# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=249 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 250 --- ## [Classic column themes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-column-themes/99421)
**Author:** [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-column-themes/99421 "2002-03-21T22:21:40Z")
Are the classic column revisits intentionally staying in the same themes? First, cats, now pigeons: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_015b.html http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_015a.html http://www.strai… --- ## [Space Aliens as President?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-aliens-as-president/97834)
**Author:** [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-aliens-as-president/97834 "2002-03-21T21:10:11Z")
In Cecil’s Column about a space alien as President , he discussed the establishment of a “person”. Makes sense for him to tackle the BIG PICTURE and leave smaller matters to us lesser mortals. However, I thought I’d mu… --- ## [Word Change:How deep is whale poop?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-change-how-deep-is-whale-poop/97715)
**Author:** [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-change-how-deep-is-whale-poop/97715 "2002-03-21T09:28:49Z")
If you run the search for ‘whale’ on the main archive page search this column shows up: How deep is whale poop? URL: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_003c.html But this links to: How deep is whale shit? http:… --- ## [Preserved dinosaur skin has indeed been found...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserved-dinosaur-skin-has-indeed-been-found/97888)
**Author:** [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserved-dinosaur-skin-has-indeed-been-found/97888 "2002-03-21T09:25:23Z")
…although it does not shed any light on coloration issues… http://www.dinohunters.demon.co.uk/History/Trachodon2.htm tells of the dinosaur mummy that includes preserved skin and http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/misc/scip… --- ## [Squirrels](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels/98132)
**Author:** [@dukerules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukerules)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels/98132 "2002-03-21T09:21:12Z")
One time in Riverside park (NYC) I noticed rats and squirrels eating and playing together near dusk. They are amazingly similar except for their tails and the fact that squirrels are diurnal and rats are nocturnal. Since… --- ## [Nix on the vinegar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nix-on-the-vinegar/98074)
**Author:** [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nix-on-the-vinegar/98074 "2002-03-21T09:19:51Z")
In Cecil’s column on cat “spray,” Cecil manages to dodge potential accusations of inaccuracy by hedging, “it’s \*claimed \* that vinegar will neutralize the smell” \[italics mine\]. Vinegar, in fact, does nothing more than… --- ## [Cat Spray](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-spray/99012)
**Author:** [@JoachimLeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoachimLeo)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-spray/99012 "2002-03-21T09:16:55Z")
Regarding Mr. Adam’s column on “cat spray”, especially his note that, “The hippopotamus, for instance, is said to mark jungle trails by excreting a lethal mixture of urine and feces while twirling its tail like a propell… --- ## [Is it possible to hypnotize a chicken?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-hypnotize-a-chicken/98381)
**Author:** [@KEvlarBoxers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KEvlarBoxers)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-hypnotize-a-chicken/98381 "2002-03-21T09:12:06Z")
is running your finger down the chicken necessary? Being a Zoology major, I accidentally took an ornithology lab, where I learned that birds never become inverted in their natural environment, and therefore lack the cogn… --- ## [Squirrels Do Not Carry Rabies!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-do-not-carry-rabies/99078)
**Author:** [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squirrels-do-not-carry-rabies/99078 "2002-03-21T09:10:30Z")
Uncle Cecil, We love you but you really screwed the pooch this time. In this classic column, you tried to scare me from providing for my family by claiming that squirrels commonly carry rabies. That is simply not true.… --- ## [Brontosaurus?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brontosaurus/97627)
**Author:** [@jonfromdenver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonfromdenver)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2002, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brontosaurus/97627 "2002-03-21T09:09:04Z")
Call me crazy, but perhaps Cecil’s 1980 classic column, What color were dinosaurs? should be updated to relay the fact that there is no such thing as a brontosaurus. Just a technical glitch, I guess. --- ## [Why is it easier to balance on a moving bike than a non-moving one?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-easier-to-balance-on-a-moving-bike-than-a-non-moving-one/98532)
**Author:** [@kahirsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kahirsch)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-easier-to-balance-on-a-moving-bike-than-a-non-moving-one/98532 "2002-03-16T14:06:43Z")
Karen Lingel’s answer to “Why is it easier to balance on a moving bike than a non-moving one?” (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mangularmo.html) is wrong. Research back in the 1970s showed that gyroscopic forces are… --- ## [Revenge of the 72 Virgins](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-72-virgins/98368)
**Author:** [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-72-virgins/98368 "2002-03-16T06:42:31Z")
Way back, in the old days, Cecil wrote this column: Does the Koran Really Promise… Well, that whole thread was lost to the Great Bit Bucket in the Sky. During the Board’s hiatus, I had this emailed to me. I thought i… --- ## [Whether Mary Shelley Wrote Frankenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-mary-shelley-wrote-frankenstein/97948)
**Author:** [@Cyclopatra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyclopatra)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-mary-shelley-wrote-frankenstein/97948 "2002-03-14T14:09:04Z")
Just read the answer by Son of Dex, and I wanted to add something. Percy Bysshe Shelley may not have written Frankenstein, but he did write the introduction under Mary’s name. This makes for an interesting new viewpoint … --- ## [RE: Cecils column on colonic irrigation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cecils-column-on-colonic-irrigation/97977)
**Author:** [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 14, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-cecils-column-on-colonic-irrigation/97977 "2002-03-14T03:59:30Z")
Here, Does colonic irrigation do you any good? Cecil talks about colonics. Well, I found a very fascinating (and slightly disgusting) website devoted to the entire practice of colonics. I can’t help but believe that 50%… --- ## ["Do Cats have Poison Claws?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-have-poison-claws/97949)
**Author:** [@Cyclopatra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyclopatra)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-cats-have-poison-claws/97949 "2002-03-13T13:44:16Z")
A comment for Jill on this answer - the person making the inquiry should consider that cats claws are also filthy. They use them, after all, for digging and filling in the holes that they er…do their business in… Cyclop… --- ## [Is Cecil on vacation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cecil-on-vacation/97880)
**Author:** [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cecil-on-vacation/97880 "2002-03-12T18:46:01Z")
Why the old columns? --- ## [I'll (hopefully) never have the chance to do this again!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-hopefully-never-have-the-chance-to-do-this-again/97458)
**Author:** [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-hopefully-never-have-the-chance-to-do-this-again/97458 "2002-03-12T05:12:36Z")
First, by a great coincidence, I happened to check the board just as it came back up. I trust I’ll never have the opportunity to post in an empty forum ever again so I wanted to take advantage of it. Besides, there is … --- ## [Who wrote the bible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wrote-the-bible/97457)
**Author:** [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 11, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wrote-the-bible/97457 "2002-03-11T15:02:20Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbible1.html Since everything back to December was deleted, I’d just like to say that this was a WAY controversial column. I’d like to say that simply so I can be the first person to… --- ## [President E.T.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-e-t/97506)
**Author:** [@jayblalock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayblalock)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 11, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-e-t/97506 "2002-03-11T13:35:02Z")
If I recall my college government classes, the 14th Amendment does not overrule the requirement that a presidential candidate be a “natural born citizen.” The potential prez must be born either on American soil, or othe… --- ## [Reversed words](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-words/97490)
**Author:** [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 11, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reversed-words/97490 "2002-03-11T04:41:09Z")
This is a post copied over from the SDMBtemp. In What do you call a word that spells a different word backwards?, they don’t really answer the question. Or maybe I should say the answer they give is a cop-out. The real… --- ## [everest as top of the world](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-as-top-of-the-world/97403)
**Author:** [@zdogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zdogg)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2001, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everest-as-top-of-the-world/97403 "2001-12-07T08:52:17Z")
I heard once that everest was the highest mountain from base to peak but a mountain in africa was the highest point on earth as it sat on a plateau already well above sea level. Is this true? I’m assuming the mountain wa… --- ## [The Worm in the bottom of the tequilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worm-in-the-bottom-of-the-tequilla/97376)
**Author:** [@Keeney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeney)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2001, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worm-in-the-bottom-of-the-tequilla/97376 "2001-12-07T05:22:09Z")
The main reason why the worm is placed in a bottle of tequilla is because of its absorbent body. The worm saturates a lot of alcohol into a small area (within the worm’s body) so when you eat it you get real messed up b… --- ## [Latest G Spot Report](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-g-spot-report/96451)
**Author:** [@Alley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-g-spot-report/96451 "2001-12-07T04:04:47Z")
Usually I ignore or disapprove of anecdotal evidence. However, in this case it is the only evidence that counts. I have never had trouble achieving orgasm from clitoral manipulation but have never come during intercourse… --- ## [Exception to the conditions of a rule](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exception-to-the-conditions-of-a-rule/97330)
**Author:** [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exception-to-the-conditions-of-a-rule/97330 "2001-12-07T03:53:00Z")
What’s the meaning of the expression, “That’s the exception that proves the rule?” It would seem to me that a sensible meaning would be an excepetion to the conditions of a rule (to which the rule could not be extended)… --- ## [Mexican Vanilla and blood thinners--you missed a spot!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-vanilla-and-blood-thinners-you-missed-a-spot/97365)
**Author:** [@beckley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckley)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-vanilla-and-blood-thinners-you-missed-a-spot/97365 "2001-12-07T03:32:48Z")
Dear Cecil, In your recent column on the damaging effects of Mexican vanilla that contains coumarin, you neglect to mention a very important side bar to it. You do mention that dicumarol, a derivative of coumarin, is u… --- ## [Samaritans and Moabites](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/samaritans-and-moabites/96866)
**Author:** [@JonathanTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonathanTheRed)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/samaritans-and-moabites/96866 "2001-12-06T23:46:15Z")
I highly recommend anyone who’s interested in the origin of the phrase “Good Samaritan” check out Isaac Asimov’s excellent essay “Lost in Non-translation.” In it, he offers a very insightful analysis of both Jesus’s para… --- ## [Assyrians vs. Babylonians vs. Persians and Medes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assyrians-vs-babylonians-vs-persians-and-medes/97302)
**Author:** [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assyrians-vs-babylonians-vs-persians-and-medes/97302 "2001-12-06T23:26:30Z")
In the Staff Report What’s the origin of “Good Samaritan”? (04-Dec-2001), Dex and Euty say So the Assyrians (in the part of the world that is now south Turkey and Northern Iraq) conquered Samaria. The Babylonians (in t… --- ## [Why fuel rods underwater?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-fuel-rods-underwater/90436)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-fuel-rods-underwater/90436 "2001-12-06T20:50:00Z")
Ok, Uncle Cecil, why are spent fuel rods underwater, anyhow? I WAG to increase absorption of (remaining) neutron emissions? Jinx --- ## [Jesus doesn't say \`good'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-doesnt-say-good/96846)
**Author:** [@dfprovine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfprovine)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-doesnt-say-good/96846 "2001-12-06T19:50:29Z")
Just for the record, Jesus never said that the Samaritan was good. He just tells the story and says what the guy did, and that he behaved as a neighbor when the others did not. The Samaritan’s actions, per the story,… --- ## [Magnets and Pain](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnets-and-pain/94612)
**Author:** [@Heydave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heydave)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnets-and-pain/94612 "2001-12-06T19:45:32Z")
I was wondering if people who get MRIs notice a decrease in pain during the test. I guess the magnets actually have to be in contact with the person’s skin to be effective… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=248) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=250)