# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=125 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 126 --- ## [Happy V.D. Now, about the lethality of garlic...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-v-d-now-about-the-lethality-of-garlic/437701)
**Author:** [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-v-d-now-about-the-lethality-of-garlic/437701 "2008-02-15T12:11:24Z")
The St. Valentine’s Day massacre…I wondered if the gangsters really rubbed their bullets in garlic. The idea was that if the bullets didn’t kill their enemies, the garlic would get in their blood stream and poison them.… --- ## [Re: Who can arrest the President?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-can-arrest-the-president/437651)
**Author:** [@Yaffa\_Bey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaffa_Bey)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 15, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-can-arrest-the-president/437651 "2008-02-15T01:04:58Z")
I’m confused. According to the Article on “Who has the Authority to arrest the President,” there are a few International Laws in place that are supposed to make Heads of State and Heads of Government immune from Interna… --- ## [Angels](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels/436160)
**Author:** [@Sera\_naphsus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sera_naphsus)\ **Replies:** 60\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels/436160 "2008-02-14T06:21:56Z")
I just wanted to share a few comments on the relevancy of one aspect of “What’s up with Angels”. Your staff report mentioned the ranks of angels. Well, technically, there are ranks, but as an angel progresses in the so … --- ## [Kamikaze Helmets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamikaze-helmets/435833)
**Author:** [@Pel2na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pel2na)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 14, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamikaze-helmets/435833 "2008-02-14T05:40:31Z")
One thing Unca Cec’ neglects to mention is that no WW2 aircraft, sealed cockpits or not, had heaters in them. And it was/is damned cold up there. --- ## [What does YKK mean on zippers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ykk-mean-on-zippers/436769)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-ykk-mean-on-zippers/436769 "2008-02-11T17:25:06Z")
Um, it’s the company that makes them? Same reason there’s “Ford” on my car and “Compaq” on my computer? Fighting ignorance is one thing because it is curable, but Cecil should not be led astray to fight gross stupidity… --- ## [Mouse smells & cats, cat food flavors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouse-smells-cats-cat-food-flavors/435851)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mouse-smells-cats-cat-food-flavors/435851 "2008-02-10T11:34:28Z")
In Cecil’s new report, Do mice fear the scent of a cat?..The claim is made Sounds logical, sure. But this is a claim we could test, so I have to ask: cite? Has anyone done valid studies comparing the reactions of mice… --- ## [Dvorak/QWERTY Myth Myth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvorak-qwerty-myth-myth/434867)
**Author:** [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [February 9, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvorak-qwerty-myth-myth/434867 "2008-02-09T04:24:05Z")
I have a few comments about the addendum that was posted to the STRAIGHT DOPE article Was the QWERTY keyboard purposely designed to slow typists? The Dvorak keyboard layout is not a scam. The old Margolis and Liebowitz… --- ## [RE: A plane is standing on a runway. . ." No, it's not. Here's why.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-a-plane-is-standing-on-a-runway-no-its-not-heres-why/427519)
**Author:** [@percepts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percepts)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-a-plane-is-standing-on-a-runway-no-its-not-heres-why/427519 "2008-02-06T22:20:42Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060303.html You were wrong. If the plane is stationary, then according to the questions rules, the conveyor belt must also be stationary. So you can not have the conveyor moving at … --- ## [Dungeons & Dragons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dungeons-dragons/434587)
**Author:** [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dungeons-dragons/434587 "2008-02-06T20:49:52Z")
Link. The first question on last night’s University Challenge gave the above quote, mentioning Cecil Adams and the Straight Dope in the process, and asked for the name of the game Adams was describing in his column. M… --- ## [Tap Dunce](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tap-dunce/436456)
**Author:** [@mwbrooks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mwbrooks)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tap-dunce/436456 "2008-02-06T17:42:37Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_198.html I was never satisfied with the notion of tapping a can of soda. What I did was squeeze the can, thinking the increased pressure would help force more CO2 back into so… --- ## [Gravity at the center greater?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-at-the-center-greater/434369)
**Author:** [@Fauxguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fauxguy)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [February 6, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gravity-at-the-center-greater/434369 "2008-02-06T13:05:41Z")
Sorry Cecil but gravity is not greatest at the center of the earth. It is greatest at the surface. 2 things in support of my position. 1-Smaller planets have less gravity. 2- If you dig a hole to the center of the eart… --- ## [Blowing on hot coffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-on-hot-coffee/433950)
**Author:** [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 5, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-on-hot-coffee/433950 "2008-02-05T21:48:52Z")
It seems to me that the cooling effect caused by blowing on your coffee can’t be all from increased rate of evaporation, or else, the hot air setting would have cooled the coffee faster in Cecil’s experiment. The hot ai… --- ## [Straight Dope (TM) turns 35 today](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-tm-turns-35-today/435971)
**Author:** [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [February 5, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-tm-turns-35-today/435971 "2008-02-05T19:54:14Z")
Just a short note to note that today marks the 35th anniversary of The first Straight Dope column, which appeared on February 2, 1973. And although ignorance has not been completely wiped out yet, no doubt it’s on its la… --- ## [Cellulosic ethanol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellulosic-ethanol/436330)
**Author:** [@Jim\_Bullis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Bullis)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [February 5, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellulosic-ethanol/436330 "2008-02-05T03:23:31Z")
Are coproducts of the ethanol process really worth something? I read that lignin is a clean fuel for gas turbines. How many SUV’s will it take to use up all the forests? How many SUV’s can the forests and grassl… --- ## [Sulfur and silver bullets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sulfur-and-silver-bullets/435001)
**Author:** [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sulfur-and-silver-bullets/435001 "2008-02-02T06:28:48Z")
The report about tarnishing silver was great (of course) but what was Nathan’s (the questioner) remark about a “geek” making silver bullets? What’s so geeky about silver bullets? In looking for one thread I remembered, I… --- ## [Time travel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel/433147)
**Author:** [@EarlB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlB)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [February 1, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel/433147 "2008-02-01T03:04:57Z")
Its true, time travel to the past seems an unreal possibility…however, time travel to the future makes intuitive sense even without invoking wormholes, etc. You do have to reference relativity. We do it all the time wh… --- ## [Earth Mother](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-mother/433290)
**Author:** [@valsview](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valsview)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-mother/433290 "2008-01-31T13:23:22Z")
Dear Cecil, In all these years I have never corrected you…I so appreciate your mission! However, you are partly wrong about the prehistoric cultures and the claims made by Marija Gimbutas and her people…it always was a… --- ## [Edgar Cayce](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edgar-cayce/434718)
**Author:** [@soffty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soffty)\ **Replies:** 183\ **Last updated:** [January 28, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edgar-cayce/434718 "2008-01-28T21:18:33Z")
I read the answer from staff advisor David to a question posed 7 years ago about the staright dope opinion of Edgar Cayce. I appreciate the manner in which David replied, and his ability to be objective. However, he appa… --- ## [Slug's Illustration for Roman Sex Token col.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slugs-illustration-for-roman-sex-token-col/434411)
**Author:** [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slugs-illustration-for-roman-sex-token-col/434411 "2008-01-25T01:35:57Z")
I’ll admit that I usually like the way slug renders females, especially in the racier columns! But the illustration for thecolumn on spintriae has me flummoxed. I guess the whip has some obvious kinky overtones, but wha… --- ## [Body Temperatur 98.6F](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/body-temperatur-98-6f/434702)
**Author:** [@patInWV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patInWV)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/body-temperatur-98-6f/434702 "2008-01-24T23:41:33Z")
On the Fahrenheit scale, do 0 and 100 have any special significance? 98.6 is not normal body temperature due to more precise measurements being made. In fact, the added precision of the .6 is not justified as temperat… --- ## [Fahrenheit...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836)
**Author:** [@harrypri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harrypri)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fahrenheit/434836 "2008-01-24T22:08:59Z")
“Old man” Fahrenheit??? He died at 50! He never got anywhere near to being an “old man”… :smiley: --- ## [Comment: How do you become a dual citizen? - 22 jan 08](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-how-do-you-become-a-dual-citizen-22-jan-08/434127)
**Author:** [@lizzit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizzit)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-how-do-you-become-a-dual-citizen-22-jan-08/434127 "2008-01-24T15:07:21Z")
This is a comment on How do you become a dual citizen?, specifically in regards to dual US/UK citizenship where an American citizen becomes a naturalized UK citizen. The UK does not require renunciation of other citizen… --- ## [mnemonic device for converting between Fahrenheit and Celsius](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-device-for-converting-between-fahrenheit-and-celsius/434700)
**Author:** [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 24, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-device-for-converting-between-fahrenheit-and-celsius/434700 "2008-01-24T05:50:34Z")
inspired by this column Cecil wouldn’t have been stumped by the question of where the Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures coincide if he could just remember that shifting by 18 degrees Fahrenheit is the same as shifting… --- ## [Ed Zotti's spaghetti research thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zottis-spaghetti-research-thread/434489)
**Author:** [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zottis-spaghetti-research-thread/434489 "2008-01-22T13:48:08Z")
Ah, the power of google groups… which already existed on the net back in 1996 as Deja News. As soon as I saw “sci.physics” in Cecil’s response to “How does one suck in a piece of spaghetti?,” I just had to go a-googli… --- ## [in re Pay for Play and the turning of centuries](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-re-pay-for-play-and-the-turning-of-centuries/434345)
**Author:** [@Grave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grave)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-re-pay-for-play-and-the-turning-of-centuries/434345 "2008-01-21T23:10:05Z")
link - http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080118.html Quote - “wasn’t uncommon in the past; examples abound from … and turn-of-the-century Manhattan.” Comment - It occurs to me that ‘turn of the century’ has changed r… --- ## [suttee and suical rights](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suttee-and-suical-rights/434282)
**Author:** [@Bentom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bentom)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suttee-and-suical-rights/434282 "2008-01-21T17:45:40Z")
I have to agree with Cecil’s column about suttee. When a liberal wins, somebody must die (Terry Schiavo) They could make a movie: “It’s a wonderful death.” Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls. --- ## [China's First Spaceman Breaks the Great Wall Fallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinas-first-spaceman-breaks-the-great-wall-fallacy/433977)
**Author:** [@versili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/versili)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [January 20, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinas-first-spaceman-breaks-the-great-wall-fallacy/433977 "2008-01-20T00:24:12Z")
:slight\_smile: :slight\_smile: :slight\_smile: --- ## [The dark night sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-night-sky/433042)
**Author:** [@sparker1776](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparker1776)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dark-night-sky/433042 "2008-01-19T13:40:25Z")
The hypothesis that there aren’t that many stars doesn’t hold up. Celestial objects brightness is measured by ‘apparent magnitude’. This is a scale that currently runs from -26.73 to a hypothetical 38 (but is inverse - … --- ## [British cititzen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-cititzen/434037)
**Author:** [@bobthecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobthecat)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-cititzen/434037 "2008-01-19T00:47:55Z")
I could be wrong (although I rarely am), but I believe the Britons are ‘subjects’, not cititzens. --- ## [Centrifugal Force](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrifugal-force/433894)
**Author:** [@Charles\_Volk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charles_Volk)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 18, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centrifugal-force/433894 "2008-01-18T23:10:22Z")
Dear Cecil, In your recent column about the relationship between aging and latitude on the Earth you used the term “centrifugal force” when explaining why the earth bulges at the equator. Centrifugal force is an imagin… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=124) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=126)