Tag Archives: zombies
Zombies A Factor In Gun Sales Increase, Gun Rights Advocate Says
It’s not just President Obama’s re-election that’s lead to a spike in gun sales. The living dead are also providing a reason to stock up on firearms and ammo.
My Northwest.com reports that, according to FBI data, background checks for guns rose 20 percent on Black Friday from the same day last year. According to KIRO, one gun rights advocate said part of the reason for the increase is zombies.
“A lot of people appear to be really enthralled by this,” Dave Workman said. “I’ve seen lines of zombie targets, I know one or two ammunition companies have introduced boxes, lines of cartridges they called zombie cartridges, shotgun shells and rifle shells.”
The zombie-themed merchandise has ushered in a new generation of gun shooters, according to Workman.
Of course, the popularity of TV’s “Walking Dead,” heralds the coming of a zombie apocalypse for which we must prepare.
Those sentiments were echoed earlier this year by Texas gun purveyor Cris Parsons in an interview with ABC News.
He said products like Zombie Max ammunition (slogan: “just in case”) made by Hornady Manufacturing fly off the shelves.
“We can’t keep it in stock,” Parsons said. “It comes in a cool, colorful box with a Zombie on it.”
Clearly zombies are hot with gun fans, but what about other weapons? Could they too become the beneficiaries of a “zombie bump”? Absolutely, according to Detroit Free Press’ Eric Millikin.
“Zombies are also sure to increase sales of machetes, nunchucks, and prosthetic chainsaw hands,” he writes.
Dept. of Homeland Security Warns of Impending Zombie Apocalypse
If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s the zombie apocalypse. I don’t know why, really. Although some people think that it would be cool to blow the heads off the undead and attempt to survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic landscape, most people would get their fat asses either gnawed on by zombies or shot by a survivalist looking for supplies. The harsh reality is that most people wouldn’t survive the zombie apocalypse, but we can keep dreaming that we’re the exception – we’re all Rick from The Walking Dead.
This month is National Preparedness Month, and the Department of Homeland Security is capitalizing on the never-ending zombie craze to make people start thinking about what they would do in the event of a disaster.
According to the AP, DHS is urging citizens to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. “The Zombies are coming!” they say.
Except they’re not. At least not right now. DHS’s message is that if you’re prepared for a zombie attack, you’ll likely be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack. That’s because all of those events have something in common – the need for shelter, food, water, etc. DHS wants emergency planners across the country to use the “zombie attack” trope to get people into the disaster preparedness mindset.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that a government organization has mentioned the z word to citizens. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control actually acknowledged zombies and released their own zombie preparedness guide.
Here’s what the CDC says would happen, on a governmental response level:
If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).
It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated. Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work).
Even though the CDC clearly has a plan, they officially denied the known existence of zombies after a rash of cannibalism stories hit the news earlier this year.
If you have the money and truly wish to prepare for the zombie apocalypse, you can’t go wrong with this kit for the 1%.
Fly turns honeybees into little zombies
Latest woe is horrific, but is not what’s crashing bee populations
zombie bee
A researcher at Oregon State University has reported Oregon’s first documented case of a “zombie” fly infecting a honeybee, but he doubts that the parasite at the moment poses a threat to the bee, which is a vital pollinator of some of the state’s key crops.
Ramesh Sagili, a honeybee specialist with the OSU Extension Service, stumbled upon a belly-up bee on a sidewalk under a street light on campus in Corvallis one morning in late July, according to a press release Tuesday from OSU. He placed it in a vial in his lab, and four days later seven maggots crawled out of the bee’s neck. Almost three weeks after that, one matured into an Apocephalus borealis fly, commonly called a zombie fly because of the disoriented behavior it is suspected of causing the bees to exhibit at night.
The finding comes amid rising concern about the health of honeybees, which have been hit by a mysterious phenomenon called colony collapse disorder in which adult honeybees disappear from a hive, either entirely or in large numbers. It came to light in late 2006 when beekeepers on the East Coast began to see their honeybee colonies dwindle. The disorder has since spread to other states. A cause has not been determined, but suspects include mites, viruses, malnutrition, pesticides, a lack of genetic diversity, and stress that results from commercial hives being trucked around the country to pollinate crops.
Sagili doubts that the fly is playing a role in the widespread die-off of honeybees, which are crucial pollinators for various Oregon crops, including blueberries, pears, cherries, apples, clover, cranberries and vegetable seeds.
“It’s a stretch to say the fly is correlated to colony collapse disorder,” he said. “At this point, I don’t think it’s a threat. I don’t think it’s at the level where it can depopulate hives in large numbers.”
Earlier this year in a journal article, researchers in California became the first to document that the fly attacks honeybees. They discovered the parasite in honeybees in California and South Dakota, the only states besides Oregon where fly-infected honeybees, or ZomBees, have been reported.
The fly is known to parasitize bumblebees but little is known about its impact on them in Oregon, said Sujaya Rao, an entomologist at OSU.
Sagili hypothesizes that the fly is just now being found in honeybees because it may be trying to branch out from its other hosts when they’re not available. He added that although honeybees are widely studied, it’s possible that scientists just never saw the parasite because they usually preserve their collected bees in alcohol, which would kill the larvae and keep them from popping out.
The brownish-red fly lays its eggs inside the bees and is smaller than a fruit fly, is native to North America and has been found in Canada and states including Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico and New York, said Brian Brown, the curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and an expert on the parasitic fly.
Brown said the fly has been in Oregon for thousands of years, but it just never has been found in a honeybee in the state until no
TEASER CLIPS Walking Dead': Preview the ‘Resurrection’ That Awaits the Survivors at the Prison (Exclusive Video)
The Ricktatorship has its work cut out come season three of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
Following the eventful second-season finale that saw Hershel’s farm go up in flames and Rick and company hit the road in search of a new home, the not-so-merry band of survivors will have to prepare for a massive battle if they plan to set up shop at the prison.
STORY: ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 3 Trailer, Premiere Date and More
Hershel (Scott Wilson), now out of the relative safety of the farm, is in for quite a rude awakening, noting that “Christ promised a resurrection in mind … I just thought he had something different in mind.”
Showrunner Glen Mazzara recently told THR that this season, everyone — including Hershel and his daughter Beth — will feel a need to be a “valuable part of the team” and contribute. “If I don’t get this done, if I don’t kill that walker, that walker may kill someone else,” he said. “So everybody bonds together for the good of the group. They all have each other’s backs.”
STORY: ‘The Walking Dead’ Cast, EPs Spill on Season 3, Shocking 100th Issue
“The pace seems very different this year and I think it’s just a lot more suspenseful, it’s lot more intense than it was last year,” he added.
Check out the clip below, exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter, to see what awaits Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Hershel and the group at the prison.
10 SECOND TEASER CLIPS
When season 1 of The Walking Dead came to a close, fans were left unsure of where the series was headed. After heavily deviating from the comic book’s canon, the producers of the show made it very apparent they were on their own track.
With season 3, however, fans know the show is working towards some really exciting territory, and are about to experience storylines that more closely mirror Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel. Characters like Michonne and the Governor – fan favorites we’d been hoping would get thrown in the mix – are now being brought to life, and figuring heavily into this forthcoming season.
To help get fans prepared for the show’s return this October, a new TV spot has been released. While it’s extremely light on…well, anything, it does tease a suspenseful season 3 for Rick Grimes. In it, Rick appears to be scoping out an enclosed space, perhaps in an abandoned house, and what he finds cannot possibly be good:
We know that after establishing his role as leader of the group (Ricktatorship?) in the season 2 finale, Grimes and his band of survivors will be making their way to the prison – a key location in the comics – but how they will get there is unclear. And then, once they discover the seemingly abandoned prison, it’s going to be interesting to see what the group discovers inside its walls.
Obviously, as has been shown in a few set photos from The Walking Dead season 3, there will be zombies, but how some of the series’ new characters will come into play – including those that were created specifically for the show – hasn’t been detailed. It’s already been teased that a major character will not survive season 3, but as we learned last season, there’s never just one death.
Along with the introduction of Michonne and the Governor, season 3 will also reintroduce audiences to the character of Merle Dixon, whom last we saw in some pretty dire straits. Towards the tail end of season 2, some hints were delivered that suggested Merle was alive; since then, the casting of Michael Rooker and a new magazine cover confirm it.
There are plenty of surprises in store for viewers of The Walking Dead season 3; however, this time there also are a few expected places the series appears to be headed towards. Those looking to know more can anticipate additional details, and more TV spots, as we near the season’s premiere.
The Walking Dead begins season 3 on October 14th at 9pm on AMC.