# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=245 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 246 --- ## [What is the Pompatus of love?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pompatus-of-love/107707)
**Author:** [@Madbassist1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madbassist1)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 7, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pompatus-of-love/107707 "2002-05-07T14:04:11Z")
Hi guys. First post for me, but I was looking thru Cecil’s archives and came across this question. At the end of the answer Cecil discusses Miller’s “borrowing” of lyrics. Come on. It’s obvious listening to the song that… --- ## [Thanks Dex, you used my question!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-dex-you-used-my-question/107710)
**Author:** [@DRomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRomm)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 7, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-dex-you-used-my-question/107710 "2002-05-07T13:01:42Z")
Golly gosh willickers, after years of sending Cecil (and co.) questions, you finally used one! And gave a thorough exegesis of why we’ll never know the answer. In http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/maugcensus.html , y… --- ## [Parchment in Roman times?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parchment-in-roman-times/107051)
**Author:** [@huiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huiko)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 7, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parchment-in-roman-times/107051 "2002-05-07T12:25:29Z")
Yes it was a throw-away line, but that’s what you should do with it. Augustus in particular would be shocked. He fought a war to retain access to Egypt’s supply of reeds to make papyrus scrolls, the only source of ‘pap… --- ## [bats and rats and rabies, oh my!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bats-and-rats-and-rabies-oh-my/104257)
**Author:** [@jmp64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmp64)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bats-and-rats-and-rabies-oh-my/104257 "2002-05-06T20:12:02Z")
Regarding http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_029.html: According to the New York State Department of Health, there were 32 human rabies cases reported in the U.S. from 1990-2000. Of those cases, six were contracted… --- ## [Telemarketers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers/107503)
**Author:** [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers/107503 "2002-05-06T19:40:55Z")
Sorry, folks, but you’re pretty much up the creek on this one. The phone numbers telemarketers call are now pretty much generated randomly, that is, a computer keeps generating combinations of 4-digit numbers that it ad… --- ## [Love Potions???](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-potions/107547)
**Author:** [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-potions/107547 "2002-05-06T19:29:50Z")
Oh, the agony. In the column posted on this site 5/6/02, Cecil replies to one who seeks a fool-proof love potion – by providing one!! (From the infamous Starhawk, no less!) Unca Cece, ya call that “fighting ignorance”? … --- ## [Did the Jewish Exodus actually happen?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-jewish-exodus-actually-happen/105388)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-jewish-exodus-actually-happen/105388 "2002-05-06T13:04:42Z")
With respect to Cecil’s Column Du Jour, Is there any historical basis for the events of the Jewish Exodus?, Cecil made no reference to an Egyptian document that seems to concur with the Exodus, the Papyrus of Ipuwer. Th… --- ## [Mosquito's hum](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mosquitos-hum/107502)
**Author:** [@bazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bazz)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2002, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mosquitos-hum/107502 "2002-05-06T07:20:28Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmosquitohum.html Does the Doppler effect come in to play in a significant way here? --- ## [Taipans/Deadly snakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taipans-deadly-snakes/66720)
**Author:** [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 5, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taipans-deadly-snakes/66720 "2002-05-05T12:25:28Z")
I’ve been to several wildlife parks recently in Australia, and the taipan is listed as the world’s most venomous land snake, and sometimes as the world’s most venomous snake. The “fierce snake” is another name for it. I’… --- ## [Rock, Paper, Scissors in Indonesia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-paper-scissors-in-indonesia/107336)
**Author:** [@yb0rmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yb0rmi)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 5, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-paper-scissors-in-indonesia/107336 "2002-05-05T03:50:01Z")
Straight Dope wrote on the game “Rock, Paper, Scissors”: One of the most humorous variations comes from Indonesia and involves an elephant, a person, and an ant. The elephant can crush the person, the person can crush t… --- ## [Illuminati and the Masons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illuminati-and-the-masons/106693)
**Author:** [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 4, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illuminati-and-the-masons/106693 "2002-05-04T03:21:21Z")
Cecil, As a member in good standing of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Shrine of North America and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, I want to tell you that we bear you no animosity whatsoever. The black helicopters hoverin… --- ## [The meaning behind Social Security numbers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-behind-social-security-numbers/102305)
**Author:** [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-behind-social-security-numbers/102305 "2002-05-03T23:08:48Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_315.html I can’t help but love this one. It just fascinates me that there is a meaning behind apparently meaningless numbers. Maybe it’s just my personal insane fondness for order… --- ## [Eye of a Needle](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eye-of-a-needle/106357)
**Author:** [@Simonne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simonne)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eye-of-a-needle/106357 "2002-05-03T20:55:24Z")
I have recently purchase a Bible . It is From the Aramaic of the Peshitta . In Matthew 19:24 Where it is said that it is easier for the camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdo… --- ## [Leif Ericson in Massachusetts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-ericson-in-massachusetts/106481)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-ericson-in-massachusetts/106481 "2002-05-03T15:05:17Z")
I don’t think the original report mentioned it: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleifinma.html but there’s a statue of ol’ Leif on “Charlesbank West” (actually, on the green strip of Commonwealth Avenue to the west … --- ## [Are there Kegel exercises for men?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kegel-exercises-for-men/106967)
**Author:** [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 3, 2002, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kegel-exercises-for-men/106967 "2002-05-03T04:29:43Z")
In your response to this question you mentioned that by using kegel muscles a female may have better orgasms and perhaps climax. I guess I’m not a very well educated 19 year old, but I was kinda under the impression that… --- ## [Sloths can swim!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloths-can-swim/106120)
**Author:** [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloths-can-swim/106120 "2002-05-02T22:26:36Z")
Regarding the penultimate paragraph of the answer to the question about whether camels cannot swim (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcamelswim.html) … I just saw a Discovery channel series called Violent Earth, the “… --- ## [Can magnets alleviate pain?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnets-alleviate-pain/104518)
**Author:** [@JohnoHughes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnoHughes)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-magnets-alleviate-pain/104518 "2002-05-02T21:08:28Z")
Okay, I am unfortunately unable to cite the appropriate literature for this (although I know it is there). However, I have found a study that seems to give the idea of magnetic therapy a little more credence. According… --- ## [changing eye colors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-eye-colors/97375)
**Author:** [@dapharmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dapharmer)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-eye-colors/97375 "2002-05-02T20:27:59Z")
it’s definately true that eyes can change color because mine do it often… i was born with cat’s eye green eyes but over a year or so they slowly changed between shades of green-yellow to yellow-red then settled on a brow… --- ## [Double Column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-column/106917)
**Author:** [@elfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-column/106917 "2002-05-02T19:44:21Z")
I was reading through some older stuff that Cecil wrote and came across two versions of the same column: If the groundhog sees its shadow Feb.2, why does that mean six more weeks of winter? and If groundhog sees shado… --- ## [Smoking bananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-bananas/105715)
**Author:** [@rjhalljr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjhalljr)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-bananas/105715 "2002-05-02T11:56:52Z")
I’ve just read the Straight Dope article in the Washington City Paper on smoking banana peels. Cecil writes that he wasn’t able to find the result of the FDA study. I’m able to fill him in. My father was a pharmaceutical… --- ## [Leif Erikson Could NOT Have Visited Monomoy Island...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-erikson-could-not-have-visited-monomoy-island/106579)
**Author:** [@Ellakite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellakite)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-erikson-could-not-have-visited-monomoy-island/106579 "2002-05-02T10:25:14Z")
I was just reading the article on the probable locations of Vinland. I was especially interested in Horsford’s statement that Straumsey was actually Monomoy Island. I’m somewhat familiar with Monomoy Island, as my fami… --- ## [Vampire Killers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-killers/105061)
**Author:** [@hobgnoblin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobgnoblin)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 2, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-killers/105061 "2002-05-02T00:24:16Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_039.html God bless the Irish for their common sense. “A vampire, ay? Put a few stones on 'im so ‘e won’t be risin’ up. There. That should do the trick.” My apologies to the good… --- ## [Does Speed Reading Really Work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speed-reading-really-work/106719)
**Author:** [@wex10024](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wex10024)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 1, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-speed-reading-really-work/106719 "2002-05-01T20:32:53Z")
A column written about 1987 answered the question - Does Speed Reading really work? I have to offer these credentials first - My background is senior educational consultant. and one of my clients is “Donna Holman Spe… --- ## [Cecil just explained a Don Martin comic!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-just-explained-a-don-martin-comic/106552)
**Author:** [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 1, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-just-explained-a-don-martin-comic/106552 "2002-05-01T18:25:36Z")
The smoking banana peel column reminded me of a Don Martin I saw in Mad decades ago. Some hippie guy was eating a banana then scraped the inside of the peel into a pot on his stove and turned on the burner under the pot.… --- ## [Yiddish Shmiddish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yiddish-shmiddish/106688)
**Author:** [@Motcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motcha)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 1, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yiddish-shmiddish/106688 "2002-05-01T17:52:19Z")
From \"Yiddish, shmiddish–why do we repeat a word but start it with “shm-”?”\ I’m reasonably certain that “schmuck” is not of Yiddish origin. I suspect Itali… --- ## [Leif EriKson on the Belt Parkway?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-erikson-on-the-belt-parkway/106509)
**Author:** [@Su1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Su1)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [May 1, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leif-erikson-on-the-belt-parkway/106509 "2002-05-01T16:53:32Z")
I’ve long wondered why there is a section along the Belt Parkway in NYC called “Leif Erikson Drive”. It’s near the Verrazano Bridge. Does this mean that NYC is also duped into thinking that Leif Erikson landed there too… --- ## [Re: What came first, orange, or oranges](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-came-first-orange-or-oranges/103329)
**Author:** [@Ljaym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ljaym)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-came-first-orange-or-oranges/103329 "2002-04-30T23:23:49Z")
Ok, I can deal with this answer, but it begs another one: how did we refer to the colour orange before we decided to base it on the fruit? It’s not like orange is some kind of bizarre freakish colour like ‘fuscia’ or ‘m… --- ## [Joshua bar-Joseph of Nazareth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joshua-bar-joseph-of-nazareth/104521)
**Author:** [@Tom\_Arctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Arctus)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joshua-bar-joseph-of-nazareth/104521 "2002-04-30T18:34:10Z")
A fine point to add to Cecil’s answer about Jesus’s real name: I’ve heard it said that the name “Jesus” rendered in the Greek is close to another Greek word meaning “healer.” --- ## [Houdini's Secrets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houdinis-secrets/105909)
**Author:** [@vbalbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbalbert)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/houdinis-secrets/105909 "2002-04-30T18:27:28Z")
In Cecil’s article about Houdini’s secret http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_041.html he states that secrets such as escaping out of a sealed envelope without tearing it were unknown. Actually, this one is simple … --- ## [What's the difference between mutton and lamb?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-mutton-and-lamb/106332)
**Author:** [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 30, 2002, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-mutton-and-lamb/106332 "2002-04-30T11:32:56Z")
What Americans might not know is that in India and other parts of South and Southeast Asia, when someone speaks of “mutton,” he or she is more likely to be talking about goat’s meat than sheep’s meat. I’ve tried to persu… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=244) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=246)