Happy Independence Day! What Being an American Means to Me

Tags

abortion, Americans, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Facebook, guns, homosexuality, Independence Day, marriage, patriotism, Politics, schools, social media

Even though I have been living in the UK for 36 years, I still consider myself an American as well. Why can’t I be both? After all, America was made up of British colonies before gaining its independence. My relationship with the United States of America has been like a married couple. We’ve had our ups and downs. At one point in 1986, I actually did say that I hated America but that was then and that angry young man, who was me, is a distant memory.

I grew up loving my country and even gave it the best four years of my life. It was how I was treated after I left the service which turned me into that angry young man. Previous posts will give more details to the reasons behind it. Anyway, I still love America. However, there are things about where the country I love is heading, I’m not happy with.

With the latest Supreme Court ruling, it does seem that guns have more rights in America than women. I wrote in a recent post that I am morally against abortion but I don’t think it should be outlawed. Like I discovered for myself, there are situations where an abortion is the best choice or even necessary for the woman involved. Furthermore, while some call it leftist paranoia, who’s to say that the Supreme Court won’t try to roll back other cases such as gay marriage. I think if two people love each other, then they should get married if they choose, same gender or not. Courts, legislatures nor anyone else has the right to interfere with that.

Warning: Guns will probably dictate this post and this brings me up to another point. It seems the right in America are so worried about children’s minds being poisoned by certain books that they have been banned or even burned. However, these same people think it’s perfectly fine for these fragile minded youths to carry a gun.

A month ago, I posted my thoughts which I have posted on here several times on Facebook. The fact that I find it a little embarrassing that in America, you are legally old enough to buy a gun before you’re legally old enough to buy a beer. Some of the responses I got on that were just as hilarious. The main one was people pointing out that beer is not a Constitutional Right. The British part of me can’t help but to burst out laughing here. Because it is a Constitutional right, we should have 18 year olds, or even younger children to own guns so they could go and shoot up their schools.

Once again, I will state my proposal. I think the age of gun ownership should be raised to 21. BUT, if you serve or have served in the military, then the ages for both drinking and owning guns would be 18. Personally, I don’t think anyone should have a problem with that. After all, the US military does count as a well regulated militia so, this isn’t taking anyone’s guns away or infringing the second amendment.

That’s my rant over. I wish everyone a Happy Independence Day. Enjoy your cookouts, go watch a baseball game and do whatever else you feel is truly American. While I’m not doing it this year, I have 4th of July barbecues and my British friends enjoy them.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1656960181&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Or you can email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Emotion Before Logic

Tags

anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, emotion, mental health, women's wrestling, wrestling

Eva, Does she think I’m a saddo?

You’re all probably getting fed up with me posting about this but there is another angle from my anxiety post from a couple of weeks ago. See, after I had my little bout of frustration over the fact that Eva had lost every match in the bundle of wrestling matches I had purchased, I emailed her. I told her how wrong it was that she lost every match. I know wrestling is scripted but I pointed out to her that she had too much wrestling talent to be a jobber. A couple of days later, I got an answer from her saying she appreciated my support but she simply followed a script and the she really didn’t mind if she won or lost a match as long as those watching it enjoyed the show. I conclude she is a class act.

Since then, my anxieties have drifted. I now worry that Eva thinks I’m a complete saddo or some mentally deranged stalker. Okay, stalker isn’t the right term but she thinks that I might be taking the wrestling too seriously and that I’m some sort of nutter over it. While, I can say that neither the above is the case, I realize that I never should have emailed her directly over it. My motivation was at the time was that she would tell me matches she won so I could buy them. I think the reality is now that she won’t because she wants people to buy her matches regardless of the outcome.

The problem was that reacted to the emotion before the logic kicked in. That is a common trait among people who suffer with Asperger’s Syndrome. While many people react with emotion before logic, the case is double for people like me. If I had taken a deep breath and waited a few days and let the logic kick in, I might have realized that it wasn’t worth emailing Eva about it but the people who run the promotion instead, which I did do and the person in charge sorted things out by putting together a package of matches where Eva emerged victorious. I was a very happy camper after that. Plus, I was invited to write a script where Eva wins her match, which I did and it was filmed at the weekend and should be available soon.

My logic in the matter was simply this: The package was five wrestling matches involving Eva. Since she was the featured wrestler, it is natural to think that she would win some, if not all of them. So, when I watched her lose them all, I thought it wasn’t right. I even considered asking for a refund but that was a moment of petulance. Unfortunately, for me, that logic took a back seat in my brain and the emotion took over and as a result, I emailed the wrong person first, Eva instead of the person who runs the site selling the downloads to the matches. While everything is cool now, the promoter is already trying to get me to write another match for July, I can’t help thinking that Eva thinks I’m some sort of saddo. I know I shouldn’t care and I will probably never meet her but the fact someone might think those things about me does disturb me.

The lesson I have learned from this, one I should have learned years ago, is that whenever any sort of incident or crisis happens, I need to step back, take a couple of deep breaths and try to logic it out. Think before I act is a good policy here. Shameless link to “He Was Weird,” in most cases, Mark was never given the chance to do that, the bullying was too severe. Although he did think before he acted in the end and the result was catastrophic for many others. Maybe they should have thought before they acted.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1656357479&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Or email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Anything Can Cause Anxiety

Tags

anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Interests, Intrusive thoughts, sports, stereotypes, women's wrestling, wrestling

Wrestler Eva

I must confess, I am heavily into women’s wrestling. I’ll stand back and pause for a moment while some of you call me a freak, sicko and pervert. Now that you’ve got that off your chest, I hope you will read the rest of this with an open mind. Women’s wrestling has come on leaps and bounds over the past few decades and only the most sexist pig or extreme lefty feminist has a problem with them these days. They are every much the athlete as their male counterparts. A few years ago, I wrote a similar post which you can read by clicking the link.

What Do You See?

Even things we enjoy can cause us anxiety, especially if you have Asperger’s Syndrome. The above has caused me anxiety because I am worried that there are still people out there who think I’m mentally unstable because I have an interest in women’s wrestling. Let me tell you something, my wife has known of my interest almost since we’ve met and that was nearly 19 years ago. Plus we’ve been married for 17 of those years and if she has no problem with my interest, then neither should anyone else.

But it’s not that which has been filling me with anxiety over the past few days. Like with sports teams and persons, I have a favourite woman wrestler, Eva, who is pictured above. Recently, as a birthday treat to myself, I bought a bundle package of five of Eva’s matches to download. I have watched all five and this is what started my anxiety. I would have thought that with a package specifically dedicated to one wrestler, that wrestler would at least win some of the matches but after watching them, Eva lost all five. I wasn’t pleased about that.

Now I know wrestling is fixed and she was following a script but I bow to my words in the paragraph above. You would have thought that they would have at least one match she wins. My knee jerk reaction was to demand a refund because I wasn’t satisfied. However, I took a deep breath and didn’t. Besides, would the fact that I didn’t like the results of the matches on the downloads be grounds for a refund? Anyway, I contacted the promotion and told them I wasn’t pleased. Furthermore, I pointed out what a great talent Eva was and that she had too much wrestling talent to simply be a jobber. (That’s someone who loses all the time.) I have to give credit where due, the response I received was very professional and positive. The head of the promotion agreed to my idea and put together a bundle of matches where Eva actually wins. Furthermore, I was invited to write a script for an upcoming wrestling event! So, I have.

Apart from that, my anxieties have me wondering what could have been said. Another aspect about the promoter I emailed, was that she had no problems revealing who wins a match before it’s bought. To me, that’s good customer service. There are those out there who wouldn’t let people know who wins under the guise of surprise. They think that it will get a person to buy all the matches of a certain wrestler in the hopes of seeing the ones they win. I don’t want to waste my money like that. As for the surprise, well for the past six decades, audiences have been watching James Bond movies knowing that whatever near death obstacles are thrown up at him, he will kill the baddie and get the girl. There’s no surprise there and it’s the same with knowing the outcome of a wrestling match. Knowing Eva is going to emerge victorious will only make me buy the match download more.

I have been thinking about this almost over the entire weekend. It’s a clear example that with my Asperger’s mind, anxiety can come upon me for what ever reason. This includes things I like doing. Writing this post has helped reduce those anxieties.

To buy He Was Weird go to: mazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1655057250&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Or you can email me direct at tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Commiserations to Eva

Tags

Britain's Got Talent, cerebral palsy, Eva Abley, humour, Simon Cowell, special needs, television

Eva Abley

It looks like 0 for 2 in the semi finals of Britain’s Got Talent as comedian Eva Abley did not make it into the final. A couple of weeks ago, Eva appeared on the programme and wowed the judges, the audience and the person writing this. She did this in spite of the fact she has cerebral palsy. Her performance in the semi-final was even better than her one for the auditions. My wife thought it was a travesty that Eva didn’t progress and I have to agree. Saying that, I think that we haven’t seen the last of Eva Abley as she looks set to have a lucrative career in comedy.

Here’s her semi-final performance:

Commiserations to Born to Perform

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Born to Perform, Britain's Got Talent, Down's Syndrome, Simon Cowell, special needs, television

Born to Perform

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’m putting my hopes on Eva Abley.

I Can’t Make Sense of Texas

Tags

Americans, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Facebook, guns, school shootings, schools, social media, Texas

Texas shooting this week

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.

Samantha Bee

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.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1653854064&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Or you can email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

This Is Hurting My Brain

Tags

abortion, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, bullying, children, christianity, islam, Mothers, parents, Politics, religion

Thanks to my Asperger’s riddle brain, the events of the past week have it swirling at 400 miles an hour. I’m talking about the leaked document announcing that the US Supreme Court plans to overturn the landmark Wade vs. Roe decision from half a century ago. The fear is that in some states, women will no longer have the automatic right to get an abortion. Already both sides are gearing up for the fight ahead.

My personal take and that is only what it is, is that I have been morally against abortion but I don’t think it should be outlawed. I mean, who am I, a man, to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her own body. Therefore, I don’t think the law should either. Now before all the religious zealots start getting on my case, I believe that if your religious beliefs won’t allow a woman to get an abortion, then it’s down to your faith. Everybody is free to practice their religious beliefs according to the dictates of their conscience. However, I don’t approve of ANY religious group who wants to force their beliefs on others by monkeying with the law.

Now, I am going to divulge something which I have kept secret for over thirty years. My then wife did get pregnant but after a couple of weeks had to go to hospital because she was bleeding. The doctor told her that if she was to carry it, she would have had to remain in bed which wasn’t possible in our circumstances. She didn’t feel she could carry it and a few weeks later, had a termination. However, on account of the above circumstances, we said she had a miscarriage. People accepted it no problem and our parents seemed relieved as we already had a six month old. They thought we couldn’t cope with two small children. Maybe we could have but we’ll never know. I am only talking about this now because as a counter to the “What if it was your child?” question.

Now before anyone starts calling me a chicken shit for this, I simply stood by my wife’s decision. After all, she would have had to carry the baby and go through the pain of childbirth. What was worse is that if the baby was dead, she would have had endured all of that for nought. My big worry was if I had supported her enough during that time.

Fortunately, I live in Great Britain. Sure there are many pro life people in the country but a woman’s right to abortion isn’t debated here. It is accepted that it’s the woman’s right over her body and the law doesn’t touch that. At the same time, it respects the views of religious groups. I worry if what had happened thirty plus years ago was happening now and I was living in the US, I think that would have brought further unneeded stress on my then wife’s mental state.

Here’s another problem with ultra right wingers in both countries. If an Islamic nation openly banned abortion, these hypocrites would be the first ones to denounce it and site it as proof that Islam is a barbaric religion which oppresses women. Yes, there are a lot of Muslims who do oppress women and I abhor it, but at least they’re honest about it. Not like these fundamentalists who speak out against Islamic oppression of women but at the same time, believe women should be birthing and cooking machines.

I sincerely hope that the Supreme Court does not overturn Wade vs. Roe. Especially as some states will even outlaw abortion in cases of rape or incest. In that case, it’s not the fault of the female if she has been impregnated against her will and making her carry and give birth after such a trauma is barbaric in itself. Anyway, I digress again but I do hope certain people see sense.

This is Meant to Uplift You

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Britain's Got Talent, bullying, Down's Syndrome, music, Simon Cowell, Susan Boyle, television

Born to Perform on Britain’s Got Talent

Normally, I don’t watch television programmes like “Britain’s Got Talent” because to me, they are all a bit the same. Furthermore, I am in agreement with a comment made on my 80smetalman’s Blog many years ago which said, “Simon Cowell is a moron with tin for ears.” Mrs. 80smetalman, on the other hand, likes watching “BGT.” So, while I was plinking away on the computer, she was watching it the other night and I just happened to pop into the living room for a moment when this act was coming on. It was a dance troop called Born to Perform but what I noticed immediately about them as that all of the members had some form of special needs. Many had Down’s Syndrome and I am sure there were some who have Autism. Discovering this, I had to watch their performance which I am sharing below.

Were you impressed? I was. Sure, if one wanted to nitpick, there were times where they weren’t totally in sync with their dance moves but the passion they showed in the performance was just phenomenal! They won over the crowd and the judges. All four of them simply gushed over the group and rightfully so. Of course, I can point out that Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden (she’s the blonde lady on the panel) learned their lesson many years ago when singing sensation Susan Boyle walked out on stage and they acted patronizingly towards her. Anyway, I digress, but the best part was when judge David Walliams pushed the Golden Button ensuring the group’s place in the semi-final.

Susan Boyle- one person with Asperger’s who has definitely benefited by song.

Because all the members of Born to Perform have some sort of special needs, they were probably victims of bullying. After all, they were prime targets. Being a bullying victim myself, I am already envisioning the negative comments being thrown at them, although to be fair, I haven’t come across any yet. Bullies will cheapen the group’s hard work and success by saying that they only got through on account of playing the ‘special needs card’ and if they were ‘normal’, they wouldn’t have done so. Here’s my take: The members of Born to Perform have been at a disadvantage from day one. Often shunned by society, even the targets of bullying, they threw off the shackles of their disadvantage, worked their socks off, went on national television and totally wowed the audience, the judges and all of Great Britain and hopefully, my non-British readers have seen the above clip and they are wowing the world.

While I won’t start watching BGT on a regular basis, I will watch the semi-final and will be cheering Born to Perform on to victory. Saying that, they have already won a great victory, they have not only won me over but an entire nation.

For some reason, the Amazon link to “He Was Weird” is going nuts. Still, you can buy the book by emailing me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Things Which Prove My Insanity- Movie Trailers

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Cheech and Chong, DAMP, drug use, fights, films, humour, television, war

Scene from Up In Smoke

The main topics of Peaceful Rampage have always been around bullying, school shootings and issues related to autism and of course to plug my book, “He Was Weird,” I sometimes find it necessary for me to post about other topics which are of interest to me. Sometimes, I need to take a break and post about something different. Maybe that’s related to Asperger’s Syndrome. Therefore, slightly influenced by the recent Oscar’s although nothing to do with ‘the slap,’ I have decided to make this post about movie trailers because it’s been something my unusual mind has been thinking about recently.

It’s obvious to everyone that movie trailers tend to show the best parts of the film in order to entice moviegoers to see the film. However, I have been able to break this down even more, into specifics. Certain types of films will show the scenes which pertain largely to the theme of the movie. Therefore, I am going to go through a few genres and point out what I mean.

Comedy films: On trailers for comedies, you will see the funniest parts to the film in the trailer. This is the case of the vast majority of these types of films. Two notable exceptions were from two comedy films which are the two biggest party films of all time. Both came out in 1978. When the trailers for “Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke” came out, I don’t ever recall seeing the above picture in any of the trailers. Those who followed the famous comedy duo knew that the film was going to be about smoking weed but obviously, they couldn’t show that in the trailer. Still, the above scene was the funniest bit of the film. The other was “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Another great party film but most of the funniest bits were sexual innuendos which couldn’t be shown on TV trailers. Still, most comedy trailers will show the funniest parts to the film.

War films: Guaranteed when a war movie comes out, the trailer will mainly show the combat portions of the film, no matter how disproportionate they were to the rest of the movie. This it to get men into the cinema to see the film. One notable point is that these days, filmmakers will not hold back in showing the horrors of war in their film but they, for obvious reasons, can’t show the most horrific scenes in the trailer.

Romantic films: Naturally, the trailer will show all the luvy-duvy bits to encourage the ladies to get their significant others to take them to see the movie. There might be a split second where the trailer shows the conflict between the loving couple but the trailer will leave you with the impression that the couple will make up and love each other forever.

Ronda Roussey and Michelle Rodriguez in Fast and Furious 7. Possibly the greatest movie female fight ever.

Now, here’s something else my strange mind has realized about movie trailers. If the film being advertised has a female fight in it, it’s almost guaranteed that a snippet or sometimes the entire length of that fight will appear in the trailer. I remember a film for television back in the 1970s called “The Daughters of Joshua Cabe.” As a hormone charged teen, I watched the film because most of the two-minute trailer focused on the fight between the daughters in the film. The fight lasted between five and ten minutes which was at most, one-tenth of the film. But with me and probably a lot of men and teenage boys, the trailer got me to watch the entire movie. Some films might only have a brief tussle between two ladies or even just a face slap but you can almost bet that it will be shown in the trailer.

Now, here’s something amusing. I have just watched the trailer to “Fast and Furious 7” and although I have called female fight in the film, the best one in cinema history, it doesn’t appear in the trailer. This could be more down to all the death defying stunts which are carried out in the movie. Which is another point, in action films, you will be entreated to all the stimulating action scenes in the trailer.

I thank all of you for indulging my insane mind and letting me post about movie trailers. Sometimes, my mind likes to wander and it’s best for my own sanity to allow it to do so. While most of what I wrote is stating the obvious about trailers, it’s something I like to write about.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1650274670&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

This Cannot Be Allowed to Happen!

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, bullying, parents, racism, schools, suicide, teachers

I just learned of the tragic death of a 10 year old girl in Utah who committed suicide due to the bullying she suffered. The bullying was both racist and down to the fact she had Autism. For the full story, click the link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10704911/School-ignored-bullying-drove-autistic-black-girl-10-suicide-report-finds.html

Now a new feature on Peaceful Rampage. Well not particularly new because I post certain songs after a school shooting occurs. However, from now on, whenever I learn about a child who has taken their on life due to bullying, I am going to post this song by Matt Kennon.

Maybe people might start to get the message and actually do something to end bullying all together.