Category: News

Last month, the actor Dennis Farina was picked up in LA for bringing a .22 caliber pistol with him to the LAX security checkpoint. (story: Reuters) His explanation: he forgot that he put it in his briefcase.

Although, I can’t find a report that confirms this, I seem to remember that he didn’t have a license for that gun. And that should be worrisome enough. But the gun was also loaded. And he brought it to the airport. What was he thinking?

The answer is clearly he was not thinking about the gun. And that’s my biggest problem with this incident. He says that he forgot he had put the (loaded) gun into his briefcase. Now, if he is lying about that and he intended to bring the gun to on the plane then a serious situation was fortunately averted. But Farina is an unlikely participant in a hijacking so his story is probably the truth however to forget he had the gun is not that much better. Responsible gun owners know where their firearms are at all times, don’t keep them loaded except when they plan to use them, and generally keep them secure. Farina may have been a cop at one time, but now, as an actor, he doesn’t need an armed weapon on his waist. (Unless my impression of the acting profession is way off.)

My point is this: If a person is caught with a gun at a security checkpoint, or any other place where a gun is not permitted, and their excuse is that they forgot they had the gun, then their right to own a firearm should be revoked immediately. Clearly they have lost the respect that the firearm deserves and have proven themselves unfit of that privilege.

Harry Potter won the court battle against a Georgia woman (story: MSNBC). Laura Mallory, a mother of 2 in the Gwinnett County school system took the school’s library to court to have the Harry Potter books removed because she believes that the books attempt to indoctrinate children in witchcraft. Mallory says “I have a dream that God will be welcomed back in our schools again” and apparently, God and fiction don’t get along.

Mallory also has 2 kids that are not in the County school system – shall we hazard a guess that the other kids are in a private school? Perhaps one with a religion-based curriculum? So I have to wonder, why she loves 2 of her kids more than the other 2. How else could you explain why she sends 2 of her kids to do battle with the heathens in public school while the other 2 are protected in a private school that she doesn’t need to sue? And to make matters worse, since Mallory didn’t hire a lawyer, the only thing Mallory has wasted is her time while the state of Georgia is busy paying for her court time.

Listen, Mallory: This country has an official policy of separation of Church and State. That means that our public schools are explicitly required to keep God out. If you believe that God needs to be part of your children’s education, then you have the right to put them in a school that does that, as you have your other 2 kids. The United States is not a religious state and if you need proof of why that’s a good thing, take a look at the Middle East and the countries that are religious states there. I’ll bet you “support our troops” and probably even our policy towards the current action in Iraq, specifically intended (though obviously failing) to prevent it from becoming a religious state. Stop bothering the public schools and the court system, which both have enough challenges these days. Focus on indoctrinating your kids in whatever religion you want and let the rest of the kids in the County schools enjoy the most popular children’s fiction series ever produced.

In case you haven’t heard, Brad Delp killed himself on 9-Mar-07. I first heard the news that he had died on Saturday and then yesterday, it was announced that the cause of death was self-inflicted carbon monoxide poisoning.

Brad was the lead singer for the band Boston for their first 3 albums (1976, 1978, 1986) and even sang a couple of tracks on the under-appreciated 2002 Boston release titled “Corporate America”. Also, Delp was the singer for a band called Return To Zero (“RTZ”) with fellow Boston-alum, Barry Goudreau; RTZ’s most recent release was just 2 years ago. Delp was the singer for a Boston-area Beatles tribute band. I know it sounds podunk but music critics were as positive about Beatle Juice as they can be for a tribute band. Most recently, I saw Delp performing as the surprise guest at the Extreme reunion show (shutup, it was a helluva show) and he still sounded great. I left there thinking that he must have a great life singing with all of these great bands. And that just makes the news of a suicide all the more shocking.