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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • Well, this is what the linked article says about it:

    Prior to September 2005, comparative bullet-lead analysis was performed on bullets found at a scene that were too destroyed for striation comparison. The technique would attempt to determine the unique elemental breakdown of the bullet and compare it to seized bullets possessed by a suspect.[47] Review of the method found that the breakdown of elements found in bullets could be significantly different enough to potentially allow for two bullets from separate sources to be correlated to each other. However, there are not enough differences to definitely match a bullet from a crime scene to one taken from a suspect’s possession.[48] An additional report in 2004 from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) found that the testimony given regarding comparative bullet-lead analysis was overstated and potentially “misleading under the federal rules of evidence”.[47] In 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicated that they would no longer be performing comparative bullet-lead analysis.[49]


  • And it doesn’t answer the question. Examination of the bullet can tell you something about what kind of gun barrel it was fired from. It cannot tell you that the ammunition itself is “Israeli military grade” unless Israel is doing something unusual with the composition of their bullets. As that page says (under the Criticisms section), comparative bullet lead analysis is not necessarily a reliable indicator of where the bullet was manufactured.

    I sort of think that staring at bullet striations is basically tea leaf reading, but even if you think it’s perfectly reliable, without a suspect weapon to compare to it can only tell you what kinds of gun barrels could have fired the shot.



  • AD&D 2e has, primarily, a presentation problem. The rules are best suited for a gritty game about the minutiae of exploring uncharted wilderness and delving into the dungeons you find there—one where you keep a watchful eye on your dwindling supplies of lamp oil and arrows as you calculate how to bring as much loot out of the dungeon as possible before getting killed by running into a particularly lucky orc. The rules are very similar to AD&D 1e, which is presented this way.

    At some point, someone at TSR must have decided that heroic adventure sells better, because all of the 2e fluff and art makes it look like you play as heroic badasses who stare down dragons, which if you start at level 1 and play by the XP rules, will take you many months of weekly play to achieve.


  • No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    He cannot “accept … [an] Office … from any … foreign State.” I suppose he might argue that “accepting” and “seizing by force” are not the same thing.

    Or Congress could pass an act to allow it.

    Edit: Or, more realistically, someone will complain to the Supreme Court and they’ll find a reason to avoid ruling on the issue and Sotomayor will write an angry dissent but nothing will change.