Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.
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The night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We’re forgetting what darkness feels like. JWR’s Comments: It is easy to forget just how blessed I am to live in a place where I have a view of the Milky Way so often. I commend my readers: Find yourself a dark patch, to live in. Low population density will also mean safety, when living in dangerous times.
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Social statistics show American families are increasingly insular: You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner. Here is an excerpt:
“Americans stopped throwing parties. Even more fundamentally, they stopped visiting each other. Between 1975 and 1998, the share of Americans who gave or attended a monthly dinner party declined by half. The share of Americans saying they never entertained people at home tripled. [See charts below] While cultural critics often bemoan the decline of organized religion, the dip in church attendance was downright modest compared to the collapse in hosting, according to data gathered by the DDB Needham Life Style survey.”
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How Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance Program.
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The data center bribes: Every Household in This Rural Town Receives $10,000 if a Data Center Gets Built.
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“Please, please buy our APCs!” — BAE Systems delivers two AMPV 30s to Army built with internal funding in project the service didn’t formally request.
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Tom Christianson mentioned a source for some interesting U.S, demographic data. A couple of tidbits:
“The US population has also been aging. Between 2015 and 2025 the number of people 65 or older increased by 17 million. Meanwhile, the number of people younger than 18 decreased by 1.63 million. As of 2025, people 65 and over accounted for 19% of the population while children accounted for 21.1%.”
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“In 2025, California topped the list with 39.4 million residents — that’s about 1 in 9 people in the country. Wyoming was the least-populated state with 588,800 people.
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Options for a NATO Multinational Drone-Interception Squadron.
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And reader Mark J. mentioned this source for fish traps: Memphis Net &Twine. (Note: Be sure to check your state’s fishing regulations before ordering.)
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