Posted By John Sears on February 28, 2011

When I heard the Capitol was supposed to close down I rushed over to see if I could get in. I was actually prepared to get arrested when they were slated to clear the place.

As it turns out, that couldn’t happen, because… well.. too many other people had the same idea.

So I hung out in the cold instead for a while and got some pictures and video for you, the home viewer.

(Crowd gathered to cheer on the people from inside who were being removed)

As it turns out, eventually the police relented and people who were already inside and really wanted to stay got to stay for the night:

“Cooler heads prevailed,” said Jim Palmer, the executive director of the 11,000-member Wisconsin Professional Police Association. “They had said they were going to clear the place out, and then they thought the better of it. Now it’s clear that law enforcement professionals are running the show.”

Tragically, however, this victory was a short one as Walker has announced a slew of new restrictions this morning to block most entry to the Capitol, a practice which is illegal under the Wisconsin Constitution.

Not that our riot-planning Governor cares much for the law.

Looks like I may get the chance to be arrested after all. I don’t know if the ZRC will make it downtown today; I’m still very, very sick, caught something nasty out in the cold yesterday. But I’ll definitely be there tomorrow.

Category: ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on February 27, 2011

Full set here. Some of my favorites below.

(Internet meme signs are popular lately)

(This takes some dedication. I bet this individual loves geek.kon)

(Yet another kid who Scott Walker doesn’t care about and was willing to endanger for political points if only he could make it pay off)

(Gov. Walker would probably like Sparta. After all, it was legal to outright kill the working class there.)

(Concerts in the afternoon. Bascom Hill here)

(Lots of union presence today)

(Technically a little premature, Qaddafi’s not out yet. Barely.)

I also have some video from the rally for you all.

(Marchers around Capitol Square)

(I hope I have his name spelled correctly, heh. Not like live speakers have subtitles)

(Bascom Hill performing ‘I Won’t Back Down’ at the Capitol Saturday)

Category: ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

You know the drill by now, whole set is available here. Select faves below.

(Indeed it is.)

(310 now!)

(A test Walker failed easily)

(People are furious about his plot, never carried out, to use provocateurs on the peaceful crowds)

(Still occupied.)

Category: ZRC News | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

After an exchange on Twitter last night about Mitch Daniels, I got to thinking: are any of the big name Republican Anti-Union governors who are in the news gunning for union rights not idiots or criminals?

So far, the answer is: no!

Let’s run down the list, shall we:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Dropout, Cheat and more

–Dropped out of college with a C average
–Cheated repeatedly in a student government election while at Marquette University
–Is pushing the radical anti-union bill here in Wisconsin, which strips public workers of their hard-fought union rights
–Is under fire for considering plan to use agitators to cause a riot in peaceful protests at the Capitol

Ohio Gov. John Kasich: Reckless driver, Loudmouthed Jerk

–Plead guilty to a traffic violation for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle
–Publicly attacked the officer who pulled him over:

–Now seeking to strip public sector union members of their rights.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott: CEO of Company that Defrauded Medicare

–Rick Scott was the CEO of Columbia/HCA, a healthcare provider that systematically defrauded medicare:

In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA plead guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in the largest fraud settlement in US history. Columbia/HCA admitted systematically overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable, by striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and by filing false data about use of hospital space. They also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors “loans” never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.

–In all, the company was found guilty of 14 separate felonies
-Has his own plan to attack unions

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels: Druggie, Criminal

–Plead guilty in 1970 to drug-related offenses involving substantial amounts of illegal and prescription drugs:

Officers found enough marijuana in his room to fill two size 12 shoe boxes, reports of the incident say. He and the other inhabitants of the room were also charged with possession of LSD and prescription drugs without a prescription. Daniels and his two roommates in 111 Cuyler Hall, Marc Stuart ’71 and Richard Stockton ’71, were arrested and, after plea bargaining, Daniels eventually escaped with a $350 fine for “maintaining a common nuisance.”

–Now wants to strip private sector unions of their rights in radical assault, which fortunately seems to have failed.

Honestly? You mean all four of them are sketchy characters with shady pasts? All of them?

These are your Anti-Union governors of the moment, America.

Update: Just some style tweaks.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests, Social Justice

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

Some more videos from Madison.

(Here’s the protester group heading out for the Koch lobbyists’ offices)

(Some video of the actual protest outside the Koch office)

(Some very nice musicians came by last night to entertain those of us who slept over at the Capitol)

(The Capitol protesters appreciate all the hard work the Assembly Dems did to slow this injustice down; I know I did)

That’s the best of what I’ve uploaded recently I think. I have more going up as we speak, naturally.

Tomorrow’s going to be a big day so it’s time for the ZRC to turn in. We’ll be at the big Saturday event trying to educate the public on how Scott Walker compares, unfavorably, to Zombies.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

Here is some excellent news: the cops are coming over, formally, to the side of the protesters:

At the same time, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association issued a statement that they stand with the protesters.

Jim Palmer, executive director of the WPPA, said in a statement released Friday morning that Gov. Scott Walker should keep the building open and allow the protesters to stay.

There had been speculation on Friday that the effort to move out tables, chairs and other items from the building was the beginning of an effort to move protesters out. But the state Department of Administration said Friday that the building would not be closing at 4 p.m. Friday, as had been rumored.

“Capitol Police are working with protest organizers to begin removal of some large items that could pose fire hazards such as mattresses, folding tables and chairs,” the state agency said.

Palmer’s statement, issued before the Department of Administration statement, said “the protesters are cleaning up after themselves and have not caused any problems.”

“The fact of that matter is that Wisconsin’s law enforcement community opposes Governor Walker’s effort to eliminate most union activity in this state, and we implore him to not do anything to increase the risk to officers and the public. The costs of providing security can never outweigh those associated with a conflict.”

Palmer said he had asked members of his group to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of protesters.

“Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s devoted public employees is wrong,” Palmer said. “That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight.”

Well here they are:

When the army in Egypt refused to fire on protesters, everyone knew it was a matter of time for Mubarak. Now that the cops have had enough of our governor’s little tirade, I think the writing is on the wall for Walker as well.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Madison Protests

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

I really can’t see how this ‘Zombie Defense’ table qualifies as a win, consisting as it does of one slanty leg and a small round piece of wood that can be used as a shield.

I mean, ok, let’s say you have an assailant in your home. Are you likely to have time to take apart a piece of furniture and then strap one segment to your arm while you use the other as a primitive cudgel? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just own a knife?

And let’s say you’re in need of a table. This thing isn’t big enough to hold much of anything, and with that slanty leg I have serious doubts as to its stability anyway. Don’t put any valuable vases on it, folks.

So I can’t see what qualifies as ‘Epic Win’ about it at all.

Category: Zombie Media | 2 Comments »
Tags: Anti-Zombie Products

Posted By John Sears on February 26, 2011

A new web game put out by one Mike Lacher uses the power of Google Street View to create its own Zombie Apocalypse… sort of:

Enter a location and run from zombies inside street view. Please use Google Chrome (Safari tends to be okay too).

This is rather experimental, so please let me know if it’s horribly broken for you.

Naturally, this is an awful affront to the Zombie Community, as well as a particularly pernicious piece of propaganda. Not only does it (apparently) push the Zombie Apocalypse hate-myth but it allows people to transport their own cities, towns and neighborhoods into the apocalyptic world, adding new dimensions to the already gripping (yet totally irrational) fear.

Yet, playing the game, I noticed something: these ‘Zombies’ were really, really tiny.

In fact, one might even say they were three crab apples high:

As you can see, the little ankle-biters are on a tear!

Yes, I do believe there’s been an error here: this isn’t a ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ at all; it’s a Smurf-pocalypse!

Now, I have a lot of experience with Zombies, and I can assure you that they mean no harm and are not likely to cause the end of the world as we know it. But Smurfs?

Their potentially subversive politics have long been questioned, and the precise nature of their inexplicable and alien biology has never been adequately explained.

Could Smurfs cause the ruin of mankind and the downfall of civilization? The Zombie Rights Campaign can neither confirm nor deny this possibility.

Having played the game, I can only conclude that it has been labeled as being about Zombies as a careless error. If it was properly relabeled to indicate that it is, in fact, about the Smurfs running rampant across the globe, spreading their terrifying Communist black magic and eating our children, the ZRC would have no particular issue with the game. As it stands, for recklessly associating innocent Zombies with the Magic Commie menace, we have to rate this game as Anti-Zombie.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Don't Use the Zed Word, Videogames

Posted By John Sears on February 25, 2011

Fun fact: when your movie accidentally slipped into the public domain, as did George Romero’s original ‘Night of the Living Dead’, you can’t stop people from remaking it any way they see fit.

Bonus fun fact: thanks to ‘Avatar’, 3D movies are here to stay, and thanks to the bizarre financial success of ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife”, bad 3D Zombie bashing movies probably are too. Thus we have this news:

Andrew Divoff To Kill Zombies in NotLD3D: Resurrection

So apparently Andrew Divoff (he’s from some show called Lost that you probably have never heard of, but more importantly is from the movies The Dead Matter and Wishmaster) will be slaying some undead in the near future! He’s had a bit of experience in horror films (and that unheard of TV show) to probably pull off the acting bit. Still though – a notld remake in 3D? We tried that in 2006 and as much as we try to forget that it happened – IT HAPPENED! On the upside thanks to the director of everyone’s favorite film (Titanic of course) director James Cameron we have new 3D cameras! So if that new tech is used it could at least be somewhat visually appealing.

Anti-Zombie movie? Check. Derived shamelessly from previous intellectual property series? Check. Superfluous subtitle? Check. 3D gimmickry? Check. All systems are go! The only thing it’s missing (thank goodness for small favors) is Milla herself.

Who’s going to handle the smirking in this movie if not her? Oh, it just won’t be the same.

Category: Zombie Media | No Comments »
Tags: Movies

Posted By John Sears on February 25, 2011

Just wanted to comment upon a couple of shirts that went up at Threadless.com recently.

First we have the blatantly offensive and Anti-Zombie shirt ‘The Horde’, depicting, you guessed it, a horde of Zombies surrounding a lonely protagonist:

Once again we have an irresponsible ‘creative’ type pushing the discredited ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ scenario, complete with that old iconic symbol of Anti-Zombie violence, the shotgun. Naturally.
The ZRC will go ahead and rate this one as Anti-Zombie.

But then for contrast we have this ‘Zombie at Tiffany’s’ shirt, based on the classic Hepburn movie:

While on its face this might seem to trip over into being a ‘Zombie Flavored Creativity Substitute’, something about the cheerfully clean linework says ‘sophistication’ to me. This Zombie doesn’t want to eat your brains, like Hollywood would have you believe. She has class. That’s definitely something we can get behind, and so the ZRC will rate it as Zombie Friendly.

All this is just a roundabout way of saying that constant vigilance over Zombie-related products is necessary. True, the majority will fall roughly in line with the ‘Horde’ shirt, being defamatory, Living Supremacist and in generally poor taste, but every so often you get a diamond in the rough like the ‘Zombie at Tiffany’s’ item, and that’s worth keeping an eye out for.

(Naturally, the images above from Threadless.com remain their property and are used here in accordance with critical commentary and review. Just felt like noting that.)

Category: Zombie Media | 2 Comments »
Tags: Anti-Zombie Products, Zombie Art, Zombie Products, ZRC Reviews