A Zombie Apocalypse In Kansas?

Today, Governor Brownback officially declared that October is Zombie Preparedness Month here in Kansas. He did it with a straight face, too. His reasoning is that if Kansans are prepared for zombies, they should be prepared for anything. That's an interesting notion, but do zombies really compare to tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes? And if they do, doesn't Kris Kobach (R-Kansas) have some helpful ideas, such as self deportation for zombies?

A "zombie" is a corpse that has been brought back to life, according to the mythos of the Voudon folk religions of Africa. A legendary zombie has no will of it's own, and exists to only follow the direction of the person who enslaves it. As a somewhat realistic practice in times past in Haiti, certain drugs, capable of creating brain damage, were occasionally administered by less scrupulous practitioners of folk religions. This could produce a "zombie-like" state in a victim. As a result, such practices were outlawed in Haiti in the late 1800's. It all seems somewhat comparable to modern children on medications for ADHD, and brainwashed, even without ADHD medications, in public schools! Perhaps that's why Governor Brownback feels that there is a need to be prepared for zombies........ the influx of graduates from our nation's public schools!

There will be an event Saturday from 10 AM to 2:30 PM in Topeka at the Crestview Shelter House on Sunga Drive to learn more about zombie preparedness. The first three hundred people will receive free "disaster-on-the-go"packs. Somehow, it seems unlikely that Brownback has considered including any counterspells in these packs; either for Kobach's legislation, Kansas public schools, or zombies.

Time For Earthquake Insurance?

Things ya never think of. Or the time-honored "those things NEVER happen here". And lets not forget the classic line, "that will never happen to me". Oh yeah. I'll bet that's what almost everyone on the East Coast, where I used to live, thought about measureable tremors and earthquakes, too. Until today. From the looks of things, I would say everyone is pretty lucky, too. Here's a pic of some damage to a building in Pennsylvania.........it's bad enough to worry about future earthquakes and start building with earthquakes in mind, but no mass destruction.

                            
                                                      Glass cracked by the earthquake

A 5.9 quake, which is what this was, would not be expected to topple a building, but it can damage your house. Most people who live on the east coast do not purchase earthquake insurance, and quite a few of them will probably have to pay out of pocket for whatever happened to their homes during the earthquake. I am guilty, myself. I have owned several homes in that part of the country, and I never even thought about earthquake insurance.

Why wasn't anyone prepared for this? Hmmm.......looking at demographics a little, I can only guess it has something to do with families either not having been in this country for over 150 years, or families not communicating, generation to generation, about things that have happened in the past. History has practically disappeared from our minds, because we have no place for extended family, and nuclear family alone cannot give us a complete picture of our familys' pasts, or of the geographical pasts of the parts of the Earth we tend. From the dust bowl to the rain forests, it seems like we never learn.

So now, there are new reasons to purchase earthquake insurance right here on this map!
According to Businessweek.com:

A policy from Chubb for earthquake insurance in New York is 50 cents per $1,000 of homeowners coverage, or about $250 a year on a home valued at $500,000. ..........Aug. 23, 2011

That will never take the place of  being prepared for a disaster, or of having a way to contact family members already in place in case a disaster occurs, but I'll bet more people are looking into buying insurance in case of an earthquake, after today.