author:** [@Torus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torus)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swallowing-string-and-death/108237 "2009-02-06T13:46:17Z")
Hi, This is my first post, and I was compelled to comment on Cecil’s classic response from the Straight Dope email I got today. It seems a yoga afficionado wanted to know if you could swallow a long piece of cloth and … --- ## [Did Jimmy Carter Really See a UFO?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jimmy-carter-really-see-a-ufo/483821)
**Author:** [@The\_Frugal\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Frugal_Astronomer)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 5, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jimmy-carter-really-see-a-ufo/483821 "2009-02-05T20:26:12Z")
In 2007, President Carter was interviewed on episode 105 of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe (http://www.theskepticsguide.org/skepticsguide/podcastinfo.asp?pid=105th edition). He stated that he saw an light in the sk… --- ## [Can You Get a DUI if You Drink After Driving](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-dui-if-you-drink-after-driving/482829)
**Author:** [@wdl71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wdl71)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 4, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-dui-if-you-drink-after-driving/482829 "2009-02-04T20:39:53Z")
Don Hanni, a lawyer and politician in Youngstown, OH, got away with a variation of this. Not sure what year, but the police found Hanni in a bar right after his car ran into the Post Office. No DUI but the Post Office … --- ## [Cow tipping is real, but...........](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-is-real-but/484363)
**Author:** [@Rumplestiltskin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumplestiltskin)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 4, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cow-tipping-is-real-but/484363 "2009-02-04T14:50:10Z")
In reference to Is there really such a thing as cow tipping? - The Straight Dope I am about to break the redneck code and shine a beam of light on the subject of cow tipping. There are always people who say they have c… --- ## [re: angels and halos](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-angels-and-halos/484322)
**Author:** [@sealpoint33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sealpoint33)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 4, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-angels-and-halos/484322 "2009-02-04T14:31:46Z")
Cecil, I enjoyed reading your remarks on the origins of the species of halos. Although you give a plethora of evidence as to how it appears in Greek and Roman literature, you fail to mention ‘why’; i.e. why would people… --- ## [Straight Dope 36th Anniversary Extravaganza](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-36th-anniversary-extravaganza/484102)
**Author:** [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 3, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-36th-anniversary-extravaganza/484102 "2009-02-03T23:59:44Z")
February 2, 2009 marks the 36th anniversary of that day when Cecil Adams teamed up with his then-editor Mike Lenehan to produce the first Straight Dope column. Mr. Lenehan eventually went the way of Pete Best. After a sh… --- ## [Love Charm: better answer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-charm-better-answer/483550)
**Author:** [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-charm-better-answer/483550 "2009-02-01T14:32:23Z")
I’m afraid Cecil spent way more time and space than he needed to on love charms. It had been covered already: \[QUOTE=Ogden Nash\] Candy Is dandy But liquor Is quicker \[/QUOTE\] --- ## [Lions and tigers and bears--you'll die!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-youll-die/483831)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-youll-die/483831 "2009-02-01T03:08:32Z")
So, on those days you’d pay extra for courtside, but could still find your view blocked by a hill or tree? You’d have a better view in the nosebleeds. Tedium? If they wanted tedium an orator could read them St Per… --- ## [What is the orgin of French Fries](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-orgin-of-french-fries/483356)
**Author:** [@mjakubi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjakubi)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-orgin-of-french-fries/483356 "2009-01-30T00:41:25Z")
I expected an more educated/accurate view of “pomme frites”. I would have expected that American G.I.'s were introduced to them in France during the First World War. The French don’t eat them with mayonaise, they eat the… --- ## [Picture in "Do you know a guaranteed love charm recipe?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-in-do-you-know-a-guaranteed-love-charm-recipe/483546)
**Author:** [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-in-do-you-know-a-guaranteed-love-charm-recipe/483546 "2009-01-29T14:21:52Z")
So, I looked at the picture before reading the article for this column and I totally misinterpreted what they were saying with pictures 7 and 8. --- ## [Council on Foreign Relations the New Illuminati](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/council-on-foreign-relations-the-new-illuminati/483509)
**Author:** [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/council-on-foreign-relations-the-new-illuminati/483509 "2009-01-29T05:21:52Z")
Cecil’s column Does May Day actually commemorate the birth of the Illuminati? was written at the beginning of the Reagan administration, a time when right-wing paranoia and conspiracy theories were nowhere near as well-d… --- ## [Where are "her italics"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-her-italics/483439)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-her-italics/483439 "2009-01-29T04:23:33Z")
In Does May Day actually commemorate the birth of the Illuminati? Cecil mentions in passing Nesta Webster’s italics. Those italics appear to have been stolen by the fiendish international conspiracy of web transcriptors. … --- ## [Zinc and the common cold](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zinc-and-the-common-cold/481661)
**Author:** [@steviehero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviehero)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [January 26, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zinc-and-the-common-cold/481661 "2009-01-26T20:05:20Z")
Regarding this one from the archives: Can Zinc cure the common cold I was getting ready to ask this question myself. My reason for asking is that I feel I have considerable anecdotal evidence supporting the idea that zi… --- ## [Why Do Folks Always Say Jesus H. Christ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-folks-always-say-jesus-h-christ/480511)
**Author:** [@dhodgson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhodgson)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-folks-always-say-jesus-h-christ/480511 "2009-01-23T20:22:50Z")
From http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/30/why-do-folks-say-jesus-h-christ: Personally, I was always of the opinion that this was a loophole to avoid taking the Lord’s name in vain while still, err, still getting … --- ## [Angel with a Millstone (re: Halos)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-with-a-millstone-re-halos/482503)
**Author:** [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-with-a-millstone-re-halos/482503 "2009-01-23T19:59:59Z")
This week’s “Straight Dope Classic” about halos contained this gem of a line: I’d always been intrigued by this bit of humor, and I wanted to see how bad it was. A little digging and the Power of the Interwebs came th… --- ## [Who are the Gypsies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-gypsies/409517)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 51\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-gypsies/409517 "2009-01-23T18:22:27Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgypsies.htm Great Staff Report - I learned a lot. Joe Haldeman wrote a great near-future science fiction/horror story about the Gypsies called “Armaja Das,” and it gibed with much o… --- ## [What happened to the secret message of Fatima?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-secret-message-of-fatima/482389)
**Author:** [@ealgumby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ealgumby)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-secret-message-of-fatima/482389 "2009-01-23T16:05:23Z")
Glad to see Cecil FINALLY read my e-mail from almost seven years ago … the last time this was posted as a “classic” column, sans anything past “BUT SERIOUSLY…” \>\>\> -----Original Message----- From: Erik Larson \[mailto:… --- ## [Historical basis for the events of the Jewish Exodus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-basis-for-the-events-of-the-jewish-exodus/481759)
**Author:** [@cmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmoose)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-basis-for-the-events-of-the-jewish-exodus/481759 "2009-01-23T14:47:33Z")
Does Cecil reject all the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky? --- ## [MLK's status as a hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlks-status-as-a-hero/482242)
**Author:** [@Justice\_for\_all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justice_for_all)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 23, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlks-status-as-a-hero/482242 "2009-01-23T11:19:04Z")
It if difficult to concur with Cecil’s conclusion that MLK was BOTH a great American as well as a fraud and a hypocrite. When someone’s life needs a perpetual cover up to continue an apparent myth of nobility, there is… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=109) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=111)