# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=250 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 251 --- ## [About shaking hands....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-shaking-hands/96953)
**Author:** [@G\_Jordan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G_Jordan)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-shaking-hands/96953 "2001-12-06T19:16:38Z")
I just read Cecil’s column about which hand people shake with: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011130.html Just my quick two cents… In the Boy Scouts of America, the official Boy Scout handshake is with the left h… --- ## [Moths in clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moths-in-clothing/97246)
**Author:** [@sford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sford)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moths-in-clothing/97246 "2001-12-06T18:18:26Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcedar.html it states that moths need to smell the clothing to find it. Is it really the moths that eat holes in clothing? I had thought it was the larvae that did the chewing. A… --- ## [Agave worms in Tequila](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agave-worms-in-tequila/97038)
**Author:** [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agave-worms-in-tequila/97038 "2001-12-05T22:11:31Z")
I jsut read the incredibly amazing piece and was about to exclaim yet another “Halleluuuu!” (it that laying it on too thick?) when I wondered a couple of things… I had heard that the worm’s function (being dead and al… --- ## [PBS documentary (Greenland colonies)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-documentary-greenland-colonies/89086)
**Author:** [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-documentary-greenland-colonies/89086 "2001-12-05T21:28:09Z")
In today’s mailbag report ( http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/micegreenland.html ), there’s mention of a PBS documentary about the disappearance of the Norse colonies in Greenland. Has anyone seen that? I’m wondering a… --- ## [A girl named John Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-girl-named-john-corrado/92183)
**Author:** [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-girl-named-john-corrado/92183 "2001-12-05T21:13:44Z")
In this thread, “Cassie” promises to name her baby, “boy or girl”, after whoever answers the question. I have no particular comment to make about John C.'s answer; I just wanted to register my amusement at the possibili… --- ## [beating a dead slave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beating-a-dead-slave/95517)
**Author:** [@Tom\_Arctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Arctus)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beating-a-dead-slave/95517 "2001-12-05T21:09:33Z")
The point isn’t whether or not Thomas Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings as Cecil discussed here. The point is that he could have if he wanted to. He also could have beaten her to within an inch of her life, st… --- ## [Why So Few Comments On Staff Reports?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-comments-on-staff-reports/95271)
**Author:** [@royjwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/royjwood)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-comments-on-staff-reports/95271 "2001-12-05T21:03:13Z")
Why are there so few comments on staff reports? Is it because the staff reports are so excelent in their completeness, that nothing more need be said? Or is it because no one cares about the staff anymore? Come one pe… --- ## [Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarzan-and-sherlock-holmes/95970)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tarzan-and-sherlock-holmes/95970 "2001-12-05T20:47:55Z")
Regarding today’s column: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtarzan.html Philip Jose Farmer has Tarzan related to Sherlock Holmes not only in his book Tarzan Alive! (which you cite), but also in the Holmes/Tarzan past… --- ## [3-(a-acetonylbenzyl)-4-hydroxycoumarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-a-acetonylbenzyl-4-hydroxycoumarin/97074)
**Author:** [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-a-acetonylbenzyl-4-hydroxycoumarin/97074 "2001-12-05T19:20:49Z")
known as warfarin and sold as Coumadin. Cecil’s column this week (not yet on the web)states that a 1983 article in \* FDA Consumer \* states “there has been no indicaion that coumarin \[the generic name of the chemical from… --- ## [More on Red/Green Traffic Signals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-red-green-traffic-signals/94641)
**Author:** [@pschleck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pschleck)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-red-green-traffic-signals/94641 "2001-12-05T19:13:15Z")
In: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_152.html Cecil discusses the choice of red and green for traffic signals, and the risk of confusion for color-blind people. Cecil asserts that red/green color blindness is no… --- ## [Do NiCd Batteries Exhibit Memory?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nicd-batteries-exhibit-memory/95853)
**Author:** [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nicd-batteries-exhibit-memory/95853 "2001-12-05T19:11:13Z")
In a column on nickel cadmium batteries’ memory effect, Cecil says “it’s a myth, bud… this kind of thing seldom if ever occurs in earthbound applications.” If it’s a myth, it’s one with quite a technological underpinning… --- ## [the mysterious "rowsell rods" - new species, or a hoax?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mysterious-rowsell-rods-new-species-or-a-hoax/95933)
**Author:** [@dsknr009](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dsknr009)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mysterious-rowsell-rods-new-species-or-a-hoax/95933 "2001-12-05T17:08:13Z")
I just saw a rod in columbus ohio. after watching the video on the website http://www.roswellrods.com and hearing the guys who started this whole thing on the Art Bell show, I have to believe that there is at least somet… --- ## [Is Nasseri still in the airport?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nasseri-still-in-the-airport/96541)
**Author:** [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nasseri-still-in-the-airport/96541 "2001-12-04T16:58:04Z")
As described here. The update at the bottom of the column suggests that attempts at resolution were being made, but that nothing had come of them. That was in 1999. I did a web search, and I found some pages whose recen… --- ## [Refer me to Cecil's column, please.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refer-me-to-cecils-column-please/96788)
**Author:** [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2001, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/refer-me-to-cecils-column-please/96788 "2001-12-04T16:52:57Z")
I know The Master did a column on this, but I have been unable to find it–what’s the term for an unwelcome visitor, even more specifically, one who interrupts something important? A particular author crafted it after bei… --- ## [Sterilize Yourself Painlessly (well, not really)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sterilize-yourself-painlessly-well-not-really/96789)
**Author:** [@Lowlife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowlife)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sterilize-yourself-painlessly-well-not-really/96789 "2001-12-04T16:27:21Z")
This is to comment on one of the questions posed: What’s the best way to sterilize myself without telling my wife? Well, one really good idea is to go through chemotherapy. Being a cancer patient, I was told by the doc… --- ## [Worst Blow to Civilization Not 'Green Acres'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-blow-to-civilization-not-green-acres/96577)
**Author:** [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-blow-to-civilization-not-green-acres/96577 "2001-12-04T01:51:54Z")
Under “Why is there no Channel One?”, you wrote in part, “…the Channel One band (44 to 50 MHz) was reassigned for use by people with mobile radios. Considering how things have turned out, maybe they should have reassigne… --- ## [Samaritans](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/samaritans/96369)
**Author:** [@DavidH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidH)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/samaritans/96369 "2001-12-04T01:13:54Z")
I enjoyed the Staff Report on the Samaritans. It was almost thorough except for just 1 or 2 points. One of the problems of a “revealed” religion is the idea that the scriptures are “divine and inviolate.” When different… --- ## [Girlfriend pills?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girlfriend-pills/94160)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girlfriend-pills/94160 "2001-12-03T23:47:59Z")
In Cecil’s classic column at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_227.html, he addresses the question of whether chocolate gives you the same kind of “high” you feel when you’re in love. Chocolate contains a chemical … --- ## [Searle's box...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searles-box/94768)
**Author:** [@seebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seebs)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/searles-box/94768 "2001-12-03T19:48:40Z")
Searle’s box is a classic example of begging the question. “Assume that it is possible for a system which does not actually understand things to act exactly like a person who understands things. Then it wouldn’t understa… --- ## [This sounds like hooey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-sounds-like-hooey/96206)
**Author:** [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-sounds-like-hooey/96206 "2001-12-03T16:41:35Z")
This quote is from Cecil’s column of Nov.30, 2001: G-spot Update “On the related subject of female ejaculation, there’s an emerging consensus that the fluid emitted by some women during orgasm isn’t just urine, as was w… --- ## [Ten Lost Tribes of Israel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-lost-tribes-of-israel/95833)
**Author:** [@MHand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHand)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-lost-tribes-of-israel/95833 "2001-12-03T13:32:03Z")
This staff report describes the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtentribes.html After describing many theories as to the current location of their descendants, this staff report adds: B… --- ## [female prostate gland](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-prostate-gland/96273)
**Author:** [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-prostate-gland/96273 "2001-12-03T06:31:05Z")
Here the great one deals with a sensitive subject, the G spot. He ends with a tidbit about “a female prostate gland” I’ll bite. :slight\_smile: What is it? What does it do? I took anatomy years ago, and I don’t remember … --- ## [Cecil- so wrong about the GI scale!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-so-wrong-about-the-gi-scale/95458)
**Author:** [@jennygerbi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jennygerbi)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-so-wrong-about-the-gi-scale/95458 "2001-12-03T00:30:55Z")
A note: The glucose index scale is one of the only useful ways that people with insulin resistance, hypothyroidism, polycystic ovary syndrome, or diabetes can control their blood sugar. People are all very different, an… --- ## [Stainless steel and smells](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-and-smells/95758)
**Author:** [@Fishhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishhead)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-and-smells/95758 "2001-12-02T17:54:24Z")
I don’t know about other smells, but stainless steel (either some "silver"ware or even the sides of a stainless steel sink) under running water does remove garlic - but NOT onion. So it isn’t every smell. (and I think th… --- ## [Thomas Jefferson DNA, and Sally Hemmings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-dna-and-sally-hemmings/96364)
**Author:** [@riksprague](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riksprague)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-dna-and-sally-hemmings/96364 "2001-12-02T00:52:53Z")
Since this week’s Dope recent additions includes an update from a Jun-89… Look for a pretty thorough analysis at: http://www.jefferson-hemings.org/ Summary: The DNA tests prove convincingly that several Hemmings chil… --- ## [Thank you, Mr. Adams!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-mr-adams/96073)
**Author:** [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2001, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-mr-adams/96073 "2001-12-01T18:46:17Z")
Today I boo-ya’ed my physics teacher, all thanks to our very own Cecil Adams. My physics teacher is revered as a god by most of his students. People take his word as gospel on all matters, not just those pertaining to p… --- ## [What about women and hotdogs?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-women-and-hotdogs/94369)
**Author:** [@royjwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/royjwood)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-women-and-hotdogs/94369 "2001-12-01T05:54:28Z")
In the Great One’s article, “Is it true what they say about Gerbils”, URL: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_216b.html the question was answered concerning gay men getting gerbils and other items stuck up in thei… --- ## [The Nephilim](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nephilim/93846)
**Author:** [@Anvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anvil)\ **Replies:** 83\ **Last updated:** [November 30, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nephilim/93846 "2001-11-30T19:35:34Z")
There is a series of non-fiction books that deal exclusively with who these mysterious visitors to earth were. The author is Zecharia Sitchin, and this series is known as “The Earth Chronicles.” Sitchin proves that most … --- ## [How do scientists go about calculating pi to umpteen decimal places?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-scientists-go-about-calculating-pi-to-umpteen-decimal-places/337)
**Author:** [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 30, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-scientists-go-about-calculating-pi-to-umpteen-decimal-places/337 "2001-11-30T14:11:23Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_357.html a Dr. Neil Basescu criticizes Cecil thusly I’ve done the math three times, and I don’t get the same answer. Instead of 10^35, I get 10^37, which is still only 37 pla… --- ## [What a turkey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-turkey/96080)
**Author:** [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 30, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-turkey/96080 "2001-11-30T05:34:01Z")
Well, not really. I just couldn’t resist saying it. But honestly, bibliophage’s column on Turkeys is a masterpiece of good research, interestingly explained and laid out with wit, and a little silliness. In the best t… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=249) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=251)