# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=243 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 244 --- ## [Freemasonry and religious tolerance](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasonry-and-religious-tolerance/111952)
**Author:** [@bookmark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bookmark)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freemasonry-and-religious-tolerance/111952 "2002-06-07T01:35:33Z")
In reference to Cecil’s column on May Day and the Illuminati: As a freemason I have experienced just the sort of BIGOTRY and religious INTOLERANCE Cecil spoke of in his article of 4 February 1982. A neighbor and friend o… --- ## [Does a woman retain traces of her male partner after giving birth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth/111403)
**Author:** [@fgarriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fgarriel)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth/111403 "2002-06-05T01:11:03Z")
yes, but only in the Deep South. (kidding, kidding… don’t sue me) --- ## [Is it eunuch or unix?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-eunuch-or-unix/111209)
**Author:** [@Gasu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gasu)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-eunuch-or-unix/111209 "2002-06-03T20:28:00Z")
Perhaps Larry made a spelling mistake. In any case, Cecil’s answer would have been pretty much the same. The unemployment rate among unix programmers can’t be much lower than your average eunuch. --- ## [In Reference to Black Irish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-reference-to-black-irish/108791)
**Author:** [@hookmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hookmom)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2002, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-reference-to-black-irish/108791 "2002-06-03T11:28:32Z")
Ya. I digress on that one. The Spanish Armada DID in fact invade the Southern Ireland area. That’s why the dark ones are down south. The redheads are up north…that is where the viking blood comes in. Now…as far as t… --- ## [Warren G. Harding](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warren-g-harding/111502)
**Author:** [@Wooglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wooglin)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2002, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warren-g-harding/111502 "2002-06-03T05:41:42Z")
I have a good friend who is the great-grandnephew of president Harding. Not only does he claim that the president raised his grandfather to whom he is very close with, but also gets very offended when people talk about … --- ## [Fatima message is secret no more](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatima-message-is-secret-no-more/109221)
**Author:** [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fatima-message-is-secret-no-more/109221 "2002-06-02T22:06:41Z")
Cecil’s recently posted column from 1981, What happened to the secret message of Fatima? (which also appears on page 37 of The Straight Dope) needs to be updated, because a couple of years ago Pope John Paul II released… --- ## [eunuchs...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eunuchs/111059)
**Author:** [@hillbillycavewoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hillbillycavewoman)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eunuchs/111059 "2002-06-02T08:29:28Z")
Oh come now… Isn’t Wayne Newton a castrato as well? Btw–one of the less-touted benfits of castration: it cures, or at least prevents, male “pattern” baldness. So I’ve heard. --- ## [Civil Air Patrol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-air-patrol/111890)
**Author:** [@lonshaul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonshaul)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [June 2, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-air-patrol/111890 "2002-06-02T03:50:06Z")
Thanks to Cecil for pointing out the contributions of the CAP during WW2. The CAP continues the proud tradition of volunteer service to this day. CAP flew the observation mission immediately after 9/11 and assisted in … --- ## [Female Butterflies carry sperm](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-butterflies-carry-sperm/111652)
**Author:** [@gove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gove)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-butterflies-carry-sperm/111652 "2002-06-01T17:42:26Z")
In Do women retain traces of her male partner after giving birth? Cecil says “As you’d know if you’d been paying attention in high school biology, pregnant females–whether human, female, or wombat–retain no male residu… --- ## [The Milky Way Galaxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-galaxy/110491)
**Author:** [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-milky-way-galaxy/110491 "2002-06-01T17:06:33Z")
In this staff report, SDSTAFF Chronos gives (in my reading, anyway) the impression that our knowledge of the Milky Way’s structure is more vague than it really is. We have done better mapping than “there’s a bulge, and p… --- ## [The Answer (Greenland vs Iceland)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-greenland-vs-iceland/111633)
**Author:** [@ShorTpie2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShorTpie2)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-greenland-vs-iceland/111633 "2002-05-31T19:25:50Z")
I don’t know if this was stated in the answer given on the page, but in my history class we studied this. The Vikings gave the names. They were tricking the people. Greenway sounded fertile and pleasant, so of course peo… --- ## [Lake-Effect Snow](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lake-effect-snow/111613)
**Author:** [@Jerevan\_Somerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerevan_Somerville)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lake-effect-snow/111613 "2002-05-31T15:04:13Z")
bibliophage, thanks for detailed and well-presented explanation of this phenomenon in your Staff Report found here: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlakeeffectsnow.html I used to live in Toronto, and the second ques… --- ## [I Got Brained By A Fly Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-brained-by-a-fly-ball/109771)
**Author:** [@Jordan1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jordan1000)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2002, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-brained-by-a-fly-ball/109771 "2002-05-31T08:26:03Z")
I was reading the column that had to do with the odds of getting hit by a fly ball. I didn’t read the whole thing but remembered (thankfully) that i once got beaned by a hockey puck during an oilers game. Yeah it smarted… --- ## [Does a woman retain traces of her male partner after giving birth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth/111616)
**Author:** [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-woman-retain-traces-of-her-male-partner-after-giving-birth/111616 "2002-05-31T05:34:22Z")
Today’s Classic Column - a classic, indeed. “If ignorance were cornflakes, John, you’d be General Mills.” Best Cecil Slam Ever. This line most assuredly deserves to be enshrined in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. “Mu… --- ## [Consciousness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consciousness/102351)
**Author:** [@mattcolville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattcolville)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/consciousness/102351 "2002-05-31T03:25:20Z")
Hello all! Long time listener, first time caller. From this thread. I haven’t read the argument Cecil is quoting, so I’ll have to presume that he’s explaining it well enough to argue against it. I’m not sure this wou… --- ## [Two Endings to Job?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-endings-to-job/89745)
**Author:** [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-endings-to-job/89745 "2002-05-30T23:42:23Z")
My copy of the New Oxford Annotated Bible seems to imply that the middle section can be traced to sources written before the prologue and epilogue: "The influence of ancient Near Eastern literary forms and traditions a… --- ## [Carter and the UFO](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carter-and-the-ufo/108113)
**Author:** [@JAPrufrock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JAPrufrock)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carter-and-the-ufo/108113 "2002-05-30T16:47:11Z")
How the heck could somebody confuse Venus for a supposed UFO that’s “300 to 1,000 yards away”? I’m not saying that what he saw was actually a UFO, but the explanation is even less likely than the UFO sighting. Didn’t C… --- ## [caloric content of ejecdulation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caloric-content-of-ejecdulation/110387)
**Author:** [@svbev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svbev)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caloric-content-of-ejecdulation/110387 "2002-05-28T15:46:02Z")
I seem to remember that a skit in Woody Allen’s “What You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask” had Buck Henry conducting a class in sexuality. An earnest looking young lady asked that very question, an… --- ## [Jesus "h" Christ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/110859)
**Author:** [@Lindsey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lindsey)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/110859 "2002-05-28T04:56:58Z")
Couldn’t the h just stand for holy? --- ## [Seriously - pros and cons of being a eunuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-pros-and-cons-of-being-a-eunuch/111125)
**Author:** [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-pros-and-cons-of-being-a-eunuch/111125 "2002-05-28T02:59:09Z")
Cecil was a bit flippant here… http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_058.html As were fellow dopers in the “eunuchs” thread here. So, in the intersts of fighting ignorance… Monarchs throughout the ancient world (Ro… --- ## [Cecil?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil/111100)
**Author:** [@ThreeSarahBirds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThreeSarahBirds)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil/111100 "2002-05-27T23:49:11Z")
We know we are stoned, but who the feck IS Cecil? We Sarahs’ MUST be told! --- ## [Symbionese Liberation Army](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/110947)
**Author:** [@egregious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egregious)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/110947 "2002-05-26T21:08:02Z")
Dear folks Back in the dim and distant, I attended the University of Kent, Canterbury, England, where I studied politics. One of my lecturers there, a specialist in Chinese politics, whose name alas I cannot recall, cl… --- ## [Nostradamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostradamus/109931)
**Author:** [@Sebhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebhal)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostradamus/109931 "2002-05-25T07:10:05Z")
If anyone is interested in a little extra-curricular reading, try The Mask of Nostradamus by James Randi– very enlightening. --- ## [One hand clapping](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hand-clapping/99038)
**Author:** [@Animalchampion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animalchampion)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hand-clapping/99038 "2002-05-25T02:22:08Z")
I read the thing about the sound of one hand clapping. It sounds like a higher pitched clap. I know this since i can clap with my left hand. I just snap all of my fingers to my palm quickly. --- ## [Cecils stance on Geller.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-stance-on-geller/108873)
**Author:** [@Wyldkard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyldkard)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-stance-on-geller/108873 "2002-05-24T18:01:34Z")
Here was his post on the matter: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_062.html Really Cecil, I hope this is an example of you on an off day. grin Yay so you talked to some debunking stage magicians who enjoy pickin… --- ## [Offshore banks and trust funds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/offshore-banks-and-trust-funds/109587)
**Author:** [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/offshore-banks-and-trust-funds/109587 "2002-05-24T04:40:08Z")
In What’s the big deal about offshore banks?, Cecil says: Does this mean, as it appears to, that the government gets 35% off the top \*and then\* a percentage of the rest, too? It gets taxed twice? :confused: I've n… --- ## [The shape of the Milky Way...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-milky-way/110487)
**Author:** [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-milky-way/110487 "2002-05-23T21:01:44Z")
So, as to the question on The Shape of the Milky Way - didn’t I read recently that the Milky Way is in the process of digesting a dwarf galaxy in the constellation Sagittarius ? Unless I’m mistaken, that would give us a… --- ## [Umpteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpteen/110222)
**Author:** [@AofI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AofI)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2002, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umpteen/110222 "2002-05-22T11:33:04Z")
So “umpteen” is just mathematical slang? --- ## [Where's my Staff Report?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-staff-report/110227)
**Author:** [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-my-staff-report/110227 "2002-05-22T04:03:55Z")
A while ago I posted a question about Cuban cigars (I think it was lost in the board reset), asking why they were so “good.” At the end of the thread, one of the mod’s (manhatten I think, but I’m not sure) said that I sh… --- ## [Census & AD 1](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/census-ad-1/107633)
**Author:** [@johasco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johasco)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/census-ad-1/107633 "2002-05-21T22:09:36Z")
In the report on the census of Quirinius, it is said that the miscalculation of Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Fat)placed the birth of Jesus in AD 1. Not quite. D.E. placed the bris (i.e. circumcision) of Jesus as Janua… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=242) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=244)