# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=283 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 284 --- ## [Knot, Fathom and League](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knot-fathom-and-league/34329)
**Author:** [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2000, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knot-fathom-and-league/34329 "2000-10-02T06:37:03Z")
Shouldn’t that be 4830 meters? --- ## [Stopping telemarketers for good](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-telemarketers-for-good/35065)
**Author:** [@adamsc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adamsc)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-telemarketers-for-good/35065 "2000-10-02T04:54:54Z")
The best answer I’ve found is probably to recent for that 1996 classic repost (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a960927.html): use a cell phone. It’s illegal for telemarketers to call any phone where the recipient pa… --- ## [MOVED THREADS (...if you can't find a thread that was here)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moved-threads-if-you-cant-find-a-thread-that-was-here/21127)
**Author:** [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moved-threads-if-you-cant-find-a-thread-that-was-here/21127 "2000-10-02T04:19:49Z")
When an Administrator or Moderator moves a thread to a different forum, there is (unfortunately) no trace of it left in the original location. This topic is therefore where the Administrator/Moderator will let you know … --- ## [Is there any sure fire way to stop Telemarketing Calls](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-sure-fire-way-to-stop-telemarketing-calls/35244)
**Author:** [@TBSPW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBSPW)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 2, 2000, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-sure-fire-way-to-stop-telemarketing-calls/35244 "2000-10-02T04:06:56Z")
I would just like to add that after you ask to be placed on their do-not-call list, if they call again within six months to a year in some places you can sue the company for harassment. On a television show I was watchin… --- ## [You must tell your wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-must-tell-your-wife/34661)
**Author:** [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-must-tell-your-wife/34661 "2000-10-01T18:38:44Z")
I was reading the Straight Dope Classics: What’s the best way to sterilize myself without telling my wife?, and of course, have a comment to add to this. My hubby just got the big snip, the big V, the vasectomy he’s bee… --- ## [Dingoes, fairy penguins and other maligned creatues of my home](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingoes-fairy-penguins-and-other-maligned-creatues-of-my-home/34460)
**Author:** [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2000, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingoes-fairy-penguins-and-other-maligned-creatues-of-my-home/34460 "2000-10-01T01:26:37Z")
I was looking for something else and came across what is evidently this week’s column in a search: In Australia, do dingoes really eat babies? Amongst other remarks on the Chamberlain case and the unfriendliness of vari… --- ## [Stone fish aren't the most poisonous?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stone-fish-arent-the-most-poisonous/33004)
**Author:** [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2000, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stone-fish-arent-the-most-poisonous/33004 "2000-10-01T00:54:23Z")
Column : What’s the most poisonous creature on earth? I always thought the stonefish in the seas of South-east Asia were the most poisonous creatures on earth. One step on one of its spines causes numbing pain, temperar… --- ## [Chestnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chestnut/35132)
**Author:** [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 30, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chestnut/35132 "2000-09-30T16:09:00Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mchestnut.html I have also heard “chestnut” used to refer to: an old adage or other cliched piece of received wisdom an old song in a band’s repertoire (mainly in British rock m… --- ## [Planet X](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/34988)
**Author:** [@Koth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koth)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2000, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planet-x/34988 "2000-09-29T17:44:04Z")
Another theory for Planet X can be found in Alan F. Alford’s book, “Gods of the New Millenium”, which deals with Summerian history/mythology. Whether you take the book as fact or fiction, it’s still an interesting read. … --- ## [Dead End on Snuff Film Lead](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-end-on-snuff-film-lead/32882)
**Author:** [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-end-on-snuff-film-lead/32882 "2000-09-29T16:57:20Z")
Some time ago, the “Straight Dope Classics” on the homepage reran Cecil’s column on snuff films. It so happened that that week, in a Washington Post Sunday magazine article on teen sex, reporter Liza Mundy referred to sn… --- ## [Rolling Stones and the meaning of gas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-and-the-meaning-of-gas/34853)
**Author:** [@matttay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matttay)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 28, 2000, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rolling-stones-and-the-meaning-of-gas/34853 "2000-09-28T08:07:24Z")
Gas is a slang word for for a good time. The phrase was popular in the sixties and seventies in England. From the Oxford English Dictionary A gas c. Fun; a joke. Anglo-Irish slang. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 24 He told me h… --- ## [Gimped Dingoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimped-dingoes/34632)
**Author:** [@Rickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickles)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimped-dingoes/34632 "2000-09-27T16:49:15Z")
It does not surprise me that the Dingoes that attacked the children had injuries. The coincidence that this could have been the same animal in the 1980 case and the most recent one is remote. A better explanation is that… --- ## [The Harley Goes . . .](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-harley-goes/34095)
**Author:** [@pjcamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjcamp)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2000, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-harley-goes/34095 "2000-09-27T12:09:33Z")
“BLAP!BLAP!BLAP!BLAP!” The cow goes “Moooo.” Gotta go. --- ## [A complaint about Straightdope.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-complaint-about-straightdope-com/34616)
**Author:** [@Lethal\_Lynx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Lynx)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-complaint-about-straightdope-com/34616 "2000-09-27T06:22:53Z")
I decided that my first post in this section would be a complaint. Why doesn’t http://straightdope.com categorize their articles? It would be nice to be able go to the science section, then into physics section and kill… --- ## [Urban Legend makes the papers!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-makes-the-papers/34622)
**Author:** [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 26, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legend-makes-the-papers/34622 "2000-09-26T22:27:47Z")
Hey gang, Was just cruising across the 'net on my hometown paper when I came across this one. I guess it actually has happened. Apparently, a mother has actually put her baby in the microwave, and is pleading no contest… --- ## [dingoes are not naturally vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingoes-are-not-naturally-vicious/34534)
**Author:** [@riverman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riverman)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 26, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingoes-are-not-naturally-vicious/34534 "2000-09-26T20:12:19Z")
Well, they are predatory wild dogs, but the reason they hassle people is because they are fed by campers or are scavenging rubbish to eat. On Fraser island (off Queensland) rangers regularily have to move dingoes that … --- ## [Re: Is it legal to put a hole in a quarter and sell it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-it-legal-to-put-a-hole-in-a-quarter-and-sell-it/34195)
**Author:** [@WillyK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillyK)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 26, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-it-legal-to-put-a-hole-in-a-quarter-and-sell-it/34195 "2000-09-26T19:49:14Z")
I was recently in San Francisco and used a machine that crunches a penny and makes it a suvenier. I had to insert a penny and also 50 cents to use it. I then turned a crank and the gear mechinism in the machine crunches … --- ## [Dingo toes.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingo-toes/34525)
**Author:** [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 26, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dingo-toes/34525 "2000-09-26T15:38:38Z")
I just wanted to say that, considering the subject matter, I thought Slug’s illustration for this week’s column was unusually, um, tasteful. I’m sure I’ve grievously insulted him by saying so. http://www.straightdope.c… --- ## [Al Capp?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-capp/31153)
**Author:** [@hardlyb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardlyb)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-capp/31153 "2000-09-23T19:41:27Z")
Re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msadiehawkins.html. Does anyone actually think that Li’l Abner was any good, at least for the last 15 years of its publication? I read it from the time that I was a kid, and I alw… --- ## [city elevation and Denver Capitol Building](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-elevation-and-denver-capitol-building/34053)
**Author:** [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-elevation-and-denver-capitol-building/34053 "2000-09-23T19:39:19Z")
Cecil’s column «How is the city elevation shown on road signs and maps determined? (03-May-1996)», which says reminded me of my visit to Denver, where I saw the mile-high marker at the Capitol Building. Colorado State… --- ## [On](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on/34077)
**Author:** [@bugg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bugg)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on/34077 "2000-09-23T18:48:39Z")
First off, the article I’m referring to is: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_189.html I disagree with Jordan Drachman’s second scenario. You only know that one of the two children is a girl. Case 1 and case 3 a… --- ## [poisonous](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous/33588)
**Author:** [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poisonous/33588 "2000-09-23T00:42:21Z")
We had a discussion over dinner yesterday about poisonous spiders. Are they around us? How easy is it to run into one? What is the most poisonous living thing on earth? --- ## [Rods](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rods/33685)
**Author:** [@harbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harbo)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2000, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rods/33685 "2000-09-22T21:29:38Z")
P.T. Barnum was an misty-eyed optimist. I almost wish I had been born without scruples; I could make a fortune off of the suckers and retire. Alas, these pesky morals keep getting in the way…I’ll have to be satisfied wit… --- ## [Nessie and friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nessie-and-friends/33915)
**Author:** [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2000, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nessie-and-friends/33915 "2000-09-22T13:55:01Z")
About the mailbag arcticle on Nessie which also mentions a Selma in Norway. There’s several relatives of Nessie in North America. Besides Chessie in Chessapeake Bay, there’s several lake monsters. Ogopogo even has a che… --- ## [On Hydrogen and Atomic Bombs...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-hydrogen-and-atomic-bombs/33034)
**Author:** [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-hydrogen-and-atomic-bombs/33034 "2000-09-22T02:18:35Z")
It might be worth noting that a Hydrogen bomb is also an atomic bomb. That is, in order for a Hydrogen bomb to detonate they wrap an Atomic bomb around the outside. The fusion process in a Hydrogen bomb is difficult to s… --- ## [3.14159265358979323...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-14159265358979323/32947)
**Author:** [@straightdope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straightdope)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-14159265358979323/32947 "2000-09-22T02:00:57Z")
It’s a straight line, not a circle! That’s right! By default, all circles are straight lines in an infinitly small convergence. Existence, or the mere placement of masses causes the dillusion that space between the conv… --- ## [Has Cecil gone soft on me?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-cecil-gone-soft-on-me/33069)
**Author:** [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-cecil-gone-soft-on-me/33069 "2000-09-21T23:48:15Z")
Back in 1995 I wrote a letter to Cecil which made the papers (I felt honored – go look for COLIN JOYCE (my real name). Anyway, back when he wrote it, and up until I looked at it a year ago, his reply started with “Ya me… --- ## [Debunking rods](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-rods/33594)
**Author:** [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-rods/33594 "2000-09-21T19:17:20Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrodhoax.html I saw a documentary-like show on PBS or Discovery or TLC or somewhere… anyway, on this show, a guy set up two cameras, side-by-side. One was a conventional video camera,… --- ## [hiccups](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccups/1314)
**Author:** [@Beertender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beertender)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2000, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccups/1314 "2000-09-21T17:15:41Z")
I’ve read numerous articles about hiccups over the years, but none have ever mentioned a cure I learned many years ago, in my professional capacity as a bartender. I have, as can be expected, seen many cases of hiccups i… --- ## [Dead Man's Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-mans-hand/34010)
**Author:** [@sbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbh)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-mans-hand/34010 "2000-09-21T16:59:11Z")
(I could not find this as a thread, so am submiiting as new) See \< http://www.homepoker.com/0812.html \> for a discussion which seems to cast doubt that there is an answer to “what was the fifth card?”. Regards (edited… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=282) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=284)