# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=160 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 161 --- ## [How is paper made?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-paper-made/332265)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-paper-made/332265 "2005-11-26T02:40:00Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpapermaking.html So if I got some cotton, and mixed it with nitric and sulfuric acids… :smiley: Actually, I had a question about getting the paper off of the mats: I’ve seen peo… --- ## [Isn't 10 Downing Street, the home of the British PM, kind of a dump?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-10-downing-street-the-home-of-the-british-pm-kind-of-a-dump/332064)
**Author:** [@UKsubscriber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UKsubscriber)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-10-downing-street-the-home-of-the-british-pm-kind-of-a-dump/332064 "2005-11-25T15:36:38Z")
Its true that the PM’s “crib” dosn’t look “all that” from the outside. But it is pretty impressive inside. See the tour on the 10 Downing Street Website at 10 Downing Street . The PM also has use of a country residence… --- ## [Re: Starting WWIII by mistake - is the Red Phone still sitting on the president'sdesk](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-starting-wwiii-by-mistake-is-the-red-phone-still-sitting-on-the-presidentsdesk/332593)
**Author:** [@Angels\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angels_Flight)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-starting-wwiii-by-mistake-is-the-red-phone-still-sitting-on-the-presidentsdesk/332593 "2005-11-25T15:26:26Z")
And is there another Red Phone for China? And should we get one for Iran? --- ## [How to start WWIII](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-start-wwiii/332627)
**Author:** [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2005, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-start-wwiii/332627 "2005-11-25T08:54:39Z")
A flock of geese as described in Cecil’s column may not do it. Still, if you believe Nena, 99 red balloons will do it. I wonder if a flock of seagulls… --- ## [Geronimo's Grave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766)
**Author:** [@John\_Stewardson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stewardson)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimos-grave/330766 "2005-11-25T07:15:51Z")
I was at Ft. Sill OK in 1968 for artillery training. It was a ritual of all to visit Geronimo’s grave which was near one of the firing ranges. As I recall the grave was marked by a simple military type tombstone. I do no… --- ## [Fold in half 12 times!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fold-in-half-12-times/331381)
**Author:** [@PhilipM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilipM)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fold-in-half-12-times/331381 "2005-11-24T01:56:47Z")
I didn’t see this here, but thought people may be interested: Britney Gallivan has solved the Paper Folding Problem. This well known challenge was to fold paper in half more than seven or eight times, using paper of a… --- ## [Cousins Marrying](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cousins-marrying/267085)
**Author:** [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [November 23, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cousins-marrying/267085 "2005-11-23T01:50:34Z")
In the column about cousins marrying, Cecil states: I believe that the flak over this marriage had more to do with the fact that his bride was 13 years old than it had to do with the two of them being cousins. --- ## [Edgar Cayce was a true humanitarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edgar-cayce-was-a-true-humanitarian/331538)
**Author:** [@SusanneV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanneV)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/edgar-cayce-was-a-true-humanitarian/331538 "2005-11-22T16:11:30Z")
If you really want the “straight dope” on Edgar Cayce, then please, please, please read his biography, “There Is A River”, by Thomas Sugrue. I’m sorry, but most of your information on him is just plain wrong. Flippantly … --- ## [Smedley Butler](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smedley-butler/331760)
**Author:** [@66polara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/66polara)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smedley-butler/331760 "2005-11-22T03:54:28Z")
As a somewhat interesting aside, Butler is honored with a Marine Corp Base named after him on Okinawa. --- ## [Tanning privates](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanning-privates/331847)
**Author:** [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanning-privates/331847 "2005-11-20T01:28:34Z")
Regarding Cecil’s column, Will tanning your privates in a salon cause radiation damage?, surely Cecil must know that ultraviolet radiation is ionizing radiation. --- ## [The (Smedley) Butler Did It!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smedley-butler-did-it/331670)
**Author:** [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smedley-butler-did-it/331670 "2005-11-19T01:17:46Z")
Oh, Smedley: Was there really a fascist plot ito overthrow the United States government? If some people are to be believed, we’ve been under a dictatorship for some time now and all this election business is a scam. --- ## [A raisin in the sun - A question about tanning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569)
**Author:** [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 18, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569 "2005-11-18T03:52:59Z")
Are you more likely to get skin cancer down there :eek: than on your nose if you leave your “hose out on the lawn”? --- ## [What's the story on numerology?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549)
**Author:** [@Africa\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Africa_Bob)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549 "2005-11-17T23:30:33Z")
Dex, Good write-up on numerology, as always. But you’ve got one bit scrambled: for the Chinese, 4 is BAD, signifying death. 8 is good. Link to column: What’s the story on numerology? – CKDH --- ## [Format error in 'Is it true men can suffer penile fracture?'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/format-error-in-is-it-true-men-can-suffer-penile-fracture/331360)
**Author:** [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/format-error-in-is-it-true-men-can-suffer-penile-fracture/331360 "2005-11-17T16:43:53Z")
You’re missing an end-tag to the italics in http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_426.html – it also looks like the italics is completely misplaced to begin with. I’m guessing it was meant for the phrase “missed the … --- ## [Thank you!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you/331417)
**Author:** [@Amanda\_M15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amanda_M15)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you/331417 "2005-11-17T00:51:30Z")
Thank you, Cecil! I’ve always wanted to know what language deaf people think in and despite the fact that your answer isn’t going to change my life forever it was really cool!!! --- ## [What about Pancho Villa's skull?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-pancho-villas-skull/331145)
**Author:** [@tubezone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubezone)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-pancho-villas-skull/331145 "2005-11-16T13:53:51Z")
OK, I believe Geronimo’s skull is not at Yale, but what about Pancho Villa’s? There’s enough plausible evidence that someone messed with Villa’s grave, including comtemporary press reports. See: http://www.aztlan.ne… --- ## [\-ectomy -ostomy -otomy, oh my!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ectomy-ostomy-otomy-oh-my/330997)
**Author:** [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ectomy-ostomy-otomy-oh-my/330997 "2005-11-15T01:01:37Z")
linky People may not do lobotomies, but people still do some crazy things to their heads. The question is (applying newfound Cecil-knowledge) why is it “trepanation” and not “craniostomy”? --- ## [Anthropodermic bibliopegy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthropodermic-bibliopegy/331069)
**Author:** [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthropodermic-bibliopegy/331069 "2005-11-14T23:11:34Z")
I thought of Cecil’s column on human-skin lampshades when I was reading \[this article\](Did the Nazis make lampshades out of human skin?) on books bound in human skin. It’s called anthropodermic bibliopegy and is a fascin… --- ## [The 'F' word](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-f-word/330897)
**Author:** [@islandgirlgalveston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/islandgirlgalveston)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-f-word/330897 "2005-11-13T22:33:50Z")
Well personally, I think it is a great word. It’s evolution may be somwhat mysterious, but nonetheless it conveys a particular point anyway one wishes to conjugate it. Like the word ‘STUFF’ for instance. Great word. … --- ## [Organ Donation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-donation/329531)
**Author:** [@cluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cluth)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-donation/329531 "2005-11-13T16:03:53Z")
Two questions: So a patient isn’t sawed open until they’re declared clinically brain dead, but they are ripped open and pillaged while they’re still breathing/pumping blood, etc. Is there even the remotest possibility … --- ## [munchkin suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munchkin-suicide/330784)
**Author:** [@miss\_joi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_joi)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munchkin-suicide/330784 "2005-11-13T01:45:27Z")
the activity going on in the background on the wizard of oz is not a munchkin committing suicide…it is an emu…actually, there are a few peacocks as well…i watched that movie for over 20 years before i noticed it myself…j… --- ## [Wow...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow/330748)
**Author:** [@Billy\_Brethren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Brethren)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow/330748 "2005-11-13T00:51:07Z")
I registered just to make this post. Read the “Straight Dope” on the history of the Bible. And was more impressed with IT that I am with the Bible itself. First, you folks could do my church a favor by teaching my Pas… --- ## [Why Does My Body Jerk When Falling Asleep?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-body-jerk-when-falling-asleep/330484)
**Author:** [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-body-jerk-when-falling-asleep/330484 "2005-11-12T05:14:41Z")
Re: today’s classic column. Just a minor nitpick, but CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, not “constant pressure air pump.” cite --- ## [General Motors and the Red Car](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-motors-and-the-red-car/329063)
**Author:** [@Agemegos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agemegos)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-motors-and-the-red-car/329063 "2005-11-12T04:48:32Z")
G’day In a classic column, Cecil dismissed the claim that General Motors had destroyed the Los Angeles public transit system. What, then, is the origin of claims such as this one: “By 1949, General Motors had been inv… --- ## [Brewsters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brewsters/329065)
**Author:** [@Agemegos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agemegos)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brewsters/329065 "2005-11-12T04:39:18Z")
G’day Further to a classic column concerning the name 'Brewster, I would like to add that the trade of brewing was not controlled by a guild. In mediaeval villages people would make ale in large batches, and then as the… --- ## [Legal Aspects of Diplomatic Immunity: what about UN HQ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-aspects-of-diplomatic-immunity-what-about-un-hq/328340)
**Author:** [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-aspects-of-diplomatic-immunity-what-about-un-hq/328340 "2005-11-11T15:46:39Z")
Ok, but what about UN HQ in NYC? In the staff report, What’s the story on diplomatic immunity?, guest contributor Bricker notes that diplomatic immunity isn’t all its cracked up to be: ambassadors and administrative sta… --- ## [Blue men](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-men/328461)
**Author:** [@mikhail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikhail)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-men/328461 "2005-11-11T03:10:21Z")
I was just reading the comments to Cecil’s piece on blue men, and I just wanted to confirm that the Irish (Gaelic) for a “black man” is “fear gorm”, or blue man. Why this is the case, on the other hand, is a real myster… --- ## [1981 answer concerning execution by electrocution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1981-answer-concerning-execution-by-electrocution/330463)
**Author:** [@Mackeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mackeath)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1981-answer-concerning-execution-by-electrocution/330463 "2005-11-10T20:21:24Z")
Cecil indicated he could not think of anyone offhand who had survived electrocution. Willie Francis surived in 1946 and after an appeal about the fairness of executing someone twice, was taken to the electric chair agai… --- ## [Seeing through glass = non-crystalline?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-through-glass-non-crystalline/330324)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-through-glass-non-crystalline/330324 "2005-11-10T17:25:11Z")
In Uncle Cecil’s old (1982) column on how come you can see through glass?, the Master wrote: Ah, but then, why can I see through a diamond? Diamonds do have a regular crystalline lattice. --- ## [Oak Island Treasure](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oak-island-treasure/330115)
**Author:** [@PhilipM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilipM)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oak-island-treasure/330115 "2005-11-10T02:39:40Z")
In regards to the column: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_441.html Oak island is now for sale: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=159) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=161)