Perhaps, Mr. Simmon's definition of self-respect is different than how it is and should be.

I couldn't resist.

Calling Dr. Love...

"For me, I'm moving forward based on the following assumption: When you die, you take self-respect with you and the rest stays behind - it was never in your possession to begin with."

I really liked this part. Short, sweet, and it really hits the nail on the head.

One need only to look at Gene Simmons virtiol filled comments about people who download music to get a glimpse of his true character.

Excited to see you list Rabbi Boteach's new book. I read his column every week and it's always insightful.

This is just shameless, over-indulgent self-promotion at its most distasteful. A relic of rock hurting himself and his family. It's one thing to like sex, but he oozes it to where you think less of him than a common porn star.

I remember seeing him on Great Van Susteren years ago and he actually hit on her towards the end, saying how she looked good. And that was before she had a face lift. I mean, come on, Greta Van Susteren? Is Simmons really that smarmy?

Derek Kreindler: You know that downloading music for free is theft, right?

I don't think Simmons broke recently. I think this is just a continuation of his desire for specific kinds of attention. I'd say a good chunk of musicians who hit the big time have an almost pathological need for attention to certain aspects of their (real/false?) personalities and Simmons has always been one of those people.

This is just a new symptom of an old problem.

I think Gene Simmons is being true to who he is and, more importantly, seems very comfortable with it, whatever anyone else thinks.

You've had some good posts but this is totally my fave. Very true and very concise.

you take your self-respect with you and not the other stuff? cool. I wonder how you arbitrarily reached that baseless conclusion.

Hey Byron do you think you get to take the SEVENTH different name you've used to comment here with you?

lol.

Self-respect is what matters most and what Ryan says is absolutely true. Once you die it goes with you and what's left is everyone else's view of who you were.

My argument is that a legacy should represent who the person really is and the less concerned one is about resembling everyone else's view of who he should be, how he should act, the more true it will be.

amphibian: - you know that when you download music, it's not theft, right?

It's a breach of intellectual property licence.

If I steal your wallet, I gain benefit and you suffer loss.

In the vast majority of instances, breach of IP license doesn't result in any loss. Most music that was downloaded would never have been purchased.

There are clear exceptions - but they are indisputably a minority.

Comparing downloading music to theft is insulting to everyone who's ever had something stolen. It marks you as a Luddite with no understanding of the age and it puts you in the company of Jeffery White, Prince and The RIAA. It's moronic and beneath any intelligent person.