General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomeone yesterday on MSNBC commented that the FBI
will have DNA evidence because "they licked the stamps." Apparently that person has not mailed a letter for some time. The USPS has not used stamps with water-activated adhesive for a very long time, now. All current stamps are peel-and-stick. That's how it has been for years.
Worse, nobody commented on the misstatement.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)A-ha!
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)I didn't think of that.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)...as noted in your OP.
bearsfootball516
(6,377 posts)I haven't licked a stamp for decades, I can't remember the last time they weren't peel-and-stick.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)in the 1990s. They discontinued selling lick-and-stick stamps altogether on a retail basis sometime around 2007. One place I looked sad that large coils of stamps with water-activated adhesive are still sold for commercial use, since some machinery used in automated stamping still requires it. However most commercial postage is printed directly on the mail-pieces, so that's likely to disappear soon.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,600 posts)I looked at those "Forever" stamps and thought, "when was the last time you mailed a letter?"
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)But because the stamps are sticky there could be other trace evidence on them. Every time I use stamps (or anything sticky), cat hair always ends up stuck to them.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Silver Gaia
(4,546 posts)LOL
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)Surely, there must be a use for that property.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)So why haven't they found uses for cat hair?
I seems they have:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dog-and-cat-hair-shedding-ew_n_5592444
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)out in the spring for the birds. Our Beagle/Basset, Dude, sheds massive amounts of his soft undercoat all year long. Most of that gets swept up and put in the trash, but every spring, we throw clumps of it onto the yard for the birds to use in their nests.
spooky3
(34,476 posts)With the most elegant fur nests!
I have a long haired cat and should follow your examplethough birds may have an instinctive aversion to cat hair.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)I watched a mockingbird in my old home town in California dive on a long-haired cat outdoors and fly away with a beak full of fur. Fearless.
spooky3
(34,476 posts)which she hates.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)They have them on for hours saying the obvious over and over.
Truthfully, I'm getting tired of all the BS about these "bombs." I get it is serious, but so is the upcoming election, investigation of trump, etc.
Tarc
(10,476 posts)and either use multiples, or those "make-up" 1 and 2 cent stamps.
I can easily picture the type of loon doing this as some grizzled nutter with a drawer-full of saved stamps because "he don't trust the gol'dang gubbermint", etc...
The next drawer down from the stamp drawer is probably full of incandescent light bulbs.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)American Flag "Forever" stamps, which have never had adhesive backing. There have been several photos shown.
Tarc
(10,476 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)We can hope some hair, or fingerprints exist, but that is a long shot.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)because they collect trace evidence. As a cat servant I can testify that every sticky thing I have ever used has cat hair on it, and probably my own hair and god knows what other stuff that was floating around my house. It's more than likely that there's useful evidence on those envelopes, whether from the stamps, the envelope flaps, the mailing labels or the tape on the bombs.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)evidence, especially if they were made at their home.
spooky3
(34,476 posts)It picks up along with cat hair is amazingeven when used frequently. Evidence all over the place...
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)spooky3
(34,476 posts)they were extremely curious (never afraid) and followed it everywhere. Now it's a big yawn.
spooky3
(34,476 posts)amazed at the clues they can use. As a former prosecutor said on MSNBC yesterday, bombs that have not exploded provide a treasure trove of evidence.
mercuryblues
(14,537 posts)the people who make them, expect them to blow up and erase the evidence. They don't bother with counter forensic measures.
dawg day
(7,947 posts)... adhere to sticky things.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)I haven't checked to see if peel-and-stick stamps retain fingerprints, though. Normally, when I use them, only a very tiny part of my finger touches the sticky side, though. Also, if I try to peel them off an envelope, the adhesive tears some of the paper surface off, so I'm not sure they'd be able to recover any fingerprint information from used stamps. I don't know, though. Maybe they can.
hlthe2b
(102,358 posts)so, it is possible.
MineralMan
(146,329 posts)Depending on where you buy them, those 6x9 manilla envelopes could have water activated adhesive or the pull-off strips over a pressure-activated adhesive. So, it's possible there is saliva residue on the flap, for sure.
Not everyone's DNA is in a database somewhere, though. So, it might not help figure out who the bomber is. It could help as evidence, though, once they catch him or her.
hlthe2b
(102,358 posts)Damn near impossible, so that this could have been a DNA or fingerprint revealing error... Guess we shall see...
allgood33
(1,584 posts)Some live in a world in which everything is done for you because you are just too busy tracking your wealth.