# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=153 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 154 --- ## [Does "black Irish" refer to colour?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-black-irish-refer-to-colour/352431)
**Author:** [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 13, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-black-irish-refer-to-colour/352431 "2006-04-13T01:59:38Z")
In one of his answers, Cecil implies that “Black Irish” refrs to Irish people with dark hair/eyes. I wonder if that is all it means? The other day, I met a couple of young men here in Canada who told me they were relate… --- ## [Theory about contagious yawning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theory-about-contagious-yawning/351221)
**Author:** [@Arminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arminator)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 12, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theory-about-contagious-yawning/351221 "2006-04-12T22:56:39Z")
Hello, I just found this site and surfed through the archives. A very old column about Why yawning is contagious brought a theory to my mind, that I read some time ago. Unfortunately I don’t have any references to the s… --- ## [What's the story behind "Mack The Knife"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115)
**Author:** [@jesstears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesstears)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [April 12, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-behind-mack-the-knife/352115 "2006-04-12T14:46:23Z")
I read someone’s explaination of the song Mack The Knife and I couldn’t find it in the board so I just decided to start a new thread. The person’s answer was that it was based on a play \*The Beggar’s Opera \* and the mai… --- ## [Cannibalism question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/347317)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [April 11, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cannibalism-question/347317 "2006-04-11T10:39:37Z")
Is there really such a thing as cannibalism? Cecil did point out the distinction of “survival” cannibalism as opposed to other kinds. But I thought it was pretty well established that many peoples (such as the New Guine… --- ## [pop tops and charit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-tops-and-charit/350714)
**Author:** [@blgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blgreen)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 10, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-tops-and-charit/350714 "2006-04-10T16:13:42Z")
I noticed the pop-top collection article was 20 years old. (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_077.html) Sometime between the 80’s and now, the aluminum industry must have just thrown up its hands and sighed. My … --- ## [Why do cops in movies taste cocaine?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cops-in-movies-taste-cocaine/352092)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 10, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cops-in-movies-taste-cocaine/352092 "2006-04-10T15:28:54Z")
Referencing this Straight Dope Staff Report. The report ends by saying: Further, such trace amounts could show up in the person’s next urine drug screen, and a positive for cocaine metabolites in the urine would warrant… --- ## [Lucky number 13](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucky-number-13/351617)
**Author:** [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 10, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucky-number-13/351617 "2006-04-10T01:40:42Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_080.html FWIW, I had always heard that the origin of 13 being unlucky stems from the Friday the 13th bugaboo; Friday the 13th was considered unlucky because that was the day (Frid… --- ## [On 666](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-666/351891)
**Author:** [@Robert\_Lucien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert_Lucien)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2006, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-666/351891 "2006-04-09T11:20:01Z")
You missed one - The BCD 666 is 0110 0110 0110 Rob :smack: --- ## [More info on Tokyo Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-info-on-tokyo-rose/351925)
**Author:** [@Sgt\_Bratton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sgt_Bratton)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-info-on-tokyo-rose/351925 "2006-04-09T05:56:32Z")
While some of your explaination of who Tokyo Rose was is accurate, a more complete explaination is given below from the FBI files on the subject. The story about her visiting a dying aunt and being made to spread the pro… --- ## [cecil adams is ignorant maybe?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-is-ignorant-maybe/351436)
**Author:** [@blehblehbleh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blehblehbleh)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-is-ignorant-maybe/351436 "2006-04-08T23:01:35Z")
is marijuana was never a popular crop, then why was there an article written about it in Popular Mechanics in the 30’s? :smack: get your facts straight before running your mouth! --- ## [The world was created in 6 days.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-was-created-in-6-days/350882)
**Author:** [@Bookworm51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookworm51)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-world-was-created-in-6-days/350882 "2006-04-08T11:37:13Z")
Dex, you’re mistaken when you state that the world was created in 7 days, according to the Bible. The book of Genesis states that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh day: Genesis 1:31 And God saw … --- ## [Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil/345952)
**Author:** [@wyendor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wyendor)\ **Replies:** 65\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil/345952 "2006-04-08T03:39:20Z")
Cecil- I hate to disagree, but I wonder why your column on peak oil completely ignores abiogenic oil theory. I’m quite disappointed that you don’t even question the conventional wisdom here. There is considerable and gr… --- ## [Zip code of the beast revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-code-of-the-beast-revisited/351701)
**Author:** [@d\_orloff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d_orloff)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-code-of-the-beast-revisited/351701 "2006-04-08T02:04:55Z")
I was for thirteen years a proud resident of the real-world holder of the 78666 zip, namely San Marcos, Texas, or as I put it on my correspondence? “San Marc-o-the-Beast, Texas” And, naturally in these times, there is a … --- ## [Common Denominator of the Beast](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominator-of-the-beast/351725)
**Author:** [@Fromage\_A\_Trois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fromage_A_Trois)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 7, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-denominator-of-the-beast/351725 "2006-04-07T17:08:53Z")
Staff Report 1/666 is not the common denominator of the beast, it’s the reciprocal of the beast. 666 can’t have a common denominator on its own - there must be some other number for it to have a denominator in common wi… --- ## [Route 666](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/route-666/351343)
**Author:** [@qpackard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpackard)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 6, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/route-666/351343 "2006-04-06T03:29:46Z")
Route 666 = Way of the Beast Until a year or two ago there was a US Route 666, I think it was in Arizona, part of the legendary Route 66. The obscure path was removed from the registry partly because highway maintenance… --- ## [Could a super-bright light cause blindness?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-super-bright-light-cause-blindness/351419)
**Author:** [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-super-bright-light-cause-blindness/351419 "2006-04-05T22:18:51Z")
Actually now it can: http://www.fosterfreeman.co.uk/products/forensic-ls/quaser2000-30/quaser2000-30.html The quaser can cause permanent blindness if viewed directly without protection. It can even cause retina damage … --- ## [Don't various interpretations of 666 depend on the decimal system?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-various-interpretations-of-666-depend-on-the-decimal-system/350777)
**Author:** [@hobb0001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobb0001)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-various-interpretations-of-666-depend-on-the-decimal-system/350777 "2006-04-05T18:36:35Z")
Not having read the original Greek, I don’t know for sure how the number 666 was represented in the original text, but I suspect that it refers to the value of six hundred and sixty-six, not the sequence of three consecu… --- ## [Feed a Cold Starve a Fever or visa....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feed-a-cold-starve-a-fever-or-visa/350292)
**Author:** [@hellibeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellibeer)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feed-a-cold-starve-a-fever-or-visa/350292 "2006-04-04T19:33:01Z")
Just thought you might be interested in this article related to this story. Interesting and from a “Science” site - though I doubt 100% uncontested. title…"“Feed a cold, starve a fever” may be right" It’s a bit like t… --- ## [Deaf & Schizophrenic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-schizophrenic/350700)
**Author:** [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2006, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaf-schizophrenic/350700 "2006-04-04T06:32:23Z")
One of the “Questions we’re still considering” was whether deaf schizophrenics hear voices or imagine someone signing to them. I jokingly mentioned this to one of the contractors here who promptly pulled this up: Ups… --- ## [chelation therapy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chelation-therapy/350735)
**Author:** [@khannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/khannah)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chelation-therapy/350735 "2006-04-04T05:35:08Z")
In Cecil’s column of 10 March, he states that “current consensus is that chelation is effectively snake oil.” This is generally true. However, chelation is a recognized effective treatment for severe childhood lead pois… --- ## [Last item in today's waves-on-shore column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-item-in-todays-waves-on-shore-column/350710)
**Author:** [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-item-in-todays-waves-on-shore-column/350710 "2006-04-04T02:36:13Z")
Cecil’s Column, unfortunately, finishes with this stinker about the Italian who supposedly attempted to consume an automobile: You know, I used to be impressed by Bibliophage too, but this pun is viscerally painful. B… --- ## [Seasonal variation and astrological validity?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-variation-and-astrological-validity/349773)
**Author:** [@dachs96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dachs96)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seasonal-variation-and-astrological-validity/349773 "2006-04-01T20:14:34Z")
In his classic column Is Astrology for Real? Cecil points the problems with individuals being affected by planets and stars that are up to millions of light years away. There is one thing zodiac signs are correlated wi… --- ## [Reasons for space travel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reasons-for-space-travel/350577)
**Author:** [@Andre\_Guirard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andre_Guirard)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reasons-for-space-travel/350577 "2006-04-01T02:18:46Z")
The answer on why we travel in space missed what I think is the most important point. Every now and then, at random intervals, giant asteroids slam into the Earth, causing mass extinctions and economic upheaval. It’s ine… --- ## [Disposing of Nuclear Waste](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposing-of-nuclear-waste/350705)
**Author:** [@tmblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmblack)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposing-of-nuclear-waste/350705 "2006-04-01T02:10:53Z")
The proper disposing of Nuclear Waste has been a growing problem for many states and countries around the world. I have worked at our nuclear power plant in Arkansas (Arkansas Nuclear One) and there were discussions tha… --- ## [Indus Script has been deciphered](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script-has-been-deciphered/350687)
**Author:** [@kalyan97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalyan97)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/indus-script-has-been-deciphered/350687 "2006-03-31T23:19:18Z")
:cool: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mindusscript.html I came across this thread during my search on scripts and languages. Let me give you the good news. Indus script has been deciphered. The Straight Dope Scienc… --- ## [Coca-cola and real sugar.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-and-real-sugar/284165)
**Author:** [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Replies:** 42\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coca-cola-and-real-sugar/284165 "2006-03-31T16:00:09Z")
In “Is it true Coca-Cola once contained cocaine?”, Cecil notes that, sadly, Coca-Cola no longer contains either cocaine or ‘real’ cane sugar, and also that while cocaine is pretty much a lost ingredient one can still fin… --- ## [Nose picking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/350547)
**Author:** [@tjmaxwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tjmaxwell)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/350547 "2006-03-30T16:58:46Z")
I am commenting on Leo the nose picker. Cecil here is a full study on the subject. WOW Of the 1000 surveys mailed out, only 254 were completed and returned to the researchers. 8.7% claim that they have never picked the… --- ## [Me and Me and the Orgone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-and-me-and-the-orgone/350529)
**Author:** [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-and-me-and-the-orgone/350529 "2006-03-30T16:48:01Z")
Was I was in seventh grade, I was told your could find dirty books in the library. So I was looking in the sex ed section and accidentally pulled out a book by a comedian who was always on the Tonight show named Orson Be… --- ## [Baker's Dozen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/350276)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/350276 "2006-03-29T15:46:19Z")
What’s the origin of “baker’s dozen”? OK, it’s a niggle, but still worth pointing out, I think. From Dex’s report: “In the mid-13th century, British law imposed strict regulations on bakers regarding the weight of bre… --- ## [Monty Hall Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-hall-question/342897)
**Author:** [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Replies:** 99\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-hall-question/342897 "2006-03-29T05:06:55Z")
The current column contains a link to the earlier Monty Hall Question, which I have some concerns with. Two questions in particular seem to be twisted to support incorrect answers. The way I see it is that the odds the… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=152) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=154)