GENE SIMMONS Not Letting Terrorism Affect Plans

July 5, 2007

Tom Campbell of Times-Dispatch reports that like other travelers at the Richmond airport yesterday, rock star Gene Simmons of KISS seemed unconcerned about security after recent scares in London and Glasgow.

Simmons was in Richmond over the weekend because the IndyCar Series was in town. His company, Simmons Abramson Marketing, promotes IndyCar racing. The SunTrust Indy Challenge ran Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

"I had no concern at all [about flying] because of Homeland Security," Simmons said between rounds of posing for photos with fans.

U.S. airports have been at the "orange" threat level, the second-highest on the government's five-level scale, since August 2006, when police in the United Kingdom said they foiled a plot to blow up aircraft bound for the U.S.

Simmons said he does not complain about extra security measures imposed on airport travelers — even travelers who fly in private or corporate jets. He sidestepped saying whether he was flying commercial from Richmond International Airport yesterday.

He said the war on terrorism is a war of ideas that will last decades, and that it will not end with the death or capture of Osama bin Laden.

"This is a worldwide fight for the minds of Muslim youth," he said.

"I'm a big proponent of the idea that in time of war some individual rights have to be curtailed, and this is a time of war," Simmons said. "I was born in Israel, although I consider America my home. When you come from a small country like that where you're surrounded by people who bear you ill will," you understand drastic measures sometimes must be taken.

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).