ZAC Amends Charter to Advance Election Timetable

ZAC Amends Charter to Advance Election Timetable

The Berkshire County based Zombie Action Committee announced Monday its decision to move up the date of its nomination and election cycle from its previous November to December period to an earlier seasonal structure to accomodate its evolving role in the local community.

Following a vote by the committee Sunday to alter Section 6, Part A of its organizational charter, nominations for committee officials for the 2013 term are being accepted now through Friday, August 31, 2012.  Polling will open Monday, October 8 and close at 11pm on Saturday, October 13, at the conclusion of its scheduled local events as part of the international World Zombie Day campaign to fight hunger.  Polling places and more information about how to vote in the ZAC’s elections will be released later this summer.

Official nominations can be made either through the online form, via emailing, Facebooking, Tweeting or postal delivery of a name (information below).   Names may be nominated for any of the positions below, from the list of specific officers, or without designation under the category of at-large representatives.  Under the ZAC’s Charter, each officer and at large cabal member have a vote on all matters up for approval by the committee.  All officers and representatives of the committee pledge, upon swearing in, to represent the will of the constituency which has elected them and the overall community which the ZAC exists to serve.  Anyone may make a nomination, and anyone may be nominated.  Any individual who resides in Berkshire County, indicates willingness to serve on the committtee, and receives at least two nominations may run for election as a directorship official, or one nomination to be on the ballot for one of six open at large seats.  An individual must receive at least 3 nominations to be on the ballot for the executive office of Chancellor.  In the case of several Directorship offices on the committee, the runner up in the general election will serve as the deputy to that position.

To make a nomination:

or:

zombiefacts@gmail.com

@ZombieActionMA

Facebook.com/ZombieAction

or mail to:

Attn: Zombie Action Committee, 395 North Street, Suite A, Pittsfield, MA

Offices open for nomination:

Supreme High Chancellor - Executive elected officer of the ZAC. Chairs and presides over all activities of the committee and executive functions of the organization.

Commissar - Coordinates the Chancellor’s Partisan Militia, the ZAC’s ever-growing network of volunteers, and represents their input as a voting member on the committee.

Clerk of the Cabal - The clerk is responsible for keeping minutes, notifying the committee of meeting minutes, releasing agendas and retaining all paperwork for the ZAC.

Director of Communications 

& Deputy Dir. of Communications  -the Director and Deputy Directors chair the Subcommittee on Outreach & Communications, managing the committee’s official external communications, media relations, and maintain communications with its network of allied groups and organizations.  Various temporary marketing and publicity subcommittees created as needed by the Chancellor report to the Director of Communications.

Director of Educational Events

& Deputy Dir. of Educ. Events  - The Directors chair the Subcommittee for Educational Events which coordinates and plans many of the group’s activities and functions for raising awareness in the area.

Director of Community Relations

Dep. Dir. of Community Relations – These directors chair the Subcommittee for Community Relationships & Sponsorship, and oversee fundraising and relationships with collaborating and sponsoring businesses and organizations in the local area.

Director of Preparedness- Aids in the committee’s mission of resilient community building by staying up to date on emergency preparedness and natural disaster protocols.  Maintains knowledge of and communication with relief organizations to look for ways the ZAC can educate and provide support to the community in the event of any crisis.

At Large Representatives

At large representatives hold the same voting authority on the committee as the departmental officers on the committee but their responsibilities may vary.  Each at large member shall serve on at least one subcommittee as appointed by the SHC.

LQP-79 “Zombie Virus” CONFIRMED as Web Scam

The inventor of LQP-79, Alfred Moya

Florida may not be the source of a zombie  virus, but it is home to the primary perpetuator of this myth.

The LQP-79 hoax has been created and actively spread by Florida-based “affordable web pro” Alfred Moya, the ZAC has discovered.

Following our announcement Thursday allaying fears of a “zombie” outbreak following a wave of internet rumor and hysteria set off by last weekend’s biting attack  in Miami, we received a tweet from Moya, who tweets as @affordableweb.  A glance at his feed showed he had been actively tweeting and re-tweeting bits about the virus, particularly a link to a thrown-together wordpress based site LQP-79.org  Moya had also been promoting the site via his channel and comments on Youtube, as well as spamming it to the comment sections of many other websites and articles.

Closer examination reveals that the site was registered to one Alfred Moya, of Ocala, FL, according to its registration information.  Moya, an avid cannabis advocate who says he has been “building websites and writing on the internet since 1999,” also created this oh-so-scientific video on his youtube channel on Thursday to promote the site.

His LQP-79 site began with the infamous “article” screenshot apparently meant to resemble Huffington Post, which blatantly distorts a quote from the quite-real Armando Aguilar of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police.  Aguilar was the first to suggest (and it is, still, only speculation) that the face-eating attack on the causeway last Saturday might have been the result of the mephedrone-type drugs sometimes referred to as “bath salts.” A doctor quoted in the same report called this drug the “the new LSD” (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-25), and it was probably this that inspired Moya, a dread-locked proponent of marijuana and psychedelics, to coin the fictional new virus “Lysergic Quinine Protein” LQP-79.

The note of parody involved is not without merit to anyone familiar with the way in which law enforcement, politicians, medical personnel and media can sometimes create and perpetuate irresponsible rumors, speculation and hysteria.  The comparison of these “bath salt” drugs to LSD was, at best, misguided.   However, Moya’s propagation of an internet hoax that has induced real fear in some, in which all roads lead back to his site, with its Google ads and prominently featured Paypal widget for donating to “fund research and broadcasting information of this deadly virus!” … well, it doesn’t exactly scream altruistic satire.

Any additional questions about the fictional LQP-79 virus or the motivations for creating this fairly widespread rumor can be directed to

Alfred Moya at the Alfred Moya Foundation 

2345 NE 25th Ave

Ocala, FL

affordableweb@gmail.com  (352)509-5420

*We have contacted PayPal to inquire whether or not they consider this solicitation of funds for researching a fictional disease a violation of their terms of use.

*Special thanks to Crystal the Ninja for conferring with us and assisting with our investigation of this matter.

[-P.E.D.]

Don’t Succumb to the Bystander Effect

By DA Chaney                                                                                                                            Director of Communications & Outreach, Zombie Action Committee

Awareness is the key. Once you truly become enlightened, you have the power to challenge it. To change it. To whip it into shape. That’s how anything that is ever going to change, will. It all starts with you.

With awareness and the decision to act on it.

It doesn’t mean you have to get always get physically involved, maybe you can’t, but there are other ways to bring levels of sensible response to a disturbing situation.

There is a common social hindrance that strikes a large group of people witnessing a violent or shocking act called “bystander apathy phenomenon” or the“bystander effect”. The diffusion of responsibility is passed around to the group watching the event and the people all believe that “someone else” will do what is necessary. They look to anyone else to become involved, because they choose not to directly become a part of the scene before them. We’re not here to point fingers or make people unduly upset at the point we’re trying to make, but as a person- your level of awareness in this bad social pack behavior is something you need to recognize in an emergency situation, so that you can change it. Whether you’re dealing with an every day crisis (car accidents) or the first stages of a zombie apocalypse happening in your backyard, you should understand what is happening and that only you can make this change.

Your phone call, just a phone call, can save lives. Or in this case, a man’s entire face.

It is reported that it took 18 minutes for bystanders who watched horrified, not knowing what to do, to call for police assistance in Miami. In the heat of the moment, eighteen minutes probably feels like no time at all has gone by with the thrum of shock blazing through a witness’ mind. What was happening seemed like something out of a movie set. There was confusion, panic, shock, disgust, horror, and fear among the group. Visualize it in your mind. Some of you have seen the footage. It might not be lack of compassion that makes you dial or not for help, because certainly seeing something like that can put you out of alignment with time. But those precious moments may have lessened the damage, right? A phone call a little earlier and maybe a closer patrolman in the area could have been on scene quicker, trained in what to do in an emergency situation.

There are many “what if” scenarios in any dangerous situation. “What if I intervene and get sued or hurt?” It certainly has happened to other people. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a good Samaritan, to physically get involved if you’re not trained (and even sometimes when you are) to handle the situation. So don’t. If you see something, all you have to do is pick up your mobile phone and call for help.

We’re not at all advocating that you directly become responsible in the actions taking place on the scene. We want you safe, too. So, leave heated confrontations to the professionals lest bad things escalate worse (please), but you can pick up the phone and call the authorities. Who cares if the police department gets twenty phone calls from the same neighborhood claiming someone is screaming bloody murder next door (probably with good reason)?

You might save that family’s lives because maybe the other nineteen people didn’t make the phone call that you assume they made. You may be instrumental in stopping a horrible crime from being committed.

Yes, if you’re reading this, you’re right. Some people out there are just a bunch of pranksters. Tying the girlfriend up in duck tape and tossing her in the back of the car for fun…well, it may be a lot of fun to them, but let the police sort it out, because maybe they are not playing around. That’s not for you to decide. Make the call. Yes, some couples just fight all the time. But sometimes fighting goes too far, and so what if they think you’re just being nosy. If they are so loud that you can hear them from your living room…I have news for you. You are involved, so make the call that not only gives you peace and quiet, but also, could stop an escalating cycle of violence happening in that household. You could just turn up the TV and pretend not to hear it, but if something bad happens, wouldn’t you have wished you called the police? How many people say that on TV after something terrible happens? “I wish I had done something”.

Sure, a phone call could be mildly embarrassing if you’re not one hundred percent sure what’s happening- but embarrassment is nothing compared to someone becoming a victim of a violent crime. Pick up the phone. Dial those numbers. Train your mind to act quickly in an emergency to reach out for the police. Please.

You can make that difference.