# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=321 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 322 --- ## [Laundry Balls and Toilet Plumes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-balls-and-toilet-plumes/81)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 1999, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laundry-balls-and-toilet-plumes/81 "1999-06-01T21:25:00Z")
Greetings knowledgable ones, As I was reading through the archives, I noticed that Cecil, he whose dope is straightest, spoke of testing the cleaning properties of laundry balls or disks and detergents. The results - ne… --- ## [Who gets the most pleasure from sex, the man or the woman?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-most-pleasure-from-sex-the-man-or-the-woman/80)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 1999, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-the-most-pleasure-from-sex-the-man-or-the-woman/80 "1999-06-01T19:55:00Z")
A fellow by the name of Mantak Chia has written several books on the subject of controling your internal “energy” (or whatever you want to call it), with one result (for men) being the ability to experience multiple orga… --- ## [Lillith being Adams first wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lillith-being-adams-first-wife/915)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 1999, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lillith-being-adams-first-wife/915 "1999-06-01T02:22:00Z")
Quite a few years ago now, a fairly popular comic, written by Neil Giaman, had a story about the original form of Adam being Adam and Lillith back to back. God separated them and they fought. So Lillith was taken from th… --- ## [Challah](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challah/914)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 1999, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challah/914 "1999-05-31T11:48:00Z")
As with any custom that has been around for well over two thousand years, there are many rituals and traditions. For example, at the Sabbath table, there are usually two challot (plural of challah), to represent the man… --- ## [On "Let's Make a Deal," you pick Door #1. Monty opens Door #2--no prize. Do you stay](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-lets-make-a-deal-you-pick-door-1-monty-opens-door-2-no-prize-do-you-stay/79)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 1999, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-lets-make-a-deal-you-pick-door-1-monty-opens-door-2-no-prize-do-you-stay/79 "1999-05-28T22:06:00Z")
No, no, no, no, no. The answeers to Jordan Drachman’s first question is NOT 2 in 3. I’ll explain: 50% odds the first card is an ace. 100% odds that the second card is an ace. 50% odds that we will pick each card. There… --- ## [Ar-KAN-zus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ar-kan-zus/912)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 1999, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ar-kan-zus/912 "1999-05-27T15:55:00Z")
Kansans generally pronounce the name of the Arkansas River as Ar-KAN-zus, though there are some who don’t. These folks who don’t usually are recent arrivals in the Kansas City suburbs. The town on the Arkansas River call… --- ## [What's the purpose of sifting flour?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-purpose-of-sifting-flour/905)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 1999, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-purpose-of-sifting-flour/905 "1999-05-27T13:47:00Z")
Carl from Austin, TX wrote: " … The stuff I buy at the store claims to be pre-sifted, but I can tell that it’s denser before I sift it than after, so the measurements would be off." Hello??? I don’t know what kind of … --- ## [Jesus H. Christ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/78)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 27, 1999, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-h-christ/78 "1999-05-27T03:22:00Z")
Cecil goofs when he says “IHS” was the greek version of Jesus. IHS is the abbreviation of “in hoc signo,” or “under this sign.” Constintine the Great had a dream or a vision where the cross appeared to him with this mess… --- ## [Velcro](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/velcro/904)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 1999, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/velcro/904 "1999-05-26T18:03:00Z")
In “Who Invented Velcro?” CKDextHavn writes: “David Letterman put Velcro in the national spotlight when he attached himself to a hook-and-loop wall . . . \[description of the proliferation of Velcro applications deleted\] … --- ## [Whose face used to be on the dime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-face-used-to-be-on-the-dime/903)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 1999, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-face-used-to-be-on-the-dime/903 "1999-05-26T15:44:00Z")
You stated that from 1982 to present the US minted the American Silver Eagle Dollar. A couple of mistakes in that statement: First, the American Silver Eagle Dollar (ASED) was not minted until 1986. Second, the ASED is n… --- ## [Debunking the Big Bang](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-the-big-bang/77)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [May 26, 1999, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunking-the-big-bang/77 "1999-05-26T15:01:00Z")
Okay…I took astronomy. I know all about black holes. And the Big Bang. And I see a real conflict between the two. The basic assumption behind a black hole is that when gravitational pull (the weak force) becomes greater … --- ## [The uvula, again.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uvula-again/902)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 25, 1999, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uvula-again/902 "1999-05-25T18:22:00Z")
The response to the question in the archive about the uvula got me wondering. OK so we don’t know what its for (makes me wonder what we pay people to do), but you (they) hypothosize that its a useless vestigial appendage… --- ## [Fire and Brimstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-brimstone/901)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 1999, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-and-brimstone/901 "1999-05-24T23:56:00Z")
Link to Mailbag Article: What’s fire and brimstone? \[\[Rounding this out, if being charred by fire and brimstone doesn’t bother you, and you want some scarey torments in hell, try Dante’s Inferno or Goethe’s Faust. You’… --- ## [rain of fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-of-fire/900)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 1999, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-of-fire/900 "1999-05-24T23:49:00Z")
Although “fire and brimstone” do rain down on Sodom and Gemorrah in Genesis, there are other places where only fire rains down from the sky. (In Leviticus, fire from the sky kills two priests because they made the wrong … --- ## [cold water freezes fastest?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-water-freezes-fastest/74)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 1999, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-water-freezes-fastest/74 "1999-05-22T05:37:00Z")
Well, as I peruse the archived columns, I noticed a bit about whether cold water freezes faster than hot water. There were, IMO, fairly lenghty comments on it (and actual field tests? Really now :-). Anyway, it is fair… --- ## [Is the earth getting heavier or lighter?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-earth-getting-heavier-or-lighter/73)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 1999, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-earth-getting-heavier-or-lighter/73 "1999-05-22T05:26:00Z")
Cecil, great stuff. Brings up an interesting side-thing, if there are so many more of us today, than say, 3 million years ago, than the surface of the earth has more weight on it, and the insides have less.?. I know, I … --- ## [Chlorine can be deadly](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chlorine-can-be-deadly/76)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [May 22, 1999, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chlorine-can-be-deadly/76 "1999-05-22T01:14:00Z")
While you were on the subject of chlorine and its toxicity (and especially given the illustration) you should have mentioned the way people commonly poison themselves with the stuff; by using chlorine bleach in conjuncti… --- ## [the monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkey/75)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 1999, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkey/75 "1999-05-21T20:42:00Z")
In this song, what does the monkey have to do with anything? --- ## [$300 raise every 6 mos. or $1000 annually?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-raise-every-6-mos-or-1000-annually/72)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 1999, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/300-raise-every-6-mos-or-1000-annually/72 "1999-05-21T05:41:00Z")
No no no Cecil, perhaps you should have talked to someone who actually works for a living before you expounded on this problem. There is no need for further information from the questioner - the salary in question must b… --- ## [Do identical twins have the same fingerprint...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-identical-twins-have-the-same-fingerprint/71)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 21, 1999, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-identical-twins-have-the-same-fingerprint/71 "1999-05-21T05:22:00Z")
Cecil, You explained in a past column that identical twins have similar, but not identical fingerprint. That some of the detains are due to local phenomonon. This got me wondering, what about clones? Now we ain’t got th… --- ## [Rx](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rx/899)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 1999, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rx/899 "1999-05-20T16:01:00Z")
Going about asking pharmacists what it means is a noble try but you ought to have consulted a Latin scholar instead. The x is not an x, it is a slash through the stem of the r. As it is pointed out in the article, this i… --- ## [Pregnant aphids](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnant-aphids/70)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 1999, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pregnant-aphids/70 "1999-05-20T13:41:00Z")
Hello everyone! Just read the column about aphids being born pregnant, and about the parthenogenesis bit. Cecil said that there’s only one case of parthenogenesis in humans, does anyone know any details about that?! That… --- ## [Streets and Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-and-boulevards/69)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [May 19, 1999, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streets-and-boulevards/69 "1999-05-19T20:54:00Z")
What about the plethora of “Peachtrees” in Atlanta? How does the Post Office figure those out? And in Los Angeles County, you’ll find 131st Place nestled between 131st Street and 132nd Street. There are a lot of those P… --- ## [Hen and a half](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hen-and-a-half/68)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 18, 1999, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hen-and-a-half/68 "1999-05-18T13:19:00Z")
I have heard a version of the ‘hen and a half’ question for many years that goes: If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half and allow. How many can she lay in a week? Given your algebra we k… --- ## [When does veal become beef?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-veal-become-beef/898)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 1999, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-veal-become-beef/898 "1999-05-17T18:04:00Z")
Last I remember, adolescent cows (read:too old to nurse, but too young to get pregnant) were called “heifers”, not “yearling calves”. Anyone? --- ## [8 Man and South Park](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-man-and-south-park/65)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 1999, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-man-and-south-park/65 "1999-05-17T06:06:00Z")
This is for SDSTAFF Scott. I am sure you’ve received plenty of flames for your off-the-cuff slam against South Park contained in your reply to the question about a cigarette smoking superhero in the 60’s. I am not here t… --- ## [Animal suffering for fur coats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-suffering-for-fur-coats/64)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 1999, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-suffering-for-fur-coats/64 "1999-05-16T12:25:00Z")
This is a response to the recently posted classic column from 5 Feb, 1993, “How much do the animals used for fur coats suffer?” A few years ago, when I lived in rural New Mexico, I had a friend who trapped to supplement… --- ## [Jill and the Jake Brakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jill-and-the-jake-brakes/895)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [May 16, 1999, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jill-and-the-jake-brakes/895 "1999-05-16T08:26:00Z")
I just read the mail bag answer to the question of what Jake Brakes are and why they are banned in some areas. I have no problem with the answer; it’s correct and informative, as the Straight Dope usually is. The quarrel… --- ## [Nucleation points in fizzy drinks...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nucleation-points-in-fizzy-drinks/63)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 1999, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nucleation-points-in-fizzy-drinks/63 "1999-05-15T19:01:00Z")
Dear Cecil, The theory on the nucleation points that cause bubbling from certain spots in drinks evoked an interesting question: Hypothetically speaking, if a 100% scratch-free vessel were to be made, where would the b… --- ## [What's up with vacuum cleaner wounds to the penis?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-vacuum-cleaner-wounds-to-the-penis/61)
**Author:** [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 15, 1999, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-vacuum-cleaner-wounds-to-the-penis/61 "1999-05-15T05:40:00Z")
I think it was in the 60’s that a person could buy \[no, I didn’t buy\] a ‘penis enlargment thingy.’ A man would put a tube thing on his penis, pull a pump, and it would cause suction. However, often some fellas got an … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=320) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=322)