# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=279 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 280 --- ## [The Headless Chicken Column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-headless-chicken-column/42731)
**Author:** [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-headless-chicken-column/42731 "2000-11-26T05:35:09Z")
Cecil, Ed, SDStaff, electronic SDMB elves, I don’t know what your policy on putting hyperlinks in previous columns is, but you might want to seriously consider linking http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org from the headl… --- ## [Lip Balm Addiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lip-balm-addiction/42141)
**Author:** [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2000, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lip-balm-addiction/42141 "2000-11-26T04:42:05Z")
I think Unca Cece might have missed a key point in this column: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/981225.html Here’s my theory - Sure nothing in lip balm is addictive. However, people use lip balm to moisten their l… --- ## [Off topic, but how else do I tell Duck Duck Goose not to be a jerk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/off-topic-but-how-else-do-i-tell-duck-duck-goose-not-to-be-a-jerk/42560)
**Author:** [@Nessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nessy)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/off-topic-but-how-else-do-i-tell-duck-duck-goose-not-to-be-a-jerk/42560 "2000-11-25T00:57:21Z")
Duck - If you can’t stay to the OP, you don’t belong in “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” --- ## [Tiki umbrella art](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiki-umbrella-art/41781)
**Author:** [@nep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nep)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiki-umbrella-art/41781 "2000-11-24T18:11:01Z")
No disrespect intended, but did Slug Signorino do some personal research into Polynesian drinks before sketching his latest? I could be wrong, but that woman looks like she’s into piercings with that Tiki umbrella. --- ## [On belay!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-belay/42180)
**Author:** [@Dr.Pinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Pinky)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-belay/42180 "2000-11-21T22:56:58Z")
I thought a Betty was the one who brought the scotch (and chocolate), or is that the difference between a Betty and “a real Betty”? --- ## [Acupuncture article](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acupuncture-article/42039)
**Author:** [@Evil\_Adam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Adam)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acupuncture-article/42039 "2000-11-21T20:09:33Z")
On the article about acupuncture, my physiology teacher (doctor) told us that it doesnt cure, but it stimulates morphine-like deposits in our bodies, curing pain but not the illness. I could and probably am wrong but tha… --- ## [A comment on the Eye shimmy article](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-comment-on-the-eye-shimmy-article/41289)
**Author:** [@Ashleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashleth)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-comment-on-the-eye-shimmy-article/41289 "2000-11-21T19:47:59Z")
About 4 years ago I found out i could do the eye shimmy by unfocusing my eyes and doing something that results in me winning staring contests hands down. All I know is that it gives me a hell of a headacke. Also in the s… --- ## [Heaven and Hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaven-and-hell/41579)
**Author:** [@swampy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampy)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaven-and-hell/41579 "2000-11-21T18:49:11Z")
So if hell isn’t there then that would mean that heaven is not about as well. now I don’t belive any of this god and praying stuff so I don’t think there is an argument to answer too. It seems that the Church made it a… --- ## [Organic farming -- chemicals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organic-farming-chemicals/42096)
**Author:** [@DaveoRad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveoRad)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2000, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organic-farming-chemicals/42096 "2000-11-21T06:28:49Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a970606.html Quote: “Some surveys say half of all farmers now use IPM techniques to some degree, and the U.S. goal is 75 percent by the year 2000.” Now that the year 2000 has come a… --- ## [Musical Nasalness(Nasality?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-nasalness-nasality/41965)
**Author:** [@wrongz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wrongz)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-nasalness-nasality/41965 "2000-11-20T16:09:38Z")
In the article about nose size having an effect on singing quality, reference was made to tonal nasality being an accident. But I remeber hearing an interview with Eddy Arnold when he and I were much younger in which he … --- ## [Lightbulb Brightness (re: Distance of Celestial Bodies)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightbulb-brightness-re-distance-of-celestial-bodies/41807)
**Author:** [@cjclark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjclark)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightbulb-brightness-re-distance-of-celestial-bodies/41807 "2000-11-19T06:47:45Z")
On 07-Nov-2000, Chronos wrote in his answer to, “How do they figure the distance between celestial bodies?” The apparent brightness of an object depends both on how bright it actually is, and on how far away it is. F… --- ## [Taoism has a Hell?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taoism-has-a-hell/41502)
**Author:** [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taoism-has-a-hell/41502 "2000-11-17T15:44:50Z")
Can I get a cite on this? Last I checked, Taoism teaches there is no afterlife. --- ## [Hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell/41218)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hell/41218 "2000-11-17T05:38:13Z")
One really feels the need to observe that of bloody well course the word “Hell” didn’t appear in the Bible until the Bible was translated into English! Neither did the word “Heaven” or the word “people” or the word “fish… --- ## ["Jesuit" Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesuit-question/40969)
**Author:** [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2000, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesuit-question/40969 "2000-11-16T19:30:17Z")
I was reading Alphagene’s Staff Report about the Society of Jesus and I got to wondering about the etymology of the word “Jesuit”. Alphagene mentions that the term used to mean “a guy who mentions Jesus way too much”. … --- ## [Lewis Carroll anagrams](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-carroll-anagrams/41073)
**Author:** [@sunstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstar)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2000, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lewis-carroll-anagrams/41073 "2000-11-16T08:28:28Z")
Don’t know if anyone else noticed this, but not only do Wallace’s anagrams not make much more sense than the original Jabberwocky verse, they’re not even proper anagrams! (I’m assuming both verses are entered correctly o… --- ## [SD illustrator(s)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-illustrator-s/41373)
**Author:** [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-illustrator-s/41373 "2000-11-15T23:18:23Z")
I was reading the First Straight Dope Column when much to my surprise I saw under the illustration “Illustration/George Lee.” Who was George Lee and where did Slug bury his body? --- ## [Fish Farts, aquarisits - let's hear it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-farts-aquarisits-lets-hear-it/40656)
**Author:** [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-farts-aquarisits-lets-hear-it/40656 "2000-11-15T20:07:05Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001110.html I’ve kept 1 to 3 aquariums in my home for about 20 years (mostly freshwater). I can say that I’ve never observed a bubble from the rear end of any fish. But, on occasion, … --- ## [The Word for When You Can't Think of a Word...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-for-when-you-cant-think-of-a-word/39084)
**Author:** [@DennisKy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DennisKy)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-for-when-you-cant-think-of-a-word/39084 "2000-11-14T22:36:08Z")
The first time I came across a discussion of this in SD, I sent (IIRC) a message suggesting that the term for this shouldn’t be (lethologica being excepted) a single word, but a phrase, amnemonic nondiction. Amnemonic be… --- ## [Great article, Alphagene!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-article-alphagene/40659)
**Author:** [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2000, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-article-alphagene/40659 "2000-11-14T22:26:25Z")
I went to a Jesuit high school, and your descriptions were right on the mark. I guess I don’t have much else to say, other than nice work. --- ## [How do they figure the distance between celestial bodies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-figure-the-distance-between-celestial-bodies/40157)
**Author:** [@K43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K43)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2000, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-figure-the-distance-between-celestial-bodies/40157 "2000-11-13T21:35:00Z")
Way back when, I was taught that celestial distances were measured by the amount of “red shift,” i.e., Doppler shift, of the light spectrum of the object in question. The universe is expanding, and the further away the o… --- ## [In the air ... documentation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-air-documentation/40518)
**Author:** [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2000, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-air-documentation/40518 "2000-11-13T15:45:01Z")
While I agree with Songbird’s explanation for Phil Collins’s song “In the Air”, I would still like to see some documentation. If Collins has discussed this so much, surely there must be an interview quote from him somewh… --- ## [Alcohol's effect on the gums](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohols-effect-on-the-gums/39952)
**Author:** [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2000, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alcohols-effect-on-the-gums/39952 "2000-11-13T10:47:40Z")
Here, Cecil warns that excess alcohol use can damage the gums, among other things. Now my question is, is this due to the internal effects of alcohol, or is it due to the contact of alcohol with the gums while it is sti… --- ## [Prince Philip](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip/40056)
**Author:** [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2000, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip/40056 "2000-11-13T06:07:16Z")
Cecil’s column: A king’s wife is a queen, so why is Elizabeth II’s husband still only Prince Philip? Cecil might have mentioned that Philip was a Prince in his own right, before he was is married to the Queen. He was a … --- ## [the last step in stellar distances](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-step-in-stellar-distances/40894)
**Author:** [@psycho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycho)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-step-in-stellar-distances/40894 "2000-11-12T20:29:58Z")
Cecil’s column about how we know something is 1200 light-years away or whatever didn’t include the final step. By using knowledge of the distances of stars and galaxies from those methods, we were able to verify the Dopp… --- ## [Does prayer help healing...etc](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-prayer-help-healing-etc/39617)
**Author:** [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-prayer-help-healing-etc/39617 "2000-11-12T20:27:53Z")
Just read the column on whether prayer is beneficial in healing. As a resident and an agnostic, I doubt that the power of prayer is as strong as its most vocal advocates would claim. Nevertheless, the reports in the Skep… --- ## [Eros and the Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eros-and-the-moon/39495)
**Author:** [@DrPorkchop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrPorkchop)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eros-and-the-moon/39495 "2000-11-10T20:28:24Z")
In reference to the “What Happens if I Blow Up the Moon?” column, a friend of mine who is too shy (translates “too lazy”) to post himself asks, “If our ‘moon destroying’ friend were able to alter the course of Eros so it… --- ## [Is the camel the only animal that can't swim?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-camel-the-only-animal-that-cant-swim/40522)
**Author:** [@calli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calli)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2000, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-camel-the-only-animal-that-cant-swim/40522 "2000-11-10T12:57:40Z")
Well, my first ever post to the Straight Dope Message Board! I just read the story about camels being able to swim, despite claims to the contrary, and I’d like to comment on it. Someone “seriously doubted” that sloths … --- ## [HOW you destroy the moon is very important to what happens when you do it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-you-destroy-the-moon-is-very-important-to-what-happens-when-you-do-it/39283)
**Author:** [@JoltSucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoltSucker)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 10, 2000, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-you-destroy-the-moon-is-very-important-to-what-happens-when-you-do-it/39283 "2000-11-10T08:46:39Z")
I’m thinking that Cecil misses an important point when he responds to “I plan to destroy the moon. What effect would this have on the earth?”. Just how you do it is all-important as to what happens next. If you explode … --- ## [Cecil's brain has gone soft](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-brain-has-gone-soft/38064)
**Author:** [@claudea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/claudea)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2000, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-brain-has-gone-soft/38064 "2000-11-08T14:00:19Z")
Pea-brain states: "I’m not out to defend aspartame and other diet products. They’re a sorry testimony to the public’s laziness and the willingness of corporate America to pander to it. Most people would be far better of… --- ## [Was there another president who was not legally president?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-another-president-who-was-not-legally-president/40065)
**Author:** [@BFavre4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BFavre4)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-another-president-who-was-not-legally-president/40065 "2000-11-07T04:45:09Z")
I heard somewhere that there was another president of the usa who supposidly was not legally president. I dont know who it was though. To my recallection, I think that the president was from the state of ohio. The contro… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=278) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=280)