SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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.

A new video from Ian McCollum: SIG P320 Flux Legion / Flux Raider: The Best Pistol-PDW System Yet.

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Congo says mystery disease behind dozens of deaths of women and children finally identified as severe malaria. JWR’s Comment: When I first heard about this new disease outbreak, it reminded me of the “Ebola DRC” pandemic that I fictitiously created for my novel Land Of Promise.

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Photographs reveal first glimpse of uncontacted Amazon community.

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Dr. Ryan Cole, on X/Twitter: Unvaccinated Are the Healthiest People According to Cohort Study Looking at “Unvaccinated” Americans “There are approx 100,000 adults in America who’ve never received a vaccine in their life…the data is clear, showing the unvaccinated are the healthiest people.

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A boy in north Georgia went for a walk down the road. It landed his mother in jail. JWR’s Comments:  News stories like these make my blood boil. The Nanny State has run amok!

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A video essay by Mark Dice: Why Won’t the Brand Name “Free Speech” Advocates Talk About THIS?

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Reader “Sarge” wrote:

“On 12 November, 2024  an excellent series of articles on “Hurricane Helene Lessons Learned” was posted by “A.F.”  In Part 4 of the series he mentioned that local stores were doing cash transactions only.  He reported that the most ridiculous verbal exchange he witnessed was a man who purchased multiple extension cords and then demanded to know how he would return them since the clerk could not print out a receipt.

Unfortunately, I believe that “A.F.” missed the actual hidden meaning of the verbal exchange.  The man did not intend to actually buy the extension cords to use and keep.  He only wanted to “borrow” them from the store until electrical power was restored and the crisis was over.  He would then return to the store and demand a full refund, regardless of what condition the extension cords and packaging might be in at that point.  He was a cheap and miserly person.

I first experienced this behavior many years ago while attending college.  An individual living in the college dormitory obtained an old wooden bookcase.  He decided to lay it on its side and convert it to serve as a bar in his dorm room.

He drove into the nearby small town and purchased a corded electric jig saw from the local hardware store.  After using it to extensively modify the wooden book case, he brushed the sawdust off the jig saw, stuffed it back into the original box, and glued the box flap back down using Elmer’s glue.  He then drove back into town with his receipt and “returned” it to the hardware store for a full refund.

He lied and told the store clerk that he did not need the jig saw after all.  I was shocked when he told me the story a month later.  He was actually proud of his actions and his cleverness.  He got the free use of a power tool and got all his money back as well!  Sadly, these types of persons exist in our society.  They have no honor and are swift to justify their actions.”

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A reader wrote to mention that DJT’s planned tariffs will drive up the piece parts costs for electronics components for his small business. I replied:

“You are right about the Unintended Consequences of tariffs. They will hurt a lot of small business owners, at least in the short term.  In the long term, there will probably be more domestic free enterprise production, as CONUS suppliers come online.  Having that restored in-country supply chain will also make us more war-resilient and natural disaster-resilient. But the first decade of tariffs (assuming that they continue) will be painful.”

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And lastly, for a good chuckle, from The L.A. TimesTSA officers stunned by ‘extremely concerning’ discovery in woman’s carry-on at LAX.

 

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Please send your snippet items for potential posting to JWR. or AVL. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact form.