The case of the fearless fly killer

Cecil looks into why we’re not hip deep in flies around here and discusses why PETA sings the Milk Co [The Straight Dope] The case of the fearless fly killer By [The Straight Dope]( • Issue #15 • [View online]( Cecil looks into why we’re not hip deep in flies around here and discusses why PETA sings the Milk Cow Blues. Also: SDStaff Dex has a close shave. Threadspotting The best of the Straight Dope Message Board  April 3, 2020: [We got a really stinky problem here](. Straight Dope Classic: August 28, 1980 [Illustration by Slug Signorino] Illustration by Slug Signorino [If I hadn’t killed 52 flies as a child, how many descendants would they have had by now?]( Dear Cecil: As an only child, I was forced to be ingenious about inventing solitary diversions. While reading an old diary recently, I found that on July 1, 1969, I went on a murderous binge which resulted in the untimely death of 52 houseflies. Knowing how degenerate their reproductive habits are, I got to wondering how many of their descendants would be around to plague us today had it not been for this prodigious feat of dipterocide. Can you enlighten me? For obvious reasons, I prefer to remain …  — Anonymous, Chicago Cecil replies: If it’s awesome statistical fireworks you’re looking for, buddy, you’ve come to the right place. The female Musca domestica, or common housefly, typically lays 600-1,000 eggs in the course of her roughly two-month lifetime, most of which grow to maturity in 10-12 days, whereupon they can set about raising little maggots of their own. Under ideal conditions (which invariably prevail in this column), you may get as many as 12 generations a year. [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Staff Report: August 5, 2003 [Shaving seminar: (a) With the grain or against it? (b) Hot water or cold?]( Dear Straight Dope:  Are you supposed to shave AGAINST the grain, or WITH the grain? The latest Gillette Mach3 Turbo is advertised to work well BOTH ways, but doesn’t say which way people were shaving before. I have always shaved against the grain because I feel it gives me a closer shave, but it does give worse razor rash than with the grain. Am I the only one shaving against the grain, or is everybody else doing it that way too? Which way provides the superior shave and why? Thank you for your help with this most prickly of questions. — Christian Jacobsen, Budapest, Hungary Dear Straight Dope: When shaving facial hair, is it better to rinse your razor with hot water or cold water? A friend maintains that one must use cold water in the tropics to hinder bacterial problems on newly scraped skin. Does cold water tighten pores? Is that a good thing? —   Ross SDStaff Dex replies: I get accused of giving very long answers, so here’s a short one. Shaving against the direction of hair growth gives a closer shave, but has two drawbacks: - It’s a good way to donate blood, and - You run a high risk of cutting off a hair below skin level, causing an ingrown hair — the whisker grows into the surrounding tissue instead of out of the pore, resulting in inflammation and possible infection.  [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Classic: March 21, 2003 [Is cow’s milk “the worst beverage on earth?“]( Dear Cecil: Lately I’ve heard that cow milk is the "worst beverage on earth.” There are several websites 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 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 [Editor’s Note: archived page]. 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. [Â]( here to keep reading](. Did you enjoy this issue? [The Straight Dope]( By [The Straight Dope]( Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It's taking longer than we thought.) [Tweet](    [Share]( If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Powered by [Revue](