Today, February 2, 2016, is the 44th anniversary of the 1972 debut of The Staight Dope ™.
44 is a numeric palindrome. And “Cecil Adams: mad Alice C” is an alphabetic palindrome. It is also a prophetic statement:
o Mike Lenehan was Cecil’s original editor. The experience drove him mad.
o Dave Kehr was Cecil’s second editor. He later became a movie critic, reviewing films like “Alice [dave kehr] Doesn’t Live Here [doesn’t edit the straight dope] Anymore” and “Go Ask [cecil adams] Alice”.
o Ed Zotti became Cecil’s third editor, about 40 years ago. (His long years of service under the trying circumstances of being Unce Cece’s under-appreciated helpmate indicates either an undying commitment to furthering human knowledge, or evidence of the world’s worst case of Stockholm Syndrome.) “C” is the speed of light. 43.99 light years away, the inhabitants of the planets circling the star Theta Ursae Majoris, peering through their big telescopes, are muttering: “The Chicago Reader has started a new column. They call it ‘The Straight Dope’. It will give us important insights about humans. I’ll bet they have eradicated ignorance by now. I wonder if they taste good in a stew. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.”