The Straight Dope 10/11/2002

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The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 10/11/2002

Dear Cecil:

Could you give me the straight dope on "toxic" mold? I'm a
home inspector and the science on this latest home hysteria
seems a bit off. Nobody seems to know when/why/how the stuff
turns up or turns "toxic." I'd never heard of this stuff
five years ago but now it seems like it's everywhere. --Kyle
Corley, Palm Springs, California

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Cecil replies:

I won't say there's nothing to this. For all we know toxic
mold may turn out to be the worst threat to public health
since yellow fever. But right now you're not seeing toxic
mold everywhere; you're seeing publicity about toxic mold
everywhere. That's the inevitable consequence of big damage
awards ($32 million to a family with a moldy mansion in
Texas), big names (Erin Brockovich's house in southern
California is moldy too), and big-time media coverage (the
New York Times Magazine ran a cover story on toxic mold last
year). Just about every news outlet in the country has since
chimed in. You can guess the reaction:

- Insurance industry: Panic. 

- Real estate industry: More panic. 

- Trial lawyers and toxic remediation consultants:
You know, this economy suddenly doesn't look so bad. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021011.html


STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Why is Theodore Roosevelt included on Mt. Rushmore? I
understand why the other three were chosen, but was Teddy
really that great of a President? Are there other Presidents
who were considered for this honor? And do you personally
think a different President might have made a better choice?
--Jad Flagler, Orlando, FL

SDSTAFF John Corrado replies:

Mt. Rushmore started as the vision of one man, a man with
the desire to create a monument, the determination to move
mountains, and the willingness to spend a hell of a lot of
time writing letters begging for donations. This man was
Doane Robinson, superintendent of South Dakota's State
Historical Society. Where others saw mountains--lots and
lots of mountains- -he saw the chance to carve giant statues
to immortalize the heroes who had changed the history of
South Dakota. Men like General Custer or Lewis and Clark.
More important, a giant memorial would be a way to get some
tourists up to South Dakota, because at that point the only
people who bothered to go to there for vacation were
geographically-befuddled souls who assumed that "South" in
the name meant that the climate would be warm.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrushmore.html


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 10/19/1979

Dear Cecil: 

Many of my Irish friends have suggested that certain Irish
surnames, such as Costello, Moore, and Spain, originated at
the time of the Spanish Armada, what with all the seagoing
Spaniards swimming ashore and becoming enchanted with the
fair colleens. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that
the names Murray and Murphy originated this way (apparently
they mean something like "from the sea"). Is this blarney,
or do I see some blue Spanish eyes when Irish eyes are
smiling? --Andrzej Kowalczyk, Chicago  

Cecil replies:  

Good
to hear from somebody with a nice Irish name like Kowalczyk,
Andrzej. However, I would have known you were a son of the
auld sod even if you hadn't signed your letter, mainly
because like all the Irish you like to lay it on real thick.
I mean, come on--Murphy a Spanish surname? Murphy is the
most common name in all of Ireland. Those Spaniards would
have had to have been humping like bedbugs to populate the
whole damn island. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_111.html

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