# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=199 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 200 --- ## [Castor Oil availability](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castor-oil-availability/221806)
**Author:** [@Frecklefoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frecklefoot)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/castor-oil-availability/221806 "2003-12-30T18:19:38Z")
In the article Did Mussolini use castor oil as an instrument of torture?, Cecil asks, “where would a would-be torturer get the castor oil?” How about any drug store? My wife used it to go into labor with our second child… --- ## [Closed Captioning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning/219963)
**Author:** [@Legend\_of\_the\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legend_of_the_Wolf)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning/219963 "2003-12-30T16:37:56Z")
:slight\_smile: Just a quick to say that I really liked your answer. Closed Captining is now being used for more than just helping hearing-imparied individuals. THE TONIGHT SHOW is using the CC2 function to close captio… --- ## [Is there a Santa Claus?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-santa-claus/220616)
**Author:** [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-santa-claus/220616 "2003-12-30T05:50:32Z")
Is there a Santa Claus? No, there isn’t! I fail to understand why Cecil even dealt with such an open-and-shut case. Once he did… the whole thing screams “cop-out!”. One of the poorest columns ever, I’m sorry to say. Fi… --- ## [Re: Can I make money selling my hair to a wigmaker?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-i-make-money-selling-my-hair-to-a-wigmaker/221689)
**Author:** [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-can-i-make-money-selling-my-hair-to-a-wigmaker/221689 "2003-12-30T03:15:49Z")
In this column , Cecil says, This was in answer to a question about whether one could make money selling one’s hair to a wigmaker. According to the organization Wigs for Kids, a not-for-profit organization providing … --- ## [The origin of 'elite', as in leetspeak](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307)
**Author:** [@plattopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plattopus)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-elite-as-in-leetspeak/220307 "2003-12-29T23:59:59Z")
In “What the heck is leetspeak?” ( http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html ) the following was said: The term ‘elite’ originated from old school gamers in the early-to-mid 90s on internet game servers. Someone … --- ## [About the No Fly Zone over my house](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-no-fly-zone-over-my-house/221630)
**Author:** [@goblin409](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goblin409)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-no-fly-zone-over-my-house/221630 "2003-12-29T21:33:22Z")
The Column: This answer made me curious in this electronic age if these rules of use of the airspace above our homes has any bearing on the multitude of electronic signals pulsing through it? Could you ban them or stop… --- ## [Saturnalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturnalia/221586)
**Author:** [@fmellman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fmellman)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saturnalia/221586 "2003-12-29T20:44:13Z")
I vaguely remember seeing a Discovery Channel show where they said that one of the first Christian Roman Emperors changed the date of Christmas to coincide with Saturnalia in order to encourage conversion of the Roman pe… --- ## [Coming Soon - Sex in Space!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-soon-sex-in-space/220869)
**Author:** [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-soon-sex-in-space/220869 "2003-12-29T16:19:20Z")
Straight Dope regulars are familiar with Cecil’s efforts to determine if anyone has ever had sex in space. This just in: the Russian space agency is offering the deal of a lifetime. For a mere $40 million, you and your… --- ## [How did they Get Mr. Ed to talk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-mr-ed-to-talk/210595)
**Author:** [@RodeoCowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RodeoCowgirl)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-get-mr-ed-to-talk/210595 "2003-12-27T13:08:23Z")
Cecil I read your older colomn about how you said Mr. Ed was taught to tak with peanut butter. Then the guy that asked you the question siad that you were wrong and you said that you weren’t. Well you were wrong because… --- ## [Graphology, Yet Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphology-yet-again/221121)
**Author:** [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 26, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graphology-yet-again/221121 "2003-12-26T15:19:47Z")
Just as a comment on the two recent columns on graphology (Is handwriting analysis legit science? \[18-Apr-2003\] and Handwriting Analyis Revisited: Are elements of personality revealed through handwriting? \[24-Oct-2003\]): … --- ## [Where does the term "86" come from?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-86-come-from/213243)
**Author:** [@Paul.Streeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul.Streeter)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [December 26, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-term-86-come-from/213243 "2003-12-26T13:53:50Z")
I wonder if the telegraphers’ codes were involved, perhaps by soda jerks picking up on them as CB-ers picked up and mutilated the ten codes, (10-4 for yes, etc) . Ham radio operators still use “73” for “best regards” at … --- ## [Leasing Guantanamo Bay](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leasing-guantanamo-bay/220738)
**Author:** [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 26, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leasing-guantanamo-bay/220738 "2003-12-26T03:24:49Z")
Cecil says that the US has a naval base on the soil of one of its enemies because the base was established while the countries were still on friendly terms, and it’s stayed there since. How can this possible be the case… --- ## [Apricots - cyanogenetic glycosides and Cancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apricots-cyanogenetic-glycosides-and-cancer/216751)
**Author:** [@brettzwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brettzwo)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 26, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apricots-cyanogenetic-glycosides-and-cancer/216751 "2003-12-26T03:07:32Z")
This is a comment on Cecil’s column: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_212.html Check out a great book on Laetrile called “World Without Cancer.” I believe written by Edward Griffin. There is some great informatio… --- ## [Regarding Blue People--a question.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-blue-people-a-question/220687)
**Author:** [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 25, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-blue-people-a-question/220687 "2003-12-25T18:05:25Z")
In this column– http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980724.html Unca Cecil explains much about the Blue People of Kentucky. Do these people suffer from any additional health problems, other than an odd skin color? S… --- ## [Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589)
**Author:** [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 25, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589 "2003-12-25T17:05:53Z")
Euty’s Report describes a copyright suit from 1949 thusly: I have a simple inquiry: Is it a published decision, and if so, what’s the citation? Fun article, by the way. --- ## [Abracadabradoo!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abracadabradoo/216856)
**Author:** [@jettesette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jettesette)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 25, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abracadabradoo/216856 "2003-12-25T00:43:20Z")
Re: March 1999 http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990326.html This teeming millionth wishes to augment Unca Cecil’s abracadabralicious theory of the origin of that ancient magic spell. The exquisitely comprehensive … --- ## [Roadway washboarding revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadway-washboarding-revisited/220871)
**Author:** [@patchbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patchbunny)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 25, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadway-washboarding-revisited/220871 "2003-12-25T00:08:10Z")
Reintroducing an earlier topic, What causes the “washboard” effect on unpaved roads?, I’ve come across some more information on the rather annoying phenomenon. Scientific American ran an article in January, 1963, entitl… --- ## [re:why does people clink their glasses together after a toast?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-does-people-clink-their-glasses-together-after-a-toast/220762)
**Author:** [@kageshirou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kageshirou)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 24, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-does-people-clink-their-glasses-together-after-a-toast/220762 "2003-12-24T02:21:43Z")
I’ve heard from my food & nutrition teacher that the missing part of a meal is sound, you have taste, sight, smell and touch, but sound is missing from the meal, so people clink their glasses right before they eat. The s… --- ## [Why is tennis scoring so weird?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tennis-scoring-so-weird/220572)
**Author:** [@parker01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parker01)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 24, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-tennis-scoring-so-weird/220572 "2003-12-24T00:51:24Z")
Funny, I thought the early players used a large clock to show the scores. Hence 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. Later they tired of saying fourty-five so they cut it back to fourty. Hence 15, 30, 40 game. Link to column: W… --- ## [Whole nine yards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674)
**Author:** [@DawnaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DawnaF)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 24, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674 "2003-12-24T00:46:59Z")
I just read the archive on the phrase “whole nine yards”. There were several theories batted around, but the theory I heard was not one of them. I had been told that the phrase came from WWII and went something like th… --- ## [Chances of being beaned by a baseball](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chances-of-being-beaned-by-a-baseball/219669)
**Author:** [@keith2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keith2004)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chances-of-being-beaned-by-a-baseball/219669 "2003-12-22T14:14:34Z")
I gotta figure the odds are even smaller than Cecil stated because every yo-yo in the stadium is on the lookout for a souvenir. Even if you don’t see it coming, the twenty guys sitting around you will. I think you’re m… --- ## [When is the next SD book coming out?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-next-sd-book-coming-out/216390)
**Author:** [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-next-sd-book-coming-out/216390 "2003-12-22T13:43:27Z")
I, like a good little doper, was rereading one of Cecil’s books this evening in an attempt to put off studying. I noticed that, in the second-last book (published in 1998) Ed Zotti promised us readers a book every two y… --- ## [Falling asleep after sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-asleep-after-sex/143)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 22, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-asleep-after-sex/143 "2003-12-22T06:50:54Z")
A few years ago, you pondered on why, or even if, guys fall asleep after sex. They do get drowsy, and for good reason, as I learned in a Psychology class. The goal of a species is to reproduce, and while that may sound … --- ## [Man wrecks planet...yeah right.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wrecks-planet-yeah-right/183172)
**Author:** [@Indy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indy)\ **Replies:** 135\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wrecks-planet-yeah-right/183172 "2003-12-21T23:26:37Z")
I comment occasionally on columns, but I’ve never had cause to start a thread like this before. Today’s column gave me one. Are we wrecking the planet? Well, sure, in many senses we are. Is the paranoia about all the… --- ## [Cecil on the Muslims...and Arabic...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-on-the-muslims-and-arabic/220181)
**Author:** [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-on-the-muslims-and-arabic/220181 "2003-12-21T17:28:22Z")
Extreme poverty is high in every developping nation, also in those situated in the so called “Muslim world”. I’m not familiar with the book you mention as “influential”. But nevertheless I have to disappoint you since… --- ## [National Debt](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-debt/219971)
**Author:** [@pawnking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pawnking)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 21, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-debt/219971 "2003-12-21T11:42:00Z")
I’m no ecnomist, but an accountant. But one point that I believe the author left out was the idea that debt is a way of investing in the future. Let’s say the GDP was $1,000, and the tax burden was 10%, or $100. The g… --- ## [tennis scoring](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-scoring/219181)
**Author:** [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tennis-scoring/219181 "2003-12-19T17:53:21Z")
Cecil Writes: “The medieval version of tennis, therefore, was based on 60–the four points when 15, 30, 45 (which we abbreviate to 40)…” Huh? That sounds like a cop-out to me. While we’re at it, let’s abbreviate 15 to … --- ## [G-strings, baby!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-strings-baby/219727)
**Author:** [@abdul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abdul)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-strings-baby/219727 "2003-12-19T01:19:10Z")
While Cecil’s answer to the G-string question did provoke some curiosity, a little thinking has brought me around to presenting a further postulation. When, in the course of gravitational events, it becomes necessary to… --- ## [Heavy water](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-water/217974)
**Author:** [@mmitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmitchell)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-water/217974 "2003-12-18T19:56:25Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mheavywater.html I did deuterium MRI and spectroscopy as part of my dissertation work, and along the way (around 1990), I deuterated a rat by giving him D2O for drinking water. W… --- ## [Leo Strauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leo-strauss/218650)
**Author:** [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [December 18, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leo-strauss/218650 "2003-12-18T01:19:27Z")
Hey! a column on Leo Strauss! Back when I discussed Cecil’s column on “The most influential philosopher of the century” at a dinner party which included some UofC academics, everyone agreed wth the choice of Heidegger, … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=198) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=200)