# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=115 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 116 --- ## [Why CDs skip.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cds-skip/271)
**Author:** [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cds-skip/271 "2008-11-12T19:23:04Z")
Although Cecil was correct in briefly explaining the reason for a CD to skip like an LP he did not complete the explanation. Why a CD SOUNDS like a record skipping is due to a feature called oversampling. Without gettin… --- ## [Black Slave Owners](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-slave-owners/470609)
**Author:** [@halldin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halldin)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-slave-owners/470609 "2008-11-12T14:44:13Z")
Like many wealthy landowners of the pre-Civil War South, Sherrod Bryant owned slaves. They probably worked much of Bryant’s 700 acres in Middle Tennessee, an area larger than that of Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage plantation… --- ## [Consciousness after decapitation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consciousness-after-decapitation/472291)
**Author:** [@JohnSawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnSawyer)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consciousness-after-decapitation/472291 "2008-11-12T05:47:22Z")
What I deduce from Cecil’s article, is that some people remain conscious, and others don’t. --- ## [Is US Income Tax Invalid because Ohio wasn't a state?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-us-income-tax-invalid-because-ohio-wasnt-a-state/470837)
**Author:** [@anelect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anelect)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-us-income-tax-invalid-because-ohio-wasnt-a-state/470837 "2008-11-11T12:42:58Z")
This is a reply to the thread Is US Income Tax Invalid because Ohio wasn’t a state when the 16th amendment was ratified? Apart from the Ohio issue. Contrary to IRS opinion and media propaganda, the 16th Amendment to th… --- ## [Abandoned Babies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-babies/471621)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-babies/471621 "2008-11-10T21:02:13Z")
What does this sentence mean? Is Wyoming somehow notorious for a disporpotionate number of abandonded babies? Has some Wyoming politician made some public gaffe about this issue? :confused: --- ## [On brain waves and abortion - 25 weeks?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-brain-waves-and-abortion-25-weeks/470816)
**Author:** [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-brain-waves-and-abortion-25-weeks/470816 "2008-11-09T23:52:50Z")
Cecil addresses when does human life begins and states that a logical milestone for the beginning of personhood, “…is the beginning of measurable brain-wave activity, roughly 25 weeks after conception. After all, brain d… --- ## [Re: Did people actually abandon babies on doorsteps?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-did-people-actually-abandon-babies-on-doorsteps/471720)
**Author:** [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2008, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-did-people-actually-abandon-babies-on-doorsteps/471720 "2008-11-09T08:11:55Z")
I have a question/comment about Cecil’s recent column, “Did people actually abandon babies on doorsteps?”. I recall a movie set in WW2 (I think it was Stalag 17) in which one soldier is reading a letter from his girl ba… --- ## [Finding water with coat hangers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-water-with-coat-hangers/468954)
**Author:** [@atoyot92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atoyot92)\ **Replies:** 227\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-water-with-coat-hangers/468954 "2008-11-08T19:14:33Z")
I just thought I would let you know that you were dead wrong on a post you put on here a long while ago. You said that this is a scam. Well I am here to tell you that it is the truth. My Grand Father owned a septic buisi… --- ## [Roaches in the Microwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roaches-in-the-microwave/469873)
**Author:** [@HEldridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HEldridge)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roaches-in-the-microwave/469873 "2008-11-07T18:14:47Z")
Cecil, I read your comment on roaches in a microwave. I must confess that with nothing better to do in my spare time I decided to address the never ending battle against cock roaches in the the great USA. Contrary to … --- ## [belly buttons on cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-on-cats/471366)
**Author:** [@rickJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rickJ)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belly-buttons-on-cats/471366 "2008-11-07T18:04:47Z")
Cecil, How about letting us know what the exceptions to the belly button rule are. Do platypuses have belly buttons? Echidnas? --- ## [Abandoned babies in Wyoming?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-babies-in-wyoming/471637)
**Author:** [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-babies-in-wyoming/471637 "2008-11-07T15:31:26Z")
In Cecil’s latest masterpiece Did people actually abandon babies on doorsteps?, he says “One thing that’s changed in recent years is public awareness of abandonment, notwithstanding apparent lingering ignorance in sectio… --- ## [Signing your credit card](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signing-your-credit-card/471405)
**Author:** [@amyin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amyin)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 6, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signing-your-credit-card/471405 "2008-11-06T06:52:12Z")
I’m new to the forum so forgive me if someone’s brought this up before… but doesn’t the column about signing your credit card ignore the blaringly obvious fact that if you don’t sign your credit card and someone else wan… --- ## [Snuff Films](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 4, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snuff-films/469487 "2008-11-04T15:37:49Z")
Thank you, Unca Cece, for laying to rest that these films exist in the common porn library. Yes, there may be a few that circulate among the the TRULY PERVERSE but, in several years of (Honest, it was INNOCENT! I’m a r… --- ## [Revenge of the vacuum-flush commodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-vacuum-flush-commodes/469791)
**Author:** [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-vacuum-flush-commodes/469791 "2008-11-03T20:34:52Z")
This morning I read Cecil’s column confirming that vacuum-flush commodes can actually pose a risk. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1171/did-a-vacuum-flush-commode-once-suck-a-womans-insides-out Then, as if on … --- ## [Credit cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-cards/469430)
**Author:** [@Vision4BG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision4BG)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-cards/469430 "2008-11-03T03:33:23Z")
from Is it safer not to sign the back of your credit cards? - The Straight Dope “First, the signature on the back of the card isn’t intended as a security measure;” I’m not sure what makes you think it’s not a security… --- ## [Psychopaths, sociopaths and anti-personality disorder](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopaths-sociopaths-and-anti-personality-disorder/469561)
**Author:** [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopaths-sociopaths-and-anti-personality-disorder/469561 "2008-11-03T00:42:40Z")
I’ve just read Gfactor’s staff report on psychopaths etc. While it’s fine for what it says, it doesn’t really answer the question fully and, in the end, can be quite misleading in what it doesn’t say. The bottom line is… --- ## [i believe that the Howard Hughes article is too biased.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-that-the-howard-hughes-article-is-too-biased/469728)
**Author:** [@thesecondaviator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thesecondaviator)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 2, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-believe-that-the-howard-hughes-article-is-too-biased/469728 "2008-11-02T20:44:25Z")
i believe that the Howard Hughes article is too biased. i would like to point out that Howard Hughes so called “spruce goose”(he did not like this name. was ingeniously designed the fact that it was built out of wood is… --- ## [Can't find the Staff Report about signing the back of your credit card?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-staff-report-about-signing-the-back-of-your-credit-card/469335)
**Author:** [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 2, 2008, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-the-staff-report-about-signing-the-back-of-your-credit-card/469335 "2008-11-02T09:16:54Z")
If you got our weekly mailing and the link to the Staff Report about signing the back of your credit card doesn’t work, that’s because I screwed up and sent out the wrong link. Here’s the right one: Sorry. --- ## [Black Irish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-irish/470613)
**Author:** [@halldin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halldin)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-irish/470613 "2008-11-01T20:57:32Z")
I have no idea where the “Black Irish” started, but my grandfather had always said that his anscestors were “Black Irish”. He had the black hair and blue eyes that are sometimes associated with the Black Irish. His fathe… --- ## [Jimmy Carter vs the Wabbit!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-carter-vs-the-wabbit/470387)
**Author:** [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-carter-vs-the-wabbit/470387 "2008-10-31T05:16:03Z")
In this column, Cecil describes Jimmy’s failed bid to embark on a second career as a real life Elmer Fudd. Noticing this comment: I set off in search of said photo. You can see it here. Note that Bugs appears to be … --- ## [Hyphenation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenation/470231)
**Author:** [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hyphenation/470231 "2008-10-31T04:28:46Z")
re: How to tell if you’re anal retentive - The Straight Dope Did anyone else notice that Cecil didn’t answer the implied question: If I remember my grammar school lessons correctly, there would not be a hyphen in anal… --- ## [Holy Doors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012)
**Author:** [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-doors/469012 "2008-10-26T21:15:05Z")
Link to Cecil’s column: Is there a door in St Peter’s basilica that’s opened once every 100 years? Cecil mentions “an odd tradition at St. Peter’s involving the Porta Santa, or Holy Door”. It’s worth noting that this “o… --- ## [Stolen kidneys](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-kidneys/468481)
**Author:** [@psythe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psythe)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-kidneys/468481 "2008-10-25T13:35:31Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1169/have-guys-awakened-after-a-party-to-find-their-kidneys-stolen Hmm. It may very well take a large team several hours to remove a kidney under ideal circumstances, Cecil, but… --- ## [Where is STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT 10/28/2008](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-straight-dope-staff-report-10-28-2008/469363)
**Author:** [@vasya\_35](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasya_35)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-straight-dope-staff-report-10-28-2008/469363 "2008-10-25T01:28:56Z")
www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2818 returns an empty page - so I couldn’t read the answer… Is it just me? Help! --- ## [Texas Chainsaw Massacree](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-chainsaw-massacree/468498)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-chainsaw-massacree/468498 "2008-10-24T21:13:18Z")
Cecil nd Ed, I appreciate how you have revived this topic. In the past I was unsuccessful in my attempts to buy screenplay rights to Chainsawvictum’s telling of the TRUE story, which had NOTHING to do with Ed Gein, so I… --- ## [(legal) "Not Less Than One" \[definition from staff report on serial killers\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-not-less-than-one-definition-from-staff-report-on-serial-killers/468881)
**Author:** [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-not-less-than-one-definition-from-staff-report-on-serial-killers/468881 "2008-10-23T21:23:53Z")
In the staff report about sociopaths/serial killers, Gfactor quotes a definition from the U.S. legal code (underlining added by me) \[QUOTE=28 U.S.C. § 540B\] The term “serial killings” means a series of three or more ki… --- ## [Sharp Cutting Swords.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharp-cutting-swords/467321)
**Author:** [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sharp-cutting-swords/467321 "2008-10-23T20:31:58Z")
Various methods of making swords have been practiced over the centuries. For my money I would have as heavy a high carbon blade as a man could handle with the cutting edge(s) overlayed with “Stellite” hard facing alloy … --- ## [Mine troubles: Centralia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mine-troubles-centralia/468354)
**Author:** [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mine-troubles-centralia/468354 "2008-10-23T20:30:16Z")
From Cecil’s new column this week, Will pumping out all that oil cause the earth to cave in?: This timeline is about 20 years off. The Centralia fire started in 1962, when trash in the municipal dump was set on fire an… --- ## [Buchenwald Lampshades ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buchenwald-lampshades/469163)
**Author:** [@Allan\_Gurfinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allan_Gurfinkle)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buchenwald-lampshades/469163 "2008-10-23T20:00:07Z")
In your response to the question on the alleged Buchenwald human skin lampshades you wrote … “In short, the story may be a legend.” The story is not a legend, it is a deliberate and very malicious hoax. It is also re… --- ## [Why do men's suits have buttons on the sleeves?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-suits-have-buttons-on-the-sleeves/255928)
**Author:** [@Odia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odia)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 22, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-suits-have-buttons-on-the-sleeves/255928 "2008-10-22T22:36:21Z")
Dear Cecil, That was an interesting answer to the buttons on the coat sleeve question. Regardless of where you have buttons on your coat sleeves you can wipe your nose / brows with your sleeves, you will just have to tw… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=114) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=116)