The Straight Dope 03/21/2003

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The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 03/21/2003

Dear Cecil:

Lately I've heard that cow milk is the "worst
beverage on earth." There are several Web sites
about it like www.milksucks.com and
www.notmilk.com and books that seem a little
nutty but make some sensible arguments that I
know to be grounded in truth, like (1) many
people, including myself, lack the enzyme to
digest milk; (2) cow milk is actually bad for
cats; and (3) you don't see people drinking rat
milk or dog milk despite the fact that they too
produce milk. After that some of their many
arguments against milk, while seemingly
exaggerated, do make sense. Please help, my wife
is six months pregnant and drinking milk like
a fish! --Wade Morris

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Cecil replies:

Uh, Wade? Fish don't drink milk. Other credibility
issues we need to address include: (a) the milksucks
site is run by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, the any-publicity-is-good-publicity
animal-rights group that urged college students to
avoid milk with a "Got Beer?" campaign and asked
the governor of Wisconsin to change the state's
official beverage from milk to beer; and (b) the
notmilk site is run by Robert Cohen, who has been
publicly disavowed by his onetime vegetarian allies
(see www.vegsource.com/articles/cohen/). Nothing
personal, but these aren't the first guys I'd want
called as witnesses for the defense during my murder
trial. Let's run through the claims one by one: 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030321.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Since I was young, Charles Lindbergh has been one
of my heroes. But one day I overheard that Lindbergh
was not the first to cross the Atlantic--in fact
there were numerous aviators who accomplished this
feat before him. They were not not well known
because no prize money involved. Please tell me that
this is not so. --Shawn

SDSTAFF bibliophage replies:

Being surprised that Lindbergh wasn't the first
man to fly across the Atlantic is like being 
urprised that Armstrong wasn't the first man in
space. Of course it was Gagarin who was the first
man in space, but Armstrong is rightly famous for
being the first man on the moon. Likewise
Lindbergh is rightly famous for being the first
man to fly solo across the Atlantic--and for
breaking the non-stop distance record in an
airplane, and for winning the Orteig Prize, and
for being the first to fly an airplane nonstop
from the mainland of North America (sort of) to
the mainland of Europe. But he was beaten in
the race to cross the Atlantic by eight years
and at least 84 different men. He wasn't the 
first to win prize money for it either.

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


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 02/06/1976

Dear Cecil: 

Would you give me the straight dope on the rumor
I once heard that the northern and southern
horizons are not equidistant from the observer?
And also that they are not equidistant to the 
eastern and western horizons? (This assumes that
the observer is standing on a perfectly flat
surface.) --T.C., Washington, D.C. 

Cecil replies:

I don't know that this is what I would consider a
"rumor," T., but let's not sweat the small stuff. 

In the Northern Hemisphere (except near the North Pole)
the northern horizon is slightly farther away from
you than the southern horizon, owing to the fact
that the earth is not perfectly spherical, but
ellipsoidal, i.e., fatter around the equator than it
is around a meridian (a circumference that includes
both poles). You may want to get an egg out of the
refrigerator and think about this; otherwise just 
trust me.  

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_167b.html

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