I’m not sure what’s dumber; that besieged Danish “Mohammed” cartoonist Lars Vilks told a Swedish newspaper how he planned on dealing with killers who – according to some reports – American “Jihad Jane” was recruiting to try to assassinate him…:
The latest threat to Lars Vilks emerged yesterday when seven people were arrested in Ireland accused of plotting to kill the 63-year-old artist.
Mr Vilks responded by saying that he was ready for them. “If something happens, I know exactly what to do,” he said.
His home in southern Sweden now contains a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders, a secure space to hide in and an axe which will allow him “to chop down” anyone breaking in through his windows.
…or that the press printed it.
Dear terrorist/stalkers/burglars; no boobytraps in my house. Pinky swear.
We smear jello on the kitchen floor each night so that anyone breaking in will slip and fall. Then, while they’re down….well, I don’t want to give too much away.
Meat thermometer!
I’ll throw pork chops coated with habanero peppers at any Jihadi foolish enough to attack my home.
Or something like that.
Who needs boobytraps? Anybody who makes it through the dogs has to deal with the owner, who’s not too worried about finding someone better armed coming through the house.
Night,
Where do you keep the snakes?
Good one KR.
I’m with nerdbert.
The correct term for a pack of sight hounds is a ‘mute of hounds’ because they hunt fast and silently (unlike scenthounds like beagles, foxhounds or bloodhounds). And unlike scenthounds, they kill prey, not tree it.
Fortunatley, they are gentle and don’t kill if you’re not prey. But they could hurt you if they sit on you. And if they sit on you…you had best stay down until they’re called off or…..you become prey.
Release the sight hounds!
Badda – snake storage is a problem, but since they’re invisible there’s not as much clutter as you might expect.
I don’t know anything about the layout of this guy’s home, but the old ancestral home in Sweden, built in the 1700’s and still used as a weekend cottage, features a low doorway that forces anyone entering to bend over, properly positioning enemies for that axe.
Absolutely KR.
And unlike most people, I beleive in taking the hounds through ATTS testing, based on Shutzhund testing. They have to prove the mselves steady under an increasingly stressful series of challenges, including evaluating their resposne to gunfire and threatening attacks by both armed and unarmed strangers.
Most people have hopes of how their dogs will behave in an intruder scenario. Like a woman I watched taking her mastiff, that she relied on to protect her when she went out for walks, failing the ATTS tests. The dog not only failed to protect her, he tried to run away and hide under a car.
I KNOW how my hounds react. I trust them to do what needs to be done and I will sort out the details afterwards as needed.
Anyone stupid enough to challenge hounds that stand as tall as a shetland pony at the shoulder, bred for hunting dangerous predators, deserves what they get – for stupidity as much as for criminal intent.
Of course a Scandinavian would have an axe. Would we have it any other way?
(And to cut off krod, that isn’t a veiled reference to some Liberal Fascist belief that guns should be taken away.)
I got burgled last week. I was up on Mauna Kea working. The wife came back from town to find the door jimmied & various pieces of jewelry & electronic equipment missing.
I had to drive home two hours one way and miss a night of work while I dealt with police, insurance, etc.
Bastard idiot thieves. They took a makita drill — but not the battery or charger. They took a television, but not the remote control.
I’m not sure how to make the place more secure. There are two doors that are hard to deadbolt effectively.
I don’t think a dog or a gun is the answer. A dog would be stolen (lots of pig hunters need dogs — any dogs — to fill out their pack). The wife is scared of guns.
Maybe some kind of combo pepper-spray & air-horn is the answer.
I’m sorry to hear about your burglary Terry – what about some kind of electronic security system?
Thank goodness no one was hurt, although I’m sure it was unsettling for your wife to be the one to find the house had been invaded. Perhaps some kind of classes in gun safety might help your wife to be more comfortable with the idea of having firearms? Just a thought….
Sorry to hear about that, Terry. And I know it might lower the looks of the house, but it seems like new steel doors might be worth your time and money….
….and gun safety courses are great. There are few groups of people that are more friendly than shooters.
Sorry to hear it Ter. Nothing more infuriating than somebody coming into your space uninvited.
I looked into burglar prevention stuff for my home and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t willing to do it. Night-time entry isn’t much of a problem because I have a squeeler on the door and am home with a portable hand-held security system manufactured by Colt in a lockbox that I can open in an instant.
Daytime entry was my concern as it sounds to be yours, because nobody is home to repel boarders so you have to make the target harder. The two most obvious entry points are doors and windows and they’re the most difficult to make tough but also attractive.
What they told me was: Replace exterior wooden doors and frames with steel doors set in steel frames – shop around for stylish ones and remember the price is worth the peace of mind. Low windows (basement and first floor if accessible from groud) need bars or unbreakable glass (e.g. glass blocks with only a small vent window in basement). And a security system linked by cell phone to the alarm company. None of this will keep out a determined crook but it’ll deter smash-and-grab types.
I’m sure you’ve thought of all this stuff and more; just know that you’re not alone with these concerns and the solutions are do-able. Now it’s a matter of priorities: are we going out to dinner or making our monthly payment on the burglar alarm? Talk it though with your wife, she might be willing to exchange eating in more often for peace of mind.
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Thanks for all the advice . . . I’ve decided on a home alarm system. A couple of motion detectors with flashing lights and sirens ought to do the trick. I’m looking at a consumer installable kit at Amazon that’s got good reviews and is not too pricey.
I already got a gun or two. Don’t want to shoot anyone for coveting my big screen TV, though.