The Straight Dope 02/20/2004

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The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 02/20/2004

Dear Cecil:

What's the deal with Pygmies? I heard that the Europeans
found some in the jungles when they went off exploring, but
they also supposedly discovered people with one foot and men
80 feet high, so you can understand my doubt. What I want to
know is: Are they real? And are they just humans that have
adapted or are they evolved from a separate branch of the
protohuman?  --The Immortal Mango, via the Internet

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Cecil replies:

A letter like yours rouses my anthropological curiosity, 
Mango. So I'm going to answer your question, asking in 
return only that you answer one of mine: How does it feel to 
be the stupidest person on earth?

Just kidding, of course. There are boatloads of folks as
ignorant as you, and Pygmies have historically brought a lot
of them out of the woodwork. To take just one example, a
Pygmy was briefly exhibited in the Bronx Zoo's monkey house
in 1906. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040220.html


STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

in anticipation of the 200th anniversary of the lewis and
clark expedition, i read their journals, edited by frank
bergon, and was surprised to find less than a half dozen
references to sacagawea. other than a couple brief journal
entries regarding her usefulness, she seemed to be quite a
bit player for most of the expedition. my question is, why
all the fuss? is her commemorative coin the product of some
well-connected female lobbyists? please, tell me i'm missing
something. --pete strazzabosco

SDSTAFF bibliophage replies:

Okay, you're missing something. It's called a shift key.
Also about a hundred journal references to Sacagawea. But
you're not missing much when it comes to the big picture.

Sacagawea is remembered as the guide of the Lewis and Clark
expedition. Yet of a hundred or more references to her in
the journals, fewer than a dozen mention her guiding, and
what guiding she did was never pivotal. 

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


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 03/02/84

Dear Cecil: 

Publishers Clearing House, Reader's Digest and the like are
constantly giving away millions for free. Why? What do they
get out of it? This question is really burning a hole in my
brain. --Doug W., Irvine, California  

Dear Doug:  

I don't want to tax your brain unnecessarily, Doug, 
especially in view of the fact that holes are being burned 
into it, but surely you remember that the Reader's Digest 
Association, Inc., publishes a magazine entitled Reader's 
Digest, to which it is anxious to have people subscribe. 
Similarly, Publishers Clearing House is in the business 
of drumming up subscriptions for its many publisher 
clients. Million-dollar sweepstakes giveaways have been 
shown to be a pretty good way of doing this, and it is not 
hard to see why. I have here a very impressive letter from 
Reader's Digest that is chock-full of fascinating 
gimmicks, including two "computerized sweepstakes 
cards," a personalized computer-printed cover letter, and 
a "Super-Bonus" card with a gold "bonus box." I am 
supposed to scratch the box with a coin to reveal the 
Super-Bonus prize (a Cadillac Seville, as it turns out) that 
I could win in addition to the $250,000 Grand Prize. For 
those too poor to supply their own coin, a shiny new 
nickel is helpfully provided. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_338.html

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