# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=73 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 74 --- ## [Melting the Icecaps](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melting-the-icecaps/571796)
**Author:** [@DB\_Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DB_Cooper)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melting-the-icecaps/571796 "2011-06-15T08:36:20Z")
In If I were an evil genius, how could I go about melting the ice caps? - The Straight Dope Cecil says the only sure way to melt the icecaps is to burn fossil fuel etc There are two drawbacks to this theory. It will… --- ## [the real story of the texas chainsaw massacer, and cecil can u read this and comment on it](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-story-of-the-texas-chainsaw-massacer-and-cecil-can-u-read-this-and-comment-on-it/584611)
**Author:** [@Big\_D\_Ron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_D_Ron)\ **Replies:** 134\ **Last updated:** [June 15, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-story-of-the-texas-chainsaw-massacer-and-cecil-can-u-read-this-and-comment-on-it/584611 "2011-06-15T02:27:56Z")
i know how u said it wasent real n it was based on ed gein. but thats not true it was acutally REAL! n if u go 2 texas people swear by the story! n if u belive the guy who made the movie that he got the idea from a hardw… --- ## [knuckle cracking](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knuckle-cracking/585218)
**Author:** [@abandaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abandaman)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knuckle-cracking/585218 "2011-06-14T22:10:31Z")
cavitation in pumps will cause pitting in steel;i guess in knuckles it damage would be a cross between rate of cavitatin and the hardness of cartilage LINK TO COLUMN: What’s actually cracking when you crack your knuckl… --- ## [Origin of Fuckin' A!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-fuckin-a/542124)
**Author:** [@somaphx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somaphx)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [June 14, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-fuckin-a/542124 "2011-06-14T20:02:10Z")
Hi and hello! The Irish “aye” angle is a new slant I hadn’t heard. I first heard the phrase in the late sixties, from guys I went to school with who were coming back from Nam. I just figured it was an “In Country” thi… --- ## [Are there any jokes in the Bible?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-jokes-in-the-bible/585194)
**Author:** [@8WholeThing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8WholeThing)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [June 13, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-jokes-in-the-bible/585194 "2011-06-13T20:59:51Z")
Here’s a paradox written just for humor. Titus 1:12-13a Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. LINK TO COLUMN: Are there any jokes in … --- ## [Poland is the bare minimum of civilized living?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poland-is-the-bare-minimum-of-civilized-living/585087)
**Author:** [@Chris\_Brandt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chris_Brandt)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poland-is-the-bare-minimum-of-civilized-living/585087 "2011-06-12T23:32:58Z")
Regarding the article on alternative power, I’d love to know what country’s output would be the necessary average for today’s rate of 13.5 (or whatever it is). Why is Poland the minimum measurement? --- ## [Lilith (does modorator read?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilith-does-modorator-read/511331)
**Author:** [@Malvina769](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malvina769)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilith-does-modorator-read/511331 "2011-06-12T18:04:09Z")
When Lilith did not want to submit to Adam and left the garden she is said to have continued to retaliate against the rest of mankind (but no one except her and Adam exist as of yet). In my eyes, that would make sense to… --- ## [Solar left out of the equation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-left-out-of-the-equation/584955)
**Author:** [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-left-out-of-the-equation/584955 "2011-06-12T14:20:39Z")
In his column about alternatives to both nuclear and coal energy, I’m a bit disappointed in Cecil. He looks at one chemistry professor’s paper that’s five years old (a long time given steady developments in this field),… --- ## [camel\>needle: camel needs to survive the process?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-needle-camel-needs-to-survive-the-process/31454)
**Author:** [@mr\_whisper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_whisper)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [June 12, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camel-needle-camel-needs-to-survive-the-process/31454 "2011-06-12T01:31:40Z")
I was thinking you could liquefy a camel and pass the liquid through a tiny tube passing through a very small standard needle. Is a liquefied camel still a camel in the eyes of God? I don’t think Jesus imagined the rich… --- ## [“Gay” (Re: How did "gay" come to mean "homosexual"?)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-re-how-did-gay-come-to-mean-homosexual/584100)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [June 9, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-re-how-did-gay-come-to-mean-homosexual/584100 "2011-06-09T16:47:15Z")
In re: How did “gay” come to mean “homosexual”? “Since we are the reason for the 90s being gay, We all wear a green carnation.” — Noël Coward, Bitter Sweet, 1929 --- ## [Philadelphia Experiment ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-experiment/583786)
**Author:** [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [June 9, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-experiment/583786 "2011-06-09T10:17:02Z")
Why doesn’t RADAR work underwater? LINK TO COLUMN: Did the U.S. Navy teleport ships in the Philadelphia Experiment? - The Straight Dope --- ## [Civil War Savings?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-savings/584606)
**Author:** [@liquidjaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liquidjaguar)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [June 8, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-savings/584606 "2011-06-08T16:30:22Z")
Could We have Saved Money by Buying Out Slave Owners Rather than Fighting the Civil War? Cecil says yes, but he’s forgetting two important points: one, the South might not have agreed to buying their slaves–although sinc… --- ## [Single shoes in Kentucky seek mates](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-shoes-in-kentucky-seek-mates/584634)
**Author:** [@LivingInThePast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LivingInThePast)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 8, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-shoes-in-kentucky-seek-mates/584634 "2011-06-08T01:43:08Z")
You might think Kentucky is landlocked, but according to the map, it appears that “sailing” up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers will get you there. Shoes must be like salmon going upstream. --- ## [Photographic Memory](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/584656)
**Author:** [@kbentz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbentz)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 7, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photographic-memory/584656 "2011-06-07T20:33:35Z")
I am puzzled by Cecil’s column on this phenomena. when I was younger, I could read sheet music and thereafter play or sing the music by closing my eyes and “seeing” the sheet of music, complete with time signature, key … --- ## [QWERTY vs. Dvorak](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qwerty-vs-dvorak/584550)
**Author:** [@COMALite\_J](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/COMALite_J)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qwerty-vs-dvorak/584550 "2011-06-06T23:48:50Z")
In your article on whether the QWERTY keyboard was purposely designed to slow typists, you at first refer to Dvorak Simplified Keyboard as “a superior alternative.” But then you quote someone who apparently Emailed you a… --- ## [needle eye gate](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-eye-gate/584049)
**Author:** [@nhewshue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nhewshue)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needle-eye-gate/584049 "2011-06-06T02:39:09Z")
hi, I’m new and trying to navigate around your site- I would like to comment on Straight Dope question re the needle eye gate- I hope this gets there if not please forward for me. there’s a literal and symbolic part to… --- ## [on cousins once-removed:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cousins-once-removed/583585)
**Author:** [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [June 6, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-cousins-once-removed/583585 "2011-06-06T00:59:54Z")
“Strictly speaking,” then, if my first cousin’s daughter, Kari, is my first-cousin-once-removed, then what am I to her? Can this term flow both ways, or does it require statement one-way due to ownership of the primary … --- ## [Sears catalog classic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-catalog-classic/584293)
**Author:** [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [June 5, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sears-catalog-classic/584293 "2011-06-05T19:56:34Z")
Saw this posted on the home page today: Was a model’s penis visible in a 1975 Sears catalog? - The Straight Dope Fourteen years ago? How the F&^% old am I, anyway? --- ## [Liked the Whale Oil Transmission Column](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liked-the-whale-oil-transmission-column/583434)
**Author:** [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [June 3, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liked-the-whale-oil-transmission-column/583434 "2011-06-03T17:05:38Z")
No complaints - I just liked today’s column a lot. I wish more people asked completely insane questions with just a grain of truth behind them, because it makes for a very entertaining 700 words. --- ## [Trilateral Commission](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilateral-commission/583938)
**Author:** [@drivekiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drivekiller)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [June 1, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilateral-commission/583938 "2011-06-01T13:37:03Z")
I feel I have to comment on the 17/23 correlation. That’s 17 / 23 = 0.739130435, a pretty good approximation of the golden mean. And Proverbs 17:23 appears to be about accepting bribes… Here we have a ratio used in al… --- ## [Thalidomide "joke" - really?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thalidomide-joke-really/583050)
**Author:** [@Zotlerg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zotlerg)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thalidomide-joke-really/583050 "2011-05-31T14:27:35Z")
What were you thinking!?! http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/520/is-procter-gamble-run-by-satanists It makes you sound so ignorant. . . . Laters. --- ## [Why do you blow on coffee to cool it,](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-blow-on-coffee-to-cool-it/583795)
**Author:** [@yoshm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoshm)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 31, 2011, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-blow-on-coffee-to-cool-it/583795 "2011-05-31T11:34:21Z")
In Why do you blow on coffee to cool it, but on your hands to warm them? Plus: if veggies have no fat, why is veggie oil all fat? - The Straight Dope, for both the original answer and the “corrected” answer - you have mi… --- ## [disposal of old gas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-old-gas/583547)
**Author:** [@rustfarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rustfarmer)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 30, 2011, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-old-gas/583547 "2011-05-30T12:05:25Z")
I found this site while searching for the best method of disposing of old stale or contaminated gasoline. I am an old car guy and often have to drain fuel that has been sitting for years. I also find that good gas can go… --- ## [Apricot Seed Poisonous](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apricot-seed-poisonous/583536)
**Author:** [@richtrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richtrix)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 28, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apricot-seed-poisonous/583536 "2011-05-28T21:19:03Z")
Got brought here when reading an article you wrote dealing with apricot seeds. It can be seen here: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/193/are-apricot-seeds-poisonousSays that it is from back in 1974… wow crazy. Ju… --- ## [Half of all marriages end in divorce?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-of-all-marriages-end-in-divorce/582355)
**Author:** [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 24, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-of-all-marriages-end-in-divorce/582355 "2011-05-24T08:00:02Z")
I just wanted to say that the closing line in this column was a very good way of putting a view I hold dearly: Those who pine for traditional values and old ways are not helping us move forwards. Longing for yesteryear… --- ## [Buying out slave owners](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-out-slave-owners/581758)
**Author:** [@enmity01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enmity01)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-out-slave-owners/581758 "2011-05-23T15:50:06Z")
In response to the column: Could we have saved money by buying out slave owners rather than fighting the Civil War? - The Straight Dope One thing Cecil does not mention is that buying out slave owners often only adds mo… --- ## [did jesus exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jesus-exist/301287)
**Author:** [@oliverar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliverar)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jesus-exist/301287 "2011-05-23T15:43:23Z")
Re. the ‘did Jesus exist’ entry, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_275.html I am personally undecided either way, finding the arguments for him being a mythic figure quite persuasive, however I think on balance th… --- ## [Mailing non-letter objects](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mailing-non-letter-objects/582548)
**Author:** [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mailing-non-letter-objects/582548 "2011-05-20T16:34:56Z")
In this column, Cecil answers in regard to business mail This leaves open the question of private mail with non-letter objects. Bricks are of course famous from the story of a building in a small town in Utahbuilt from… --- ## [Hand in warm water = bed wetting](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-in-warm-water-bed-wetting/582547)
**Author:** [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-in-warm-water-bed-wetting/582547 "2011-05-20T13:19:11Z")
Regarding this column, the Mythbusters tested this in their Mini-Myth episode, and couldn’t get it to work reliably, so they declared it busted. So when Cecil says he was right (as usual :)) --- ## [Mutilating Cows](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutilating-cows/582554)
**Author:** [@tomii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomii)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [May 20, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutilating-cows/582554 "2011-05-20T12:36:58Z")
So, there I was… It was 1996-ish, and I was driving from Carbondal, IL to Rapid City, SD. A pretty long haul. While heading Westward on Highway 90 between Sioux Falls and Rapid City, we were treated to quite the sight… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=74)