# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=188 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 189 --- ## [Merkin Revival (by word of mouth)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merkin-revival-by-word-of-mouth/252653)
**Author:** [@Ian\_Ison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_Ison)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merkin-revival-by-word-of-mouth/252653 "2004-07-09T10:31:20Z")
I’m posting this as a continuation for a dead thread I found on merkins. I’ve recently been working on a decoding of the Lady of the Unicorn Tapestries. They have proven to be based on the secret courtship corresponden… --- ## [Why Women Athletes Tend to Be Small-Breasted](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-athletes-tend-to-be-small-breasted/253194)
**Author:** [@Joslin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joslin)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-athletes-tend-to-be-small-breasted/253194 "2004-07-09T05:51:42Z")
So I read the column on female athletes and bust size and was surprised on the amount of biology missing. I recently graduated from college with a science degree. It was discussed numerous times the likely cause of thi… --- ## [Old Board link in Easter bunny column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-board-link-in-easter-bunny-column/254228)
**Author:** [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-board-link-in-easter-bunny-column/254228 "2004-07-09T05:18:28Z")
In today’s classic What’s the connection between Easter and rabbits? the link to the Message Boards is given as the very old http://www.straightdope.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi --- ## [Colorblind like a dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorblind-like-a-dog/253982)
**Author:** [@lordrader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lordrader)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [July 9, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorblind-like-a-dog/253982 "2004-07-09T02:58:05Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_004.html Being one of the millions of people who are color blind, I thought I’d chime in here on color blindness. here is a simple site that explains the basics: http://www.tole… --- ## [The Pocket on the Left?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pocket-on-the-left/253485)
**Author:** [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 7, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pocket-on-the-left/253485 "2004-07-07T20:51:42Z")
I was interested by this column. I am a righty, and I have always worn my wallet on the right. I usually wear jeans, which have the same pocket on both sides. When I wear dress pants which have only one pocket, I usu… --- ## [Elephants and their memories](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-their-memories/253953)
**Author:** [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 7, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-their-memories/253953 "2004-07-07T18:10:53Z")
In response to the classic, I give you this --- ## [In response to Column on Cannibalism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-response-to-column-on-cannibalism/253271)
**Author:** [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 7, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-response-to-column-on-cannibalism/253271 "2004-07-07T03:20:46Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040702.html Thisthread has more on the subject than you need to know. --- ## [Wizard of Oz](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206)
**Author:** [@sheilablake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sheilablake)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [July 6, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz/252206 "2004-07-06T14:19:40Z")
The version I heard was it was an allegory on WWII. Poppy fields=Normandy invasion. Flying monkeys=bomber planes. --- ## [new stats: US military spending = 47% of world total](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stats-us-military-spending-47-of-world-total/249991)
**Author:** [@john\_roshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_roshi)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 6, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stats-us-military-spending-47-of-world-total/249991 "2004-07-06T03:36:47Z")
Cecil’s statistics in #1 with a bullet are somewhat outdated. He says in 1999 the U.S. accounted for 33% of world military expenditures. New statistics just released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institu… --- ## [What's up with Fibonacci numbers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-fibonacci-numbers/251606)
**Author:** [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [July 6, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-fibonacci-numbers/251606 "2004-07-06T02:09:50Z")
What the hell? I only understood the part about the bunnies… :confused: Link to Staff Report: What’s up with Fibonacci numbers? – CKDH --- ## [Re: Why are Barns Painted Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-are-barns-painted-red/253085)
**Author:** [@violet9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violet9)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [July 5, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-are-barns-painted-red/253085 "2004-07-05T19:42:13Z")
Cecil, I’m disappointed in your answer. You described the reason barns are red (iron oxide in the paint), but not WHY they’re painted red. It’s not like the only pigment available historically was iron oxide. And hous… --- ## [Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-people-extinguish-streetlamps-by-means-of-their-bodily-emanations/253491)
**Author:** [@\_b0Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_b0Z)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 5, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-people-extinguish-streetlamps-by-means-of-their-bodily-emanations/253491 "2004-07-05T11:43:25Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_047.html Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations? is the column i read… What a RUSH! MORE INFO NEEDED! This column stuck out to me personall… --- ## [Paper handtowels v hot air hand dryers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-handtowels-v-hot-air-hand-dryers/253475)
**Author:** [@crimsonlicketysplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crimsonlicketysplit)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 5, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-handtowels-v-hot-air-hand-dryers/253475 "2004-07-05T02:37:49Z")
I work in a hospital, and we have been told that the reason there are no hand-dryers in hospitals is that they blow bacteria around the whole room and are much more dangerous than paper towels, which can be confined to o… --- ## [Pants pocket on the left? What---?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-pocket-on-the-left-what/253061)
**Author:** [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 5, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-pocket-on-the-left-what/253061 "2004-07-05T01:55:49Z")
Today’s Straight Dope Classic makes utterly no sense to me. I’m 35 years old, and I’ve never seen a pair of trousers on which “if there is only one back pocket, it’s on the left, and that’s also where you’ll find the bu… --- ## [Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-people-extinguish-streetlamps-by-means-of-their-bodily-emanations/253490)
**Author:** [@\_b0Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_b0Z)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 4, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-people-extinguish-streetlamps-by-means-of-their-bodily-emanations/253490 "2004-07-04T14:40:44Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_047.html Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations? is the column i read… What a RUSH! MORE INFO NEEDED! This column stuck out to me personall… --- ## [Slugs and salt](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slugs-and-salt/253477)
**Author:** [@crimsonlicketysplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crimsonlicketysplit)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 4, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slugs-and-salt/253477 "2004-07-04T12:50:06Z")
Regarding the problems of how to make slugs get into the beer to drown, what we do here in Britain is to bury the container so that its rim is level with the ground surface - then the little horrors have to get in in ord… --- ## [Circus Peanuts Rule!!!!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circus-peanuts-rule/253315)
**Author:** [@OverlordSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OverlordSmurf)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 4, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circus-peanuts-rule/253315 "2004-07-04T03:36:09Z")
Cecil made fun of Circus Peanuts. I LOVE THEM! Since I can’t find the place where he posted it, I put my rage here. CIRCUS PEANUTS RULE!!! THERE, I SAID IT. AND I’M STICKING TO IT!! THEY ROCK!!! FEAR THE SMURFS!!! --- ## [British Prostitution Laws](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-prostitution-laws/252141)
**Author:** [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 4, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-prostitution-laws/252141 "2004-07-04T02:00:10Z")
In This thread on prostitution Cecil says: Britain has followed a third course, somewhat confusingly known as abolition. What was abolished was not prostitution but prostitution laws, after a fashion. Prostitution as s… --- ## [Fake smokes in cinema](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-smokes-in-cinema/252697)
**Author:** [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [July 3, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-smokes-in-cinema/252697 "2004-07-03T23:42:38Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcigsforactors.html A great article by Cervaise. One thing I always notice with fake smoking is that the actor does not inhale. A real smoker takes a deep drag, pauses momentarily, su… --- ## [If Cats don't bother with color why do primates](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cats-dont-bother-with-color-why-do-primates/253307)
**Author:** [@Marty\_Brody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marty_Brody)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 3, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cats-dont-bother-with-color-why-do-primates/253307 "2004-07-03T20:52:14Z")
The issue of whether cat can see color (more or less), brings up the question - if it’s not important to cats and most mammals to distinguish colors why is it important to primates and especially humans. Marty Brody --- ## [Formatting in cannibalism column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formatting-in-cannibalism-column/253289)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [July 2, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formatting-in-cannibalism-column/253289 "2004-07-02T23:15:34Z")
In today’s column on cannibalism the latter portion, from the first use of the word “vore”, is entirely in italics, presumably because of the use of the junk \ tag that FrontPage, with its typical contempt for stand… --- ## [Why do we read from left to right](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-read-from-left-to-right/215)
**Author:** [@Topi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topi)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [July 2, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-read-from-left-to-right/215 "2004-07-02T23:03:19Z")
I came up with this question in archives. To me the answer lies in that we write from left to right. And that is easier for a righthanded person to do as you see what you’ve written as you write. 1 July 2004 - This th… --- ## [Levophilic devices](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/levophilic-devices/253038)
**Author:** [@tqnohe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tqnohe)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 2, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/levophilic-devices/253038 "2004-07-02T17:52:44Z")
Your column today suggest that the one device that seems to favor the sinistrous, or at least the ambisinistrous, among us is the PC keyboard. I have been using this stuff long enough to remember the earliest two-button… --- ## [Alamo Diary Forged? Was Cecil Adams fooled? - Jose Enrique de la Pena](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alamo-diary-forged-was-cecil-adams-fooled-jose-enrique-de-la-pena/238708)
**Author:** [@Star\_Was](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Star_Was)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alamo-diary-forged-was-cecil-adams-fooled-jose-enrique-de-la-pena/238708 "2004-07-01T01:27:40Z")
In his article on the Alamo, Cecil Adams bases most of his claims on the diary of Jose Enrique de la Pena. I did a bit of searching on the Internet and there seems to be claims that this diary is a fake. So is the diary … --- ## [Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelins-stairway-to-heaven/252136)
**Author:** [@tinman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tinman)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 28, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelins-stairway-to-heaven/252136 "2004-06-28T05:56:21Z")
What’s the story behind Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven?” http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030425.html This too is one of my favorite songs. I have always felt there was something behind it, but could never put … --- ## [Spanish surnames](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-surnames/252385)
**Author:** [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 27, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-surnames/252385 "2004-06-27T06:47:19Z")
In The Master’s column about Spanish-language surnames he mentions the custom by married women of taking the husband’s name by adding ‘de’ after her paternal surname and then the husband’s paternal surname. This is not s… --- ## [Disingenuous Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disingenuous-ed/250702)
**Author:** [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [June 26, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disingenuous-ed/250702 "2004-06-26T16:07:50Z")
This may belong in the Pit, but it has to do with a CecilColumn\[sup\]TM\[/sup\], so I’m puitting it here. The column in question is Why is Death Valley a national monument rather than a national park? The original column w… --- ## ['Death Touch' research ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-touch-research/246375)
**Author:** [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [June 26, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-touch-research/246375 "2004-06-26T02:24:32Z")
In Cecil’s latest column, Is the “Ninja Death Touch” real?, he cites a study: :eek: Bet they had a lot of fun finding volunteers for that one. “Wanted: healthy individuals to serve as targets for martial arts experts … --- ## [colder than a witches' teat](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colder-than-a-witches-teat/41558)
**Author:** [@pagandream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pagandream)\ **Replies:** 83\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colder-than-a-witches-teat/41558 "2004-06-25T23:47:18Z")
RE: mailbags’ response to the witches teat Q… Upon stating this “Since a witch is in league with Satan” you convey the thought you agree with it. I am sure you meant “as was believed in the burning times” didn’t you? I … --- ## [Pig Latin: Well, put me on a spit and roast me!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-latin-well-put-me-on-a-spit-and-roast-me/247488)
**Author:** [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [June 25, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pig-latin-well-put-me-on-a-spit-and-roast-me/247488 "2004-06-25T21:19:46Z")
Actually, I have no complaints about samclem’s article about pig Latin, but I do have a question. (I didn’t grow up ever using pig Latin, although its existence is not unfamiliar to me, so please bear with me as I ask t… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=187) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=189)