# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=216 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 217 --- ## [Gregorian calendar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregorian-calendar/178532)
**Author:** [@weavercs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weavercs)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gregorian-calendar/178532 "2003-06-06T17:14:32Z")
In the explanation of the Gregorian calendar, shouldn’t it say that years divisible by 400 are leap years, not years divisible by 4000? For example, 2000 was a leap year. --- ## [Chapstick Addiction: Plausible Explanation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chapstick-addiction-plausible-explanation/178066)
**Author:** [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chapstick-addiction-plausible-explanation/178066 "2003-06-06T13:04:29Z")
Original column: Is Chapstick Addictive? This is a comment on a fairly old column, but I’m new to this site, and I couldn’t resist adding my thoughts. Admittedly, this is only a theory (though it’s strongly based on fac… --- ## [Burning Oil well answer pretty close except for that darn IMAX Movie](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-oil-well-answer-pretty-close-except-for-that-darn-imax-movie/179710)
**Author:** [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-oil-well-answer-pretty-close-except-for-that-darn-imax-movie/179710 "2003-06-04T22:43:52Z")
Concerning the response to the burning oil wells… http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/moilfire.html I have to wonder if Tapioca ever heard of or saw the IMax Movie, “Fires of Kuwait” made in 1992. In the movie they us… --- ## [Double tides column?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-tides-column/179651)
**Author:** [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-tides-column/179651 "2003-06-04T22:12:14Z")
I was wondering why there are two slightly different columns about the tides and the moon: Why are there two high tides a day when the moon is only overhead once a day? Why are there high tides twice a day when the ear… --- ## [Static Shock](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shock/177955)
**Author:** [@Renzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renzo)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-shock/177955 "2003-06-04T21:09:37Z")
This is regarding the What can I do to prevent static shock? question. In it, the point was made that what hurts about a static shock is the arc of current through the air? why does the electricity only hurt if the ar… --- ## [Cutting cocaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cutting-cocaine/175640)
**Author:** [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cutting-cocaine/175640 "2003-06-04T17:55:21Z")
This may be more suited for General Questions. In today’s Staff Report, Why do cops in movies taste cocaine?, Hawk writes: I know next to nothing about drugs, but I’m assuming “cutting” cocaine means mixing it with som… --- ## [Urinal 101 - Schiphol? I think not.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-101-schiphol-i-think-not/174326)
**Author:** [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-101-schiphol-i-think-not/174326 "2003-06-04T05:50:07Z")
In his original column Urinal 101 Cecil wrote: Far be it from me to suggest that The Master has missed his mark, but according to my information the use of an image of a fly is a rip-off of an innovation introduced bef… --- ## [The exception proves the rule](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exception-proves-the-rule/1161)
**Author:** [@Dystopos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dystopos)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exception-proves-the-rule/1161 "2003-06-03T22:11:16Z")
Quote from http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_201.html EXCEPTIONAL STUPIDITY Dear Cecil: I was surprised to see the question in your column about the exception proving the rule because I had always assumed the sa… --- ## [Does corn cause hyperactivity in kids?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-corn-cause-hyperactivity-in-kids/178246)
**Author:** [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-corn-cause-hyperactivity-in-kids/178246 "2003-06-03T04:13:42Z")
Having just read this staff report and seen it’s a product of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, I then went back to the main page to see the link to said staff report has “(by Cecil Adams)” next to it, when it’s … --- ## [DNA Fingerprinting](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-fingerprinting/177748)
**Author:** [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-fingerprinting/177748 "2003-06-02T23:42:27Z")
I am so proud that my comments resulted in this column http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdnaanalysis.html Perhaps it is just my prejudice, but it seems that you agree with me. If you had a lineup for a crime that in… --- ## [Drained of Blood?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drained-of-blood/178493)
**Author:** [@Always\_Asking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Always_Asking)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drained-of-blood/178493 "2003-06-02T14:43:29Z")
I just read the article on chupacabras. I had only recently heard of them when someone I know mentioned the phenomena. I have never studied cattle mutilations or big foot or anything like that. I just looked up chupac… --- ## [How to make an old column more 'current'?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-an-old-column-more-current/177996)
**Author:** [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-make-an-old-column-more-current/177996 "2003-06-02T11:51:32Z")
Now I know How a bullet or a knife kills somebody, what I don’t know is how Cecil manages to sneak in a phrase like “Tom Clancy technobable” into a column that supposedly predates Tom Clancy’s first book by several years… --- ## [How to calculate horizon distance variation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-calculate-horizon-distance-variation/164023)
**Author:** [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-calculate-horizon-distance-variation/164023 "2003-06-02T00:03:14Z")
In the column Are the north and south horizons not equally distant?, Cecil states: I can’t seem to be able to come up with this number. Distance to the horizon is x = sqrt(2 R h), where R is the radius of curvature and… --- ## [About cow's milk...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cows-milk/178270)
**Author:** [@CorvusMellori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorvusMellori)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-cows-milk/178270 "2003-05-31T18:01:08Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030321.html I read with interest your response about the dangers of consuming cow’s milk. While I do drink cow’s milk, I completely understand why people avoid it, and I am extremely … --- ## [on the question of "What is the speed of gravity?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-question-of-what-is-the-speed-of-gravity/174136)
**Author:** [@buckminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckminster)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-question-of-what-is-the-speed-of-gravity/174136 "2003-05-30T20:57:25Z")
In the excellent article: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgravityspeed.html I guess I’m just not hip to all the new-fangled quantum gravity stuff. As I recall Old School Relativity sez gravity is a property of spa… --- ## ['Pompatus' of love](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pompatus-of-love/178304)
**Author:** [@Bizet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bizet)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pompatus-of-love/178304 "2003-05-29T22:39:37Z")
I’ve been a steve miller band fan all the way from Sailor up to but not including that stupid Billy jo and Bobby sue thing, thanks for clearing up the 'properties ’ of love thing as I’ve been singing even on stage the w… --- ## [Men are pigs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-are-pigs/175419)
**Author:** [@KingBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KingBob)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-are-pigs/175419 "2003-05-29T22:33:13Z")
I worked in two different nightclubs, and my job as a busser(glass collector/slave) meant that I went in and out of the girls’ toilets as well as the guys’. From my own experience and speaking to others in the industry i… --- ## [Angels](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels/178334)
**Author:** [@Rodrigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodrigo)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels/178334 "2003-05-29T22:07:54Z")
This is my first message. I think that the article on Angels (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mangels.html) went a little too easy of the word Dogma. We cahtolics only Dogmatise really important stuff. There are no… --- ## [This is the Cecil we know and love! MLK thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-cecil-we-know-and-love-mlk-thread/172613)
**Author:** [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-cecil-we-know-and-love-mlk-thread/172613 "2003-05-29T22:07:20Z")
On the one hand, I feel that Cecil’s “Was Martin Luther King Jr. A Plagiarist?” (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030502.html) article was rather more hard on King then may have been justified. I lack expertise on the… --- ## [Jake Brakes (well, more about the diesel really)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jake-brakes-well-more-about-the-diesel-really/178229)
**Author:** [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jake-brakes-well-more-about-the-diesel-really/178229 "2003-05-29T19:10:27Z")
Why exactly was Clessie Cummins running around America trying to sell the ingenious diesel engine when Rudolf Diesel had already designed and more importantly, patented the diesel cycle combustion engine around the turn … --- ## [Mammary glands, floatation, Huck Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammary-glands-floatation-huck-finn/170518)
**Author:** [@Fishhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishhead)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammary-glands-floatation-huck-finn/170518 "2003-05-29T18:14:30Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcannonbody.html From the staff report on superstitions incorporated into Huckleberry Finn: I, perhaps erroneously, took this as likely to have some basis in fact, falling into the … --- ## [How come white people don't all look alike? (from 12-Nov-1982)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-white-people-dont-all-look-alike-from-12-nov-1982/170636)
**Author:** [@Jennifer\_McIlwee\_Myers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennifer_McIlwee_Myers)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-white-people-dont-all-look-alike-from-12-nov-1982/170636 "2003-05-29T16:42:47Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_099.html Greetings. I hope I am not making a faux pas by starting a new thread on an old column. If so, I will blame it on the large amount of codeine I have been given for my c… --- ## ["Own Race Bias" Revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/own-race-bias-revisited/177134)
**Author:** [@adelinamz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adelinamz)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/own-race-bias-revisited/177134 "2003-05-29T16:37:38Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030523.html The work that has shown that Euro-Americans have a harder time distinguishing non-European faces is based on the activity of the fusiform area of the brain. The fusiform … --- ## [One doozie of a Catch-22](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-doozie-of-a-catch-22/172095)
**Author:** [@pHabala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pHabala)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-doozie-of-a-catch-22/172095 "2003-05-29T15:27:36Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcatch22.html I think I have another nice example of Catch-22 for Dex. In central Europe, if you want to get a driver’s licence, you go to the office, pass a written test, then ho… --- ## [What is Billy Carter doing nowadays?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-billy-carter-doing-nowadays/178111)
**Author:** [@Fatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatman)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 29, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-billy-carter-doing-nowadays/178111 "2003-05-29T12:03:36Z")
This is in response to the open question from Is it possible to tell human and simian DNA apart? at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdnaanalysis.html the question is: SDSTAFF Karen asks: What is Billy up to the… --- ## [diet coke/tab](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-coke-tab/177011)
**Author:** [@ppktrk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ppktrk)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diet-coke-tab/177011 "2003-05-28T20:35:42Z")
I believe that you have some facts wrong. Tab predates diet coke and diet pepsi. Additionally there is a difference in sweeteners - tab uses saccarin while diet coke uses aspertame. --- ## [Meteorite deaths](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteorite-deaths/176318)
**Author:** [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meteorite-deaths/176318 "2003-05-28T19:53:28Z")
In the column What are the chances of a huge meteor smashing us flat?, Cecil writes: If we extrapolate (which I realise may be entirely inappropriate to do), this should mean that a meteorite strike causing one fatalit… --- ## [shut it down v. leave it running](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-it-down-v-leave-it-running/173186)
**Author:** [@ddaug4uf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddaug4uf)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shut-it-down-v-leave-it-running/173186 "2003-05-28T15:01:16Z")
As a techie for the last 3 years, I can tell you with absolute certainty that your computer will be of no use to you anyway when the constant stress of turning it off and on wears down components, and that running it all… --- ## ["Frivoling"?!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frivoling/175674)
**Author:** [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frivoling/175674 "2003-05-28T07:34:27Z")
“Here our parents thought we were frivoling away our lives.” …The hell? What was Unca Cece on? --- ## [Urinals against drugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinals-against-drugs/174191)
**Author:** [@nthomas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nthomas)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinals-against-drugs/174191 "2003-05-27T18:18:47Z")
Re: Urinal 101 http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030509.html As an expatriate Brit, I have been puzzled by the fact that may urinals, in restaurants etc. in the Los Angeles area, where I now live, have small rubber m… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=215) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=217)