# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=17 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 18 --- ## [Eating spiders in your sleep](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-spiders-in-your-sleep/772027)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-spiders-in-your-sleep/772027 "2016-11-19T23:23:54Z")
Contains the line “microscopic spiders, a millimeter long or less,”, which reminds me that our skin is colonized with arachnids much smaller than that: “spider mites” Three Things You Didn’t Know About the Arachnids Th… --- ## [Being able to turn off street lights](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-able-to-turn-off-street-lights/771947)
**Author:** [@LEECAT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LEECAT)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-able-to-turn-off-street-lights/771947 "2016-11-14T16:01:04Z")
I read your guest’s letter’s about being able to turn off street light’s when passing close to them, and I also read your rather sarcastic response and I would tell you and everyone else that does not believe in this to … --- ## [US Commercial Light Water Reactors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-commercial-light-water-reactors/771353)
**Author:** [@ronindoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ronindoman)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-commercial-light-water-reactors/771353 "2016-11-12T15:52:02Z")
This is a good article about Heavy Water. It is used ,for instance in the Canadian CANDU reactors that are not enriched, i.e. the fuel is natural uranium. There’s one sentence that I believe needs to be changed , i.e.… --- ## [Better ways out of a burning building?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-ways-out-of-a-burning-building/769945)
**Author:** [@bobo\_ver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobo_ver)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-ways-out-of-a-burning-building/769945 "2016-11-11T19:10:16Z")
About the last coumn on fire escape, I was wondering why not having a solution as in the four-story slide in the Changi Airport or at the Technische Universität München? A serie of 2- story slides, where people could j… --- ## [Anti-semitic Popes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitic-popes/770515)
**Author:** [@toefungus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toefungus)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 3, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-semitic-popes/770515 "2016-11-03T18:19:32Z")
Come to Spain, walk into any bar. Chances are there’s a bunch of hams hanging from the ceiling, it’s a traditional decoration. https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=spanish+tradition+of+hams+in+bars How did this ‘tradi… --- ## [Spotted dick](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotted-dick/125191)
**Author:** [@goddessodd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goddessodd)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [November 2, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotted-dick/125191 "2016-11-02T17:20:01Z")
Comment on Staff Report http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mspotteddick.html Is it just me, or does suet pudding sound almost too disgusting to eat? Isn’t suet just another name for lard? :frowning: --- ## [Creepy Clown sightings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-clown-sightings/768559)
**Author:** [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-clown-sightings/768559 "2016-11-01T01:42:47Z")
The column was interesting and entertaining, as usual, until I came to a screeching halt at the end. The “Knockout game” was mythical? Read “White Girl Bleed a Lot” or “Don’t Make the Black Kids Angry” by Colin Flaherty… --- ## [Loathesome disease](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathesome-disease/769870)
**Author:** [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loathesome-disease/769870 "2016-10-28T00:59:03Z")
IIRC, loathsome disease frequently meant some sort of sexually transmitted disease (plus leprosy). Its been a while but IIRC having a loathsome disease was grounds for divorce and falsely accusing someone of having a lo… --- ## [Cat blood donations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-blood-donations/769269)
**Author:** [@mdcatdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mdcatdad)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-blood-donations/769269 "2016-10-24T15:08:10Z")
A cat I owned in 2004 needed a blood transfusion due to an ulcer which developed as a side effect of medication. The VCA speciality hospital kept a “donor cat” on the premises for that purpose and my cat quickly recovere… --- ## [Are there submerged towns under lakes created by dam building?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-submerged-towns-under-lakes-created-by-dam-building/419980)
**Author:** [@msean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msean)\ **Replies:** 47\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-submerged-towns-under-lakes-created-by-dam-building/419980 "2016-10-24T03:12:53Z")
I read that a scientist says that there is a wobble in the earth’s rotation that can be attributed to most of the water behind dams being in the Northern Hemisphere. Since we’ve all seen what happens to tops that start t… --- ## [Freud's Relevance and Non-Quackery](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freuds-relevance-and-non-quackery/767906)
**Author:** [@bowlweevils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bowlweevils)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freuds-relevance-and-non-quackery/767906 "2016-10-21T18:49:02Z")
This column http://tinyurl.com/hferhlcwas written in 2003, so hopefully Cecil has learned a bit. More specifically, learned that a tremendous amount was known about unconscious mental processes when he wrote that column. … --- ## [Mr Cecil Adams, Just read your thread on how anti-depressants don't work](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-cecil-adams-just-read-your-thread-on-how-anti-depressants-dont-work/767745)
**Author:** [@flygirl2172](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flygirl2172)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [October 19, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-cecil-adams-just-read-your-thread-on-how-anti-depressants-dont-work/767745 "2016-10-19T11:56:04Z")
Could you please tell me what does work? Thanks in advance. Donna --- ## [bumblebee nests](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebee-nests/768375)
**Author:** [@djinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djinni)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [October 15, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bumblebee-nests/768375 "2016-10-15T07:58:42Z")
for the book length treatment of bumblebees, see “A Sting in the Tail” by dave goulson --- ## [Afghanistan poppy growing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistan-poppy-growing/767836)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/afghanistan-poppy-growing/767836 "2016-10-11T18:35:53Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3309/why-dont-we-bomb-afghanistans-poppy-fields Why is Afghanistan such a good place to grow opium poppies? Couldn’t they be grown almost anywhere? For awhile heroin from the "Go… --- ## [New development in Wizard of Oz "hanging"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-development-in-wizard-of-oz-hanging/593775)
**Author:** [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Replies:** 59\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-development-in-wizard-of-oz-hanging/593775 "2016-10-11T16:38:35Z")
Based on this column: Can a Munchkin be seen committing suicide in The Wizard of Oz? - The Straight Dope I know there must have been several previous threads on this, but the only one I could find was from 1999 and it s… --- ## [Hiroshima contamination](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiroshima-contamination/768094)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 9, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiroshima-contamination/768094 "2016-10-09T21:03:03Z")
"First, both bombs were detonated more than 500 meters above street level so as to wreak maximum destruction (surrounding buildings would have blocked much of the force of ground-level explosions). " hiroshima-and-nagas… --- ## [The Medium is the Massage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-medium-is-the-massage/191420)
**Author:** [@DeepField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepField)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [September 24, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-medium-is-the-massage/191420 "2016-09-24T13:06:17Z")
I am reading the last posted column Medium and message revisited: Was Marshall McLuhan a visionary? and I see a typo that may be an indication that somebody up there is dreaming with a vacation… --- ## [“Break a leg!”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/break-a-leg/767720)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 6, 2016, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/break-a-leg/767720 "2016-10-06T09:45:02Z")
For whatever it’s worth, in the world of opera, it’s “In bocca al lupo,”—“In the mouth of the wolf!” --- ## [What are the most outrageous claims ever made on the presidential campaign trail?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-outrageous-claims-ever-made-on-the-presidential-campaign-trail/767304)
**Author:** [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-outrageous-claims-ever-made-on-the-presidential-campaign-trail/767304 "2016-10-01T03:08:37Z")
\[url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3308/what-are-the-most-outrageous-claims-ever-made-on-the-presidential-campaign-trail\]What is the most outrageous claim ever made on the presidential campaing trail? That’s … --- ## [Dillenger's dick and the mortuary photo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dillengers-dick-and-the-mortuary-photo/192362)
**Author:** [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dillengers-dick-and-the-mortuary-photo/192362 "2016-10-01T02:36:22Z")
BTW, here’s the mortuary Schlong photo that Cecil refers to in today’s column. How anyone could look at that photo and think that the bulge is an erect dick is beyond me. People are stupid.\[sup\]TM\[/sup\] --- ## [Dog and cat food](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-and-cat-food/766657)
**Author:** [@japastor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japastor)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [September 30, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-and-cat-food/766657 "2016-09-30T01:28:26Z")
Cecil nailed it (of course – how could it be otherwise?) with dog and cat food. Humans, in addition to believing that food (and wine) tastes better the more they pay for it, and that “natural” has any meaning when applie… --- ## [Does NLP work? Is it the basis of Derren Brown's "mind control" act?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nlp-work-is-it-the-basis-of-derren-browns-mind-control-act/480658)
**Author:** [@Dex\_Sinister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dex_Sinister)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [October 6, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nlp-work-is-it-the-basis-of-derren-browns-mind-control-act/480658 "2009-10-06T23:19:13Z")
In reference to the article “Does NLP work? Is it the basis of Derren Brown’s “mind control” act?”, perhaps I can help, having studied psychology, and NLP, and (to a much lesser extent) Derren Brown. A more helpful defi… --- ## [Organ meats and the accumulation of toxins.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-meats-and-the-accumulation-of-toxins/766949)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 26, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-meats-and-the-accumulation-of-toxins/766949 "2016-09-26T22:05:17Z")
This is in reference to Cecil’s article Why don’t Americans eat more offal?. In it Cecil says: I’ve always eaten liver sparingly, even though I enjoy it, because I’ve heard that the liver accumulates environmental tox… --- ## [Are today's PCs more powerful than a 1970s supercomputer?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-todays-pcs-more-powerful-than-a-1970s-supercomputer/765922)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [September 20, 2016, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-todays-pcs-more-powerful-than-a-1970s-supercomputer/765922 "2016-09-20T11:43:16Z")
Link to Cecil’s column from 2003. From the column: The 15 years are within a year or so of being up. Has the performance of the Japanese Earth Simulator been matched “by something you can buy for $900 at Wal-Mart”? --- ## [a question about ramen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ramen/761553)
**Author:** [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [September 19, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-ramen/761553 "2016-09-19T17:27:22Z")
after I read the ramen report yesterday I remember seeing one of the eating healthy websites saying ramen had no nutritional value what so ever and the only positive thing was it was better than starving … were they… --- ## [Why is so much of the Islamic world backward and ignorant?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-of-the-islamic-world-backward-and-ignorant/765872)
**Author:** [@Defective\_Detective](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defective_Detective)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [September 16, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-so-much-of-the-islamic-world-backward-and-ignorant/765872 "2016-09-16T20:39:38Z")
“…it’s fair to say that in many countries the Islamic masses remain comparatively backward and ignorant.” Cecil. Seriously? With the way black folks are treated in the USA? With the way female victims of rape are unif… --- ## [Concerning the report on negative blood types](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-report-on-negative-blood-types/765584)
**Author:** [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-the-report-on-negative-blood-types/765584 "2016-09-10T23:21:52Z")
I wonder what the woo people would say about this man from Australia, James Harrison, who has a rare blood type uses to make a vaccine that save Rh negative babies? I watched the report and read the article. I discov… --- ## [Own race bias](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/own-race-bias/764858)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/own-race-bias/764858 "2016-09-08T23:05:04Z")
I, personally, was educated. I’d always wondered how people in countries where everyone has more-or-less the same kind of nose, were able to tell each other apart. --- ## [manatees dark or white meat](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manatees-dark-or-white-meat/764762)
**Author:** [@I\_wasn\_t\_truly\_absent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_wasn_t_truly_absent)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manatees-dark-or-white-meat/764762 "2016-09-08T22:57:46Z")
Hi, can I gush just a little? I’m a self admirer (too) and I have to salute how you dropped in that you’d be red meat, in the article on manatees dark or white meat? laughed out loud, so very nicely done!! strangely, I w… --- ## [Lies, Damned Lies, and ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-damned-lies-and/764501)
**Author:** [@waddlingeagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddlingeagle)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-damned-lies-and/764501 "2016-09-08T16:05:53Z")
Cecil’s column Man Wrecks Planet: Are the popularly published environmental statistics accurate? - The Straight Dope brings up a good point: far too many statistics are simply credulously repeated without really checking… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=18)