# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=135 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 136 --- ## [B.F. Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-f-skinner/406006)
**Author:** [@misterk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterk)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-f-skinner/406006 "2007-05-30T00:31:21Z")
There was a thread entitled “Whatever became of B.F. Skinner?” posted in 2003 (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030815.html). In it the Cecil states, “His insistence that internal mental states and processes didn’t e… --- ## [Baldness Cure](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldness-cure/405499)
**Author:** [@Ebersols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ebersols)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldness-cure/405499 "2007-05-29T19:27:39Z")
There was a study in the University of Pennsylvania that has found that another way to stimulate hair growth, at least in mice, is to wound the skin. “The researchers made relatively large wounds on the backs of adult m… --- ## [Spinach: Rich in Iron?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinach-rich-in-iron/358318)
**Author:** [@cruciverb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruciverb)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spinach-rich-in-iron/358318 "2007-05-29T19:22:13Z")
This week’s e-mail list included a Classic from 1992 about spinach. For anyone interested, here’s more pertinent “mythbusting” from Wikipedia: “The myth about spinach and its high iron content may have first been propa… --- ## [Minor editing nitpick: researcher's minds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-editing-nitpick-researchers-minds/405917)
**Author:** [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-editing-nitpick-researchers-minds/405917 "2007-05-29T14:47:22Z")
As the thread title implies, this is a minor editing nitpick. Doug seems to be talking about the minds of multiple researchers, in which case the proper spelling would be, “researchers’ minds.” Obligatory link. --- ## [Re: Why is there a "33" on Rolling Rock beer labels?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-a-33-on-rolling-rock-beer-labels/405503)
**Author:** [@sofalemon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofalemon)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-a-33-on-rolling-rock-beer-labels/405503 "2007-05-27T14:47:15Z")
Surely this is more to do with the bottle containing 33cl than any other reason? --- ## [Is AIDS a manmade disease?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-aids-a-manmade-disease/404583)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-aids-a-manmade-disease/404583 "2007-05-27T06:11:58Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_371.html I hadn’t heard of either of these two theories before (other than the suspicion among some in the black community that the CIA cooked up AIDS as a weapon against them). … --- ## [Better expected from Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-expected-from-slug/405530)
**Author:** [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-expected-from-slug/405530 "2007-05-25T21:32:50Z")
Is it just me, or is today’s illustration regarding Hair today, more tomorrow? How effective are treatments for baldness? remarkably tame for a Slug Signorino picture? I mean, the article talks about castration for good… --- ## [Fur trapping insight](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fur-trapping-insight/404480)
**Author:** [@Sigfrith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigfrith)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fur-trapping-insight/404480 "2007-05-25T18:07:19Z")
“How much do animals suffer due to the fur trade?”. That is a moral question and, requires a moral answer. However the morals involved are rapped around some very real and unavoidable facts. While I am no Cecil (or Big … --- ## [A minor update on home plate in the southwest...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-update-on-home-plate-in-the-southwest/404965)
**Author:** [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-update-on-home-plate-in-the-southwest/404965 "2007-05-25T05:00:33Z")
Cecil wrote his Classic Column about reasons that home plate on a baseball field is southwest (or northwest) in 1990. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_379.html Since then, several new major league ballparks have… --- ## [Fastest-acting, most lethal poisons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-acting-most-lethal-poisons/404630)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2007, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-acting-most-lethal-poisons/404630 "2007-05-24T09:46:57Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070518.html Interesting article. Some nasty stuff out there! Here’s a semi-related thread we had awhile ago: CIA suicide pills and legal executions - Factual Questions - Straight Do… --- ## [Is the black hole of Calcutta a myth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-black-hole-of-calcutta-a-myth/404741)
**Author:** [@coolcasanova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coolcasanova)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-black-hole-of-calcutta-a-myth/404741 "2007-05-22T20:45:54Z")
I just read thro the article dated 09-Oct-2001 - Is the black hole of Calcutta a myth?.. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mblackhole.html Thanks for the info that was provided in the article … but the kind of presen… --- ## [What is Martial Law?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-martial-law/401972)
**Author:** [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-martial-law/401972 "2007-05-22T00:14:47Z")
Another great report Bricker: What is Martial Law? --- ## [Is the earth getting heavier or lighter?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-earth-getting-heavier-or-lighter/404903)
**Author:** [@Filmsg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filmsg)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-earth-getting-heavier-or-lighter/404903 "2007-05-21T21:38:06Z")
Actually people have increased the mass of the earth. Probably not by much but… Every time you plant a pumpkin seed you are helping create solid matter that comes partly from sunlight energy. The more of us grazing and f… --- ## [Another nicotine correction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-nicotine-correction/404765)
**Author:** [@clumma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clumma)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-nicotine-correction/404765 "2007-05-20T02:06:21Z")
\> A compound with a relatively high LD-50 might be carcinogenic and \> therefore deadlier in the long run, nicotine offering the salient example. Someone else points out that nicotine itself isn’t carcinogenic. But it … --- ## [Nitpitck about Nicotine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpitck-about-nicotine/404580)
**Author:** [@grout7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grout7)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nitpitck-about-nicotine/404580 "2007-05-18T18:30:07Z")
Hi Cecil, In What’s the fastest-acting, most lethal poison? ( http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070518.html ) you suggest that Nicotine is carcinogenic, which it is not. See for example, that other fountain of fact, … --- ## [Computers and calculating pi: A zillion-bit word?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computers-and-calculating-pi-a-zillion-bit-word/403049)
**Author:** [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computers-and-calculating-pi-a-zillion-bit-word/403049 "2007-05-18T16:55:55Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_357.html Cecil talked about the mathematics of computing pi, but not the computer science. To calculate a more pedestrian value, say 1/2, you load a 1 into one word and a 2 into … --- ## [Why is lisping stereotypically associated with homosexuality?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-lisping-stereotypically-associated-with-homosexuality/403561)
**Author:** [@Virnovum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Virnovum)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-lisping-stereotypically-associated-with-homosexuality/403561 "2007-05-18T04:06:36Z")
From http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950526.html I would have thought the answer here was obvious. The actions we associate with gays are actually a result of men using mannerisms typical of women. The really st… --- ## [Hotel California and Sartre](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842)
**Author:** [@RBMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RBMiller)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842 "2007-05-17T15:53:47Z")
I’m amazed. The Hotel California answer (“colitas”) talks about possible origins and meanings of the song, but makes no mention of Sartre’s “Huit-Clos” (the play translated as “No Exit” in English). “Hotel California” ev… --- ## [Are you supposed to wax the top or the bottom of the surfboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-supposed-to-wax-the-top-or-the-bottom-of-the-surfboard/87412)
**Author:** [@NvdB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NvdB)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-supposed-to-wax-the-top-or-the-bottom-of-the-surfboard/87412 "2007-05-17T13:24:11Z")
Small but important correction: the “fin” on a surfboard is a skeg, not a skag. Check that dictionary. --- ## [KLondike exchange, 555, etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klondike-exchange-555-etc/404430)
**Author:** [@croozn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/croozn)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klondike-exchange-555-etc/404430 "2007-05-17T11:46:06Z")
Reading the explanation of the 555 exchange reminded of someone I knew who once had the “867-5309” number that was made famous in a 80’s (I think) rock song. They got so many calls they had to change the number. --- ## [Neil Armstrong's Moon Statement](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-armstrongs-moon-statement/404426)
**Author:** [@croozn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/croozn)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-armstrongs-moon-statement/404426 "2007-05-17T11:42:02Z")
You left out a big piece of this puzzle: Walter Cronkite. Cronkite immediately repeated what he thought he heard Armstrong say. And he said it as it has been remembered since, which is a nonsensical statement. No one… --- ## [why do they call it latin america](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-call-it-latin-america/403947)
**Author:** [@Guajolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guajolotl)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-call-it-latin-america/403947 "2007-05-17T10:51:26Z")
There is a lot of baggage with the name Latin America. First of all, North America is mostly Protestant- English. In the 18th Century they hated the Spanish-Catholics. (they still do). However, settlers in the US never g… --- ## [25 or 6 to 4](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-or-6-to-4/116094)
**Author:** [@Vee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vee)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/25-or-6-to-4/116094 "2007-05-17T03:31:27Z")
I read all the research you provided on the meaning of “25 or 6 to 4” as appearing in the Chicago II album, but there is a strange other correlation that seems a little too convenient. If you use your favorite online ma… --- ## [gender-neutral substitute for "his or her"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-substitute-for-his-or-her/401725)
**Author:** [@mrw22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrw22)\ **Replies:** 41\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-neutral-substitute-for-his-or-her/401725 "2007-05-16T20:52:26Z")
hello Cecil … have you ever thought of using " (s)he " ?? --- ## [House odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-odds/403672)
**Author:** [@dimi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimi)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-odds/403672 "2007-05-16T15:52:18Z")
The report ( http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhouseodds.htm ) says that all games in the casino have odds that favor the house. This is not strictly true when it comes to poker (not poker machines). Generally the pla… --- ## [Bizarre code in staff reports](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-code-in-staff-reports/399090)
**Author:** [@kjkolb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjkolb)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-code-in-staff-reports/399090 "2007-05-16T00:56:42Z")
In this staff report, dashes (–) are rendered as question marks by Firefox (Macintosh version 2.0.0.3). Looking at the page source, I found that throughout the article the font is reidentified as Times New Roman over and… --- ## [jews sacrificing article](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-sacrificing-article/404128)
**Author:** [@atmwool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atmwool)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jews-sacrificing-article/404128 "2007-05-15T17:59:24Z")
thanks. that was an insightful read. put a link back here. --- ## [Does time pass more quickly when gravity is reduced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-pass-more-quickly-when-gravity-is-reduced/403700)
**Author:** [@BernieB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BernieB)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 14, 2007, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-time-pass-more-quickly-when-gravity-is-reduced/403700 "2007-05-14T10:37:21Z")
Does time pass more quickly when gravity is reduced? Cecil, I enjoyed your recent column on EP, but I suspect your spacesuit might have a vacuum leak. In example #1 what you’re citing is s difference in perspective, no… --- ## [Surviving (or not) spouses](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-or-not-spouses/402784)
**Author:** [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [May 13, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-or-not-spouses/402784 "2007-05-13T20:25:37Z")
When discussing spousal grief in this article, Cecil left out one important aspect of grief. As anyone who has lost a child or a spouse can tell you, the grieving process itself is physically draining through loss of ap… --- ## [Sperm Donor Question - you pulled out too soon ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sperm-donor-question-you-pulled-out-too-soon/395777)
**Author:** [@Maylson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maylson)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [May 12, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sperm-donor-question-you-pulled-out-too-soon/395777 "2007-05-12T15:12:49Z")
Regarding the question on sperm donors’ parental obligations, the original question seemed to be more concerned with the anonymous sperm bank donor’s potential child support obligations. Your answer mentioned that in st… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=134) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=136)