# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=193 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 194 --- ## [Hot spicy food cure](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-spicy-food-cure/232574)
**Author:** [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-spicy-food-cure/232574 "2004-04-05T16:00:33Z")
Hey Cecil, I think you forgot the most obvious cure for the burning tongue phenomenon. Try using the sour cream that usually comes on the side with hot wings, nachos, etc. --- ## [Zero is a natural number](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-is-a-natural-number/229762)
**Author:** [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-is-a-natural-number/229762 "2004-04-05T07:19:25Z")
In Is zero a number? it is stated that the natural numbers start with the unit. This certainly comes as a shock, given that the second-order Peano axioms (the definition of the structure of N) start with “There exists a… --- ## [DECEMBER 25th CHRISTMAS QUESTION](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/december-25th-christmas-question/221389)
**Author:** [@Anai\_Bendai\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anai_Bendai_1)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/december-25th-christmas-question/221389 "2004-04-05T05:56:29Z")
Although Cecil was right that Christmas is observed on December 25th because it was originally a pagan solstice holiday designated to celebrate the birth of Sol Invictus - he kind of flubbed up on the Pisces part of the … --- ## [.999~](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/999/231728)
**Author:** [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Replies:** 121\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/999/231728 "2004-04-04T10:40:01Z")
your logic is that if 1/3=.333~ and 2/3=.666~ then 3/3 must=.999~ the problem here is that .333~ does NOT equal 1/3 and .666~ does NOT equal 2/3 they follow the same argument that most people would think, that they get… --- ## [Mack the Knife](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mack-the-knife/237724)
**Author:** [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mack-the-knife/237724 "2004-04-04T01:19:18Z")
Re: Mack the Knife Mailbag Answer Fascinating. I had always wondered about that. Great job, Songbird! I was going to put in a line about the Far Side cartoon, but I can’t remember the names of the spoon and fork. In… --- ## [Are we really 'all but sure J. Edgar Hoover was gay?'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-really-all-but-sure-j-edgar-hoover-was-gay/237948)
**Author:** [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-really-all-but-sure-j-edgar-hoover-was-gay/237948 "2004-04-02T23:20:02Z")
In this column the Great and Powerful Cecil states with only the minimum of equivocation that While I have long treasured the irony, true or not, and have a photo of The Hoov, dressed in a gingham frock, being escorted… --- ## [Responding to: "Did the 'singing nun' commit suicide with her lesbian lover?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-did-the-singing-nun-commit-suicide-with-her-lesbian-lover/236683)
**Author:** [@AdamAdam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdamAdam)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/responding-to-did-the-singing-nun-commit-suicide-with-her-lesbian-lover/236683 "2004-04-02T14:37:12Z")
I am wondering why you feel it necessary to be as polite and sensitive as to say “Cecil does not know if they were lovers, and frankly does not feel it is any of his business.” when asked if the Singing Nun and her frien… --- ## [Why two tides with one moon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-tides-with-one-moon/21120)
**Author:** [@mdaniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mdaniels)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-two-tides-with-one-moon/21120 "2004-04-01T22:52:15Z")
The tides are due to differential gravitional force. If instead of a big body in orbit, we had a radial line of little particles in orbit- the close ones would go faster, the further ones slower, and eventually they woul… --- ## ["Mack the Knife Staff" Report commentary](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mack-the-knife-staff-report-commentary/237726)
**Author:** [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mack-the-knife-staff-report-commentary/237726 "2004-04-01T19:16:54Z")
In today’s Staff Report the subject of one of my favorite songs is handled. Plaudits and kudos to Songbird for the fascinating story behind that song. I would like to add that a version of “Mack the Knife” (sung slowly… --- ## [Cattails](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattails/237196)
**Author:** [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattails/237196 "2004-04-01T00:43:08Z")
Cecil’s recent classic column, “Can you actually eat cattails?” (and a google search) has made me realize that all my life, I’ve been calling the wrong thing a “cattail.” So what’s this thing I incorrectly call a cattai… --- ## [Flocks "Hanging a Louie"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flocks-hanging-a-louie/234666)
**Author:** [@dogcone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogcone)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flocks-hanging-a-louie/234666 "2004-03-31T16:52:52Z")
In the staff report on the remarkable behavior of bird flocks in flight (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mflockswoop.html), the submitter refers to the flocks as sometimes “hanging a Louie.” I hail from the west coas… --- ## [Kosher pickle clarification...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-pickle-clarification/235024)
**Author:** [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2004, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-pickle-clarification/235024 "2004-03-31T11:54:37Z")
The classic column on kosher pickles http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_351.html got me thinking (no small task there). It seems to me that “kosher” in regards to pickles can be a type of pickle (like dill, bread… --- ## ["Meaningless" Car Names](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaningless-car-names/233673)
**Author:** [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaningless-car-names/233673 "2004-03-30T01:06:08Z")
“Why do car makers come up with so many meaningless car names?” http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_189.html Cecil, it ain’t just the Americans who come up with weird or meaningless names for their cars. I current… --- ## [Law re. suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-re-suicide/236817)
**Author:** [@Jonathan\_Lamal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Lamal)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-re-suicide/236817 "2004-03-30T00:02:31Z")
Dear Cecil, Apart from other considerations, there’s a perfectly good reason why some jurisdictions continue to classify suicide a felony. The felony-murder rule provides an analogy. If someone jumps off the Sears Tow… --- ## [Corned Beef](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corned-beef/236611)
**Author:** [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corned-beef/236611 "2004-03-29T05:50:08Z")
A few comments on the Staff Report on corned beef : From “Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing” by Rytek Kutas: “The use of saltpeter was greatly limited by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in 1975. Potassium nitrate is … --- ## [Suicide: English misdemeanour / felony distinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-english-misdemeanour-felony-distinction/236950)
**Author:** [@marnanel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marnanel)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 28, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-english-misdemeanour-felony-distinction/236950 "2004-03-28T20:56:06Z")
In today’s SD about the legality of suicide: I’m curious now. Having lived in both England and the US, I’d only seen the misdemeanour/felony distinction talked about in the US, so I’d assumed it wasn’t a distinction th… --- ## [\[Long enumeration of other errors deleted.\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-enumeration-of-other-errors-deleted/236884)
**Author:** [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 28, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-enumeration-of-other-errors-deleted/236884 "2004-03-28T13:43:54Z")
OK, Cecil, it’s time to come clean. In your answer to the column, Why do U.S. radio call letters start with W in the east and K in the west (revisited)?, you declined to list all the errors that Eddie DiLao of Los Angel… --- ## [Where did cows come from](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-cows-come-from/235405)
**Author:** [@thefensk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thefensk)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-cows-come-from/235405 "2004-03-26T21:38:20Z")
re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/maurochs.html In the staff report on evolutionary ancestors of cows I was reminded of some information included in the book The Longhorns by the late Texas folklorist J Frank Dobi… --- ## [More on Memes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-memes/233912)
**Author:** [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-memes/233912 "2004-03-26T15:23:01Z")
More on Memes Entitled to believe? Alas, the Perfect Master is but half way to enlightenment. Hard as this is for us to swallow (me included) the state of the evidence today rather clearly points to the conclusion tha… --- ## [The Selfish Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-selfish-gene/229560)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-selfish-gene/229560 "2004-03-26T07:47:08Z")
In Cecil’s column on memes, at http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040213.html, he writes: Au contraire! The talk.origins jargon file states: “Selfish gene (n) 1. A theory proposed by Richard Dawkins that states tha… --- ## [High-Speed Female Ejaculation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-speed-female-ejaculation/233811)
**Author:** [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-speed-female-ejaculation/233811 "2004-03-25T08:52:54Z")
My question relates to Cecil’s column on female ejaculation: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021025.html Now, I’m asking this question on the basis that female ejaculation is a real phenomenon and that the ejaculat… --- ## [The Real Pineapple Jell-O](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-pineapple-jell-o/233640)
**Author:** [@GuyMc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuyMc)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-pineapple-jell-o/233640 "2004-03-25T06:54:45Z")
An update in reference to Cecil’s column on pineapple Jell-O Brand gelatin dessert… Now, there IS real pineapple Jell-O. Rejoice, ye pineapple lovers! OK, another crisis in human history averted… Guy McLimore --- ## [Pale Red?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pale-red/233477)
**Author:** [@Lampare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lampare)\ **Replies:** 63\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pale-red/233477 "2004-03-25T02:18:23Z")
In today’s column (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_344a.html), Cecil states that the adjective, “orange”, denoting a particular color, came into usage around 1620. Obviously, the actual color existed before that.… --- ## [Freemason redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemason-redux/236215)
**Author:** [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemason-redux/236215 "2004-03-25T00:21:02Z")
This thread included this Straight Dope article. However this book (of which the link is not favorable) seems to contradict Cecil’s article. Were there really medival stonemason guilds and the book’s author completely … --- ## [regarding "gay animals"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-gay-animals/234206)
**Author:** [@night\_monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/night_monkey)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 24, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-gay-animals/234206 "2004-03-24T18:07:20Z")
Cecil- In your post about the existence of gay animals and animal sexual practices that do not result in reproductively sucessful copulation, I was suprised to see no mention of Bonobos (otherwise known as pygmy chimpanz… --- ## [Where did the term "XXX" come from to describe porn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-xxx-come-from-to-describe-porn/235460)
**Author:** [@fearless345](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fearless345)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [March 23, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-xxx-come-from-to-describe-porn/235460 "2004-03-23T04:22:15Z")
May I venture another possibilty? The coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands includes the three crosses of St. Andrew (a photo is available here at http://www.kroonlantaarn.nl/akc/pics/kroon/wapen.jpg). Por… --- ## [Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looney-tunes-and-merrie-melodies/234095)
**Author:** [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looney-tunes-and-merrie-melodies/234095 "2004-03-22T14:49:24Z")
Dear Cecil, In your excellent column on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, you note that: However, there are numerous examples of the opposite theme songs being used in each series. The original Looney Tunes theme The… --- ## [What causes "piss shivers" (Continued)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-piss-shivers-continued/224760)
**Author:** [@Rawcore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rawcore)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2004, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-piss-shivers-continued/224760 "2004-03-22T07:59:49Z")
Link to column: What causes “piss shiver”? I just wanted to add in my additional comments in regards to a post that was made way back on the 22nd of July 1994 where there was discussion of what causes this to happen. On… --- ## [Guinness Stout](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-stout/20844)
**Author:** [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-stout/20844 "2004-03-22T03:51:48Z")
Re Cecil’s column on Guinness Stout: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000526.html Years ago I was with some people in a bar, and there was a special on Guinness Extra Stout. I figured what the hell, and ordered a gl… --- ## [The Black Irish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-irish/235486)
**Author:** [@gaeilge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaeilge)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-irish/235486 "2004-03-21T02:59:44Z")
I have recently joined this forum…I was interested in an article about the origins of or the definition of the "Black Irish:. I thought that the term originated in the US and referred to those imigrant Irishman who work… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=192) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=194)