# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=52 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 53 --- ## [Peak Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peak-oil/640448)
**Author:** [@Ol\_Kentucky\_Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Kentucky_Shark)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [November 23, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peak-oil/640448 "2012-11-23T03:44:31Z")
Hmm… Unca Cece admits that the 2006 predictions for peak oil were way off base, due partly to vast improvements in technology in the past six years, but purports to be able to predict the future of fossil fuel productio… --- ## [multitasking: women vs men](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multitasking-women-vs-men/639691)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multitasking-women-vs-men/639691 "2012-11-22T21:22:31Z")
Thanks for tackling this. Seems like the answer boils down to defining multitasking. Doing multiple things in parallel, or simultaneously? Qualifying the type of tasks. Is it a complex task requiring deep though… --- ## [are there five kinds of twins?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-five-kinds-of-twins/641198)
**Author:** [@kerney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kerney)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-five-kinds-of-twins/641198 "2012-11-22T08:44:30Z")
As a regular reader of the online version (and former Chicago Reader reader) I would like to comment on a recent Straight Dope Classic from Jan 2000. The question was “are there really 5 kinds of twins” and while your an… --- ## [Why does a tea kettle get quiet just before the water boils?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-tea-kettle-get-quiet-just-before-the-water-boils/641765)
**Author:** [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-tea-kettle-get-quiet-just-before-the-water-boils/641765 "2012-11-21T21:02:37Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/847/why-does-a-tea-kettle-get-quiet-just-before-the-water-boils Pretty sure Cecil’s explanation here is wrong. Water holds a certain amount other gases in it. (That’s why fish c… --- ## [Take off the gloves, please!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-off-the-gloves-please/122961)
**Author:** [@fgarriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fgarriel)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-off-the-gloves-please/122961 "2012-11-20T00:33:16Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mkidglove.html What’s also interesting is that boxing gloves hurt more than bare hands. Gloves protect the hands of the wearer, not the body of the opponent. --- ## [Survival of the Cutest](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survival-of-the-cutest/637414)
**Author:** [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survival-of-the-cutest/637414 "2012-11-17T20:11:01Z")
I recently saw the article, “If evolution is all about survival of the fittest, why are we attracted to the cutest?” (If evolution is all about survival of the fittest, why are we attracted to the cutest? - The Straight… --- ## [Exploding Mosquitos](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-mosquitos/639703)
**Author:** [@Santa\_Cruz\_n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santa_Cruz_n)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 17, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-mosquitos/639703 "2012-11-17T05:03:00Z")
The question isn’t “Can you do it?” , it’s “Should you do it?” While you’re having your fun blowing up those mosquitoes, think “West Nile Virus,” Equine Encephalitis," and, since I got this when doing my Peace Corp serv… --- ## [Popping and collapsing steam bubbles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popping-and-collapsing-steam-bubbles/641115)
**Author:** [@nolaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nolaman)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popping-and-collapsing-steam-bubbles/641115 "2012-11-16T20:38:05Z")
Cecil uses a decidedly fuss-budget attitude to deride the teeming millions when they mess up. I can’t work up the energy, so I’ll just point out that steam bubbles collapse. Why he stated several times that they pop I’… --- ## [Blue States ARE Smarter -- This Time Around, Anyway.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-states-are-smarter-this-time-around-anyway/641108)
**Author:** [@PatronAnejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatronAnejo)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-states-are-smarter-this-time-around-anyway/641108 "2012-11-15T20:58:02Z")
Notwithstanding widely-acknowledged hoaxes purporting to correlate IQ with political affiliation–most of which can be traced to this Robert Calvert posting with shakily extrapolated data (which many others–including the … --- ## [Why is the alphabet in alphabetical order?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-alphabet-in-alphabetical-order/394704)
**Author:** [@magnvs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnvs)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [November 14, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-alphabet-in-alphabetical-order/394704 "2012-11-14T22:03:33Z")
This is a question to the article, Why is the alphabet in alphabetical order? specifically: I had always thought that Xi is where we get the ‘ks’ sound and that the glyph for Chi is only inherited as our letter ‘X’ bu… --- ## [Is there a gender-neutral substitute for "his or her"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-gender-neutral-substitute-for-his-or-her/624903)
**Author:** [@PAFasdf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PAFasdf)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-gender-neutral-substitute-for-his-or-her/624903 "2012-11-13T22:39:49Z")
As writer Deborah Cameron points out, the sentence “The man went berserk and killed his neighbor’s wife” is unobjectionable on its surface. But stop to think: why “his neighbor’s wife” instead of “one of his neighbors”? … --- ## [Are Transsexuals Mentally Ill?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-transsexuals-mentally-ill/631759)
**Author:** [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Replies:** 315\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-transsexuals-mentally-ill/631759 "2012-11-13T22:28:57Z")
Link I actually wish I knew which thread this was referring to (though I don’t know the average turnaround time between question and answer, for all I know this letter was sent a year ago and the thread is loooong dead)… --- ## [Corporations are People, My Friends!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corporations-are-people-my-friends/640795)
**Author:** [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corporations-are-people-my-friends/640795 "2012-11-12T16:59:41Z")
In today’s featured column, Cecil writes the followng: Murray Hill Inc., a PR firm, ran a satirical campaign for the House of Representatives in Maryland and the Maryland Board of Elections denied their application to … --- ## [Tipping (waiters not cows)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-waiters-not-cows/618932)
**Author:** [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-waiters-not-cows/618932 "2012-11-12T16:49:23Z")
Dex wrote about tipping in the article: That remained me about this song: Topi --- ## [Flat mirrors do not reverse left and right](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-mirrors-do-not-reverse-left-and-right/638884)
**Author:** [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-mirrors-do-not-reverse-left-and-right/638884 "2012-11-12T16:47:04Z")
Martin Gardner covered this back in the 70s or 80s in his Scientific American column Mathematical Games, the topic being “Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down”. What \[flat\] mirrors actually do is … --- ## [Ross Perot a fraud?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-perot-a-fraud/640357)
**Author:** [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 9, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-perot-a-fraud/640357 "2012-11-09T15:24:45Z")
See the last line in this column. Why was he considered a fraud in 1991? --- ## [Vampires often prey on the sick and dying](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-often-prey-on-the-sick-and-dying/638923)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampires-often-prey-on-the-sick-and-dying/638923 "2012-11-08T19:12:02Z")
Adding to Cecil’s argument inthis column, that vampires aren’t susceptible to blood-borne viruses, is the trope of the moral vampire. Good vampires, when they don’t feed on animal blood or volunteer at Red Cross collecti… --- ## [Wrong Buffyverse show, Cecil!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-buffyverse-show-cecil/640363)
**Author:** [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wrong-buffyverse-show-cecil/640363 "2012-11-08T16:42:30Z")
I was pleasantly surprised to see Cecil cite Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this column: But the example he discussed is actually from Buffy’s spin-off series, Angel. Not to mention, a spoiler warning would be nice. Da… --- ## [cecil is a left wing nutcake, sadly](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-is-a-left-wing-nutcake-sadly/640343)
**Author:** [@lisalisaapril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisalisaapril)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 8, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-is-a-left-wing-nutcake-sadly/640343 "2012-11-08T13:36:54Z")
nice answer with right wing nutcake cecil. nice defense of obama. this from a leftie who probably blamed GWB for everything but el nino. The stereotypes dont feel good except when youre directing them at someone else. … --- ## [cockroach killfest.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroach-killfest/639757)
**Author:** [@leaken42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leaken42)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroach-killfest/639757 "2012-11-07T22:28:50Z")
Dear Cecil, I just want to let you know that I really got a great laugh over your post regarding killing the roaches. I am going to try (for more than 2 weeks) the methods you suggested (boric acid, etc.) and get back … --- ## [More on the chicken gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-the-chicken-gun/640259)
**Author:** [@barkter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barkter)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 7, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-the-chicken-gun/640259 "2012-11-07T22:05:17Z")
Hi-- Back around the time the 747 was about to be introduced, Newsweek had a cover story on it, with this nearly unforgettable sentence (which is why I’m trusting my memory): “Boeing engineers have been firing 4-pound ch… --- ## [are-pit-bulls-really-all-that-dangerous](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pit-bulls-really-all-that-dangerous/638257)
**Author:** [@sznd126](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sznd126)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [November 2, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pit-bulls-really-all-that-dangerous/638257 "2012-11-02T21:29:01Z")
Hi Cecil, As a fighter of ignorance, I just wanted to question your info on this post on pits. “Although there’s some argument over their origin, pit bulls were probably the result of crosses between bulldogs and worki… --- ## [Rainbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbows/639580)
**Author:** [@Mr.Fantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Fantastic)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbows/639580 "2012-11-01T16:29:12Z")
“…inspect any thing of beauty up close and you’re sure to see the panty lines.” What’s wrong with panty lines?!? :slight\_smile: --- ## [Ed Zotti to speak at UTenn-Knoxville on Wed., 10-24-2012](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-to-speak-at-utenn-knoxville-on-wed-10-24-2012/638479)
**Author:** [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-zotti-to-speak-at-utenn-knoxville-on-wed-10-24-2012/638479 "2012-11-01T14:47:36Z")
I’ll be speaking at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville about “Research and Writing in the Age of Wikipedia” on Wednesday, October 24 at 7 p.m. in the University Center auditorium. Despite what this announcement imp… --- ## [Delusional parasitosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delusional-parasitosis/312154)
**Author:** [@Ever\_Hopeful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ever_Hopeful)\ **Replies:** 113\ **Last updated:** [November 1, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delusional-parasitosis/312154 "2012-11-01T12:10:31Z")
In response to this column: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000623.html For some photos of my delusions, including a video, and text questioning the way this diagnosis is currently applied, please see my website: w… --- ## [Is Brainwashing possible? Old column, new information](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brainwashing-possible-old-column-new-information/639238)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [October 31, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-brainwashing-possible-old-column-new-information/639238 "2012-10-31T21:24:53Z")
In 2005 Cecil opined about the possibilities of brainwashing like in the Manchurian Candidate. In other words, could a person be programmed to kill someone without their free will coming into it? Original column. A sho… --- ## [Did Krups, Braun, and Mercedes-Benz make Nazi concentration camp ovens? Did Hitler name the Volkswag](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-krups-braun-and-mercedes-benz-make-nazi-concentration-camp-ovens-did-hitler-name-the-volkswag/637510)
**Author:** [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [October 30, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-krups-braun-and-mercedes-benz-make-nazi-concentration-camp-ovens-did-hitler-name-the-volkswag/637510 "2012-10-30T16:57:33Z")
In similar discussion to the article, Did Krups, Braun, and Mercedes-Benz make Nazi concentration camp ovens? Did Hitler name the Volkswagen? - The Straight Dope, it was Mitsubishi that manufactured the Japanese A6M2 “… --- ## [Hemp Can Save the Planet-verse1,26](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-can-save-the-planet-verse1-26/639008)
**Author:** [@Duncan\_Valliant-Saunders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duncan_Valliant-Saunders)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemp-can-save-the-planet-verse1-26/639008 "2012-10-29T16:24:29Z")
Hemp Can Save the Planet. 1 acre of hemp produces 2 tons of cellulose per acre per year. Trees grown take 25-50 years. Hemp is an annual growing to 12 feet in 1 season. That’s 50-100 tons of cellulose per acre in 25-50 y… --- ## [Glad to see "Reverse Osmosis" in quotes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-reverse-osmosis-in-quotes/639046)
**Author:** [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [October 29, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glad-to-see-reverse-osmosis-in-quotes/639046 "2012-10-29T14:58:15Z")
Ever since I learned what “reverse osmosis” is, I have hated that name. And the method of water purification would be much better called “pressurized filtration” or “high-pressure micro-filtration”. See, the idea is rea… --- ## [Price controls on gasoline](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-controls-on-gasoline/638297)
**Author:** [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [October 26, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-controls-on-gasoline/638297 "2012-10-26T13:10:59Z")
Price controls may be a bad idea, but Nixon’s attempt to impose them is not a good example of why. The freeze and controls were imposed by an incredibly small staff, working with very little time, and most of those wo… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=53)