Gurlz with gunz

There's a TV commercial for Brinks Home Security that makes me want to hurl.

A woman is home alone with her children. An intruder breaks the glass on the back door. The security alarm screams. The intruder high-tails it, woman and children scurry upstairs and receive a comforting phone call from Brinks that "help is on the way." She sputters, "Oh, thank you!" and then -- presumably -- grabs a fresh pair of undies.

In my fantasies, the woman drops her dish rag for a double-barreled rifle and puts a one-way tunnel through the dope's forehead. When Brinks calls, she says, "Yeah. We got it taken care of. But you might want to dispatch someone to clean the sidewalk."

Mary Katherine Ham (TownHall.com) has rounded up some real-life stories about gun-packin' chicks cleaning up the gene pool. You go, gurlz.

Crickets

I'm still waiting for an American Christian leader to stand up to condemn threats against the Pope and defend Benedict's remarks.

::: crickets :::

The GGB is reviewing major Christian Web sites to see if I've missed anything, but so far nothing has shown up in the major press.

::: crickets :::

Franklin Graham? Rick Warren? James Dobson? Anyone? Anyone?

::: crickets :::

UPDATE: Finally, someone's speaking up. And he's a Brit. (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

I don't give a flying rat's patootie that Muslim Leaders™ are pissed at the Pope for daring to bring up the ugly fact that Islam has been spread by the sword.

(Yes, fact, not "Christian view" as described by the Boston Globe article. The MSM's profound ignorance of all things religious never ceases to amaze me.)

In fact, until we get some apologies from Muslim Leaders™ for sicko crap like this (warning: graphic images), I am sticking my fingers in my ears.

Behold, bionics

After being a little depressed this week by the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and all the crapola that's going on in the world, this article cheered me right up:

Man can control his prosthetic arm through thought (Fox News)

Borg jokes aside, this is spectacular. Man, I love living in the 21st century.

Quote of the Day

"Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately. Just like you have to fight to protect your friends and family, and you count on them to watch your own back."

Graphic novelist/illustrator Frank Miller

In Memoriam: Todd D. Pelino

Todd D. Pelino.

Not a household name, not a famous man. A 34-year-old New Jersey guy, Todd was an ordinary American like you and me. But his is one of 2,996 names that will forever be connected with the worst terrorist attack on our nation's soil. Todd died on September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Todd was a power broker at Cantor Fitzgerald. In a quest to find out who Todd was, I discovered that he was an all-American guy. Talented athlete. Graduate of Colgate University. Married six years to Megan Pezzuti. Father of two. In fact, that fateful day began with a tender phone call to his young son, as reported by the Rochester News:

Two hours before the terrorist attack, Todd D. Pelino called his 2-year-old son from his office in the World Trade Center to wish him well on his first day of nursery school.

The next time the Pittsford native called, he was telling his wife, Megan, that he loved her and their two young children, and he would try to get down from the 107th floor of the burning building.

''In some respects she gets some solace from knowing that she talked to him,'' said his father, Douglas Pelino.

Todd worked on the 101st floor of WTC 1 (the north tower). At 8:45 a.m., an airliner struck the tower. He probably never had a chance.

Todd D. Pelino. Just a guy at his job. An innocent victim of senseless hate.

Rest in peace, Todd. Rest in peace.

For more on Todd ...
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle keyword search
Legacy.com guestbook entries
ObituaryRegistry.com entry
"2996" tribute to the 9/11 victims

Mindfreak patriot

Criss Angel, the obsidian-haired, blinged-out goth king of magic and star of A&E's Mindfreak, saluted the U.S. troops in this week's episode of his TV program. Angel visisted and entertained troops at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base and hailed their sacrifices on behalf of freedom.

I've been watching and loving Angel's show since last summer. He hardly dresses the part of a conservative, but you gotta admire a guy who has the stones to walk down the side of a building. Takes stones to know stones, which is perhaps why Angel has a pro-military streak. Or perhaps being the son of Greek immigrants, he understands what it means to live and breathe free in the USA.

Crikey. :(

We've lost the Crocodile Hunter.

I must admit, I never thought of crocodiles as "beauuuuutiful" until I saw them through Steve Irwin's eyes. I don't know if Steve was a religious man, but his unabashed love of God's creatures was ... dare I say ... spiritually uplifting.

Rest in peace, Steve.

UPDATE: I've been perusing various news items and blog posts this morning about Irwin's death, and I'm getting a little bugged by suggestions that Irwin's death was the result of unnecessary risk-taking. If he'd been eaten by a crocodile, I might be inclined to agree, but this was a freakish and extremely rare event caused by a normally placid animal. Could've happened to anyone snorkeling in shallow waters where stingrays live. Irwin was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rich and I listened to interviews about him on Hannity & Colmes and On the Record on Fox News last night via XM Radio on the way home from Atlanta. (More on that trip later.) Jack Hanna and Jim Fowler (of Wild Kingdom fame) said repeatedly that many of Irwin's stunts looked more dangerous to the layman than they actually were and that Irwin was extremely professional and knowledgable about how to deal with wild animals. (Granted, they would've been reluctant to criticize a recently-deceased friend, but they sounded sincere.)

I hope the Irwin family opts for that state funeral that the Howard administration has offered. Irwin, by all accounts I've read, was a true Aussie patriot and a beloved ambassador for Down Under. God bless his family and his nation.

It's a sacrifice, but ...

Blogger Michelle Malkin reports that Miller Beer is sponsoring a pro-[illegal]-immigrant march in Chicago, ponying up $30,000 for the event. Of course, she recommends not cracking open a Miller Beer for your Labor Day bacchanalia.

Boycott Miller Beer. What a sacrifice. [snort] I've got a fiancé who brews his own.

Stereotyping leads to ... terrorism?

Beauty pageant winner and purported geopolitical expert Hammasa Kohistani -- the first Muslim to win the Miss England title -- has figured out what causes terrorism: (Hat tip: LGF)

"The attitude towards Muslims has got worse over the year. Also the Muslims' attitude to British people has got worse. Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it because they are stereotyped anyway." [emphasis mine]

Oh! OK. Muslims in Britain chant death threats to cartoonists, Muslims detonate themselves on the Tube, Muslims attempt to blow up airlines departing from Heathrow ... people start getting suspicious about Muslims and Islam itself ... moderate Muslims turn to terrorism to prove that ... the stereotypes are correct?

Brilliant.

Miss Kohistani has gotten death threats for parading around in a bathing suit. Perhaps she's afraid of being made into shish kebab if she encourages some moderation and restraint among her co-religionists. OTOH, if she's the voice of "moderate" Islam, then Houston, we have a problem.