Would you survive?

Found a quiz online, it's humorous. Bored? Time to kill? Check it out here.

What you should be doing right now

The year 2012 is quickly approaching. If you haven't started active preparation yet, now is the time. What should I be doing this far in advance? you ask yourself. Well, here's the first steps:
1.) Scout out a stronghold. Your zombie fortress should be durable and windowless. Other zombie reference manuals cover what type of fortress you should be seeking, so I will leave that research for you to do on your own.
2.) Go to the gym. No, Seriously. Regular exercise now will build your strength and endurance. Granted this is a little more important if we are talking about fast zombies, rather than slow zombies. But regardless, go to the gym just in case.

Now finally...some Zombie Preparation

Apart from the fact that the title of this blog denotes zombie apocalypse preparation, I have talked very little about that very subject. In fact, I believe this very important topic has been significantly lacking from the discussion of issues here. So without further a due, I present to you some measures to take immediately to ensure your safety, and some thought provoking questions you should be considering in the days to come before the year 2012. Never forget, your input here is welcome, we will never be able to survive the walking undead without using teamwork.

Firstly, it is very important to stock up on non-perishables. I am hereby declaring Chili as the official canned food of the zombie apocalypse. You don’t want to get stuck eating ramen noodles. You will be slowed down by all the sodium; the undead will surely get you. My personal favorite is Hormel’s vegetarian chili. Just because the dead are walking and wish nothing more than to eat our brains, does not mean I have to eat meat. This is why proper preparation is important. I don’t want to worry about weaning myself back onto eating meat when my major concern should be ammo conservation and stronghold fortification.

Now, I’ve noticed lately the cost of this good rising, it’s about $1.70 a can in the grocery store now. This may seem a little frivolous… but remember; you are investing in your future. Chili is the perfect survival food. It’s packed with protein, doesn’t require much more than a simple fire to heat and it’s delicious. Additionally, the Hormel brand now comes in pop-top cans, so you aren’t SOL when your can opener breaks, or is confiscated by some zombies. If anyone knows a way I can buy this “canned entrée” in bulk, I would be very interested. I’ve already tried their website, no help there.

Now, I’m not a big fan of guns at all. But they are completely necessary in nearly any apocalypse scenario. You’re going to want to stockpile guns. All types of guns. And this takes some planning as well. Some things to consider:

1. Guns are expensive; you are going to want to budget yourself. Buy quality firearms, because they are going to get a lot of use.
2. Guns may take time to procure. In this state it is pretty easy to buy a shotgun. But handguns take some planning; you need permits and licensing. You are going to want to have both shotguns and handguns. Maybe even other kinds of guns if you know a lot about guns, I do not.
3. In addition to stockpiling guns, you need to think about stockpiling ammunition. Ammo is cheap; you shouldn’t have a hard time with this one. Simple math will tell you how many bullets you need. Just imagine how many bullets you need given the worst case scenario: every other human is a zombie. Don’t forget to take into consideration your shooting accuracy, and give yourself an extra 10% on top of all that for safety.
4. My friend Brian reminds me of an important element of gun-related preparation; you need to be able to clean the guns. Have cleaning materials for your guns ready, and learn to use them.

In fact, I’m going to go out right now and start learning about gun maintenance.

How to spend $160 a day on your hair

It seemed a little ridiculous for John Edward's to get a $400 haircut or two, but Sarah Palin is really taking the cake on this one. I got curious today after finding this photo series on Digg. She's clearly got a stylist, but it's not publicly known who's putting her in those classy outfits on the campaign trail. I'll admit it; Sarah Palin looks pretty classy most of the time. Turns out that's because the campaign has spent $150,000 on her wardrobe and hair in the past 3 months. Politico broke the story today. I also found this link with a really classy picture of what she looked like before she was named the republican vp nominee.
Turns out the stylist is Gahl Hodges Burt, who had something to do with Nancy Regan in the 80's, and tells Cindy McCain what to wear, too.
Fark: She's got a Facebook.

Abortion in Europe

I was curious about the status of abortions in Europe after reading this article. The quote from the British Financial Times: "The Palin appointment is yet more proof of the way that abortion still dominates American politics." sparked my interest. What exactly are the abortion policies in European countries? Here's the answer: Europe's Abortion Rules.
I think the most interesting is Ireland.

"Ireland has voted five times in the past 20 years on its abortion laws, most recently deciding to continue to allow women to have an abortion if they say they are suicidal - a loophole the government and Catholic Church wanted closed.

Women can have counselling and advice on options, and can leave the country to have the procedure elsewhere - more than 6,000 a year go to the UK for a termination."

I was very pleased with what Obama said about abortion in the debate last night. If you're into fancy stuff like a transcript to read along with your video, and popular opinion graphs, but don't mind your video being little. Try CNN.

Racism

The following is an email that was forwarded to me by a friend.
Typically I would have dismissed that the cause of the differences described is due to racism. But the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that racism is the only cause.
Read the email below, and feel free to leave me your opinion.

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?

…..think about it.

Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama: Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Vs

John McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters – journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call

Picnik Zombiefy effects

So I discovered this almost a year ago. But I just remembered it today in relation to this blog.
The photo editing site Picnik has an editing tool called zombieify which allows you to turn the subject of your photo into a zombie. There's also a blood tool, which helps a lot with the zombie effect. Furthermore, I think the site is sort of handy for a lot of reasons. Check it out, and share what you create.

these days

seems like I alter the appearance of the blog more often than I update it.