It is my sad duty to share that Born to Perform did not advance past the semi final stage on “Britain’s Got Talent.” While they won’t appear in the final, they should be given full applause for their valiant effort on the programme. This is the only version of their performance I could find on Youtube but I am sure you will enjoy watching them in action nonetheless.
I thought by now, I could get my Asperger’s riddled head around what happened in Texas last week. Once again, another school shooting, this one in Texas left 19 children and two teachers dead., I have listened to some of the speeches both for and against gun control on social media and have even commented on Facebook at some. Still, I find the whole thing really depressing.
First, I am not for repealing the second amendment. I believe that people have the right to own guns as long as they can show they are responsible. Furthermore, I heard that there are enough gun laws on the books to adequately control guns but these laws aren’t being properly enforced. Maybe we can start there. However, as an American living abroad, I find it embarrassing to be from a country where you are legally old enough to buy a gun before you are legally old enough to buy a beer or even rent a car. That is my first proposal to the problem, raise the age of legal gun purchasing and ownership to 21. Don’t worry, I am already hearing the “You can go into the military at 18 and use a gun” argument being screamed at me, at least in my mind. This is true, but when I served in the US Marines, we didn’t have our rifles with us in the barracks. We had them in the armory where we had to march to and hand over a rifle card to draw our rifles out. Furthermore, Marines had to take two weeks out of every year to qualify with their rifles to prove they are proficient with them. That sounds like responsible gun ownership to me.
Somebody on Facebook came back with the argument that if you can’t drink or buy a gun till your 21, then you are too young to vote. I can concede that fact and this is my solution: The legal age for drinking, voting and gun ownership should be 21, UNLESS you serve or have served in the US military. In the military, you will be taught to be responsible for your weapon. For drinking, a young person can join the military, get stationed in Europe where the legal drinking age is 18. So, having served their country overseas, should be allowed to legally buy alcohol at 18. As for voting, if you are old enough to go to war for your country at 18, then you are old enough to vote for who is going to send you there.
Something else which I said on social media which many people supported and a few people ripped on me for, (one called me a ‘liberal idiot’), was when I pointed out that some Conservative politicians think it’s perfectly fine for a teenager to have a gun but won’t let them read books those politicians don’t agree with. I am totally against banning of ANY books. After all, I’ve written two and wouldn’t want them banned. If I don’t think I’m going to like a book, then I simply won’t read it. However, I won’t tell anyone else they shouldn’t read it nor would I make any attempts to stop from doing so, it’s their choice and I have to ask: Letting a teen read or book or have a gun, which sounds more dangerous? I have to agree with comedian Samantha Bee on this point.
In 1996, the UK experienced its own school shooting when a gunman went into a school in Dunblane, Scotland and killed 14 children and a teacher. Almost immediately, Parliament passed laws banning hand guns and stricter gun controls. There hasn’t been a mass shooting in the UK since. Gun control legislation can work. One person, I don’t know if he was American or British, tried to argue that because of the UK’s stricter gun control, burglaries and various forms of street crimes have risen exponentially. Yes, the crime rate has risen but this person provided no evidence linking the rise in crime to strict gun control. Fact, even before Dunblane, most people in the UK didn’t own guns.
Finally, there’s the argument for arming teachers. Being one myself, teaching his difficult and thankless enough without the added pressure of giving them firearms training. Teachers are supposed to teach, not act as some sort of paramilitary force. On a more morbid note, say there’s a teacher, who is armed, who is experiencing a lot of grief from an unruly child or class. The result could be a school shooting of a different kind. A teacher’s job is tough enough without adding this to it.
You know, I feel a lot lighter having written this. Some of you out there might not agree with me and you are welcome to tell me so here. Unlike many people on social media, I won’t start hurling insults at anyone who doesn’t agree with me. However, one thing I do ask is that if you don’t agree with me, please tell me your solution to the problem.
People mainly know Chris Jericho as a WWE superstar and metalheads like me know him as the lead singer of the band Fozzy, but very recently, he as taken on another role as a spokesman against bullying. It happened when he came across an eleven second tweet which showed his 12 year old niece being bullied in what looks like a horrific attack. Chris immediately used his status to alert the world via Twitter about what happened to his niece and how wrong bullying is. For the full story, click the link.
For the past few years, WWE wrestlers have used their statuses to call out and discourage bullying. The fact that it happened to a relative of a wrestler should amplify their calls more. I am sure the Chris’s colleagues will get behind him and his niece and will stand up against bullying even more.
So, let’s put our hands together for Chris Jericho and I will celebrate by sharing my favourite Fozzy song, “Drinking With Jesus.”
My blood is boiling. So much so that it is sending my Asperger’s mind in 100 different directions at a similar speed. Yesterday, there was a terrible shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas which left, according to some reports, as many as 21 people dead! Many of those killed were children under ten. I would like to write more but my mind is spinning too fast. All I can do for the moment is once again, share two songs I would have hoped that I would never post on here again.
A few days ago, I reported a horrendous racist bullying attack on 11 year old Raheem Bailey. His mother has now started a petition for her son to get the justice he so richly deserves. I have signed and I implore all who read this to do the same. Cruelty such as this should not ever be allowed to happen.
A few weeks ago, I posted about a dance group called Born to Perform who, in spite of their special needs, wowed the audience and judges when the went on the UK television show, “Britain’s Got Talent.” Then the Saturday before last, a fourteen year old stand up comedian by the name of Eva Abley appeared on the show and blew everyone away with her stand up routine. What’s so special about that? You might ask. Well, what was special is that Eva suffers from cerebral palsy. Watch her performance and judge for yourself.
Wasn’t her routine brilliant? Many people will point out that instead of feeling sorry for herself, she has owned her disability and even made jokes about it. I believe that she is capable of much more original material but the truth is that she succeeded despite her disadvantage. On the flip side however, some misinformed people will use the accomplishment of this fantastic young lady to draw an erroneous conclusion that all people with cerebral palsy or special needs in general are capable of doing wonders. This isn’t always true, not everyone can be an Eva and it’s not fair to put expectations on anyone because of one other person, no matter how great their accomplishment.
Reading a little following the aftermath, Alesha Dixon, the only judge who hasn’t yet pressed her golden buzzer, got stick from some places for not doing so for Eva. To me, that’s the judge’s choice. There have been many acts just as good and only four golden buzzers. Maybe Alesha is waiting for something more, who’s to know. This brings me to the dark side of all this. People on both sides of the fence are probably making all sorts of negative comments. Okay, I haven’t come across any but I wouldn’t be surprised. Supporters will say that Eva’s disabilities should have been taken more into account while there will some who will downplay Eva’s accomplishments by stating that she only wowed the crowd because of her disability and is simply vying for the sympathy vote. It didn’t look like that to me.
One more fear I have is that the more ignorant will start using the successes of Eva and Born to Perform to say that anyone with special needs will be using their disabilities to go on BGT. That this will somehow lessen the talents of so-called normal people. It won’t but that’s bullies for you. When they see someone they deem inferior achieve, they set out to demean the achievement. As for me, I loved watching the talents of both Eva and Born to Perform and hope they will be on the same show in the semi final.
Normally, I am the first to deride celebrities and their over-privileged lifestyles. But this article I read today on how they are rallying around an eleven year old boy who had to have his finger amputated because he was trying to escape racist bullies is heart warming. You can read the article here.
I am always saddened to learn of a mass shooting, whether it be in a school or other public place, no matter where it happens. However, what annoys me as an American living in the UK is that when it happens in the US, the British media is all over it with stories about ‘gun crazed Yanks’ but when a mass shooting happens in any other country, the UK media is relatively silent about it.
A few days ago, there was a school shooting in Germany but almost nothing out of the media. If this had happened in the US, all of Britain would have heard of it. I only learned about it is because I had ‘School Shootings’ as a Google Alert. This is not because I have some sort of warped fascination with them, I have it because it was a main topic in my book “He Was Weird.” Anyway, back to the fact that it happened and fortunately, only one person, a female teacher was injured. To read the full story, click the link:
One point about the article, I feel I must talk about is the fact that Germany has very strict gun laws yet it still happened. I can hear some Americans using this to shout, “Gun laws don’t work!” This is a myth. Germany has the fewest shooting incidents in the world. Just saying.
To buy He Was Weird, go to: amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1653159501&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1