# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=6 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 7 --- ## [What is grog?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-grog/831803)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-grog/831803 "2019-04-09T16:53:36Z")
Re: What is grog? by SDStaff Una, she forgot the lime and brown sugar! Also, it is usually served hot now. (I don’t know if it ever was served hot originally. I’ve heard conflicting reports.) Here is a typical recipe fo… --- ## [Public figure faking his own death](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-figure-faking-his-own-death/656123)
**Author:** [@goatsinthemachine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goatsinthemachine)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-figure-faking-his-own-death/656123 "2019-04-09T10:54:57Z")
The British Labour Party politician and junior Cabinet Minister John Stonehouse faked his suicide by drowning, leaving a pile of his clothes on a Miami beach in 1974. He was in financial trouble, cooking the books and wa… --- ## [Black Panthers coin the term pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-panthers-coin-the-term-pig/832227)
**Author:** [@ciofoci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ciofoci)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2019, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-panthers-coin-the-term-pig/832227 "2019-04-09T05:49:04Z")
I read with interest your article on slang for cops: The Straight Dope: the term, “pig” reappeared as a term for police, not because of Hippies or the lawless but because of the Black Panthers, particularly Huey P. Ne… --- ## [The origin of Arkansas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-arkansas/831661)
**Author:** [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-arkansas/831661 "2019-04-04T13:47:35Z")
This column discusses it. According to Wiki, the name ‘Arkansas’ and not from the tribal name ‘Quapaw’, as the the staff report indicates. The French likely had far more contact with the Algonquin tribe, which is large… --- ## [Complaint about the naming of "hypoglycemia"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-the-naming-of-hypoglycemia/831123)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 17, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complaint-about-the-naming-of-hypoglycemia/831123 "2019-03-17T20:58:39Z")
This is in reference to an old column from '91 about ice cream headaches that was recently posted in the the FB group. In that article Cecil writes: Perhaps Cecil recalls this but I don’t. Does anyone know what he w… --- ## [Large Dinosaurs - Other Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-dinosaurs-other-questions/830972)
**Author:** [@Robert\_Cook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert_Cook)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 13, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/large-dinosaurs-other-questions/830972 "2019-03-13T19:22:27Z")
Unless large dinosaurs were less dense than modern animals, it would seem that their legs could not support their weight. Were they less dense? If the atmosphere were significantly thicker it would help support their … --- ## [A salty problem](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-salty-problem/830469)
**Author:** [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 5, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-salty-problem/830469 "2019-03-05T23:36:29Z")
In Cecil’s column about salt, he mentions the following: So, that was in 2007. It’s 2019. How’s Australia’s wheat belt doing so far? --- ## [Did the new blood pressure guidelines bring you to hypertension?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-new-blood-pressure-guidelines-bring-you-to-hypertension/806701)
**Author:** [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-new-blood-pressure-guidelines-bring-you-to-hypertension/806701 "2019-03-04T17:42:42Z")
With the new blood pressure guidelines it’s estimated that something like over 40% of the US population is now considered to be hypertensive or at risk for high blood pressure. Did this happen to you? Are you doing a… --- ## [smoking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking/830431)
**Author:** [@fedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking/830431 "2019-03-04T01:33:49Z")
despite the fear-mongering (similar to marijuana propaganda) by alleged “objective” health orgs like American Cancer Inst (which depends on funding from it’s scare tactics), the actual risks of smoking is overrated. If i… --- ## [contrails and 9/11](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrails-and-9-11/830043)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [February 25, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contrails-and-9-11/830043 "2019-02-25T03:55:33Z")
Is it true that after Sept. 11 2001, the USA had bright clear skies because the passenger jets were grounded? --- ## [Princess Anne, Princess Royal?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-anne-princess-royal/790497)
**Author:** [@catwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catwalker)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [February 10, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-anne-princess-royal/790497 "2019-02-10T14:51:17Z")
Hi, Cecil, Thanks for the info on the Prince of Wales. Regarding Princess Anne, however, I was fairly sure I had heard that she has been invested as Princess Royal, and Wikipedia confirms that. “Princess Anne has hel… --- ## [If groundhog sees shadow, why MORE winter?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-groundhog-sees-shadow-why-more-winter/607099)
**Author:** [@TonyRV2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonyRV2)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [February 3, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-groundhog-sees-shadow-why-more-winter/607099 "2019-02-03T17:58:47Z")
Sorry Cecil, but not only don’t the folks in L.A. not get it, I afraid that you’ve taken a trip to lala land yourself on this one. Whether of not a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb.2nd is totally immaterial, as is the w… --- ## [This Day in History: Straight Dope's debut column.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-day-in-history-straight-dopes-debut-column/828828)
**Author:** [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 3, 2019, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-day-in-history-straight-dopes-debut-column/828828 "2019-02-03T09:25:51Z")
Last year saw the cessation of Unca Cece’s weekly epistles, and he has been frozen in carbonite according to the most plausible rumors. But his influence lives on, in our memories and in his collected works. The First St… --- ## [Thee, Thou, Thine, etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thee-thou-thine-etc/828865)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 3, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thee-thou-thine-etc/828865 "2019-02-03T06:22:41Z")
Re: What do “thou,” “thee,” and “thine” mean, and why don’t we use them anymore?, I feel compelled to add a couple of nitpicks. First of all, SDStaff McCarrertA says we don’t use those words anymore. Actually, we do, ju… --- ## [Damn the rabbits - full speed ahead!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-rabbits-full-speed-ahead/828676)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 31, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-the-rabbits-full-speed-ahead/828676 "2019-01-31T18:18:57Z")
I see that if you Google for the Jimmy Carter rabbit incident today that you find two photos. One is the distant photo of the President shooing something away but it is on the far side of the boat. There is also a second… --- ## [Straight Dope Pre-WWW?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-pre-www/828396)
**Author:** [@Yaelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaelle)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-pre-www/828396 "2019-01-29T20:28:51Z")
I tried to search through here for this answer but my mind is still adjusting to the shock of changing from an iPhone 6 Plus to iPhone 6, and I may be missing things. (It’s like going from using a giant screen TV to a 1… --- ## [Nike Missile Base Locations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nike-missile-base-locations/303799)
**Author:** [@NotSleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotSleepy)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [January 25, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nike-missile-base-locations/303799 "2019-01-25T02:30:58Z")
For those of you familiar with the northern suburbs of Chicago, the 330 acre triangle of land bordered by Lake-Cook Road, Quentin Road, and Rand Road (Route 12). was once a Nike Missile Base. This area has since been d… --- ## [Damsel in Distress cliche'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damsel-in-distress-cliche/828202)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damsel-in-distress-cliche/828202 "2019-01-22T15:54:34Z")
Did Cecil address the “tied to a log being fed into a sawmill” meme too? --- ## [How often do emergency vehicles get into accidents?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-emergency-vehicles-get-into-accidents/812089)
**Author:** [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [May 8, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-emergency-vehicles-get-into-accidents/812089 "2018-05-08T06:35:31Z")
Every day I see ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks hauling ass down the road, honking and shrieking with sirens, while masses of (mostly shitty) drivers frantically scramble to get out of the way. The guys who driv… --- ## [Dillinger’s or anyone’s penis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dillinger-s-or-anyone-s-penis/827971)
**Author:** [@Lulu8360](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lulu8360)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [January 20, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dillinger-s-or-anyone-s-penis/827971 "2019-01-20T02:06:49Z")
All this claptrap about the oversized penises of dead men being preserved after death is ridiculous. I’m a Registered Nurse. All men’s penises shrivel up upon death, just as live men’s penises shrivel up when it’s cold.… --- ## [The photon belt thing.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-photon-belt-thing/827742)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [January 15, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-photon-belt-thing/827742 "2019-01-15T18:48:32Z")
To begin with, the word “belt” implies a ring. Of photons? How were they supposed to stay in a belt? I realize light can be bent by gravity but wouldn’t it take a hellofa chunk of gravity to trap photons in an orbit. D… --- ## [When a woman gives birth in westerns, why do they always boil water?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-woman-gives-birth-in-westerns-why-do-they-always-boil-water/827705)
**Author:** [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-woman-gives-birth-in-westerns-why-do-they-always-boil-water/827705 "2019-01-14T16:16:00Z")
. Misses one important and interesting historical point. Puerperal fever became an important issue when doctors started doing assisted delivery training (using forceps), on the bodies of women who had died in public … --- ## [what's the best way to both kill and repel cockroaches?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-both-kill-and-repel-cockroaches/587275)
**Author:** [@brietex73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brietex73)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-both-kill-and-repel-cockroaches/587275 "2019-01-07T15:19:27Z")
Dear Cecil, In one of your other posts you said to mix borax, flour and cocoa powder to get rid of roaches, is there a different agent i could use other than cocoa powder so that its not so noticable? -:confused:C.S. … --- ## [Why is it dangerous to burn wrapping paper OR EVERGREENS?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-dangerous-to-burn-wrapping-paper-or-evergreens/826149)
**Author:** [@CEMX86SD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CEMX86SD)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 27, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-dangerous-to-burn-wrapping-paper-or-evergreens/826149 "2018-12-27T18:00:51Z")
All, Cecile’s column about burning wrapping paper in your fireplace, and why it is dangerous, is timely for this time of year. https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2684/deck-the-halls-with-balls-of-fire/ I’d like… --- ## [Modern day myrrh](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-myrrh/826524)
**Author:** [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 26, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-myrrh/826524 "2018-12-26T04:49:28Z")
Cite. When I read that, I imediately thought of this little ditty by Rhett & Link. --- ## [Cecil cant and wont confirm nor deny "is there a santa claus ?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-cant-and-wont-confirm-nor-deny-is-there-a-santa-claus/826651)
**Author:** [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 25, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-cant-and-wont-confirm-nor-deny-is-there-a-santa-claus/826651 "2018-12-25T13:40:48Z")
I commend Cecil on the greatest " I can neither confirm or deny if there’s a Santa Claus and I wont either" column I’ve ever seen he could of been a great politician with the skill and talent used there ……. --- ## [Did Mahatma Gandhi sleep with virgins?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mahatma-gandhi-sleep-with-virgins/675236)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 19, 2018, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mahatma-gandhi-sleep-with-virgins/675236 "2018-12-19T11:41:58Z")
Could’ve sworn we had a discussion thread on this 2004 article by Cecil, but I can’t find it. Starting a new thread because there’s a new bio of Gandhi that mentions his, uh, rather different views on sex: An odd kind… --- ## [Why is Christmas abbreviated Xmas?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042)
**Author:** [@nilopcms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nilopcms)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [December 17, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042 "2018-12-17T17:42:58Z")
The symbol for Christ was fortuitously cross shaped? Why is nature intelligently designed, but religion fortunate accidents? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? --- ## [december 25](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/december-25/826134)
**Author:** [@fedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 14, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/december-25/826134 "2018-12-14T20:36:39Z")
one theory that I’ve encountered is that tax time occurred after herds slaughter, usually in fall (if you ever lived in rural area, pigs, cattle, et al were all slaughtered in fall(cold) weather, hence lack of meat in wa… --- ## [The Grantham connection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grantham-connection/740037)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 13, 2018, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grantham-connection/740037 "2018-12-13T08:23:26Z")
Re: What’s the origin of the gingerbread man?, Wikipedia has the Grantham angle at Grantham. The town and 1740 mark the origin of modern white gingerbread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=7)