The Straight Dope 11/11/2005

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 11/11/2005

Dear Cecil:

I'm getting mixed signals on a story about the great Native
American leader Geronimo. According to various references,
his bones were stolen from his grave in Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
where he was a prisoner until his death. Some accounts claim
they now reside in the famous Tomb at Yale's Skull and Bones
Society. One version of the story has the president's
grandfather, Prescott Bush, being the man who took them. Any
definitive answer on this? --Ben Fenwick, Oklahoma City

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Cecil replies:

This story has everything--famous names, a secret society, a
generous helping of the macabre. What it doesn't have a lot
of is facts. Here's one thing we can say for sure: that the
young whippersnappers at Skull and Bones, a
supposedly-but-not-really supersecret undergraduate society
at Yale, thought for years that they had Geronimo's bones in
their clubhouse, the Tomb. On the far-from-certain list is
this: that they ever did.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051111.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

i am a student at Palisades high school and was assined a
reopt on numerology if you have any informaion could you
please post it on your website or send it to me at my email
address? --stipil

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

We normally don't do homework help, but since you wrote this
three years ago, we figure we'll make an exception. Of
course, if you're still in that same class (not unlikely,
given your spelling), you might be able to use this Staff
Reopt. 

First we need to define numerology. At a broad level,
numerology is the idea that numbers are important to
understanding the universe. This can take a variety of forms
even today:

Science obviously believes numbers are important. The
ratio of the circumference of a circle      to its diameter,
pi, shows up in an astounding variety of scientific formulae
and situations.      Other important numbers include the
speed of light c, the gravitational constant g, and so     
forth. 

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

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 12/19/1986

Dear Cecil: 

In medicine, what's the difference between an "-ectomy," an
"-ostomy," and an "-otomy"? My wife believes they mean "hack
it off," "bite it off," and "pinch it till it drops off." --
J.W., Chicago  

Cecil replies:  Very funny, J.W., and actually, not all 
that far off the mark. According to my Taber's 
Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, which for an old deve
like me is a constant garden of delights, an "-ectomy" is
the cutting out of something, as in "tonsillectomy." In
other words, hacking it off. This may be what accounts for
the lingering squeamishness about another well-known
operation, the vasectomy. (In reality, of course, only a
tiny portion of the vas deferens is removed.) An "- ostomy"
(actually, "-stomy") means you cut a hole in it, or more
precisely, furnish it with a mouth or outlet, as in
"colostomy," wherein an opening cut into the colon creates
an artificial anus. (Seems like a waste, considering how
many real ones there are already.) Finally, there's
"-otomy," (or "-tomy"), which means to slice it up, i.e., an
operation in which cutting is involved. Thus we can
distinguish a lobectomy, in which a lobe, typically of the
brain, is removed, from a lobotomy, in which they merely jab
an ice pick in there and chop things up a bit. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_425.html

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