# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=185 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 186 --- ## [The True Ben Franklin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-true-ben-franklin/260781)
**Author:** [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-true-ben-franklin/260781 "2004-08-24T18:25:58Z")
Next to Cecil’s column addressing the accomplishments of Ben Franklin, there’s as always, an illustration, and I’d like to make sure my eyes don’t decieve me as to its content. --- ## [Difference between apple juice and apple cider](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difference-between-apple-juice-and-apple-cider/261242)
**Author:** [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difference-between-apple-juice-and-apple-cider/261242 "2004-08-24T11:44:34Z")
link There may be confusion state side, but this is a fairly distinctive difference in the UK. Cider can be purchased in bars and off licenses and is as alocholic as lager and ale. Apple juice on the other hand is com… --- ## [10 gallon hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-gallon-hats/260719)
**Author:** [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-gallon-hats/260719 "2004-08-24T05:46:22Z")
Ok, I made my attempt to search for this in the archives, but perhaps my searching ability is lacking. Because I can’t believe no one has asked this before. Why are they called “10 gallon hats”? --- ## [Sugar cubes vs. sugar packets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-cubes-vs-sugar-packets/260501)
**Author:** [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-cubes-vs-sugar-packets/260501 "2004-08-24T02:40:09Z")
I’m young enough that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sugar cube in a restaurant. However, I’m curious as to why sugar packets do not seem to be sold for home use. About ten years ago, I was getting ready to move into t… --- ## [Sugar in Coca-Cola](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-in-coca-cola/259675)
**Author:** [@dsw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dsw1)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sugar-in-coca-cola/259675 "2004-08-23T08:28:18Z")
re: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_033.html Dear Cecil: You note that Coca-Cola, “in an effort to control costs, permitted its bottlers to substitute high-fructose corn sweetener for the beet and cane sugar o… --- ## [People whose presence turns off streetlights: the Washington Post gets into the act](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-presence-turns-off-streetlights-the-washington-post-gets-into-the-act/137160)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-presence-turns-off-streetlights-the-washington-post-gets-into-the-act/137160 "2004-08-23T05:36:35Z")
You remember Cecil’s 1994 column, Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations? (Of course you do. If you don’t, what sort of Doper are you, anyway?) The good news is that the Washington … --- ## [Ethanol as Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethanol-as-fuel/215723)
**Author:** [@jonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonk)\ **Replies:** 86\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethanol-as-fuel/215723 "2004-08-22T19:40:36Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031128.html While I don’t dispute Dr. Pimentel’s arguments that more energy is consumed producing ethanol for fuel than the ethanol returns, one need not worry flouting about the seco… --- ## [Odd little typo on Ben Franklin column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-typo-on-ben-franklin-column/260862)
**Author:** [@TheInternetExplorer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInternetExplorer)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-typo-on-ben-franklin-column/260862 "2004-08-22T11:14:39Z")
Sholem! I just happened upon a rather confusing sentence that I can only assume contains a typo on a rather pivotal word. (This quotation occurs in the bottom paragraph of http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040820.htm… --- ## [Ketchup as a veggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-as-a-veggie/255681)
**Author:** [@NH2112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NH2112)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-as-a-veggie/255681 "2004-08-21T17:24:02Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040716.html Read the article again and you’ll see that the Democrat-controlled Congress cut $1 billion from child nutrition programs, which made THEM, and not President Reagan or the … --- ## [re: can deaf people think: Cecil is wrong, the evidence says so](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-deaf-people-think-cecil-is-wrong-the-evidence-says-so/234026)
**Author:** [@PTtheorist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PTtheorist)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-deaf-people-think-cecil-is-wrong-the-evidence-says-so/234026 "2004-08-20T13:05:13Z")
Cecil, “Can you think without language? Answer: Nope, at least not at the level humans are accustomed to.” --Cecil Adams. The above was a response to what langauge deaf people think in (and in the theme of the above, I… --- ## [Farting in Key](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-key/260636)
**Author:** [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-key/260636 "2004-08-20T12:22:59Z")
Is there a way to control the pitch of a fart? Would it be possible to fart out a song? For example “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”. --- ## [On "why is a modern folktale called an urban legend?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-why-is-a-modern-folktale-called-an-urban-legend/259780)
**Author:** [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 19, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-why-is-a-modern-folktale-called-an-urban-legend/259780 "2004-08-19T23:52:19Z")
A very minor comment (or two) about bibliophage’s fine answer to “why is a modern folktale called an urban legend?” http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/murbanlegend.html bibliophage writes, Dale, who published one of… --- ## [Ollie Ollie etc](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ollie-ollie-etc/260302)
**Author:** [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ollie-ollie-etc/260302 "2004-08-17T23:25:01Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a900622a.html I’m new to this malarky, so forgive me for commenting on a very old column. Cecil was a bit worried as to what a “spuggy” might be (as in “All in, all in, spuggy in th… --- ## [cane sugar in soft drinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773)
**Author:** [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cane-sugar-in-soft-drinks/259773 "2004-08-17T22:28:48Z")
Regarding Cecil’s classic (heh!) Coca-Cola column: It’s pretty durn hard to do any taste-tests with products that don’t exist anymore, 'leastways not 'round these parts. But there’s a Dr. Pepper bottler here in Texas th… --- ## [Income Tax Ratification](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-ratification/257490)
**Author:** [@brianj16426](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianj16426)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-tax-ratification/257490 "2004-08-17T13:57:30Z")
Income Tax Amendment Not Ratified Here is the information I looked up on the topic (It has little/nothing to do with Ohio): The ratification required by at least 36 states – three-fourths of the 48 states then in exist… --- ## [Wigmakers...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wigmakers/260188)
**Author:** [@Leslie83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leslie83)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 17, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wigmakers/260188 "2004-08-17T04:31:59Z")
I just read http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_270a.html - in which Cecil explains that wigmakers rarely buy human hair from people who keep theirs clean because it’s too brittle. Last winter I donated my hair to L… --- ## [Did the Romans Eat Spaghetti ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-romans-eat-spaghetti/129355)
**Author:** [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 15, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-romans-eat-spaghetti/129355 "2004-08-15T20:01:56Z")
I refer to Cecil’s column http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_102.html which had a throw-away line about the Romans of Claudius’s time eating pasta. I thought spaghetti wasn’t seriously taken up by the Romans until … --- ## [Franco-Italo-Sino-...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-italo-sino/259507)
**Author:** [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/franco-italo-sino/259507 "2004-08-13T18:57:29Z")
I find it interesting in this column that someone insisted on noting that tomatoes came from the “new world”, but further mentioned cornstarch without a similar disclaimer. --- ## [Regarding the effects of steroids on Bodybuilders equipment](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-the-effects-of-steroids-on-bodybuilders-equipment/259696)
**Author:** [@nmrbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nmrbear)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-the-effects-of-steroids-on-bodybuilders-equipment/259696 "2004-08-13T16:07:37Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940311a.html Sorry to see this common missconception about the effects of steroids on bodybuilders members. As a gay man who is and has slept with a lot of bodybuilders I can assure… --- ## [What was the cult TV series "The Prisoner" all about?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263)
**Author:** [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-cult-tv-series-the-prisoner-all-about/258263 "2004-08-13T11:13:34Z")
What was the cult TV series “The Prisoner” all about? I always thought that at the end after he’s been back to his flat he then leaves it and gets in his car. When he drives away what we’re seeing is the opening sequen… --- ## [Ales and Alger Hiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ales-and-alger-hiss/259539)
**Author:** [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ales-and-alger-hiss/259539 "2004-08-12T15:18:50Z")
In Cecil’s column on the Rosenburgs, he mentions the “Ales”/Alger Hiss connection. While, as Cecil points out, the weight of evidence points to Hiss being a spy, the “Venona” connection identifying him as Ales is really … --- ## [Greta Garbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greta-garbo/258628)
**Author:** [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 11, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greta-garbo/258628 "2004-08-11T05:17:23Z")
Boy, Cecil was quite a snot 30+ years ago wasn’t he. Thankfully, he’s mellowed a bit with age. Of course, anyone who knows anything about the Oscars knows that the Honorary awards goes to people who are long overdue fo… --- ## [How night vision goggles work](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-night-vision-goggles-work/257579)
**Author:** [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-night-vision-goggles-work/257579 "2004-08-10T20:04:10Z")
In the latest Staff Report, What’s the temperature of space?, Planck’s black body radiation law is followed by the comment “Black body radiation explains how night vision goggles work.” I know it doesn’t have anything t… --- ## [Temperature of space answer is not correct](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperature-of-space-answer-is-not-correct/258862)
**Author:** [@916mph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/916mph)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/temperature-of-space-answer-is-not-correct/258862 "2004-08-10T19:44:42Z")
Although the universe does radiate as a blackbody at ~2.7 degrees Kelvin, this is not the temperature of space right now, this is the doppler shifted temperature of space from billions of years ago. Space itself varies … --- ## [Are SD Classics checked for accuracy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sd-classics-checked-for-accuracy/258387)
**Author:** [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sd-classics-checked-for-accuracy/258387 "2004-08-10T19:17:19Z")
I just saw today’s question, which is a Straight Dope Classic about why you get half of your ticket back at the movies. I don’t doubt that the basic reason is still the same, but it occured to me that there have been lea… --- ## [Re: Where did the Caesar salad originate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-where-did-the-caesar-salad-originate/258475)
**Author:** [@pgw42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pgw42)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-where-did-the-caesar-salad-originate/258475 "2004-08-09T16:34:26Z")
Perhaps the article (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcaesar.html) did not delve deep enough. The Charlotte Observer (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/dining/6802925.htm) says: Dependin… --- ## [Ways to reach first base](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-reach-first-base/249555)
**Author:** [@Lumber\_Baron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumber_Baron)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-reach-first-base/249555 "2004-08-09T12:48:53Z")
When reading Cecil’s column on ways to reach first base (in the baseball sense) I happened to remember an entry in ESPN The Magazine in their “Answer Guy” feature, where when trying to determine whether it was possible t… --- ## [SSM column revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845)
**Author:** [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-column-revisited/258845 "2004-08-09T03:33:57Z")
Now that SSM has been legal in a number of Canadian provinces for over a year, legal in Massachusetts for almost five months and perhaps on the verge of being legal in Washington, I’m wondering if Cecil would be interest… --- ## [Shower curtain mysteries](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-curtain-mysteries/39030)
**Author:** [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-curtain-mysteries/39030 "2004-08-07T17:26:24Z")
In response to … http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_104.html …I’ve been intrigued, and bothered, by this mystery for some time. And I apologize if someone has addressed it with this particular case, but I couldn’t… --- ## [When starting a new thread, please provide a link to the Staff Report](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-starting-a-new-thread-please-provide-a-link-to-the-staff-report/98457)
**Author:** [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 7, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-starting-a-new-thread-please-provide-a-link-to-the-staff-report/98457 "2004-08-07T13:49:52Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, we’re glad to have you here. This forum is for posting comments about Staff Reports. Staff Reports are not written by Cecil, they are written by staff members of the Straight Dope Science Advisory B… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=184) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=186)