Unprepared! UK City is forced to concede they can't hold back Zombies!

The United Kingdom's Leicester City Council was recently forced to admit they had no contingency plan for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8567867/Council-quizzed-over-zombie-invasion-plans-by-resident.html)

"Concerned citizen" Robert Ainsley filed a request under the UK-version of the Freedom of Information Act for information relating to the city's disaster plan for handling zombies. The city council spokesperson,Lynne Wyeth, admitted in a radio interview that this made her office, "laugh."

I assure you, Ms. Wyeth, that the shambling hordes of the hungry undead are no laughing matter. They are a real and dangerous threat. And your city is under more threat because of the draconian laws in your country regarding firearms ownership and even the possession of samurai swords -- two of the most effective anti-zombie tools available. Cricket bats and shovels are secondary tools at best.

Zombie Defense 101

A California community college is offering Zombie Defense 101. This is a step in the right direction, and I hope to see more institutions of higher learning and continuing education step up to the plate.

I am disturbed that this course apparently does not cover firearms or even edged weapons. The comely lass demonstrating seems to be limited to softball bats and karate kicks. In fact, she screams, "Jiu Jutsu!" while kicking one fiend... And while there are some limited kicks in Jiu Jutsu/jujutsu styles, we have already discussed why a grappling art is not ideal for fighting the undead.

Centers for Disease Control Press Release

For years the US Federal Government has been silent on the subject of Zombies. So, for that matter, have most -- if not all -- state and local governments. Getting up at a public forum and asking your representatives what preparations are being made for the rise of the walking dead was sure to draw snickers from the audience, disdain from the politician, and very likely a quick way to get escorted to the door by friendly law enforcement officials.

But this week, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released this: blogs.cdc.gov/.../2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse
or
emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp

You might not be able to reach it, because the site has been crashing off-and-on since it got posted. You see, the quiet CDC blog entry was noticed by major news organizations, for example:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=136500576

What does this mean? Is it coincidental that a fringe religious group announced tomorrow, Saturday, May 21, 2011 is the date of The Rapture and beginning of the Christian End Times?

Perhaps the USG is ready to admit the existence of zombies. Maybe it knows information leaked about the last couple of outbreaks and people are taking this threat seriously now.

How To Survive the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse!

Even major corporations are preparing for Z-Day. This is part of a film for a major International IT firm's Human Resources department.

Zombies Taking Over!

National Geographic talks to the experts about the inevitable zombie apocalypse!

Pop Quiz, Hot Shot! Zombie Survival Kit Week Practicum

OK, folks. Just how prepared are you? We've been talking all week about thinking through your survival kit needs. Did you really think you'd make it through the week without a test on whether or not you've been listening closely?

So, what object is at hand on your left? How do you intend to use it? Can it get you to your primary stash? If so, what better preparations are available to you in your main survival kit?

Please comment.

First Aid: Self Tourniquet

There's a lot of nay saying about first aid in the zombie preparation world. I don't know why. Sure, if one of those rotting shamblers bites you, you're done for. Do us all a favor and put the bullet in your own head.

But all kinds of things can go wrong in the zombie apocalypse. And chances are good there will be shortage of trained doctors. (I suspect many of them will be compromised in the opening stages as they are called to treat the infected.) So you need a basic knowledge of first aid.

Here we look at using the tourniquet. It's useful for many combat-type injuries. While I advocate cooperation among survivors for the long term benefit of all, I am not naive. Others will not take the long view, and chances are good you will encounter hostile human survivors.

Keep in mind the tourniquet is not a long term solution. It is intended to treat you immediately until someone can get you safe for better treatment.

Zombie Jerky?

Okay, here's the thing.

I found this at one of my local outfitter's place and bought a package.

Bullet #2 says it's "beef jerky" but the product name is "zombie jerky." So I'm a little nervous.

Am I getting jerky made out of zombies, or maybe zombie cows? Sure, the package promises that its "for eating" and "delicious" but I caught a Charlton Heston marathon one Sunday and after Omega Man they showed Soylent Green, so now I'm leery.

I sent the package for testing to a buddy with a laboratory. I'm hoping it comes back okay to eat.

But in the meantime, I think I'll just stick with plain beef jerky I get at the local supermarket.

Zombie Survival Kit Week: Break Glass 2

The nice thing about the "Break Glass" kits is that they come in some many varieties. Last time we saw a compact pistol and ammo arrangement. Here we see a more substantial, if snubby, shotgun. I hope this person has more ammo on hand. But maybe this is just intended to help them get to their larger cache.

Anti-Gear Pr0n: This Man Is NOT Prepared!

Face obscured to protect the innocent. While being able to turn common items into defnesive articles during zombiggeddon is a laudable skill, there is no doubt in my mind that this poor soul -- conditioned by the Air Force Way of War -- is woefully underprepared to face the undead hordes.

Zombie Survival Kit Week: Commercial Kit

A zombie survival kit that includes medical supplies? That's good. It also has nutritional bars and water purification tablets.

But this is really more of a generic disaster kit than a true zombie survival kit. There's nothing wrong with that. But what separates the Zombie Apocalypse from other natural disasters is the fact that you will be required to defend yourself. You need weapons. It's not an option. With weapons, arguably, you can buy time to scrounge for the other necessities.

No kit is perfect, so understand the weaknesses and supplement.

Holiday Specific Advice on Dealing with the Undead

More vintage advice, but this is still all too timely.

Zombie Awareness -- An Educational Film

Remember those awesome instructional films you saw in Hygiene class or Driver's Ed? You ever wonder why they don't have films like that on really important topics, like zombie survival? Guess what? They do have them!

Zombie Awareness -- An Educational Film

When Zombies Attack (1959)

What to do in a Zombie Attack!

Zombie Safe Houses

A tip of the hat to the Science Fiction blog, io9, for informing us about the 2010 Architect Southwest Zombie Safe House Design Competition. Unfortunately, that informing came too late for Flint to enter the designs he's been doodling on the napkins on Sunday mornings when we get our coffee and eggs at the diner. (He has a thing for this hot Latina chica.)

You can go to the Zombie Safe House link and vote if you hurry. We dig the Huckleberry (hint hint).

Survival Kits

I first heard about Wildertools.com while reading the usual trade magazines. (In this case: Tactical Knives. Take note Game Deck warriors...) The Bush Kit was the featured item in the article. I have to say the beauty of this survival kit puts the one I cobbled together to shame. This is just gorgeous and is a 21st Century version of gear like they had in Colonial Days. I have no trouble imagining one of Rogers' Rangers carrying this set.

At first, I thought it was awfully expensive at $1100, but then I realized its in Canadian dollars. So with an exchange rate... it's probably, what: $7.50? Okay, maybe not.

While you might not need a beautiful kit like this to survive the blasted ruins of Zombiggeddon, you should have a survival kit handy. Once Z-Day hits, I think everyone will have more important things on their minds than going to work. At least, I will -- Buy More can bite me. I won't be showing for my shift. It won't take long for the infrastructure to break down. An excellent source of intelligence on what will happen is the History Channel series Life After People.

Gil out!