# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=317 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 318 --- ## [Aids treated by putting person in a bubble](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-treated-by-putting-person-in-a-bubble/158)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 31, 1999, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-treated-by-putting-person-in-a-bubble/158 "1999-07-31T01:48:00Z")
Cecil said at the end of the column that AIDS will kill everyone who contracts it. There was a group of infected people that contracted the AIDS virus from the same person, and had not been adversely affected. I saw thi… --- ## [Weasel pops](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-pops/156)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 1999, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weasel-pops/156 "1999-07-30T10:02:00Z")
If the song (Pop goes the Weasel) goes back to the 17th century, and may be from a cockney phrase, how old is the cockney dialect? --- ## [smiley does in mayor](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiley-does-in-mayor/155)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 30, 1999, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiley-does-in-mayor/155 "1999-07-30T05:20:00Z")
I just wanted Cecil to know that I enjoyed this column more than any other 'Straight Dope’I have ever read. I am glad the people of Seattle kept this shyster out of office. --- ## [University of Illinois](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-of-illinois/154)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [July 29, 1999, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-of-illinois/154 "1999-07-29T23:44:00Z")
Hey Cecil–Urbana usually comes last and it’s spelled Champaign. Jeff “Computers are useless–they can only give you answers.” – Pablo Picasso --- ## [Boat/ship handedness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boat-ship-handedness/1043)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 29, 1999, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boat-ship-handedness/1043 "1999-07-29T16:18:00Z")
The question of power-boat wheels is outside my ken, but the reason for the universal right-handedness of lanes in navigation is that the center rudder is a relatively recent invention. The “steerboard” used to be mounte… --- ## [Desalination](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desalination/152)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 27, 1999, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desalination/152 "1999-07-27T05:25:00Z")
Dear Cecil: The main reason desalination of water is not common in the US is the cost. Whereas we pay in excess of a thousand dollars a year to heat and light our homes (not to mention run computers and charge batteries… --- ## [Lucky Charms--spawn of Circus Peanuts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucky-charms-spawn-of-circus-peanuts/153)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 27, 1999, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucky-charms-spawn-of-circus-peanuts/153 "1999-07-27T01:32:00Z")
Given The Master’s recent fascination with Circus Peanuts, it is interesting to note that they were the inspiration for Lucky Charms cereal. According to the August, 1999 Discover magazine, in 1963, "\[former General Mill… --- ## [Sort of a meta-question about the site ...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sort-of-a-meta-question-about-the-site/1041)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 26, 1999, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sort-of-a-meta-question-about-the-site/1041 "1999-07-26T15:23:00Z")
How is the Mailbag Archive ordered? I’ve been watching the top and the bottom to see if there’s anything new, and the top ten or so and the bottom ten or so are the same as they were a month or more ago. But there’s stil… --- ## [Brand Names, part two](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-part-two/1039)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [July 26, 1999, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-part-two/1039 "1999-07-26T01:49:00Z")
I would offer this possible term of \ endearment? " BRANDONYMS " ??? One word, has that catchy --nyms suffix. Ok, who do I see to copywright this so I can sue the next hapless fool who uses MY term in print? ( … --- ## [Extra dimensions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-dimensions/1035)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [July 25, 1999, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-dimensions/1035 "1999-07-25T13:43:00Z")
I remember reading in Scientific American several years back that one of the Grand Unified Field Theories (it may have been one of the Supergravity theories) postulated a universe with 11 space-time dimensions. In this m… --- ## [Freezing liquids in vacuum](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezing-liquids-in-vacuum/151)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [July 25, 1999, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezing-liquids-in-vacuum/151 "1999-07-25T09:37:00Z")
Cecil, I am afraid that you were in error in your response to a question about freezing liquids in vacuum. You responded that vacuum never causes liquids to freeze and that liquids exposed to space would always complete… --- ## [Cecil needs to address this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-needs-to-address-this/150)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 25, 1999, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-needs-to-address-this/150 "1999-07-25T03:35:00Z")
Ok, here is the hypothetical: If the hunger center of your brain was theoretically removed; and attached to the brain of another; who would feel hunger? --- ## [narcotics-Civil War](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narcotics-civil-war/149)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 1999, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narcotics-civil-war/149 "1999-07-23T18:23:00Z")
The most recent column states, “Morphine…was first synthesized in 1803, cocaine in 1859.” These dates probably reflect the extraction/isolation of these substances from their natural sources-opium poppies(opium) and coca… --- ## [SNERTs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snerts/1034)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 1999, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snerts/1034 "1999-07-23T13:19:00Z")
On AOL, ive only heard the word snert meaning Snobby Nosed Egotisitcal Religious Twit. im not sure about other people… but thats what ive heard. ~Witchy~ --- ## [Automatic Tellers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-tellers/1025)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 1999, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automatic-tellers/1025 "1999-07-23T05:00:00Z")
Good answer, as far as it goes. Each ATM is connected to the bank, either directly (say this is an ATM at your bank) or indirectly through an intermediary called as “switch” (say this is an ATM at somebody else’s bank o… --- ## [Why do dogs circle before they sit down?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-circle-before-they-sit-down/1030)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-circle-before-they-sit-down/1030 "1999-07-22T23:51:00Z")
A number of years ago (more than I care to remember) I read a similar question in a newspaper Q&A column. The response was that in the wild, a dog will try to settle down with its nose into the wind. Hence the circling. … --- ## [Smells and Stainless Steel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-stainless-steel/148)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smells-and-stainless-steel/148 "1999-07-22T23:25:00Z")
I’ve been a Cecil loyalist for some time now, but with his 18-Jun-1999 column, my confidence has been sorely tested. Regarding specifically his piece about the ostensible deodorizing properties of stainless steel: My g… --- ## [Mac's trusty ol' tool](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macs-trusty-ol-tool/1029)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macs-trusty-ol-tool/1029 "1999-07-22T20:31:00Z")
Did MacGuyver use an off-the-shelf Swiss Army Knife (SAK), or did they have one specially constructed for the show? Was it Wenger of Victorinox? Any one know? --- ## [Humans regenerating limbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-regenerating-limbs/1026)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-regenerating-limbs/1026 "1999-07-22T19:15:00Z")
Whoa!! Really?? How long does this ability last? --- ## [Cat "Spray"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-spray/147)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-spray/147 "1999-07-22T18:42:00Z")
Please do not ever hit a cat with a rolled newspaper or anything else. This may work with dogs, but cats do not respond to this form of discipline. A loud noise or a squirt of water, applied at the time of the undesired … --- ## [is there a such thing as a "stupid question"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-stupid-question/146)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-such-thing-as-a-stupid-question/146 "1999-07-22T13:50:00Z")
well, is there? --- ## [Snopes is Snippy (Duck Echo)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-is-snippy-duck-echo/145)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-is-snippy-duck-echo/145 "1999-07-22T13:22:00Z")
Snopes (www.snopes.com), a repository of urban legend research and debunking, recently ran a piece on the “duck quacks don’t echo” rumor. They basically said, “this is too silly to be true.” I wrote them a message point… --- ## [Why the term English (hitting side of ball)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-term-english-hitting-side-of-ball/1024)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-term-english-hitting-side-of-ball/1024 "1999-07-22T05:40:00Z")
I did not research this, but remember using the term when playing pool. I always thought it was a play on the word Angle: when you use English, the targeted ball goes off at an angle. --- ## [McDonalds Characters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-characters/1022)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 1999, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-characters/1022 "1999-07-22T03:16:00Z")
Perhaps Kirk and I would get along quite well… A couple years ago, while still in college, I acquired a McDonalds highchair tray adorned with a rather visionary, imperialist scene of Ronald and crew in a hot air balloon,… --- ## [Origin of "jaywalking"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jaywalking/1019)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 1999, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jaywalking/1019 "1999-07-21T01:49:00Z")
Dear Dogstar, It took me all of about 5 minutes to find out that the Model T started production in 1908, and had ceased production by 1927. Who are these people that were still parking their horse and buggy in downtown… --- ## [When does Veal Become a Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-veal-become-a-cow/1017)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 1999, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-veal-become-a-cow/1017 "1999-07-20T05:42:00Z")
Hate to tell you, but by your definition (after they are weaned), a baby male cow is no longer veal one day after they are born. Within moments of birth, male calves born on dairies are taken away from their mothers an… --- ## [More Flying Chickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-flying-chickens/1015)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 1999, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-flying-chickens/1015 "1999-07-19T19:09:00Z")
I was looking through the mailbag archives and saw the discussion on flying chickens. Not to beat a dead… um… chicken, but the comment “the (ancestral) wild red jungle fowl wasn’t a great flier” isn’t exactly correct eit… --- ## [Year of Ottoman takeover of Istanbul/Constantinople](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/year-of-ottoman-takeover-of-istanbul-constantinople/1009)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 1999, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/year-of-ottoman-takeover-of-istanbul-constantinople/1009 "1999-07-17T05:24:00Z")
This week’s mailbag answer sez: The early 1200s?! Since when? All my references say that Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453. Plus, it’d be kind of hard for the Ottoman Empire to take over anything in the earl… --- ## [Abracadabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abracadabra/144)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [July 16, 1999, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abracadabra/144 "1999-07-16T22:05:00Z")
In this week’s column, Cecil gives three explanations for the term “Abracadabra”, but none of them is the one I had heard while growing up. I am an Orthodox Jew, and I had always been told that it comes from the Hebrew “… --- ## [This week's Dr Pepper mailbag question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-dr-pepper-mailbag-question/994)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [July 16, 1999, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-dr-pepper-mailbag-question/994 "1999-07-16T05:56:00Z")
I was wondering when The Straight Dope would finally lap itself. Cecil said that Dr Pepper contained “no prunes” in the very first Straight Dope book, published 'way back before most of the readers here were probably al… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=316) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=318)