Yes they do, and they also contain enough of the metal nickel to make them worth hanging on to.  But it is the copper content in nickels where the real value lies.

There is little question that nickels will take up much less storage space than pennies, so if you are inclined to invest in copper, a one hundred dollar box of nickels will take up a lot less space than four $25.00 boxes of pennies.  And with any pennies you buy from the bank, you’ll have to go through all those rolls first and separate the copper ones from the zinc that were minted after 1982.  Some people don’t mind going to all that bother to find a bit of treasure, but I’m not one of those people. As I wrote previously, there seems to be only 18-23 percent of copper pennies still in circulation, so the chances are pretty good that most of the pennies you buy from the bank will be mostly zinc.

Right now the melt value of the metals in a nickel is just a tiny bit more than five cents, so whether hoarding nickels is a good idea or not depends upon whether you think both copper and nickel will rise against the dollar.  Many people believe it will, including me.

Metal markets are as volatile as any other, so it wasn’t that long ago that a nickel was worth much more than it currently is.   Last year nickel was selling for $11.00 a pound, while right now the price has dropped to around $7.60. (That’s the price of the raw metal nickel, not the five cent piece in your pocket, which is made up mostly of copper with a nickel coating.)

Let’s look at the value of that nickel in your pocket right now.  As it happens, today (May 16, 2012), the combined value of both the copper and the nickel in that one nickel happen to add up to almost exactly five cents.  (There is roughly three cents worth of copper in a nickel, and about two cents worth of nickel at today’s prices.)  So while any time is a good time to buy nickel coins at face value, now is not the time to try to sell them for their metal content.

My own opinion is that if you’re going to keep cash around the house, better coins than paper.  A nickel will always be spendable at face value, and may very well exceed that in time, while paper money has no intrinsic value.  How long you would have to store those nickels before they are worth twice their face value or more, I couldn’t say.

Since metals are weighed and sold by the pound, not by the coin, here’s how the value breaks down: my scale tells me it takes $4.55 in modern nickels to make a pound of nickels.  Right now the metal content in a pound of those nickel coins is about $2.65 for the copper content and about $1.91 for the nickel, bringing the total melt value of a pound of nickels to a grand total of $4.56.  That means your $$4.55  in nickels is currently worth just one cent over face.  Not exactly a seller’s market at the moment, but that does not discourage those who expect the intrinsic value of both metals in nickels to eventually go back up, and even higher than before.

A nickel itself will always be worth five cents in the marketplace, even if the value of the metal contained within it drops.  So you can’t lose money by investing in nickels (although because of the continuing devaluation of the dollar, all U.S. coins are subject to losing purchasing power, of course).

Let’s compare a pound of pennies to that pound of nickels. A pound of pennies (approximately $1.50 face value) contains enough copper to make it worth $3.49.  An equivalent weight of nickels (face value: $4.55)  contains enough copper and nickel to be worth $4.60.  So pound for pound, it makes more sense to store nickels than pennies.  If you are inclined to store common coins, as some people are.  The reason many people are buying nickels now is that eventually the U.S. mint is going to have to stop using copper in nickels and when it does, today’s nickels will be more valuable than future nickels. As the value of the metals copper and nickel rises, the mint will probably replace today’s nickel with something made up of a combination of zinc and steel.

I myself have not gotten swept up in nickel fever. I favor using what little money I have for investing by going to the coin store once a month and buying a handful of pre-1965 silver dimes and quarters.  That’s the way I have chosen to save money. But I’m also not about to part with the pennies and nickels I receive in change, because I do believe they will increase in value as copper and nickel rises against the dollar.  I may even go down to the bank one of these days and buy a $100.00 box of rolled nickels to supplement my silver savings.  Why not? If I run short of cash one month I can always dip into those nickels and spend them at face value.

(It’s worth noting again that it is currently illegal to actually melt U.S. coins.  But you shouldn’t have to.  “Melt value” is a determination of the actual metal content in a coin.  You will never have to melt down your pennies and nickels some day in order to realize a profit from them, anymore than you have to melt your silver dimes and quarters today.  When the value of the metal content in a coin rises past its face value, buyers will be willing to pay for the metal content in a coin as-is.)

The advantage of saving nickels is you don’t have to sort through them by date as you do with pennies.  Although only pennies minted before 1982 have any copper in them, every nickel from 1946 until today contains the same amount of copper vs nickel, so every nickel you can get your hands on is worth holding onto against the day when the government starts minting nickels using cheaper content.  Right now you don’t have to sort through each nickel separately to know it’s value. That’s the advantage to hoarding nickels over pennies: just set them aside and wait for the value to go up.

There are three main ways to protect your preparations, and they are:

hide them,

share them, or

defend them.

In my upcoming blog posts I’ll be discussing each of these strategies in much greater detail, including various options and considerations that you will make as you decide how to prepare to stay prepared.

As you decide how to protect your preparations, you’ll face some of the same challenges over and over again:

1. Size/bulkiness.
2. Temperature control.
3. Personal safety while protecting your preparations.
4. Expense.
5. Accessibility.

Of course, different solutions address these challenges in different ways.

You’ll have to choose a strategy that will work for you.  You will probably choose a combination of strategies.

As we begin this discussion, there are five guiding principles that you’ll want to keep in mind:

1. Some items may be more protected than others.  For instance, you may have your week supply of food storage out (for accessibility), but keep your year supply hidden.  If you have a lot of food and someone steals a case of it, it isn’t as big of a deal as if you were to lose everything, and the risk of having other people know that you have a week supply may be worth the increased accessibility.  You may be more proactive about defending items that have more value (eg, precious metals), or items that would be harder to replace in an emergency (eg, a can opener).
2. You will probably use overall strategies and individual strategies.  For example, as an overall strategy, you may have lots of armed people around, and then you might hide individual items.
3. The types of disasters you’re preparing for will influence the strategies you use.  For example, if you are most concerned about a physical disaster (such as a fire), it will make a lot of sense to keep your items at various locations, without the same concern for trusting other people.  If your home is burned, there will be no reason to worry that your friend will keep your stuff, or that the bank will not let you access a safety deposit box.  On the other hand, if you’re preparing for a major economic collapse, there may be no real reason to be especially prepared for a fire, and having everything within your immediate control may be more valuable than having it in various locations to diversify.  (Or, you may not choose that, because you could worry about looting.)
4. The more strategies you use, the better prepared you will be.
5. Preparation is a process.  You don’t have to do everything all at once.  You can start by using some strategies, and add in others as you’re able to.

For now, think about what you have done to prepare so far.  What could threaten your preparations?  What are you already doing to make sure that you’ll be able to hang onto your preparations when you need them?  What ideas do you have for making your preparations more secure?

In my next blog post, we’ll get started with a discussion on hiding preparations: how, where, and why (or why not).

President Obama, by seizing the power to control all the energy, health resources, transportation, and private property along with the sources of our potable water and food, the very nature of his action has taken a precious freedom out of the hands of the American public. That simple fact, by itself, is hard for most Americans to comprehend. How can the President seize this power without so much as a single vote or debate in Congress?

With no cries of alarm from the media, many Americans have dismissed what they’ve been made aware of (assuming they were aware of it at all). Still others think that it’s a blessing that the U.S. Government will assume responsibility for deciding how and where precious resources will be distributed. They think not worrying about what is happening and having to form an opinion on what is transpiring is one less item to worry about in their already stressful lives. What they fail to realize is that this head-in-the-sand approach eventually will leave them in a situation where it will eventually become too late to act.

What we all need to understand is that millions of Americans are already living on government assistance. When the Government takes over the distribution of food supply sources, they will choose who gets the distribution of food and when. The first choice will go to those already in the government supply lines. They will get preferential treatment for they are the ones that have placed these officials in office and retaining their votes will be of utmost importance.

Your ability to provide food for your family by earning your own money will be made unnecessary by the Government’s controlled distribution and the Government’s “breadline” will become the great equalizer of the entire socioeconomic structure. The rich, the hard-working, the thrifty, the struggling, the casualties of the economy, those on fixed income, the disabled, the retired, and the lazy and unwilling welfare generations will all stand shoulder to shoulder in the government breadline hoping for their daily ration before the food runs out.

Food will then have become the medium of exchange in our economy and there will be an absolute monopoly on food. The liberty to control one’s destiny is then lost to everyone. At that day, we will have a new twist to the cynic’s perspective of the “Golden Rule.” The cynic says, “he who has the gold makes the rules.” The new “Breadline Rule” will simply be, “He that controls the food owns all the gold and makes the rules.”
We will see the biblical prediction of the book of Ecclesiastes come to pass.

“And they shall cast their coins (Silver) into the streets, and their gold shall be for naught (will be worthless) and their bowels will not be filled (they will have no food).”

Do your part as a concerned American, by continuing to share this urgent message with everyone you can. Help yourself and this country by preparing to take care of your food needs. Save and store what you can so you’re not subject to the food rationing breadlines to come.

Remember, “it isn’t a matter of whether but when.”

Another word to the wise is to have some sort of info about your condition in a car kit so medical professionals or other motorists are aware. For example, if you’re a diabetic, and you are found unconscious, your condition may help others treat you more efficiently. Or you can wear a medical bracelet, so if you are in an accident and cannot communicate, those helping you will be aware of your condition and any medications you may already have in your system.

There are other life threatening medical conditions that don’t necessarily require medication, but may affect your driving or how care is offered to you in an accident. Epilepsy and Narcolepsy are examples of conditions that can become very problematic while driving.

A coworker of my husband’s has hemophilia – his blood does not clot. So if he has a cut, or something worse, extreme measures have to be taken in order to save his life. This information is imperative for those caring for him if he’s in an accident.

These are all just food for thought. I know there are many, many other severe conditions out there that should be taken into consideration. Think about yourself, and the people who frequent your car and any special needs they may have.

So when my husband gave me an e-reader for my birthday last year, you would think that my inner obsessive would delight in the thought that I might be able to do something about the overcrowded bookshelves in our home. I hesitate, however, to get rid of too many paper books.

There is good reason that you should have real paper books in your home, and a decent amount of them. Imagine if you couldn’t use your electronic devices for an extended period of time. A massive solar flare could do it, knock out our electronic devices and turn them to mush. These devices could also simply not be worth the power, if electricity becomes harder to come by.

Books have served society for thousands of years, and they will continue to do so even after a major disaster, as long as people exist. Books can educate, inform and entertain. To be fully prepared for a doomsday event, make sure that your family is stocked with the following types of paper books.

How to Books

Having valuable survival information on hand is absolutely essential after a doomsday event. Culturally, most of us have lost the basic skills that our ancestors mastered, such as how to dig a well, make our own shoes or build a shelter using only hand tools. While you should do what you can now to learn new skills, having this type of information on hand as a reference makes good sense.

Think about the types of things you may need or want to do, such as forage for wild food, cook without electricity or even a fire, sew up a wound, craft your own snow shoes, or turn a car battery into a usable power source. Stock the books that will help you do these things.

Cookbooks and Recipe Books

If you aren’t a natural chef, having some basic recipes on hand in a physical form will help you out. Make sure that you have at least one book that lists substitutions. Good cookbooks for emergency preppers include ones that contain recipes from the depression, when home chefs had to ration and supplement their diets with everything from dandelions to possum.

Also make sure that you have a number of general cooking books that can impart basic food preparation skills.

Textbooks and Work Books

Having various school books on hand will allow you to home school your children and keep them educated. Not only will this benefit your own family, but having educated citizens is essential to the positive rebuilding of society.

You’ll need both text books and work books for multiple grades.

Novels and Entertainment

Finally, you might think that novels or other books for entertainment might be superfluous after a major disaster or doomsday event. Escaping through a well-told tale can be relaxing and decrease your stress levels, which is important for your health. Plus, these books will probably be in high demand, since no one thought to stock up on them, giving you a luxury resource that can be traded for other goods.

Go for classic books that will hold up under multiple readings and well as popular favorites.

Well Max, unfortunately yes.  In every disaster I have worked around the world and here in the US, there is ALWAYS someone that wants to be “El Supremo” and take what they want free of charge.  And then there are the followers who are willing to do their bidding to include killing, raping, stealing, torturing, pillaging, burning, etc, doing whatever they want with no law to stop them.

The largest cities are where these “Mad Max” gangs will start to organize during the early days of the disaster.  The devastated cities will offer the greatest opportunities for these types of gangs.  The larger the city, the more gangs there will be.  These gangs will be ruthless, merciless and kill and rape just for the fun of it.

These gangs will be continuously searching through building after building for what they consider to be the most precious commodities: abandon homes and vehicles, canned foods, fuel, gold & silver, people they can enslave (women) and weapons.  Abandoned / deserted cities and towns will be these gangs’ property and source of amusement.  The sparsely occupied countryside really has nothing to offer.  Very few assets are not really worth it for these Mad Max gangs until much later (a year or so) when they start to run out of food / supplies.  At this time, the ones that have not been killed or died off will have to venture out in search of food and supplies.  They will roam from cities to towns, pillaging as the go.  There will come a time when some of these gangs will turn to cannibalism when they run out of food.

Stacy from Little Rock asked:  What kind of a disaster would kill the majority of the population and what can I do to survive?

Well Ms Stacy, with our current political climate, a devastating man-made disaster would be an EMP attack (EMP – Electro-Magnetic Pulse).  With natural disasters, a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) from the sun would almost me an Earth Level Extinction (ELE) event.  With the EMP striking the U.S., between 70% to 90% of the population would be dead within the first year.  With a CME, 70% to 90% of the world population would be dead within six months due to solar radiation.

I wrote a series of articles (Thinking the Unthinkable) that covered what would happen during an EMP attack and how to prepare for that.  Check out the following link for the series:

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/thinking-the-unthinkable/

This series should answer a lot of your questions.

And last, Kathy and Robin from Las Vegas asked:  We are two sisters that were wondering what type of gun to get for home protection?

Well ladies, the best all around home defense gun would be a good semi-automatic or pump shotgun.  The main reason for this would be for the very wide variety of ammo a shotgun can use:  Slugs, Buck shot, Bird shot and specialty ammo.  For home defense, I would recommend #3 or #4 birdshot.  The main reason for this is you DO NOT want over penetration with lead pellets going through the bad guy and continuing through a wall and hitting someone else.

Besides having a shotgun, I would also get a good magazine fed pistol at least a .38 caliber or larger (.40 or .45) loaded with hollow points for stopping power.

SAFETY NOTE:  It is extremely important that anyone that has never shot a gun before (Rifle, Pistol or Shotgun), first take a gun familiarization class, then a gun safety class before going out and purchasing a gun for home defense.  Everyone in the home, age ten plus should attend these classes.

Well folks, until next time, keep the questions coming…

I called my grown daughter to come over and help me, and with neither of us having any idea what was happening or what to do next, I finally called 911.  Once I described the symptoms to the dispatcher, an ambulance arrived sirens blaring, and faster than I had ever known an ambulance to arrive before.

On the way to the hospital, Connie stopped breathing.  A tube that must have been two feet long and as wide as a roll of quarters was violently shoved down her throat.  Needles were jammed into her arms and side.  Success! Connie’s life had been saved!

Which is precisely what Connie did not want.

For the past twenty years or more, my sweet wife has been in chronic pain and physical agony at times so intense that even the strongest medications have not been able to alleviate her suffering.  Having already experienced death three times already, Connie knows there is nothing to dread from passing to the other side.  She certainly does not have a death wish, and is anything but suicidal; Connie loves the experiences this life has given her. But she also understands that crossing to the other side is an event not to be feared, but embraced. Therefore the desperate lengths people on this side go through in order to avoid that glorious experience as if it were the worst thing imaginable -well, those fears just seem beyond silly to my wife.  So Connie determined long ago that if she ever had the opportunity to leave this crippled body behind and begin the next great adventure, she didn’t want anyone throwing cold water on that.  If it is her time go, kindly step out of the way and let her through.

So to that end, some years ago Connie drew up a Do Not Resuscitate order so that if she ever found herself in a coma or her heart had stopped, medical personnel would know not to struggle valiantly to save her.  No defibrillators. No electric paddles.  No awful breathing tubes.

But guess who wasn’t prepared for this particular emergency?  Me.

No matter how many times Connie reminded me where she kept her DNR papers, as she was being loaded unconscious into the ambulance, I couldn’t for the life of me remember where she last told me they were.  My first instinct was to ask her, as I normally would, but that was suddenly and plainly ridiculous and out of the question.

So, without an authorized directive from Connie herself, the EMTs did what EMTs do: they desperately began working at saving her life.  Not having any instructions from the patient to the contrary, they ambulance attendants did everything they could think of to keep her in that body.

Connie was immediately placed in the intensive care unit at a nearby hospital where she stayed for the next five days, and where I stayed with her as the doctors and staff tried to figure out where Connie’s mind had gone and what could be done to bring it back into alignment with her.

As Connie’s husband, I have durable power of attorney when she is incapable of acting for herself, so I had the authority to request the hospital pull the plug on her if it was one day determined she had lapsed into an irreversible coma. But I did not have the right to speak for her and order staff to allow her to simply die if her heart stopped suddenly.  I could not order the doctors to stand down.  Only Connie could give those instructions, and she currently wasn’t barking orders on her own behalf.  If I wanted to convey Connie’s true wishes, I should have had that DNR at hand and ready when it was needed.

Make Your Wishes Known Now

Not everyone feels this way, but if given the chance to shuffle off this mortal coil in the event the alternative meant remaining on the earth in a state of perpetual misery, many would opt to leave.  A good number of people have made clear such desires to their loved ones.  But none of that matters if the people whose job it is to save lives are not given the message in clear and no uncertain terms by the patient.  That’s why, if you do not want to be resuscitated, you need to have a Do Not Resuscitate order prepared well ahead of time.

You can find examples of DNRs online, but you want to make sure the document you create is legally binding in your state. Sometimes a simple bracelet with those three words on it will suffice.  Some people have had the words “Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed right on their chests, which I imagine would give pause to any kind-hearted stranger about to apply CPR to his fellow man.  Your doctor may already have something on hand he can give you called an Advance Health Care Directive Form that allows you to specify under what conditions you wish to be allowed to go in peace, and what conditions you want them to keep working on you.

But as Connie and I learned from this recent experience, it isn’t enough to have had the document drawn up.  It’s also important that family members know exactly where it is and be able to easily lay their hands on it.  One of the reasons for my own confusion as to the whereabouts of Connie’s DNR was that over time she had selected a number of different places to keep it safe, and now that I was under stress I could no longer recall where that last place was.  For some reason it had never occurred to either of us to have multiple copies on hand kept in different places in the home.  All we had was that one original, so when I couldn’t find that, I had nothing else to fall back on.

Monday afternoon, like magic, Connie snapped back to her cogent and lucid self, and yesterday I was permitted to bring her home from the hospital.  So it looks like she’ll have to transition from this cruel plane of existence at some future date. I, of course, couldn’t be happier to have her still with me. As for what had caused her odd mental departure, that is one of those medical mysteries the doctors on staff are still scratching their heads about, but Connie has long been a medical anomaly, often defying the conventional wisdom.  In this latest puzzler, Connie seemed to be in a state of temporary Dementia that she snapped out of as suddenly and inexplicably as she had entered into it.

For Connie and I, it was a wake up call to the realization that we were not as prepared as we thought we were for this contingency.  Since Connie has been home, even she was surprised to learn that her DNR wasn’t in the place she had thought it would be.  We’re still looking for it.

When we find it, I’m making at least three photocopies and placing them in number 10 envelopes marked “DNR” in bold magic marker.  One envelope will remain in her purse, while another will be prominently taped to the wall by the door so that in an emergency it will be in plain sight. I’ll have a third copy in the glove compartment of the car.

Get It In Writing

Connie long ago gave me specific instructions that I was never to call 911 if it appeared she might be dying.  If she was going to pass on, she wanted to be left at home to go in peace.  But in this particular instance it didn’t appear to Amy and I that Connie might be dying; she was just oddly semi-conscious and unresponsive, and prior to that, she had been asleep for some sixteen hours.  My main concern had been that if I didn’t get her to the bathroom soon, she was likely to wet the bed for sure.  It was as I was trying to get her on her feet and to the bathroom that she slipped from my grasp and hit her head on the floor. Hard.

But in all this agreement Connie and I had of not calling 911 or refusing to be taken to a hospital emergency room, we had overlooked one important caveat.  If you and your spouse have a similar understanding, you would do well to consider this: in that hypothetical situation where you allowed your spouse to die at home, you could be criminally charged for failing to call 911 and preventing that death. Not everyone will consider you a loving and devoted caregiver.  Some people might assume your neglect was deliberate and that through that neglect you let your loved one die because you wanted her out of the way.  Make no mistake about it; this country is crawling with ambitious prosecutors.

That’s why, in addition to having a DNR prominently available and appropriately signed, it is imperative that your spouse also make out a hand-written letter affirming that you are under instructions never to call for emergency services if you see him or her under physical stress. You have to do this to protect yourself.

It is not enough that you know your spouses’ wishes.  You had better make certain the whole world knows too. We have only to recall the Terry Schiavo case of a few years back.  Terry collapsed in her home of full cardiac arrest, which eventually left her in a vegetative state. Her husband claimed that in conversations they had engaged in over the course of their marriage, Terry had made it clear that if her life were ever determined to be untenable, she would not want it prolonged by artificial means.

Unfortunately, Terry had never had these conversations with her own parents, who fought vigorously against the husband’s right to allow Terry’s life support be discontinued.  Eventually state and federal legislators were intervening where they had no authority. It seemed the whole country was taking sides in a debate that should have been the quiet decision of the husband alone.  Some nasty gossips insisted that Michael Schiavo just wanted his wife dead so he could marry his new girlfriend.

If you have no desire to drag your spouse through unnecessary hell while trying to carry out your own last wishes, make sure you make those wishes known in writing. Don’t put it off.

A serious emergency may introduce new problems as we seek to get the different vitamins and minerals that we need.  Transportation could be disrupted, so it may be much more difficult to obtain foods that are easy to find now.  A lot of our food is imported—but without good transportation, it would never make it to us, or it would be severely delayed and limited.  So, we can buy from local farmers, right?  But, if some sort of emergency has just devastated our region, isn’t it totally possible that crops will have been destroyed too?  Or, the farmers may not have access to water for their crops.  Or, if it becomes difficult or impossible to import foods, the demand for local produce may be much greater than the supply.  People may steal the crops.   I think a serious emergency would seriously limit our access to many different foods that we take for granted.

When fresh food is scarce, unfortunately, the demand on our bodies will probably be greater than usual.  We will struggle with sanitation problems, because our normal trash-disposal services may be interrupted.  A lot of people will be doing heavy physical labor to try to get things back to normal.  Faced with these sorts of problems, everyone will feel high levels of stress.  Under these conditions, immune systems do not function as well as they normally would.  People will be more likely to get sick.

Ideally, in an emergency, things won’t go so well for a few days or several days, and we will have minor inconveniences for a couple weeks, or a couple months, and then life will be back to normal.  We’ll all feel great about having more food than people usually keep on hand, and we will be somewhat inconvenienced, but basically our needs will be met, and we won’t run out of resources before everything is back to normal.  I think this is what a lot of us plan for, and it’s definitely a step in the right direction to be prepared for a moderate emergency.

Preparing for an emergency that is more devastating requires a lot more work, a lot more money, and a lot more storage space.  Whether you have a week’s worth of food or a year’s worth of food, you should probably have a back up plan.  Hopefully you’ll hide or defend your preparations successfully, and hopefully they will last long enough.

One very simple thing that you can add to your emergency preparedness as a back-up plan, just in case, is a bottle of multi-vitamins.  (Or several bottles.)

Of course, our preference should be to get the vitamins that we need from fresh food.  Our next best option will be to get vitamins and nutrients from stored food.  Hopefully we won’t ever be living on buckets of wheat or cans of beans, but if it comes to that (and even if it doesn’t), it will be important to be taking vitamins.

Remember that these will have to be rotated periodically.

Do you store vitamins as part of your long-term storage?  Are there other supplements that you think are important to have around for an emergency?  Or, do you have another “back-up plan” to make sure that you’ll be able to get important nutrients?  (I’m also storing seeds so that I can garden, but that would take time and depend on other resources.)

On Friday, March 16th, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order for “National Defense Resources Preparedness.” (Executive orders don’t require Congressional approval, but hold the same legal weight as a law passed by Congress.) This order gives executive authority to seize all U.S. resources and persons for purposes of self-declared “national defense.”

President Obama has granted himself the authority to allocate materials, services, and facilities as he sees fit to protect our nation’s security.

In part, the order reads:

“(e) The Secretary of each resource department, when necessary, shall make the finding required under section 101(b) of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2071(b). This finding shall be submitted for the President’s approval through the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Upon such approval, the Secretary of the resource department that made the finding may use the authority of section 101(a) of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2071(a), to control the general distribution of any material (including applicable services) in the civilian market.”

Now, there has been no statement from the White House regarding the purpose of this Executive Order, why the President needs this power at this time, and why it was issued. However, the text of the document does not limit itself to implementation in a time of war. The term “national defense” can easily be defined to suit the purposes at hand. As long as national defense is at stake, the President can take control of our country’s natural resources whether in times of war or in peacetime.

In fact, President Obama can “control the general distribution of any material (including services) in the civilian market.” He has power over “food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer.” And in case you are wondering what “food resources” covers, the order goes on to clarify that it includes “potable water packaged in commercially marketable containers, all starches, sugars, vegetable and animal or marine fats and oils.” In other words, your cupboards and pantry can be laid bare if deemed necessary. My friends, we are now set up for the nationalization of all food.

Now this message is not meant to intimidate, but to educate. You need to understand what is going on and share the message. The circumstances we are in are very dire. The government would not have issued an order like this if there were not a chance they felt like they would need to use it.

We have a moral obligation and a patriotic duty to take care of ourselves so the Government can help those that cannot help themselves. As you and your loved ones take action and share this message, we can all do our part to making the future as it should be.

Get the word out while we still can.

Pets: Sure you have food, water and other various items for yourself, but have you thought about what you’d do if you were had an emergency with your pet in tow? Specifically think about their immediate survival needs – food and water. If you live in, or are traveling to an area with extreme weather conditions, pack some gear to keep your pet cool/ warm depending on the circumstances, fed and hydrated.

Babies and small children: If you have young ones in your car often, it is important to think about items they may need. These might include food they can/will eat, formula, containers they can drink out if they’ve only used bottles etc. Again, you’ll need extra gear to keep them warm/cool depending on the situation, fed and hydrated.

There are a few non-emergency items (depending on how you look at it!) that you may want to include for babies/small children. Diapers, wipes, change of clothes, underwear and maybe something to keep them occupied if you’re waiting for help like books or paper and crayons.

We’re nearing the end of our Car Kit list. I have a few more items to mention. If there are any from this, or past posts you have that are not on the list, by all means send suggestions my way! I’ll be doing a post with great comments and suggestions that readers have left.