# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=120 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 121 --- ## [Is U.S. income tax invalid...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-s-income-tax-invalid/454454)
**Author:** [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [June 30, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-u-s-income-tax-invalid/454454 "2008-06-30T23:56:56Z")
In the column Is U.S. income tax invalid because Ohio wasn’t legally a state when the 16th amendment was ratified?, Cecil says: \[QUOTE=Cecil\] OK, said the resisters, but the proposed amendment had been introduced to Co… --- ## [TV judges](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-judges/454125)
**Author:** [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [June 30, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-judges/454125 "2008-06-30T19:24:13Z")
Regarding this thread: A few more notes of interest, told to me by a TV director I once worked with on a comedy show. He also directed one of the TV judicial shows for a while. They have staff go to courts and find int… --- ## [Not so predatorial spiders.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-predatorial-spiders/453676)
**Author:** [@mercurial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mercurial)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 27, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-predatorial-spiders/453676 "2008-06-27T11:48:08Z")
The news report of the ‘two spiders’ living in a boy’s ear is discussed here : http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtwospiders.htm This article states that : “…all spiders are predatory in the strictest sense – without… --- ## [Update on hiccups](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-hiccups/453955)
**Author:** [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 27, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-hiccups/453955 "2008-06-27T02:15:15Z")
In Neil Shubin’s new book, Your Inner Fish (2008), the author gives some further explanation on the origin of the hiccup (section III). After discussing the propensity of the phrenic and vagus nerves to become stimulate… --- ## [broadcast power redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-power-redux/454231)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 26, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broadcast-power-redux/454231 "2008-06-26T06:25:59Z")
Cecil’s column on broadcast power I keep seeing references to space-based solar energy collectors that would somehow transmit power back to earth and solve all our energy problems. Did something change such that the id… --- ## [Defensive Firearms Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defensive-firearms-use/452838)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defensive-firearms-use/452838 "2008-06-25T21:16:23Z")
While Slug’s illustrations are primarily intended to get a laugh rather than accurately comment on Cecil’s columns, as a pro-gun person I was a little dismayed by this week’s illustration: the implication being that defe… --- ## [Bugs in ears](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugs-in-ears/453244)
**Author:** [@Wordmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordmama)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2008, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugs-in-ears/453244 "2008-06-25T07:40:28Z")
Earwigs in ears – Yeah, happened to me, about ten years ago. Didn’t go into my breain – er, brain – but it did bite my eardrum a couple of times, which is unbelievably painful. Doctor washed it out with a squirt of salin… --- ## [Ear Coning/Candles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-coning-candles/451644)
**Author:** [@StrongSuspicions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrongSuspicions)\ **Replies:** 172\ **Last updated:** [June 23, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-coning-candles/451644 "2008-06-23T18:10:24Z")
Interesting, 3 people (one of them a doctor no less…almost as funny as if one had been an engineer), one with a noted ear wax buildup issue, and you say it doesn’t work? Hogwash. OK, so I have a noted ear wax buildup iss… --- ## [Poppy seeds and opium](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poppy-seeds-and-opium/453521)
**Author:** [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 22, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poppy-seeds-and-opium/453521 "2008-06-22T02:27:57Z")
I take off my ol’ fedora to Cecil for the poppy seed bagels/drug test column. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_116.html I can add a little dribble of information to what you learned there. I have no direct exper… --- ## [Should we not throw rice because birds will die](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-not-throw-rice-because-birds-will-die/450285)
**Author:** [@jeffrjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeffrjohn)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 20, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-not-throw-rice-because-birds-will-die/450285 "2008-06-20T02:52:55Z")
Reading today’s repost of an old topic made me think about this issue a bit, and prompted me to send Cecil and email on it. I don’t know how often he, or assistants, read or reply, but I figured I post my email here and… --- ## [Was the secession of the Confederacy legal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-secession-of-the-confederacy-legal/449537)
**Author:** [@aginghippy69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aginghippy69)\ **Replies:** 69\ **Last updated:** [June 19, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-secession-of-the-confederacy-legal/449537 "2008-06-19T15:10:14Z")
You answered, “This issue was settled by the Supreme Court in 1869.” a court led by Salmon P. Chase, a member of Lincoln’s War Cabinet after 620,000 battlefield deaths while Reconstruction was in effect. I have alway… --- ## [A simple solution : fanning yourself](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-solution-fanning-yourself/452361)
**Author:** [@Copy\_Repair\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Copy_Repair_Guy)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 18, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simple-solution-fanning-yourself/452361 "2008-06-18T15:23:51Z")
Going through the archives I came across the following question Is fanning yourself energy efficient? The basic question was whether or not the heat generated while fanning one’s self was greater than the cooling effect… --- ## [Bernoulli's and aerodynamic lift](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernoullis-and-aerodynamic-lift/452929)
**Author:** [@ccrummer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccrummer)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernoullis-and-aerodynamic-lift/452929 "2008-06-16T23:55:19Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mairplanesfly.html I think we all agree that lift is due to a pressure differential between two sides of a surface. It’s also true that any surface in an air flow has a boundary laye… --- ## [speed of light](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-of-light/452165)
**Author:** [@cephalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cephalis)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 16, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-of-light/452165 "2008-06-16T15:42:11Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_095.html Your equation for accumulated velocities is enlightening. --- ## [Straight Dope re J. Edgar Hoover](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-re-j-edgar-hoover/452985)
**Author:** [@Gwynplaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gwynplaine)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-re-j-edgar-hoover/452985 "2008-06-15T07:00:02Z")
Cecil’s column about J. Edgar Hoover’s alleged sexuality is full of the usual errors. Cecil claims that Hoover had “a mincing walk”, and offers this as proof of Hoover’s sexual orientation. Oh, behave! Surely there must … --- ## [Mmmm, goose!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-goose/452010)
**Author:** [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mmmm-goose/452010 "2008-06-13T02:07:56Z")
Another fine staff report by Bricker this week. I do have to ask, though … Is this serious? I’m finding it hard to imagine making a decent pâté from a wild goose … Don’t they force-feed domesticated geese that are bein… --- ## [Raindrops](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raindrops/449771)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raindrops/449771 "2008-06-11T17:20:14Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080516.html Obviously falling raindrops don’t kill or injure us, for the reasons stated. But are they as fearsome and destructive to tiny insects as shown in movies such as A Bug’s L… --- ## [Could sheep replace the lawn mower?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sheep-replace-the-lawn-mower/452035)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-sheep-replace-the-lawn-mower/452035 "2008-06-11T16:47:28Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080606.html Having read the article and thought about the problems Cecil pointed out, it seems to me that the main problem is that for any likely sized urban lawn, a sheep is simply t… --- ## [Smoking's benefits](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokings-benefits/451582)
**Author:** [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 11, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smokings-benefits/451582 "2008-06-11T04:21:43Z")
Cecil stuck to talking about one thing… perhaps the only thing we have research of. But what about the writer’s hunch that most bad things, in a small enough amount, are good for you? The general term for it is hormesis… --- ## [bezoars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoars/452327)
**Author:** [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 9, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoars/452327 "2008-06-09T22:11:06Z")
original column Cecil may not have laid eyes on one (at least, back in 1995) but if you google images of “Bezoar pearls” you can find some that look quite pretty. Simply googling “bezoar” is not as appealing. Apparent… --- ## [The Cost of Minting Pennies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cost-of-minting-pennies/451193)
**Author:** [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [June 9, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cost-of-minting-pennies/451193 "2008-06-09T06:22:11Z")
Regarding Cecil’s most recent column: whether or not the penny should still be minted due to the negative signoriage is a controversial subject which seems to come up every so often in Congress. The New Yorker had a wond… --- ## [Sunglasses, UV, and pupils](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunglasses-uv-and-pupils/451919)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sunglasses-uv-and-pupils/451919 "2008-06-07T05:53:52Z")
In this column, cecil said But the lens is in \*front \* of the pupil. This advice is still good, but not for the reason he gave, right? Is there any study of UV damage to the retina? --- ## [Mean Gin drunks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-gin-drunks/450344)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mean-gin-drunks/450344 "2008-06-04T12:03:25Z")
“Does Drinking Gin make you mean?” is the question for today’s column: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080523.html Cecil memtions that a change in 18th century prices made Gin the unofficial drink of the British wo… --- ## [Jimmy Carter's rodent fight...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-carters-rodent-fight/451192)
**Author:** [@proudmommy777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudmommy777)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-carters-rodent-fight/451192 "2008-06-03T22:30:41Z")
I just HAD to comment on this one, haha! It was suggested that Jimmy Carter was attacked, not by a “bunny”, but by a nutria rat! Cecile replied that it wasn’t much of an improvement… but I’ve GOT to argue that one! I … --- ## [Pica - eating clay, ice, etc...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pica-eating-clay-ice-etc/451511)
**Author:** [@proudmommy777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudmommy777)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pica-eating-clay-ice-etc/451511 "2008-06-03T14:31:59Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_090.html I think I figured it out! (how to post the link) I’m surprised that it’s so easy and yet I couldn’t figure out how to do it! hehe, I’m sure I must look like an idiot t… --- ## [Don't ask Cecil for directions.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-cecil-for-directions/449028)
**Author:** [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Replies:** 76\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-cecil-for-directions/449028 "2008-06-03T00:02:39Z")
In Why was the millennium considered such a big deal Cecil said “…the millennium” is the calendrical period beginning on January 1, 2001 (or, in the unenlightened view, January 1, 2000)…". “Hey Cecil, where’s 200 Main S… --- ## [Throwing rice at weddings...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-rice-at-weddings/451506)
**Author:** [@proudmommy777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudmommy777)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-rice-at-weddings/451506 "2008-06-02T20:08:22Z")
Okay, you’ll all have to forgive me, I’m not sure how to post a link to the original article, but I’ll try… Anyway, I wanted to add a little story to this. Several years ago, we bought some ducks for the kids and let t… --- ## [Whining about the decade, century, millenium, etc...?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whining-about-the-decade-century-millenium-etc/451182)
**Author:** [@proudmommy777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudmommy777)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whining-about-the-decade-century-millenium-etc/451182 "2008-06-01T18:23:29Z")
My goodness, I just read the article about the numbering system used for the years during christ. I was very intrigued that the numbering system was, at that time, based on when Rome was founded… so I’m assuming, the ye… --- ## [uh oh...Cecil done gots PWNED!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-cecil-done-gots-pwned/450454)
**Author:** [@One\_Hit\_Wonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_Hit_Wonder)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh-cecil-done-gots-pwned/450454 "2008-05-31T15:39:49Z")
…as the kids say. www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_274.html …but never underestimate the power of power… …and who knows where it’ll go from here? And who knows where it already is behind closed doors… I suppose 18 … --- ## [Running through the rain?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-through-the-rain/451070)
**Author:** [@proudmommy777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/proudmommy777)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-through-the-rain/451070 "2008-05-30T19:46:35Z")
Okay, maybe I’m just a huge dope… but I couldn’t figure out how to comment on the column ON that same page? So, I hope this is the right place for this. My question is this… In the article on running or walking throug… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=119) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=121)