# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=204 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 205 --- ## [Leaning Tower of Pisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaning-tower-of-pisa/209784)
**Author:** [@weatherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weatherman)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaning-tower-of-pisa/209784 "2003-11-01T00:57:32Z")
Cecil, cecil, cecil… you have completely missed the reason for the leaning tower of Pisa. The valley to the north of Pisa is extremely rich in Marble, which is exported around the world. Without such an ample supply, t… --- ## [bird droppings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-droppings/210579)
**Author:** [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2003, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-droppings/210579 "2003-10-31T11:56:31Z")
sorry I’m a link virgin but Cecils newest column talks about differing names for animal poop. My son insists bird droppings (any bird, I guess) are called squat. Is this so, or something he was told at recess? --- ## [Status of Cats as pets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/status-of-cats-as-pets/209446)
**Author:** [@SeanDuggan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanDuggan)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/status-of-cats-as-pets/209446 "2003-10-31T05:58:40Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpetcats.html Incidentally, regarding Doug’s comment about cats as pets, I can’t find the cite right now, but the amount of cats kept as housepets sharply increased in 1947, when Kitt… --- ## [Rolling Rock "33"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33/210534)
**Author:** [@jazz\_person](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazz_person)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-rock-33/210534 "2003-10-31T00:55:48Z")
There’s a third component to the “33” answer : When I was in college, I was consuming some Rocks with friends and we started wondering about the mysterious “33.” We made a long-distance call to the brewery in Pennsylva… --- ## [Pellet poo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pellet-poo/209099)
**Author:** [@dogsbollocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogsbollocks)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pellet-poo/209099 "2003-10-29T22:46:10Z")
Does it also have anything to with the animal eating its own poo toget the most from it? Maybe Soupy poo as Cecil so delicately put it is more prone to leaching whereas pelletsmore permanent? --- ## [What's the deal with these new razor blades and Your article on razor blades](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-these-new-razor-blades-and-your-article-on-razor-blades/206804)
**Author:** [@men-u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/men-u)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-these-new-razor-blades-and-your-article-on-razor-blades/206804 "2003-10-29T21:38:28Z")
Your article from 1983 called: Are twin-blade razors better than single-blade ones? 25-Nov-1983 http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_183.html Cecil - This was a great article - but it’s over 20 years old. What is… --- ## [What about the Spanish Inquisition?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-spanish-inquisition/203285)
**Author:** [@xanaxjj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanaxjj)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-spanish-inquisition/203285 "2003-10-29T21:33:07Z")
In reference to the article “What’s the Deal with Witches and Broomsticks?” Cecil, you didn’t even mention that thing about the Spanish Inquisition, or other folklore like using the broom to sweep away unwanted energies… --- ## [Could early man only see three colors?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-early-man-only-see-three-colors/207662)
**Author:** [@Sergio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sergio)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-early-man-only-see-three-colors/207662 "2003-10-29T14:14:38Z")
In his answer to this question, see http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_168b.html Cecil mentions in support to the theory, that ancient Greek painters only used white, black, red and yellow in their paintings. Unti… --- ## [A fine distinction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fine-distinction/210201)
**Author:** [@Zaklog\_the\_Great](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zaklog_the_Great)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fine-distinction/210201 "2003-10-29T10:13:49Z")
Maybe I’m just being obtuse, some might even accuse me of being dense, but exactly what is the difference between being tamed and being domesticated? http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpetcats.html --- ## [palindrome](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palindrome/207979)
**Author:** [@gillesmt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gillesmt)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palindrome/207979 "2003-10-29T02:06:13Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/managram.html The longest palindrome I’ve ever seen was “A man, a plan, a canal; Panama”. --- ## [Slug baffles us (again)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slug-baffles-us-again/209311)
**Author:** [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slug-baffles-us-again/209311 "2003-10-29T00:27:41Z")
In the Cold and Herpes column, Slug has a three-panel illustration. What’s the deal with the third panel? What is that thing half-way in that guy’s butt? Looks like a T-bone steak to me, or maybe it’s the world’s most s… --- ## [Niagara Daredevils](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/niagara-daredevils/189395)
**Author:** [@Janie\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janie_Jones)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/niagara-daredevils/189395 "2003-10-27T20:57:05Z")
In this column, Cecil says that Robert Overacker went over the falls on a jet ski and that the “rocket-assisted parachute deployed at brink of falls as planned, but wasn’t tethered to his back.” But the official Niagara… --- ## [Not Worthless --- Just Not Very Good](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-worthless-just-not-very-good/209283)
**Author:** [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 27, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-worthless-just-not-very-good/209283 "2003-10-27T08:12:33Z")
How can it worthless? It does better than astrology, palmistry, and phrenology. So it has more worth than these techniques. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031024.html --- ## [Navajo muttom stew](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navajo-muttom-stew/207995)
**Author:** [@gillesmt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gillesmt)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/navajo-muttom-stew/207995 "2003-10-26T19:22:02Z")
In your answer on mutton, http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlamb.html SDSTAFF Jill talks about Navajo Mutton Stew. As mutton has always left a funny dry taste on the roof of my mouth, I’d be very curious to try any r… --- ## [Is there an International "Euro" on the Horizon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-international-euro-on-the-horizon/201224)
**Author:** [@CEMX86SD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CEMX86SD)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-international-euro-on-the-horizon/201224 "2003-10-25T17:52:39Z")
The article http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mexchangerates.html got me thinking about how much of a pain it was to travel around Europe until the Euro showed up. I traveled extensively in the 80’s and 90’s on busine… --- ## [About how many dimensions there really are](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-dimensions-there-really-are/208674)
**Author:** [@TheMoFoD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMoFoD)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-how-many-dimensions-there-really-are/208674 "2003-10-25T13:23:19Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdimensions.html I tried to do a search for this topic but drew a blank, so here it goes: I felt that the reply was a little unsatisfying. OK so we use 3 dimensions, no surprises the… --- ## [What would happen if you were swallowed by a black hole?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-were-swallowed-by-a-black-hole/208676)
**Author:** [@Leospace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leospace)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-were-swallowed-by-a-black-hole/208676 "2003-10-25T11:42:26Z")
In looking through the archives, I found Cecil made a prediction based on predictions by astronomers that life on earth will die as a result of the sun going through the red giant phase. Quote: “Life As We Know It will b… --- ## ["Sleep Less" column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-less-column/206480)
**Author:** [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-less-column/206480 "2003-10-25T06:18:51Z")
why is Cecil SO smug and obnoxious at the beginning? --- ## [physical effects of alcoholism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-effects-of-alcoholism/208730)
**Author:** [@Cheysu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheysu)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [October 25, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/physical-effects-of-alcoholism/208730 "2003-10-25T06:07:59Z")
Having watched my father die from liver disease brought on by years of alcoholism, I was surprised at how very thin Cecil’s column was on the subject. The physical effects that were discussed don’t even come close to th… --- ## [What are "negative ions"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-negative-ions/209246)
**Author:** [@wreckage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wreckage)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-negative-ions/209246 "2003-10-24T22:38:53Z")
Hello, Cecil. I have read your below article (all I could find in your archives after searching for ‘negative oinization’), Do “corona discharge” devices alleviate asthma? http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a99091… --- ## [Ecstasy and body temperature](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecstasy-and-body-temperature/206731)
**Author:** [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ecstasy-and-body-temperature/206731 "2003-10-24T20:18:18Z")
In this column, While this is true, according to Julie Holland’s book, which I read a month back, it’s not the Ecstasy itself that causes the massive temperature rises. Rather, the incessant dancing or other physical a… --- ## [Uhh but wasn't the Inquistion aimed at the Moors?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uhh-but-wasnt-the-inquistion-aimed-at-the-moors/209106)
**Author:** [@LankyLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LankyLad)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2003, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uhh-but-wasnt-the-inquistion-aimed-at-the-moors/209106 "2003-10-24T09:39:18Z")
Just wanted to bring up a point that the Spanish Inquistion was primarily aimed at the remnants of the Moorish empire in fact the grand inquistor Takamate (forgive spelling) was the son of “converso’s”. The Moors had a c… --- ## [Pellet Poop](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pellet-poop/209170)
**Author:** [@GreatWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreatWhite)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pellet-poop/209170 "2003-10-23T21:45:47Z")
Is there a specific reason why humans don’t have pellet poop also?:confused: See: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpelletpoop.html --- ## [Blood in veins, IS blue right?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-in-veins-is-blue-right/206771)
**Author:** [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 23, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blood-in-veins-is-blue-right/206771 "2003-10-23T19:03:44Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbloodrd.html Yes, I know its very old, I’m in Science 30 at school and the topic of blood color in veins comes up a few times when studying the human circulatory system. In this Sta… --- ## [Some newly weds like it in the butt](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-newly-weds-like-it-in-the-butt/207430)
**Author:** [@snowrunnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowrunnr)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [October 22, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-newly-weds-like-it-in-the-butt/207430 "2003-10-22T16:39:41Z")
After reading your article on three men and a baby http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mthreemen.html I was disappointed that sdstaff David stated in his answer that in "The Newlywed Game, in which a contestant who’s as… --- ## [Fruit flies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-flies/207829)
**Author:** [@kingbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbrown)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [October 22, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-flies/207829 "2003-10-22T15:12:01Z")
I don’t think the fruit fly response really answered the question. Where do the fruit flies, who come in and lay eggs on my rotting fruit, come from? Are they always there or do they somehow make it up to the 20th floo… --- ## [Scroll Lock and Rogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scroll-lock-and-rogue/206391)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [October 22, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scroll-lock-and-rogue/206391 "2003-10-22T00:31:21Z")
In the recent mailbag article on the Scroll Lock key, at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mscrolllock.html, Una states: I beg to differ! For one, Rogue was originally a Unix-based game. It was only ported to MS-DO… --- ## [touch lamp, the real story](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touch-lamp-the-real-story/204054)
**Author:** [@grg88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grg88)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/touch-lamp-the-real-story/204054 "2003-10-21T22:36:30Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtouchlamp.html, we get the SDAS report on touch lamps. While the report is unlikely to lead to any casualties, it was rather off-the-wall in may respects. Like highly misleading … --- ## [Worst Catholic Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-catholic-saint/178610)
**Author:** [@Rodrigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodrigo)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-catholic-saint/178610 "2003-10-21T14:33:51Z")
I would also not have like to be Pius Xii’s position, but Goldhagen’s book is so full of factual errors than it is no worth the paper it is printed on. Cowardice, perhaps, but in many cases he was asked by the would-be v… --- ## [Column: What's the difference between a street, a road, an avenue, a boulevard, etc.?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/column-whats-the-difference-between-a-street-a-road-an-avenue-a-boulevard-etc/200955)
**Author:** [@MartinL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MartinL)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [October 21, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/column-whats-the-difference-between-a-street-a-road-an-avenue-a-boulevard-etc/200955 "2003-10-21T13:47:56Z")
So there are numerous, enlightening examples of guidelines that different authorities have set up. But what’s the difference between a cul-de-sac and a dead-end street (Guilford County, North Carolina)? The dictionaries… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=203) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=205)