# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=287 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 288 --- ## [uh Cecil: why recycle, again?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-cecil-why-recycle-again/29002)
**Author:** [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2000, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-cecil-why-recycle-again/29002 "2000-08-14T12:25:21Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000804.html, Cecil wrote Fair enough. Then he concludes, Cecil, your information condensation skills are waning. Your column goes point by point debunking the recycling hysteria… --- ## [Last time, they celebrated in 1901. ISTR.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-time-they-celebrated-in-1901-istr/29123)
**Author:** [@iankevinmcdonald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iankevinmcdonald)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 14, 2000, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-time-they-celebrated-in-1901-istr/29123 "2000-08-14T06:37:19Z")
I’m not a betting man. I wish I was. (If I was, I would have made a few quid on those foolish offers from the betting sites.) When London’s local paper, the Evening Standard, reprinted its 1900 edition for the pseudo-mi… --- ## [Food Irradiation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-irradiation/28741)
**Author:** [@harrmill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harrmill)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-irradiation/28741 "2000-08-13T18:42:08Z")
I read your article about food irradiation from 1995 with some interest. The type of process that was described has indeed been controversial and likely unsafe. However, there is a new technology that does not add anythi… --- ## [problem with cecil's explanation of dowsing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-with-cecils-explanation-of-dowsing/28927)
**Author:** [@jabberwalkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabberwalkie)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [August 13, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-with-cecils-explanation-of-dowsing/28927 "2000-08-13T04:40:26Z")
i agree completely with your explanation of “dowsing” as an “ideomotor” or physiological event etc. this is probably true in most of the cases, where the “water-diviner” is a fake. however, i remember this documentary o… --- ## [Did medieval lords have "right of the first night" with the local brides?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-medieval-lords-have-right-of-the-first-night-with-the-local-brides/26776)
**Author:** [@DominicSayers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DominicSayers)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-medieval-lords-have-right-of-the-first-night-with-the-local-brides/26776 "2000-08-12T22:50:33Z")
Hey, call me a cynic but isn’t droit de seigneur a convenient excuse for a bride when hubby discovers she is not intact? --- ## [re: the 9 'Eskimo' words for snow...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-9-eskimo-words-for-snow/25666)
**Author:** [@koshka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koshka)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2000, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-9-eskimo-words-for-snow/25666 "2000-08-12T09:05:13Z")
This was a wonderful answer, 9 words for snow. I am always happy to see people learning new languages, even if it is only a few words. One comment though, Cecil: the proper term is ‘Inuit’. I am Canadian and, although I… --- ## [Blue Parrots](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-parrots/27755)
**Author:** [@sineater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sineater)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 12, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-parrots/27755 "2000-08-12T02:28:53Z")
My macaw was more than a little perturbed to be told that he really is not blue. (How glad i am that I have not taught him to read.) To set him at ease I had to put Cecil’s column to the test. I have long been aware of t… --- ## [Tallest Building...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building/28244)
**Author:** [@mrunknown9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunknown9)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tallest-building/28244 "2000-08-10T22:12:57Z")
Well…after reading the column I did some checking of my own & found out that the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada is actually the tallest building around at 1,815 feet. OK, I admit that it’s mostly antenna that gives it the d… --- ## [ZORRO rides again!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zorro-rides-again/28799)
**Author:** [@Fatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatman)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 10, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zorro-rides-again/28799 "2000-08-10T19:49:58Z")
While Zorro is not based on an historical character (personally I find a lot of simularities between Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel), the Zorro move with Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas is based on several hist… --- ## [Nasal resonance in singing, Streisand, etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasal-resonance-in-singing-streisand-etc/26964)
**Author:** [@slk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slk)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 9, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasal-resonance-in-singing-streisand-etc/26964 "2000-08-09T23:47:39Z")
Just wanted to clear up some mistakes in the recent mailbag article “Does a big nose help you sing better?” which may be found at: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbignose.html To get right to it… Many mistakes he… --- ## [Mistake in column about relativity and aging?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistake-in-column-about-relativity-and-aging/26678)
**Author:** [@PaulT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulT)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistake-in-column-about-relativity-and-aging/26678 "2000-08-08T19:10:58Z")
I was just reading a classic column on the website: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_183.html The question is whether people at the equator, being whirled about at 1000 miles an hour, age more quickly than those… --- ## [Which light beers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-light-beers/27181)
**Author:** [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 8, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-light-beers/27181 "2000-08-08T02:38:47Z")
The mailbag column Is light beer made by watering it down? says that there are indeed some light beers that are made simply by watering down regular beer. Which light beers are those? --- ## [What is the go with Pupic hair?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-go-with-pupic-hair/27019)
**Author:** [@Marty14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marty14)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 6, 2000, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-go-with-pupic-hair/27019 "2000-08-06T06:08:23Z")
Just a question that has been floating my little head for some time now. WHy do we have pupic hair? What use is it? It would seem a lot more natural to be bald like the rest of our bodies. Thanking You --- ## [What, no picture of Kilroy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-no-picture-of-kilroy/28237)
**Author:** [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 5, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-no-picture-of-kilroy/28237 "2000-08-05T17:56:27Z")
Column: What’s the origin of “Kilroy was here”? \\|||/ (o o) ----ooO-(\_)-Ooo-------- This guy is also popping up in some of those dame email chain letters I get. And if you want to see someone have a … --- ## [Berrin a bidet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berrin-a-bidet/27911)
**Author:** [@madd1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madd1)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 5, 2000, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/berrin-a-bidet/27911 "2000-08-05T08:20:01Z")
While on assignment for the Air Force in Italy we were put up in a local hotel. We had four men to a room. My three roomies had never seen a bidet before and wonderd what it was for. After explaing it to them, they decid… --- ## [Warming up race car tires](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warming-up-race-car-tires/27600)
**Author:** [@WashU77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WashU77)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [August 4, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warming-up-race-car-tires/27600 "2000-08-04T17:03:20Z")
I’ve always wondered why Indy-car drivers do that weaving around stuff on the pace laps as well. A few years back a serious accident was caused by that action - so it ain’t all that safe to do in the first place. Also -… --- ## [Whitey's on the moon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whiteys-on-the-moon/23356)
**Author:** [@feyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feyer)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whiteys-on-the-moon/23356 "2000-08-03T22:09:22Z")
RE: Manned Apollo missions- I’ve often wondered why there are no detailed photos, from NASA or any other source, of the Apollo landing sites on the Moon. At the very least the left over Lunar Module landing gear, with r… --- ## [Combination Bidet/hot air dryer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-bidet-hot-air-dryer/27907)
**Author:** [@TFH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TFH)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-bidet-hot-air-dryer/27907 "2000-08-03T18:10:50Z")
Oddly enough, CyberSybar, yes “you can get one with a combination hot air dryer”. A moment’s research on the web informs us of the “Intimist”, a Panasonic Matsushita product: http://www.mindspring.com/~amotoi/ -TFH --- ## [Does MSG work by harming the tongue?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-msg-work-by-harming-the-tongue/27912)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-msg-work-by-harming-the-tongue/27912 "2000-08-03T13:24:28Z")
According to the mailbag article at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mumami.html, a taste receptor specifically for monosodium glutamate (MSG) was discovered in 1996. However, what I heard when I was growing up was t… --- ## [heart cancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-cancer/27867)
**Author:** [@SY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SY)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2000, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-cancer/27867 "2000-08-03T13:05:30Z")
Cecil mentioned that one “plausible” guess about why muscle cancers in general are rare was the rate of cell replacement. Presumably, he meant that muscle cells are replaced slowly compared to, say, glandular cells. Her… --- ## [Slight gripe about the](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-gripe-about-the/27612)
**Author:** [@L.Guardian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L.Guardian)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 3, 2000, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slight-gripe-about-the/27612 "2000-08-03T10:31:56Z")
This is actually not so much a gripe about the colors of birds in general, but the description of the creation of green in parots that Cecil mentioned. Although I understand the gist of Cecil’s statement in his article, … --- ## [Cosmonauts landing on land](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmonauts-landing-on-land/26041)
**Author:** [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmonauts-landing-on-land/26041 "2000-08-01T23:16:25Z")
God, I just love picking nits. Today’s Classic Straight Dope Article, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940617a.html, contains two statements I’d like to pick apart. The first was this: Now technically, the retror… --- ## [Korean groceries](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-groceries/27692)
**Author:** [@dmurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmurphy)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 1, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/korean-groceries/27692 "2000-08-01T16:32:26Z")
I have first hand experience with an Asian-owned grocery store in Queens, and Cecil is absolutely right, but he’s putting it mildly. Do you have any idea the blatant theft, threats, and drunkards that these people have … --- ## [Objects in mirror](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objects-in-mirror/27241)
**Author:** [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objects-in-mirror/27241 "2000-07-31T22:24:44Z")
In today’s classic column, Cecil addresses the issue of why “objects in mirror are closer than they appear”. An interesting point is that, in a sense, they’re also farther than they appear. If you gauge the distance sole… --- ## [negative ion generators](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-ion-generators/27104)
**Author:** [@pbjba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbjba)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 2000, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negative-ion-generators/27104 "2000-07-31T12:28:19Z")
I recently read The Ion Effect (1977) by Fred Soyka. Health Canada says that ther are no studies on this subject,however Mr.Soyka refers to MANY studies that have been done for example by Dr.Felix Gad Sulman in which … --- ## [Rain forest deforestation and planting trees](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-forest-deforestation-and-planting-trees/26957)
**Author:** [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2000, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-forest-deforestation-and-planting-trees/26957 "2000-07-30T06:50:32Z")
In If loss of the rain forest would deplete oxygen, why didn’t deforestation of North America and Europe do so? 07-Oct-1994, posted on the Home Page, Cecil doesn’t mention re-planting trees. The big paper companies like… --- ## [Objects in Mirror are Denser than they appear](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objects-in-mirror-are-denser-than-they-appear/27335)
**Author:** [@sniglet999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sniglet999)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2000, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objects-in-mirror-are-denser-than-they-appear/27335 "2000-07-30T04:50:10Z")
The reader asks ‘why have the funky mirror on the left that distorts everything.’ Cece replys: So you can see. The bigger crime is that Federal regulation dosen’t permit a convex mirror on the driver’s side mirror. It’… --- ## [Microwaving metal (and other things)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677)
**Author:** [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677 "2000-07-30T02:28:51Z")
Do Not Try This At Home Department: The classic column featured in today’s home page, Why does metal produce strange effects in a microwave? reminds me of a couple of things. Acting on advice from my daughter’s Girl Sc… --- ## [Disney erotica](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-erotica/26871)
**Author:** [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 29, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-erotica/26871 "2000-07-29T18:33:49Z")
Commenting on : Do Disney movies contain subliminal erotica? I remember a scene in Beauty and the Beast where the triplets (one in a red dress, one in yellow, and one in green) were sitting on a bench singing, then you … --- ## [German question. Cabbage=Krautjunker?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-question-cabbage-krautjunker/27266)
**Author:** [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 28, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-question-cabbage-krautjunker/27266 "2000-07-28T22:43:32Z")
Well here it is my first topic started in GQ. First some background. I’m a Marxist. As such I read Marx. Much of Marx’s work is poorly translated. As such, I frequently go back to the original german to find out what the… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=286) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=288)