The Straight Dope 04/28/2006

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

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 04/28/2006

Dear Cecil:

For decades I've wondered, and assuming the answer would be highly
personal, have failed to ask: what's the deal with the extra-long pinkie
fingernail on people from the Orient (Middle East, India, Southeast
Asia)? --Jim Mundy, Pawhuska, Oklahoma

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Cecil replies:

You're thinking I'm going to say I did all my research for this on the
Internet. Well, not all. I have a buddy with a long pinkie nail and a
high embarrassment threshold, so I called up and asked. However, let's
face it: for topics resistant to conventional lines of inquiry, the
Internet is hard to beat. Some theories, many lifted from the Straight
Dope Message Board, this column's own little window into the demimonde:

*  Organic coke spoon. As if we needed to ask.

* Booger scoop and earwax excavator. Gross, yes, but sure keeps that
coke from falling off.

* In the old days in China, long fingernails were a sign you were
rich and didn't do manual labor. Now they grow out the pinkie as a sign
of culture, breeding and wealth. No doubt there's some truth to this. A
bit of browsing turns up photos of ornate fingernail protectors worn by
ladies of the imperial Chinese court. Bizarre though such talons may
seem to some, one could argue that as an indicator of culture, breeding,
and wealth they beat having to buy a Jaguar and read Proust.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060428.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

In the movie Poltergeist, the Freeling family is haunted by spirits who
don't appreciate the fact that Mr. Sleazy Developer built a subdivision
on top of their resting place. Clearly, the spirits had a moral claim as
far as these things go, but do they have a legal claim? I mean, a
cemetery plot isn't cheap, but surely for three grand we're not entitled
to that real estate into perpetuity. So what gives? How long after death
does Mr. Sleazy Developer have to wait until I can be legally evicted
from my lovely pond-front cemetery plot? Note that I still reserve all
rights to haunt the bastard. --Lisa Recker, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dear Straight Dope,

While driving by our immaculately groomed but very full local cemetery
recently, I began to wonder how the landscape work was paid for. I
understand that you can make money by selling the plots, but what
happens when you inevitably run out of space to sell? Are most
cemetaries owned by cities or counties? If not, how do private owners
afford to keep the lawns mowed and the flowers planted? --Richard J.,
Cleveland

Dear Straight Dope,

I've always wondered this, and you would be the only person who would be
able to answer. If we all have to die, and there are billions of people
on this earth, and the majority of us get buried, where are they going
to put us all? Won't we run out of room eventually and have to start
burying us on top of each other? How long does it take us to completely
decompose? And after we are done decomposing, what about our coffins?
And then the gravestones? I'm very very worried about this, please
answer. --Torie Robinson, Greenville, South Carolina

SDSTAFF Gfactor replies:

Death is for the living and not for the dead.
--Floyd McClure in Gates of Heaven (1980)

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

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 11/27/1992

Dear Cecil: 

I have heard that McDonald's milkshakes contain seaweed. Can this be
true? --J.M., Arlington Heights, Illinois  

Cecil replies:  

Absolutely. But the real shocker is that every McDonald's hamburger 
contains chopped-up pieces of--brace yourself--dead cow. So let's not
get hung up on a little seaweed.  

McDonald's milkshakes, along with a great many other products, contain
a seaweed extract called carrageenan, which is used as a thickener and
emulsifier. (It keeps the butterfat in the shake from separating out.) 

Carrageenan comes from Irish moss, a red, bushy seaweed that grows
on coastal rocks near, among other places, Carragheen, Ireland, whence
the name. (You can also find it in Maine, the Canadian maritimes, and
various European localities.) 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_097b.html

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