City officials in St. Petersburg, Florida, passed a law on Monday banning public suicides in an attempt to prevent a rock band from carrying out a planned suicide at a concert.

Huh?

That was the reaction I had after reading the headline "Rock band won't kill suicide show."

What the heck are they talking about I said to myself.

Then I read that the band, Hell on Earth, planned to have a terminally ill member of the Euthanasia Society commit suicide during a concert on Oct. 4.

The concert is slated for an undisclosed location and the band plans to show the suicide on their Internet website.

Well geez, I've seen and heard it all now.

It gets better.

The band in question has performed some outrageous stunts before, including putting rats in blenders (those with weak stomachs look away now) and having audience members drink the concoction.

OK, now we are into something special here.

Why are these people still walking the streets?

Personally, I believe it may be time for a little psychiatric evaluation and maybe some shock therapy.

I know if I were a parent and if my child even remotely mentioned this group to me, I'd have that kid in a straight jacket somewhere.

I would also consider sending him to military school.

You know I realize that people do indeed kill themselves, but for this band to exploit someone's death for their own gain is just wrong.

No, check that, it's just stupid!

And to think that there will be an audience there cheering on the dying person also makes me sick to my stomach.

It shows me that we as a society have not evolved very high and that some of us still live just outside the primordial ooze.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not trying to open the debate on the right or wrong of suicide.

That is not my intent.

What I am against are the stupid and ignorant people who would promote suicide as a marketing tool.

I'm sure somewhere along the line, some group will come to this band's defense and say their rights are being violated.

There will be lawsuits and such and it will tie the courts up for years as they try to hammer out whether Hell On Earth's Freedom of Speech was violated.

Again, let us save some time and money.

Just go ahead and lock these folks away in a rubber room, and we'll be done with that.

Then for good measure, pipe in J-Lo's "Jenny from the Block," 24/7 and we'll show them what hell on earth is all about.

Jay Thomas is managing editor of the Greenville Advocate and can be reached at 383-9302, ext. 136 or via email at jay.thomas@greenvilleadvocate.com.